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To contact me, please click here: Rep.MarkGamba@oregonlegislature.gov
Hi folks,
Well, legislative deadlines are officially looming. September 27th is the last day for legislators to file bill drafting paperwork in order to have legislation ready on day one of the 2025 session. It is still possible to draft new bills after that date but, in general, they will have more of an uphill climb. My staff and I are chugging along and I will certainly have a good list of concepts to champion. Read on for more details.
I wanted to give you a heads-up that the legislature is entering the pre-election “blackout period” during which we are not permitted to use any state resources for “mass communication” purposes. What this means is that I am not going to be able to send another newsletter like this one until after the upcoming election. We are still able to contact and respond to people individually, however, so please do not hesitate to reach out to my office with any questions, concerns, or for help interacting with a state agency.
During the interim between legislative sessions, the legislature regularly holds what are called “legislative days.” At these times the various committees tend to hold meetings to discuss pressing issues and preview legislation that may be coming forward in the next full session. There are no floor sessions, so no legislation can be actually passed into law, but these are great opportunities to tune in and get (or stay) informed about what legislation may be on the horizon. The next legislative days are coming up fast from September 23rd to September 25th. You will be able to watch all of the committee meetings, see their agenda, and read any presentation materials all through OLIS.
Pictured: The meeting of the House Climate, Energy, and Environment Committee during the May 2024 legislative days.
I try to include a brief blurb in each newsletter about some of the bill concepts I am working on. See below for a couple more. I would love to hear your thoughts if either piques your interest.
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BPA Resolution - This is part of the package of bills coming out of the Transmission Workgroup we have been running. In a nutshell, the Bonneville Power Administration was created by the federal government in 1937 to deliver and sell the power from the newly built dams on the Columbia River. From the 1940’s through the 1970’s Bonneville built what is now the skeleton of the electrical grid in the Pacific Northwest. Since then however, very little additional transmission has been built and in the past several years the requests to interconnect to BPA’s system have grown exponentially. As BPA is a federal agency and the state of Oregon has no jurisdiction over the agency, this bill asks our federal congressional delegation to lean on BPA to: increase the buildout of transmission; join a regional market that would bring maximal benefits to Oregonians; use grid-enhancing technologies to increase the capacity of our existing electrical grid; and allow BPA to pay competitive wages so that they can hire the technical staff they need.
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Short-term Rental Study - On its surface, this is a simple little bill to begin gathering state-level data on the scope of companies like AirBnB. There are growing concerns that these business models create perverse incentives to pull housing units out of the conventional rental market, thereby by worsening the housing crisis and increasing the rate of homelessness experienced by our communities. Places like New York City have banned short-term rentals almost entirely and other jurisdictions have imposed restrictions on how long a housing unit can be operated as a short-term rental in a given year. My bill will explore the impact, in real terms, that these businesses are having in Oregon. I believe some level of further regulation will be called for after that, especially in tourist destinations like we have on the coast.
Thanks for reading. As always, feel welcome to reach out to me with any questions.
All my best,
Mark Gamba
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1441
Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, H-477, Salem, Oregon 97301
Email: Rep.MarkGamba@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/gamba
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