 * “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
—Helen Keller
Photo taken by Sarah Settimo
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The big date of April 4 is coming up fast. That’s what’s known as the first chamber deadline: legislation that hasn’t been passed out of policy committees by then are dead for the session. That’s meant devoting the last couple of weeks to bills still pending in my Natural Resources Committee. Most of them are pretty straightforward, and we’ve already passed more than a dozen on to the next step in the process. But we’re still working to build a critical mass of support for a few big ones, and getting them in shape over the next week is a challenge. Most notable are:
Senate Bills 85 and 398, which in different ways address the decades-old struggle over CAFOs, Confined Animal Feeding Operations—some call them factory farms. By a wide margin this issue has drawn more, and more emotionally heated, testimony than any bill we’ve heard this session. Either bill could change the future of Oregon’s biggest cattle and poultry operations, and for some who testified they represent a more basic issue: a clash between community-scale and large corporate-scale animal agriculture, and the different values underlying the two categories. I hope to write later at the length this issue deserves, but with negotiations coming to a head this week, I’ll leave it there for now.
Senate Bill 530, the Natural Climate Solutions bill that could possibly become the first significant climate-related legislation to draw votes from both parties. We’ll know in a few days. Here’s an overview of what it could do.
 Senate Bill 80, which aims to improve on 2021’s SB 762, the landmark wildfire bill. It would change the structure and purpose of the wildfire map and provide for more local stakeholder involvement before it’s finalized. It would also create a pilot grant program to help people in need make their homes more fire resistant; the challenge here will be to find new dollars in a lean budget year. Here’s a bill summary, subject to slight change in the next few days. All of this works hand in hand with SB 82, the wildfire insurance bill that we passed across the Senate Floor last week on a bipartisan vote.
Senate Bill 789, which would keep in place a past compromise that limits canola cultivation in the Willamette Valley to a 500-acre zone, already passed through my committee on a party-line 3-2 vote and is headed for the Senate Floor. Here’s a taste of the debate.
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The Co-Chairs Budget…a little more on that lean budget year I mentioned. We found out more this week with the release of the budget framework proposed by the Senate and House Co-Chairs of the Ways & Means Committee. This is step two of the biennial process, following the release of the Governor’s Recommended Budget in January. Several weeks of conversation, negotiation, and—just guessing here—aggravation lie ahead.
Honoring SOU: House Concurrent Resolution 1, honoring Southern Oregon University’s 150th anniversary, passed through the House earlier this month. I was pleased to carry it to the Senate Floor last week with President Rick Bailey sitting at my desk. I used the opportunity to make a larger point.
House Bill 3206, currently parked in the House Rules Committee, would lower the voting age to sixteen for school board elections. The case for it is here. At the beginning of the session I liked the idea enough to sign on as a
co-sponsor.
What do you think?
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That’s it for now. I’ll be back with updates on some other big bills in the next couple of weeks.
 Senator Jeff Golden, Oregon Senate District 3
Measure 114: What happened to the gun safety measure that voters narrowly approved last November? The courts delayed its implementation pending extensive consideration of claims that it violates constitutional guarantees or state law. On Friday the Senate Judiciary Committee released the details of Senate Bill 348, which would put into place a revised version of the ballot measure. Details here.
Gun Safety: HB 2005 is a combination of three gun safety bills that will punish making, selling or possession untraceable and undetectable firearms (ghost guns), raise the minimum age to possess firearms from 18 to 21, with certain exceptions like hunting and police/military service, and allow cities and counties the choice to restrict concealed carry in public buildings.
Rent: SB 611 received a work session today, 3/29. SB 611 would, among other things, cap annual rent increases to 3 percent plus inflation or 8 percent, whichever is lower.
Reproductive Rights and Gender Affirming Care: HB 2002 has a Work Session Scheduled , 4/3. This bill provides protections and access for reproductive and gender affirming care, much in response to the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. News summaries can be found here and here.
Flavored Tobacco: HB 3090 has a Work Session Scheduled, 4/3. The bill would prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco.
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If you would like to learn how to look up a bill, how to verify a legislator's vote, or how to testify, follow the links below.
If you would like to follow a specific bill and receive updates when it is scheduled for a committee hearing or floor vote, first search the bill number on OLIS. For a tutorial on how to search for a bill, click "how to find a bill or vote information" above. Once you are on the bill's page, click "e-subscribe" in the top right corner, as shown below circled in red.
Access will be opening a new, free Mobile Market at 3630 Aviation Way on April 3rd. You can find more information about Access food pantries here.
  Access is hosting a Senior Fair on April 4th at the Medford Armory. More information here.
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