The Oregon District Court issued a ruling today whereby it “PERMANENTLY ENJOINS AND RESTRAINS” the OLCC and other State actors from enforcing Measure 119 against Bubble’s Hash and Ascend Dispensary, the plaintiffs that sued over BM 119’s constitutionality. You can view Judge Simon’s Opinion and Order here, and the Judgment here. BM 119 required most Oregon cannabis businesses to enter into labor peace agreements with approved unions, in order to renew or obtain licensure.
Although the ruling is tailored toward these two plaintiffs, the Court functionally enjoins OLCC and others from enforcing BM 119 across the board. The Court found that BM 119 failed under both the National Labor Relations Act and the First Amendment to the Constitution. We’ve long anticipated this ruling here on the blog, because it wasn’t a particularly close call.
I’m not going to recap the Court’s analysis—the Opinion and Order speaks for itself. I do want to emphasize what an irresponsible waste of time and money this whole thing was, and the undue stress it caused for many of our client licensees. As I previously explained:
You don’t have to be anti-union (I’m not) to think BM 119 was poorly conceived. I previously highlighted BM 119’s Constitutional and labor law exposure, and explained how this initiative arose after a stymied legislative effort by the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 (“UFCW 555”). The plaintiffs’ complaint traces this history thoroughly, including how UFCW 555 brought a failed recall effort against Representative Paul Hovey for having the stones to inquire whether its proposal was unconstitutional and could be preempted.
As expected, Judge Simons’ findings mirror those of Legislative Counsel in 2023 (see here and here). UFCW 555 should have accepted the reality that their goal wasn’t legally viable, rather than put the question to Oregon voters. Many voters likely checked “yes” on BM 119 without any appreciation of its fatal legal flaws, or its prior legislative rejection.
Unfortunately, the cannabis industry was caught flat-footed, and taxpayers ended up funding a defense of BM 119 which simply wasn’t viable. Today, the industry should thank Bubble Hash and Ascend Dispensary, and their stellar counsel at Fisher Phillips.
Please also stay tuned for updates from OLCC, which should explain that the LPA requirement is a goner, with license renewals and change in ownership applications proceeding as they did before this regrettable exercise.
For background on the BM 119 saga, check out the following:
