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Hello Friends,
Last week, legislative leadership announced that Sine Die is Imminent. This declaration, which establishes shorter timelines for bill notifications (changing from a 48-hour notice to 24-hour) simultaneously gets the whole building buzzing—adjournment is near. Every session there is a constitutional Sine Die and any work not completed by that date will be picked up in the coming session. As the session ends, policy committees have slowed their meeting schedules and floor sessions have taken the stage.
So far, twenty-four bills have made it through Ways and Means and are being heard on the House and Senate floors. Another nine are scheduled for votes during the Ways and Means meeting on Monday with more scheduled the remainder of the week.
As I mentioned in the last newsletter, all the policy related Ways and Means subcommittees have now shut down for the session. This means any remaining appropriations will be worked in the catchall Capital Construction Subcommittee. Here is a list of all the measures that have been assigned to it so far. That list will grow in the next few days, so keep an eye on it.
Many of the final appropriations will be made in HB 5701, the omnibus end-of-session appropriations bill. As currently written you will find all the appropriations, mainly adjustments to agency budgets, made by Ways and Means back during January Legislative Days. These will be joined by the final individual appropriations Wednesday or Thursday of this week.
Infrastructure bonding appropriations will be contained in HB 5201 - for lottery bonds and HB 5202 - for regular bonds. Here you will also find the bonding appropriations that were made back in January and will be updated with further appropriations.
All of these appropriation bills must also go through Capital Construction.
In the next newsletter I’ll be able to give you more details on what exactly has been given the green light.
Be safe,
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Campaign Finance: HB 4024 was introduced by Majority Leader Julie Fahey to encourage transparency in campaign finance and combat Initiative Petition 9, which would establish contribution limits from corporations and create tighter restrictions on campaign finance laws in Oregon. IP9 advocates are currently gathering signatures for a ballot measure vote in November. HB 4024 was heard on Monday, with written testimony due by 10am on Wednesday, March 6. You can submit written testimony here.
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Governor’s Housing Bill & Funding Package: SB 1537 and SB 1530 cleared the Senate floor on Thursday, allocating nearly $370M in funding for various housing initiatives across the state. This bill, which includes establishing a new Housing Accountability and Production Office, granting one-time urban growth boundary exemptions, and creating the affordable revolving loan fund was Governor Kotek’s singular bill for the 2024 session. In order to make headway on creating 36,000 new housing units, Oregon must become friendly to housing production. SB 1537 is a step towards that goal.
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Measure 110 Reform: HB 4002A had a four hour public hearing on Monday and passed both the House and Senate floors by Friday of last week. The Joint Committee on Addiction and Community Safety Response adopted the -33 amendment, which:
- Establishes misdemeanor for crime of possession of a controlled substance
- Requires the Criminal Justice Commission to create deflection programs for substance abuse treatment
- Allows pharmacists to dispense early refills of medications used to treat opioid use disorders
- Requires Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission to study substance use disorders in the state and report by September 2025
- Establishes Joint Task Force on Regional Behavioral Health Accountability to make recommendations on improving funding for behavioral health systems in Oregon
This bill was was a tough decision for me. We definitely needed to change the policy of Measure 110 and HB 4002 did that. It puts back in some accountability. But as I said on the floor, I am concerned of the lack of funding that is coming to our rural counties to actually implement a successful deflection program. It will be my job now in 2025 to work with our sheriffs, DAs, police chiefs, mental health providers, and others to figure out how can we successfully do this, it is a good day for Oregonians that we recriminalize drugs. We are moving forward with more treatment centers, and maybe we’re sending a message to the rest of the United States that Oregon is no longer an open, public drug market. You can listen to my comments on the floor.
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I gave a courtesy on the House Floor to the Crane girls and boys basketball teams
 for their Oregon Class 1A state championships, congratulations to both teams.
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- A Harney Domestic Well Remediation Fund Information Session Wednesday will be held March 6 from 5:30-7pm at the Harney County Community Center or online. To attend virtually, register here. To stay up-to-date, sign up to receive OWRD funding opportunities.
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Wallowa-Whitman National Forest will hold a local, open house for the public in Baker County on Tuesday, March 12 from 5-7pm at the Baker County Conference & Event Center. Shaun McKinney, Forest Supervisor and Kristi Tapio-Harper, Acting Deputy Forest Supervisor, will be providing updates on the forest as well as any local projects.
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The Harney County Youth Career Fair will be held March 14 from 10am-2pm at the Memorial Building on the Harney County Fairgrounds. Eastern Oregon colleges and businesses will be providing information to local students on career pathways and opportunities.
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NewSun Energy is now accepting submissions for our second annual Climate and Ag Scholarship essay contest. Four $2,500 scholarships will be awarded to graduating high school seniors in Sherman, Crook, Lake, Klamath, Wasco, Gilliam, and Harney counties, and the Warm Springs Reservation. Submissions are due March 20, 2024, learn more here: http://tinyurl.com/NewSunEssay
- Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs seeks candidates to fill vacant advisory committee positions. Applications must be submitted by March 29. Interested veterans can find out more here.
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