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Greetings from Salem!
This has been a busy week at the Capitol as Public Hearings
and Work Sessions are being held are various bills under consideration. Good ideas for legislation come from all
areas, for instance, I submitted three bills at the request of the Oregon
Public Ports Association, I submitted three bills. All three bills were discussed this week in
the House Committee on Economic Development and Trade.
HB 2899: To clarify the authority of Ports to enter
into Intergovernmental Agreements (IGA) as authorized under ORS 190. Currently ORS 190 permits all types of
governments to enter into agreements with other governments for a broad array
of reasons, and many local ports do just that.
HB 2899 would clarify Port
authority in this area, and passed out of committee on a 9-0 vote with a “Do
pass” recommendation.
HB 2900: Relates to Port advertising. Currently ORS 777.240 limits what a port can
advertise only to their facilities and the commerce taking place at the
port. This bill would expand the
ability of the port to be able to advertise activities of the port, or
activities of those using the port. This
bill had a Public Hearing this week and is scheduled for a Work Session this
coming Monday morning in the House Committee on Economic Development and Trade.
HB 2901: This
bill deals with real property purchases.
Under current law, a port cannot purchase property without obtaining an
appraisal from a disinterested state certified appraiser. If the appraisal exceeds $500,000 the
statute requires the port obtain a second appraisal. This has become a burden to ports located in
rural settings, so the bill would increase the financial threshold for
obtaining the second appraisal to $2 million.
The committee approved a “Do pass” recommendation on a 9-0 vote.
On Wednesday, we celebrated Women’s Day at the Capitol, and
I was happy to join Governor Kate Brown and other women legislators for a brown
bag lunch meeting to discuss proposed legislation that is of interest to women
throughout Oregon.
 Women's Day Working Lunch with Governor
Constituents have been stopping by to visit, and on Thursday
it was great to see April Cockcroft from Seaside, a few years back she
job-shadowed me here at the Capitol, now she is a pre-med student. It
gladdens my heart to see such capable young people achieving their educational
and career goals.
We also got the news this week that Chad Allen of Tillamook
had been recognized by the Oregon Farm Bureau with a Service to Agriculture
award for helping to advance legislation pertaining to appropriate uses exclusive
farm use lands. Last sessions SB 1517
will help create a collaborative approach to include all stakeholders when
considering the use of agricultural lands.
So far this session I’ve met with farmers, young farmers and ranchers and
also a group of Future Farmers of America from Tillamook High School. It was nice to meet the students and their
FFA advisor when they visited the Capitol.
 Krystal McCarty, Levi Crabtree, Rep. Boone, Brooklyn Bush
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