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The dust has finally settled on the 82nd Legislative Session. We adjourned the evening of Thursday, March 7, after spending five weeks in Salem working on important legislation. There were some victories along the way. Measure 110 was reformed, your kicker was protected, and after several years of effort we removed the requirement that farm machinery and equipment be tangible personal property for the purposes of exemption from ad valorem property taxation.
HB 4002 took steps to recriminalize the possession of drugs and ultimately will help those who need treatment in Oregon. I was proud to vote yes on this bill, which was supported by The Oregon Sheriff Association, District Attorneys, and the Chiefs of Police across the state. There is no doubt this topic will be revisited in the future, but I believe this is the first step in the right direction.
HB 4111 was the final bill I carried to the Senate Floor. After many years of work we have provided tremendous tax relief to many Oregonians by making all farm machinery tax exempt. This bill passed unanimously.
Christmas Tree Bill SB 5701 -Every year we facilitate capital construction requests for local projects around the district. Almost $88 million was allocated this session for such requests. Unfortunately, this go around was not favorable to requests in Senate District 30.
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Outside of capital construction dollars there were a few big boosts for local entities that came out of the Measure 110 Implementation dollars, HB 5204.
Lifeways Inc. in Ontario will receive $5,570,000 to put towards the development of a Malheur County Health Plaza, which will serve the needs of many needing mental or behavioral health services.
New Directions NW in Baker city is receiving $600,000 for their Recovery Village Crisis Stabilization and Detox Center. Again, this is a critical need within the district, and the state.
Jefferson County's BestCare Expansion is receiving $1,500,000 to create a new substance use disorder residential treatment facility in Madras. This initiative will establish culturally specific facilities and services tailored to the needs of Latino and Latina communities.
Governor Kotek prioritized housing this session. SB 1537 established a housing office to support and enforce housing laws, updated local housing rules, and gave money to agencies to support the act. SB 1530 appropriated the expenditure.
If you have not yet filed your taxes don't forget all Oregon resident taxpayers preparing their own returns in 2024 can file electronically at no cost using one of Oregon’s free file options.
Eligible Oregon taxpayers will receive a “kicker" tax credit. Your kicker is either included in your refund or it will reduce the amount of tax you owe. The Oregon “kicker" tax credit is how the state returns money to taxpayers when there is a revenue surplus. You need to have filed a 2022 tax return to get the kicker credit on your 2023 tax return. Use the What's My Kicker? calculator to check your kicker amount.
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Department of Administrative Services and other agency partners are gathering in Pendleton, Baker City, Fossil, and La Grande to help encourage careers with the state. You can view the full list of career fairs here
Representative Owens and I plan to host another Joint Virtual Town Hall in April where we will give a recap of the short session and share our plans for the interim. Keep an eye out for the meeting registration in the coming weeks.
As always, feel free to reach out to my office with any questions or concerns.
Take care,
 Lynn Findley
Email: Sen.LynnFindley@oregonlegislature.gov I phone: 503-986-1730
Address: 900 Court St NE, S-403, Salem, OR 97301
Website: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/findley
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