|
Greeting from Salem!
This week the House voted on three bills relating to Oregon
Ports.
HB
2899:
Clarifies the Port’s authority to enter into Intergovernmental Agreements as
authorized under ORS 190. This Bill
passed unanimously Thursday on a House floor and now moves to the Senate for
first reading and committee assignment.
HB
2901: Deals with Port real property purchases and raises the
financial bar for the requirement of a second appraisal when the property is
valued at $2 million or more. This also
passed easily in the House with a single dissenting vote, and now moves to the
Senate.
HB
2902:
Relates to language authorizing shipyard operation at Ports. Five Oregon ports already have shipyards,
and this bill adds acquisition and management of shipyards to a list in ORS
777.210 which permits ports to undertake various management activities. The House approved the bill with a 48-11 vote,
sending it to the Senate for committee assignment.
As soon as a bill finishes the committee process and is
approved by either a House or Senate vote, it then moves to the other chamber
to for committee assignment and Public Hearings and Work Sessions before
getting a vote in the second chamber. Therefore, committees are continuing to
work on bills, consider amendments and fine tune legislation for
consideration.
While lawmakers were meeting in Salem, Governor Brown visited
the coastal communities of Florence and Tillamook this week receiving updates
from local leaders on important issues. Among
those traveling with her was Jason Lewis-Berry, her new Regional Solutions
Director/Jobs and Economy Policy Advisor.
On Thursday morning Jason Lewis-Berry attended the Coastal Caucus weekly
meeting and heard from legislators about our priorities for the coast,
including small business support, transportation, land development hurdles and port
improvements. Jason has only been on the
job for three weeks, and is learning a lot about some of the struggles facing
our coastal rural communities.
The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department staff has
announced three potential river segments to include in the Oregon State
Waterway program. One segment is located
in my House District, it is a 15 miles portion of the Nehalem River from the
Spruce Run Campground to Nehalem Falls.
The Oregon State Scenic Waterway program was created in 1970 through a
ballot initiative. The program goals are
to protect the free-flowing character of the designated rivers, protect and
enhance scenic and natural values, recreation, and fish and wildlife while
protecting private property rights and encouraging other agencies to act
consistently with these goals. The
announcement of the candidates begins a more than year-long process when a
determination is made about the waterway’s eligibility, before thorough
conversations are held with communities and landowners along each river segment
under consideration. The department’s
report and recommendation regarding the Scenic Waterway designation will be
sent to the Governor in the early fall of 2018.
Next Wednesday through Friday, the Oregon Department of
Motor Vehicles office in Astoria will be closed to upgrade their public
restroom to meet accessibility standards.
Normally open from 9am to 5pm, the office will close Tuesday at 5pm and
reopen the following Monday March 27th. While this could be inconvenient, you may be
able to do your DMV business on line.
Visit OregonDMV.com to renew your vehicle registration, file a change of
address or file notice of sale of your vehicle without having to visit an
office.
Speaking of office visits, I always look forward when
someone from the north coast comes to Salem.
My schedule can get very busy, so it’s best to contact my office in
advance so we can try to schedule an appointment. My office is at H-481 and my door is always
open to constituents. This week we had
visitors from district to talk about local credit unions, county road
departments, Oregon Youth Authority facilities, nurses and a student group from
the North Coast Christian School. If
you have a concern or comment about a state agency or proposed legislation, you
can write, phone or email my office.
It is my privilege to serve you in the House of
Representatives and I look forward to hearing from you. Your input helps me make the decisions that
best represent House District 32.
Sincerely,
Representative Deborah Boone
House District 32
email: Rep.DeborahBoone@oregonlegislature.gov I phone: 503-986-1432
address: 900 Court St NE, H-481, Salem, OR, 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/boone
| 
