The Oregon House is set to vote today on legislation that makes it a crime to behave loudly, rudely, roughly, coarsely, disrespectfully, and so on within 200 feet of a funeral.

OK, so that's not the official language in

, but it's all under "disorderly conduct." The person or persons also would have to be aware that a funeral is taking place.

The legislation stems from protests by the Westboro Baptist Church, a small church in Kansas that has regularly disrupted military funerals. Members believe that the U.S. soldiers dead in Iraq and Afghanistan are God's way of expressing anger toward our tolerance of homosexuality.

Church members last went to an Oregon soldier's funeral in Hood River in 2006.

The House tried to

but failed over free speech concerns in the Senate. Oregon's Constitution provides greater free speech protections than the U.S. Constitution. (Oregonian columnists

and

offered their views on the issue.)

This time, Sen Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, explained on the Senate floor that the bill should clear constitutional muster. This goes after conduct, he said, and not speech.

The House floor debate could be interesting. It's already a Class A misdemeanor to be disorderly on public transit or to circulate false reports of a catastrophe on school grounds.

2012 Legislature

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Two other items of note on this Presidents' holiday:

The House Rules Committee didn't vote last week on

, which would create a tobacco enforcement fund with money from a special pot at the Oregon Health Authority. The bill is scheduled for today.

Also, the full Senate didn't get to

on Friday and should today. The legislation grants about 1,700 elderly and disabled homeowners a two-year break on their property taxes.

It represents a partial, short-term walk back from a 2011 legislative decision to write more restrictive rules for a senior and disabled property tax deferral program.

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