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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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Spring Break
Modified Version in Salem
March 25, 2013 |
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| Four Day Week | |
The only concession to the annual rite of passage known as Spring Break at the Oregon Legislature this year will be a so-called "In-District Day" this coming Friday. That's when legislators head for their home districts to confer with constituents and do their laundry. Otherwise, our erstwhile elected representatives and senators will be toiling away this week on the public's interests as they have been since February.
Bills are passing out of both chambers and some even headed for the Governor's desk and his signature or veto. The overall atmosphere in this session appears to be one of getting the occasionally mundane work of governing done as efficiently as possible while working to find solutions to some of the most contentious issues to surface in several years.
Committees in both chambers are trying very hard to stick to strict schedules to make sure some bills are, at the very least, given a public hearing. The deadline for a work session on a bill is fast approaching. Any bill not having had a work session or being scheduled for one after April 8th is probably dead in the water for this session. The deadline for bills actually having work sessions in their chamber of origin is April 18th.
In other words, legislators are starting to winnow the field of introduced bills down to those that have a glimmer of hope of passing. Needless to say, that narrowed field of legislation involves many bills that have a direct or indirect impact on Oregon counties. We have a look at some of that legislation in this edition of Oregon Trails.
Cleaning crews spent last week powerwashing the dome.
It really sparkles now. |
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| County Fiscal Distress | |
At the opening meeting of the House Task Force on O&C Counties, co-chaired by Rep. Bruce Hanna, R-Roseberg, and Rep. Val Hoyle, D-Eugene, AOC presented a brief history of proposed county fiscal distress measures to date aimed to at addressing the crisis caused by federal forest management gridlock and reductions and expiration of federal forest payments. Concern for county finances resulted in the Governor's Task Force on Federal Forest Payments & County Services, which reported its findings and recommendations in January 2009, and continued with legislation in the 2009 and 2012 sessions. This session the legislature will consider some 12 bills on the subject. More on the AOC testimony and bill descriptions can be found by clicking here.
The House O&C Counties Task Force cannot initiate legislation, but Chair Hanna made it clear that the task force will be very active in studying and commenting on relevant bills.
AOC so far has stated support for Senate Bill 581, to extend the sunset on the fiscal distress declaration process, and House Bill 3404, to extend the sunset for timber-dependent communities to reduce expenditures for property tax administration under certain limited circumstances. AOC opposes House Joint Resolution 2, which proposes a constitutional amendment to authorize the Legislature to refer a measure to merge counties, with approval by a majority of votes on the measure.
SB 173 has also been heard. It would provide assistance to counties in fiscal distress by creating in the Governor's office a service delivery technical assistance program:
- Award, to public bodies as defined in ORS 174.109, and administer grants for service delivery innovation.
- Enter into agreements with public and private entities to provide technical assistance to public bodies.
- Convene task forces and work groups as deemed necessary by the program to advance the purposes of this section.
The Governor's budget includes $2 million for funding the technical assistance program. The money would be set aside for the emergency board to disperse. Jim Johnson of the National Policy Consensus Center (Oregon Consensus) and AOC Executive Director Mike McArthur testified in favor of SB 173.
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| Public Safety Bargaining Bill Advances |
The House has voted 37-23 to pass HB 2418 and change the definition of "supervisor" for the purposes of public safety collective bargaining. The bill requires that a public safety employee must have the authority to impose "economic discipline" in order to be considered a supervisory employee and thus be a management employee outside the bargaining unit. This bill would be highly problematic for county sheriff's departments and other public safety-related agenies. For example, it has been remarked that in some counties only the sheriff has the ability to impose economic discipline. Among other detrimental problems with this legislation, the potential exists for supervisors to be forced into the same bargaining unit as the employees they lead, which could create conflicts of interest and disrupt current operations. AOC opposed HB 2418 on these grounds and several others. HB 2418 now heads to the Senate for further evaluation.
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| Video Lottery Good News, Bad News | |
County lobbyists watched HB 2837 sail out of the full Ways and Means Committee Friday, knowing that it has some good things in it and some bad things in it. The bill has been necessitated by lower than expected lottery revenues, prompting Ways and Means to rebalance the 2011-13 budget.
Want the good news or bad news first? OK, the bad news. Allocations to programs receiving lottery funding are being reduced by 2.2 percent. For the county video lottery appropriation, that translates into a cut of $808,801 and a $78,446 hit to county fairs. Unfortunately, the entire cut will be taken out of the final payment during the current biennium.
In addition to cuts to the county video lottery appropriation and county fairs, other programs receiving lottery allocations also were hit with a 2.18 percent reduction. A report from the Legislative Fiscal Office lists all the agencies and programs that will be impacted including the Department of Corrections, Oregon Business Development Department, Department of Education, Office of the Governor, Oregon University System, Oregon Health Authority, Department of Agriculture, and Bureau of Labor and Industries.
Now the good news, relatively good news at any rate. The so-termed "program change" bill (HB 2837) is accompanied by budget bill HB 5052 that reinstates just over $3 million for public safety -- specificically adult and juvenile corrections, and drug and alcohol treatment. Counties lost these dollars when HB 2712, a major court reform bill, passed the 2011 legislature. HB 2712 eliminated a program that was known to counties by a variety names including the county assessment, the jail assessment, or 1056 transfers. These were dollars that municipal, justice, and circuit courts passed through to counties from fine "assessments" and were earmarked for court security, adult and youth corrections, and drug and alcohol treatment programs. During the 2011 session, legislative fiscal analysts involved with HB 2712 attempted to keep counties whole with respect to these dollars by re-appropriating them into similar programs. At issue was that certain counties noticed the new fiscal procedures were returning far less money than they had previously seen from the courts.
Testimony to the interim Committee on State Courts Revenue Structure brought this issue to light, and identified that HB 2712 only recognized payments from circuit courts instead of all three court systems. The issue made it into the committee's final report to the 2013 Legislature. HB 2837 included language rectifying that situation, and restores the previous policy that allows these dollars to be spent on adult and juvenile corrections, and drug and alcohol treatment. Counties should watch for additional distributions that will come through the Oregon Department of Corrections.
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| $32 Million for Public Safety | |
AOC is hosting a workshop for counties this Wednesday, March 27, regarding a potential $32 million incentive fund for local public safety. Gov. Kitzhaber proposed this fund in his budget based on policy options from the Governor's Commission on Public Safety. The workshop will help local public safety officials determine how the fund will work and how to use the fund at the local level.
The goal for the governor's commission is to study current prison growth trends and explore ways to curb that growth over the next 10 years. At the current rate, according to state forecasters, a new prison would need to open in approximately two years. Counties were represented on the commission by Marion County Sheriff Jason Myers, Clackamas County District Attorney John Foote, and Multnomah County Department of Community Justice Director Scott Taylor.
The workshop will be from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Local Government Center in Salem. Teleconference and video conference is available. Please RSVP to AOC Public Safety Policy Manager Patrick Sieng by emailing psieng@aocweb.org.
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| Early Learning Update | |
AOC continues to follow two primary issues with the Early Learning Council. The first issue is what will happen after June 30th with the existing contracts that counties now administer through the commissions on children and families. The ELC and governor's office have been working with AOC to determine the most efficient way to handle the contracts. We should have an answer some time in the next two weeks.
The second issue is the Legislature's plan for the ELC. As written, HB 2013 calls for five demonstration projects to move forward rather than a statewide roll out of hubs. Counties have put in a great deal of effort around the state to prepare for the new hubs so we have been advocating for a statewide roll out.
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| Connect Oregon | |
The House Transportation and Economic Development Committee adopted the -2 amendment to the Connect Oregon Program (HB 2310) which will:
- Change the program to a "forgivable loan" program similar to incentive programs at the Oregon Business Development Department.
- Similar to the current requirements, require a 20 percent match. For local governments, 30 percent of the loan would be forgiven immediately. The remaining loan would be forgiven if conditions on milestones and performance standards are met.
- Bicycle and pedestrian projects that do not qualify for highway funding would be eligible for Connect Oregon.
- Two new criteria are added: urgency of the project and whether it is has a statewide benefit.
- Realign the Connect Oregon Regions to correspond with ODOT regions.
- Allow ODOT to assist the Department of Aviation with their administrative duties related to Connect Oregon.
The committee recommended funding at $100 million. The amended HB 2310 passed out of committee and heads to Ways and Means.
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| Bike - Ped List | |
The Oregon Transportation Commission approved a recommended list of eleven bicycle/pedestrian and transportation alternatives (formerly transportation enhancement) projects for $8.6 million. ODOT got 155 applications and approved the 11 projects out of that list of applicants. The projects now become part of the 2012-15 STIP and will be scheduled for construction. Click here for a complete list of the new projects.
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| BPA Bill Goes Forth | |
The BPA financing bill proceeds with clear intent. The Senate Finance & Revenue Committee, Chaired by Sen. Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, unanimously sent SB 261 to the floor with a do-pass recommendation. SB 261 permits the Bonneville Power Administration to enter into third-party financing agreements to expand energy infrastructure in Oregon without facing a property tax assessment. Although AOC looks at property tax expenditures with a jaundiced eye, AOC supported this bill, because of the urgent need for enhanced energy transmission capacity.
Led by House Revenue Committee Chair Rep. Phil Barnhart, D-Eugene, and Vice Chair Rep. Vicki Berger, R-Salem, the Legislature has begun to institutionalize the practice of accompanying tax expenditure legislation with an intent or purpose statement. The statement is to be printed with the expenditure in the biennial Tax Expenditure Report, so that future legislatures can determine whether the legislation lived up to its promise. In the event of SB 261, the purpose includes language to expand energy transmission infrastructure in Oregon. AOC will be watching to ensure the property tax exemption meets its goals.
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| U.S. Senate Hears SRS/PILT | |
Washington, D.C. - The United States Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee heard testimony about the merits of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination program and PILT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) and the impact of sequestration on both programs. The committee is chaired by U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-OR and members heard from a number of people on the subject of keeping forest communities economically viable and national forests healthy and productive. For more on tht hearing please click here.
The National Association of Counties (NACo) provided testimony during the course of the hearng as did Paul Pearce, the new President of the National Forest Counties and Schools Coalition. You can listen to their testimony at the link above, and find their written testimony.
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| Champions of Change | |
The White House Champions of Change program highlights the stories and examples of citizens across the country who are "Building an America to Last" with projects and initiatives that move their communities forward. All across the country, ordinary Americans are doing extraordinary things in their communities to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world. Each week, the White House invites Champions of Change to share their ideas and to empower and inspire other members of their communities. This year's Transportation Champions of Change will focus on "Transportation Technology Solutions for the 21st Century. The deadline for submitting nominations is Thursday, March 28, 2013: Click here for nomination process.
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| Conferences, Education, Opportunities - aka, "The Kitchen Sink" | |
Energy Star Benchmarking
The federal Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10, has developed a program to help you understand the current and past energy use of all your buildings. Such information can be used to develop strategies to improve your energy usage.
New Opportunity Announcement
The Oregon Department of Energy is accepting applications for the Energy Incentives Program Renewable Thermal Energy Projects through March 29, 2013. The state has approximately $1.5 million in tax credits available for these projects.
Oregon Department of Energy is also accepting applications for the Energy Incentives Program Transit Services Projects through March 29, 2013. The state has approximately $8 million in tax credits available for these projects.
Oregon Future Energy Conference, April 16-17, Portland Red Lion Hotel Jantzen Beach
Central Oregon Workshop on Economic Development Incentives
Business Oregon's Art Fish, resident expert on all things related to incentives and enterprise zones, will be holding a workshop in the Central Oregon region at Redmond City Hall on Friday, April 5, 2013 from 10:00am to 3:00pm. Cost is $10 (to cover lunch). Art is a wealth of information about nearly all incentives in the state for business development so this workshop is ideal training for economic development professionals, chamber of commerce directors, enterprise zone managers, county assessors and appraisers, business owners and local city and county elected leaders and staff. These enterprise zone and incentive workshop opportunities only roll around once every two to three years, so if you'd like to attend, please RSVP to Erin Reilly at EDCO, 541-388-3236 no later than Wednesday, April 3.
Regards to Rural Conference, June 21-22, Corvallis.
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| If we missed it, Scott Parker will tell us | |
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Please feel free to submit your story ideas, announcements, recipes, photos and job changes to your Oregon Trails staff for inclusion in the next riveting edition.
See you next week - your Oregon Trails staff,
Laura Cleland & Eric Schmidt
Association of Oregon Counties
503-585-8351
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