spend money freely, giving them even more political influence in Oregon. (Steve Novick, Blue Oregon, October 24) From the Oregonian's No on 64 endorsement: "Of course, this would have the effect of giving Oregon firefighters and nurses less voice in Oregon politics than Loren Parks, which is not most Oregonians' view of how things should work. But the measure also runs the risk of badly hurting Oregon charitable organizations, which is why so many of them have raised their voices loudly in the campaign. Oregon public employees contribute to many state charities through payroll deductions, and the charities are concerned, after reading the measure's language and consulting attorneys, that they will be banned from speaking on behalf of their clients." The measure would have damaging effects, including restricting public employee unions' ability to collect dues from members. The Yamhill News Register says, "Though seemingly sensible on its surface, in practice, both these measures prohibit political free speech by public employees.\ It was authored by Bill Sizemore Donors opposing Measure 64 The Oregon Nurses Association donated $500,000 to the campaign against the proposal. Defend Oregon, as a committee, is fighting seven different ballot measures, and supporting two others. As a result, it is not possible to discern how much of its campaign warchest is going specifically to defeat Measure 59. Altogether, the group has raised over $6 million in 2008. Major donations to the Defend Oregon group as of October 8 include: $4.1 million from the Oregon Education Association., $100,000 from School Employees Exercising Democracy (SEED) $100,000 from the AFL-CIO. $50,000 from Oregon AFSCME Council 75. Petition drive history On May 13, 2008, the Oregon Secretary of State announced that according to an unofficial verification conducted by their office, supporters of the measure had turned in 87,348 valid signatures, slightly more than the 82,769 required. This represented a validity rate of 66% of the 132,347 signatures turned in. Democracy Direct was hired to collect signatures for the measure, A union-funded watchdog group asked the Oregon Secretary of State to conduct an investigation into how some of the signatures on the measure were collected. Secretary of State Bill Bradbury said, "…most all of the initiatives Oregon voters will decide this fall got there through practices that are now illegal. But those practices were legal at the time most of the signatures were submitted." A lawsuit has been filed in federal court challenging