Measure seeks drug testing of officials.

Byline: David Steves The Register-Guard

SALEM - Urinating into a cup could become part of the job description for Oregon's governor and legislators under a bill that would require drug testing for elected state officials.

The bill comes in the wake of a scandal involving since-resigned state Rep. Kelley Wirth, D-Corvallis. She pleaded guilty last year to possession of methamphetamine.

Rep. Wayne Krieger, R-Gold Beach, said his decision to introduce the proposal, House Bill 2603, was not motivated by the Wirth case, adding that he'd considered introducing such a bill before he knew anything of her involvement with drugs.

Aside from the Wirth case, Krieger said he was unaware of drug use by any state elected officials.

With many Oregonians required by their employers to submit to urinalysis to prove they're not taking illegal drugs, Krieger said it was important for the state's elected officials to follow suit.

"We need to be able to assure them that we are not doing anything under the influence of narcotics or other drugs," said Krieger, a retired Oregon State Police officer.

Under his proposal, House Bill 2306, the Oregon State Police would administer twice-a-year drug tests to all elected statewide officials and judges. Any such office holder found to have taken certain controlled substances without legal authorization would receive a confidential, written warning and an order to undergo drug treatment. Officials who refuse to undergo treatment would face public disclosure of their drug-test results.

After failing such a test a third time, the official would face more dire consequences. An attorney general, state schools superintendent or labor commissioner would be removed from office; others would face automatic public disclosure of the test results.

It's far from certain that Krieger's bill will go anywhere. He had the bill introduced by the Judiciary Committee late last year, when he and his fellow Republicans held the majority. Democrats now control the chamber.

"I'd say it certainly raises some civil liberties issues that I would have concerns about," said the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Lake Oswego Democrat Greg Macpherson.