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State
legislators were in Salem this week to attend committee meetings during
Legislative Days. Representative Gail Whitsett participated in her five
assigned committees while I participated in my four assigned committees, as
well as the Senate floor session to confirm Governor Brown’s appointments.
My
first meeting took place with the Joint
Interim Task Force on Funding for Fish, Wildlife and Related Outdoor Recreation
and Education which convened on Friday, September 16.
The Task force is attempting to establish a new and stable source of revenue to
fund an $80 million per biennium increase in Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife (ODFW) budgets. During
that meeting, Task Force members discussed the outreach
its members are doing with stakeholders, who deal regularly with the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife, to explain the proposed budget increase of
more than 20 percent. We also worked on defining key questions and decision
points for the task force, developing the group’s next steps and identifying
its key messages. My personal opinion is that ODFW must undergo significant
consolidation and prioritization of its myriad programs, and must continue its
efforts to deal with inefficiencies and program duplication before the
legislature should even consider additional funding for the agency.
Two
separate funding
options for ODFW were selected by the Task Force, including a
surcharge on Oregon income tax returns and a wholesale tax on beverage
containers subject to the Oregon Bottle Bill. The task force chair was charged
with delivering
a report on its progress to key legislative committees in both
the House and Senate.
To
find out more about what happened during the task force’s meeting, you can click
here
to watch video footage or read
this article.
Tuesday,
September 20 proved bittersweet, as a memorial service was held in the Senate
chambers for Sen. Alan Bates (D-Ashland). He passed away unexpectedly August 5 during
fishing trip on the Rogue River. Rep.
Whitsett and I also attended a service held for Senator Bates on the campus of
Southern Oregon University in late August. I served with him in the Senate for
many years, and was saddened
by his sudden passing.
The
following day, the Joint
Interim Committee on Department of Energy Oversight held its most
recent meeting. We continued our review and
discussion of the programs within the troubled Oregon Department of Energy
(ODOE) and the recommendations
made by its stakeholders for how that agency
should function. The debate remains open regarding whether the Legislative
Assembly should chose to either close or restructure the agency.
Members of the committee heard presentations about ODOE’s Energy
Development Services Division, as well as its Director’s Office and Central
Services. We also held a discussion about what next steps should be taken by
the committee in its duties to provide oversight to the distressed agency. Unfortunately,
the committee chairs decided not to address either the recently published
forensic audit or the long
list of recommendations made by the auditors. Both the reason for creating
the Joint Committee and for commissioning the independent audit was to delve
into the Business Energy Tax Credit program that spent more than $1 billion of
taxpayer money with little oversight, direction or accountability.
Immediately
following that meeting, the Senate
Interim Committee on Environment and Natural Resources heard invited testimony from a representative of the Climate Trust regarding
carbon offsets. We
also received an update
on Cleaner Air Oregon as well as the Human Health Rulemaking
Related to Industrial Emissions from DEQ and Oregon Health Authority (OHA).
Senator Dembrow provided and update on his Diesel Work Group along with a DEQ
clean diesel program coordinator.
The
cumulative effects of the Low
Carbon Fuel Standard that was enacted in 2015, the Coal
to Clean extension of the State’s Renewable Portfolio Standard that was enacted
in 2106, plus the proposed Carbon
Cap and Trade, Clean
Diesel and Cleaner Air Oregon projects will create a monumental financial challenge
for Oregon industry and transportation interests. Ironically, their cumulative
effect will accomplish virtually no measurable reduction in regional or global
greenhouse gas emissions.
That Committee also heard an update on the bottle bill
given by representatives
of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC), Department
of Environmental Quality
(DEQ), the Oregon Beer and Wine Distributors Association
and the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative. The chairman of the previously
mentioned ODFW Joint Interim Task Force on State Department of Fish and
Wildlife Funding gave a report on that group’s work to date. Similarly,
representatives from the Task Force on Independent Scientific Review for
Natural Resources gave
a presentation and
a report.
The
morning of Thursday, September 22 featured a brief Senate floor session in
which we unanimously confirmed the appointment of dozens of Oregonians to the
state’s many boards and commissions. Four new agency directors were confirmed,
as was a new member of Oregon Tech’s Board of Directors.
Finally, on Friday, September 23, the Emergency Board is scheduled to meet
and consider funding requests from several different state agencies. A grant
consent agenda included requests from the Higher Education Coordinating
Commission for dislocated workers and apprenticeship programs, Department of
Human Services for preparing students with disabilities, the OHA for
prescription drug overdose prevention and a Women, Infants and Children
information system tracker and the Parks and Recreation Department for an
historic properties database.
Other agency funding requests included the
Department of Revenue for property tax deferral programs, Department of
Veterans Affairs for transportation of veterans in rural areas and nursing
staff at veterans’ homes, the Department of Police Safety Standards and
Training for assistance to firefighters, Oregon Department of Forestry for the
2016 fire season and the Legislative Fiscal Office on the behalf of the
Department of Education for lead testing in schools.
The E-Board also accepted a number of
reports including two that helped to quantify the enormous cost of complying
with the most recent collective bargained union contracts for state employees. As I
have previously reported, the continual growth in costs of public employee
salaries and benefits is unsustainable.
The next week of legislative committee
days is scheduled to take place December 12-15.
Please remember, if we do not stand up for rural Oregon, no one will.
Best Regards,
Doug
Senate District 28
Email: Sen.DougWhitsett@state.or.us I Phone: 503-986-1728
Address: 900 Court St NE, S-311, Salem, OR 97301
Website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/whitsett
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