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 Oregon Trails
An Occasional Newsletter
from
The Association of Oregon Counties
Month, Year - Vol 1, Issue 1 |
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Where There's a Ways...There's a Means
And a couple of Rules and Revenue
April 29, 2011 |
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Greetings from "Umbrella City"
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Salem - Following last Thursday's deadline for bills to have a work session in their house of origin, this week Senate committees began hearing House Bills and House committees began hearing Senate bills with the exception of: Rules, Revenue and Ways and Means. The bottle neck is currently getting bills off the floors of the respective houses, so floor sessions have been extended. Next week we expect that committees will have very full agendas and may meet in the evening. Nearly 3000 bills have been introduced to date.
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Senate Bills & Measures Introduced |
Senate Measures Passed | |
1115 |
205 | |
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House Bills & Measures Introduced |
House Measures Passed | |
1824 |
260 | | |
(from Rep. Hanna's newsletter)
Some believe the number of bills "still in play" is much lower than at this point in past sessions. There are some efforts to revive dead bills but a legislator must use one of their "priority" bills for that to occur and time is running out for those as well.
The Ways and Means subcommittees continue to hear state agency budget bills and take public testimony. Some of the smaller non general fund agencies are expected to start moving through to the full committee soon.
AOC has confirmed that the co-chairs' budget assumes all tax credits will expire. So, if any tax credits are to be extended or created, the funding will have to come from some existing budget. The Joint Tax Credit Committee is meeting to consider tax credit proposals.
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| Ways and Means Subcommittee on Public Safety | |
There was a strong county presence Thursday at the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Public Safety as the Oregon Youth Authority budget received public testimony. Harney County Judge Steve Grasty, Clackamas County Commissioner Jim Bernard, Marion County District Attorney Walt Beglau and Scott Taylor, Multnomah County Director of the Department of Community Justice all spoke to the importance of the juvenile programs as an important investment and tool preventing more inmates in the adult corrections systems. AOC appreciates the co-chairs' reinvestment in the youth authority.
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CAFFA Quarterly Reporting Deadline Bill Meets With Success in Senate Committee | |
The Senate Finance and Revenue Committee unanimously reported out SB 954 on Wednesday, sending it to the floor with a "do pass" recommendation.
The bill, sponsored by Senator Chuck Thomsen at the request of the Association of Oregon Counties, would give additional time for county treasurers to pay over moneys in the County Assessment Function Funding Assistance Account (CAFFA) fund to the State Treasurer. The change is needed in order to allow counties to align the CAFFA quarterly reporting deadline with the deadline for the regular property tax distribution payment and would make both dates the 10th business day of the month. The bill also proposes to change the date on which the Department of Revenue pays a percentage of the monies in the CAFFA to counties from the 25th day of the month to 28th day of the month following the close of the quarter. The bill passed out of committee in possibly the quickest work session yet this year, under ninety-seconds! Our thanks to Senator Thomsen, a longtime Hood River County Commissioner, for sponsoring the bill.
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New, But Narrow, Late Filing Bill Moves | |
HB 2546 was amended and sent to the House floor by the House Revenue Committee Friday. Dramatically narrowed in scope, the bill extends the opportunity to apply for a property tax exemption for up to five years to churches, nonprofit organizations, charities, fraternal organizations, and local governments. The claimant, however, must demonstrate good and sufficient cause for failing to file on time, be a first-time filer, or a public entity. Moreover, the filing requires a fee of the greater of $200 per year of exemption claimed or one-tenth of one percent of real market value per year of exemption claimed. The incident that caused this bill was an assessment on a nonprofit day care operation in a church, which had failed to file for exemption. The bill would apply prospectively only.
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Long-term Tax Credit for Rural Enterprise Zones | |
AOC, together with the Oregon Business Development Department, League of Oregon Cities and Oregon Economic Development Association, testified on April 28 in support of continuation of the long-term tax credit for rural enterprise zones, HB 3173. This credit, along with many others, are being considered by the Joint Tax Committee because unless renewed by the Legislature, the tax credit will not continue. We are also working to seek approval for HB 3017, which would renew the sunset for Enterprise Zones. HB 3017 has passed the House and awaits action in the Senate.
Rural Enterprise Zones have been a powerful and effective business recruitment tool for new jobs and attracting business investment. Currently, there are 360-400 full-time permanent jobs directly associated with the long-term rural enterprise zone program among five currently exempt facilities, with more than 100 jobs anticipated at future projects. Approximately 20 percent of these jobs are attributed to the Long-term Tax Credit for Rural Enterprise Zones.
The Long-term Enterprise Zone Tax credit complements the recruitment efforts associated with Rural Enterprise zones by providing an additional incentive for businesses willing to make investments larger than $25 million and hiring at least 10-75 full-time employees within three to five years. Furthermore, the wages must be at least 50 percent above the average county wage.
This tax credit is used sparingly because (1) it is aimed at very large investments; (2) very high wage jobs in rural areas must be created; and (3) it must be approved by the Governor. The Long-term Tax Credit for Rural Enterprise Zones is a cost-effective approach to job creation at an annual cost of about $2,500 per job.
A special thanks to Judge Terry Tallman, the Port of Morrow, Economic Development of Central Oregon, the City of The Dalles, and Coos, Curry and Douglas Business Development Corporation for providing written testimony about the need for the tax credit!
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| Health System Transformation |
On Wednesday night the Joint Special Committee on Health Care Transformation heard both invited and public testimony. Claudia Black, co-director of government relations for Multnomah County, provided testimony supporting the county-oriented language in HB 3650. Shortly before she provided this testimony AOC's Special Operations Committee voted to endorse her testimony and the county-oriented language. Claudia has been instrumental in supporting the counties' role in HB 3650 and has worked tirelessly with the rest of the "Gang of Six" who helped the governor's office to draft the current language.
The committee also responded to the public input from the previous week. The comments focused on four major issues:
· Section 22-relationships between Coordinated Care Organizations (CCO) and Counties
· Who makes up a CCO?What is the role between the counties and the CCOs?
· Should CCOs be under the oversight of the Department of Consumer and Business Services or the Oregon Health Authority?
· Tort Reform-there is a possibility to add this to the bill.There is also talk of introducing a committee bill to deal with Tort Reform.
While there were not many answers at Wednesday night's meeting it was clear that the counties' role in health reform is still up in the air. We encourage you to contact your legislative representative and let them know HB 3650, as originally introduced, contains language in Sections 4 and 22 that must be retained in order to protect safety net mental health and public health services.
If you have any questions, please contact Mark Nystrom. |
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Water Bills Flow From Committee | |
Two bills supported by AOC, and designated as Tier 2 by the Water Policy Committee, easily flowed through the Senate Environment & Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday. HB 2133, permitting electronic transactions between the Water Resources Department and its customers, and HB 2135A, which reduces the number of publications of notice by WRD to two, were sent to the Senate floor unanimously with "do pass" recommendations. Both bills streamline operations at WRD without limiting information flow. HB 2133 will be carried on the floor by Senator Chuck Thomsen, former Hood River County Commissioner.
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Woody Biomass |
The Oregon Senate unanimously passed SB 862 which directs the Oregon Department of Forestry to conduct an inventory of the potential woody biomass supply across the state. The bill allows the Department to enter into contracts and leases to allow the sale, exploration, collection, processing, storage, and stockpiling or conversion into energy or biofuel of woody biomass from our state forests. The Department would also be required to determine availability of biomass for use on a sustainable basis in order to ensure that forests are not overused and biomass remains in constant supply.
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BETC Reform Bills - Conservation, Manufacturing, Generation |
These bills are in very draft form, but the Legislature has not given notice yet when they will begin work. The down-scaled conservation (HB 2414) and generation (HB 2208) bills need much work to make them practical for use, but will first be heard in coming weeks in House Revenue before going to the Joint Ways & Means Committee on Tax Credits.
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| Consulting With Counties and Cities | |
HB 3511, the bill that would require the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife to consult with cities and counties when proposing changes to threatened or endangered species, and work to mitigate economic effects, died in the House Agriculture and Natural Resources committee last Wednesday because of some negative legislative maneuvering. AOC and partners are working to get the bill reintroduced and moved through another path, since it had much bipartisan support.
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| Early Learning Council |
A workgroup met before the regularly scheduled Early Learning Design Team meeting to discuss the target population for the Early Learning Council (ELC) and to look at the budget for the anticipated 40 percent of children that would be drawn in. The workgroup decided that three factors would be considered in determining whether a child would receive services.These factors were race/ethnicity, poverty level and use of other public services. It was also discussed that due to budget constraints the goal of meeting the needs of 40 percent of Oregon children will not be possible in the first year. The goal will be to serve as many as possible and then build from there.
The Early Learning Design Team used much of their time on Monday to inform the participants on home visiting systems and budget information. The budget discussion focused on how all the different programs being tied into the ELC leverage funds from the federal government.According to the presentation, counties will be putting approximately $7.3 million into the programs that will be under the ELC umbrella. There are certain programs that require a county (not state) investment in order to get the federal match.
The group also discussed future meetings. Starting May 2nd the Early Learning Design Team will be meeting an hour earlier, from 5:00 - 6:00 pm, to hear 20 minute presentations on Early Learning Design Elements. There will be enough time for three presentations per week.
If you would like to present to the group please register with Amanda Sutton amanda.sutton@state.or.us no later than the Thursday prior to the meeting. The presentation meetings will be followed (6:00 - 8:30 pm) by the Early Learning Design Team ongoing meetings. |
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The Human Services Steering Committee will be holding their May 2nd meeting at the Local Government Center in Room 306 from 10-11:45 AM. The committee will spend approximately an hour and a half discussing the Health System Transformation - HB 3650. Sean Kolmer from Governor Kitzhaber's office will be attending and several individuals who have been working each step of the way will be there to answer your questions.The role of counties is still uncertain and this is an opportunity for you to get your questions answered regarding the process and progress of the bill.
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| Sage Grouse |
Outside the capitol at the Department of Fish and Wildlife last Friday, the Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted an administrative rule updating the Oregon Sage Grouse Conservation Strategy. Judge Steve Grasty and AOC Executive Director Mike McArthur asked the commission to delay the adoption as work is ongoing to develop a mitigation strategy and mapping has not been completed. They were joined in testimony by Malheur County Judge Dan Joyce. ODF&W states in the fiscal impact report accompanying the proposed rule that the plan will have no direct fiscal impact on the counties affected. AOC and the affected counties disagree.
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NACo Volunteers Needed | |
Ready to showcase Oregon to the nation? The National Association of Counties Annual Conference will be held in Multnomah County starting July 15th. Volunteers are needed to help guide the estimated 3000 county visitors around Portland and Oregon. Please consider using some of your spare time to help make their visit to our state and region a memorable one.
Becoming a volunteer is easy. Just register. Volunteers will get training and a t-shirt among other things for their time. If you have questions, please contact Theresa Sullivan at Multnomah County. Her phone number is 503-988-3655.
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Memorial for Nikki Whitty Scheduled | |
The memorial service for Nikki will take place on Saturday, May 7, 1:00 pm at the Coquille Community Building, 115 N. Birch St., Coquille.
Donations in Nikki's name can be made to the following charities:
Veterans Stand Down, c/o Commissioner's Office, 250 N. Baxter, Coquille, OR 97423
Friends of the Coquille Library, 105 N. Birch, Coquille, OR 97423
Maslow Project, 760 S. 2nd Street, Coos Bay, OR 97420
We miss you Nikki.
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Our Contributors | |
As another week in Oregon ends, we are left with the lingering question, will Spring ever arrive?
Contributors to this week's Oregon Trails were Pee Wee Reese, William and Kate, Bullet and Trigger, Beyonce and Pete the Pizza Guy.
Laura Cleland
Association of Oregon Counties
503-585-8351
Eric Schmidt
Assistant to Pete the Pizza Guy |
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