On June 30^th we wrapped up the 2019 legislative session after a long weekend of discussing bills on the House Floor. I am honored to have served House District 60 for another term and look forward to coming back in February to get more work done. In many ways this session was difficult, but my colleagues were able to pass some legislation that will truly benefit all Oregonians. Of course, there were bills that were bad for Oregonians and I always tried to express the concerns of my constituents who live in Eastern Oregon, but my voice sometimes was not heard. On other occasions, I received tremendous support from my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass legislation that will greatly benefit people in my district. I am glad to be back in Vale for the next few months to reconnect with my constituents and the district I represent.

Controversial Bills

HB 2020 – Dead

HB 2020, the Cap and Trade bill, is a bill that would have had devastating impacts on all Oregonians. The bill would have created a Climate Policy Office with the goal of reducing carbon emissions in Oregon by the year 2050. The Climate Policy office would have required that businesses purchase allowances for emitting carbon, which would (hopefully) disincentivize people from emitting carbon. It is important that we are always finding ways to reduce our carbon footprint to combat climate change and making sure we are good stewards of our environment, but the economic impact of this bill far outweighed the global environmental impacts. The bill was killed through negotiations late last week, largely as a result of the Senate Republican walkout, but I am sure that the proponents will try to bring it back in a future legislative session.

HB 2007 – Passed

HB 2007 was originally introduced with the hope of phasing out machines that use diesel engines state-wide. Diesel engines power a significant number of machines that rural communities and the agriculture industry relies on. Along with Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis (R-Tangent), I worked tirelessly to ensure that this bill would have as small of an impact as possible on rural Oregonians. As the bill was amended, it will not negatively impact any of my constituents, nor anyone else living outside of the Oregon Tri-County area. Within the Tri-County area, this bill exempts logging trucks, farm vehicles, antiques and heavy-duty trucks driven 5,000 miles or fewer on state highways each year. This bill could have been very damaging to rural Oregonians and I am glad that the hard work we put into it paid off.

HB 2015 – Passed

HB 2015 allows people living in the state of Oregon to receive a drivers license or identification card without having to prove legal residence in the United States of America. There have been many concerns with this bill across the state of Oregon for a myriad of reasons. I could not, in good conscience, vote for a bill that 85% of my constituents voted against on Measure 88 in 2014.

HB 3427 – Passed

HB 3427, also referred to as the Student Success Act, is a $2.8B corporate gross receipts tax. It creates the Fund for Student Success and will appropriate money received to the Oregon Department of Education for transfer to the State School Fund. This bill ultimately hurts working Oregonians because the businesses having to foot the bill for this tax will have no option but to pass the costs to consumers, hurting the bottom line for Oregon families.

My Bills 

HB 2451 – Passed

HB 2451 eliminates certain unneeded repetitive regulations for Oregon’s onion producers, making them more competitive on the global market.

HB 2457 – Passed

HB 2457 conducts a study that will look at the teaching license process in the Eastern Oregon Border Economic Development Region, with the hopes of attracting more teachers to the area.

HB 2458 – Passed

HB 2458 creates a property tax exemption for cooperatives that provide steam or hot water heat by combustion of biomass. This bill is important because it incentivizes people to find more innovative ways to provide heat for the community without contributing air pollution.

HB 2933 – Passed

HB 2933 Grants the Eastern Oregon Border Economic Development Region more authority and freedom, allowing them to continue to promote the Region’s economy.

HB 2972 – Passed

HB 2972 allows the Harney District Hospital to join all of the rest of the district hospitals in Oregon to provide retirement programs to their employees other than PERS. This will encourage future doctors and other hospital staff to move to Harney County and work at the hospital. The bill also allows the Harney District Hospital to hire previously retired hospital staff to work in order to solve some of their employment vacancies.

HB 2449 – Passed

HB 2449 increases the 9-1-1 emergency communication tax to better fund the Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) across the state. The increase will help PSAPs hire more staff to respond to the increase in 9-1-1 call volume. The 9-1-1 emergency communication tax hasn’t increased in nearly 25 years and is necessary to provide the highest level of safety to all Oregonians.

HB 2456 – Dead

HB 2456 would have allowed up to one hundred 2-acre lots of non-viable farmland in Malheur County within the Eastern Oregon Economic Development Region to be rezoned for rural residential use. This would have provided more housing opportunities in Malheur County encouraging more people to move to the region helping boost the economy.

Staff Update 

Sadly, Anne’s last day as my District Office Manager was on Friday. Her kind and gentle presence in the office will be missed! Our District Office will be unstaffed until we hire her replacement. During this transition, feel free to call our Salem office at 503-986-1460 or email me at Rep.LynnFindley@oregonlegislature.gov.

Starting this month, we will be adding a new member of our Salem staff. Tanner Lloyd comes to us from Rep. Mike McLane’s office and is a graduate of Oregon State University with a degree in political science. He is incredibly excited to serve House District 60 in the next legislative session. He will be taking over for Tiffany Bennett, my current Chief of Staff when she moves to Atlanta in August. 

District Coffee Hours

Since the Legislative Session is now over, I will be making my way to each county in the district in September to catch up with everyone I represented in Salem. I am looking forward to getting a chance to sit down with you and talk about what you would like to see in Salem in the next legislative session. More information regarding the dates and locations of each of the events will be sent out in the next newsletter and on my Facebook page.

 Closing Thoughts

It has been an absolute pleasure serving my constituents of House District 60 and I look forward to catching up with you during the interim so I can better voice the concerns of rural Oregonians to my colleagues. As always, please feel free to reach out to my office if there is anything we can do to assist you. Have a safe Independence Day Weekend.

 

Warm regards,