News From Association of Oregon Counties

Salem - The Oregon Legislature must finish its business and adjourn sine die by July 13, 2013. There is a provision in the annual session measure voters approved that allows legislators to extend their odd-numbered year sessions by five days with a two-thirds vote of each chamber. That provision has never been tested and given the partisan rancor that has characterized this session, getting a two-thirds vote for a lunch hour seems highly problematic.

Governor Kitzhaber is taking a page out of his play book by calling the Senate President, House Speaker and Republican leaders from the Senate and House to Mahonia Hall for a discussion on how best to transcend the political and practical difficulties still facing the Legislature as it hurtles toward the deadline.

Republicans rolled out another version of a PERS reform plan last week. Democrats didn't waste any time saying it wouldn't work. The Governor has his plan, so we can only speculate that Monday morning's meeting at the Governor's mansion focused on trying to find some middle ground. The Governor was quoted last week saying, "The bad news is we're still far apart. The good news is we're still talking. It's time to get this done for Oregonians."

Finding the sweet spot on PERS is one big challenge. There are other challenges including a prickly little item called the bi-ennial budget. It has to be balanced and there are a lot of interests wanting a piece of it. A lot of bills have already cleared the Legislature and been signed by the Governor (253 at last count), but more remain, some of them with impacts on Oregon counties. This edition of Oregon Trails outlines some of those bills and where they stand.

Capitol June 3

Summer weather could help speed things up in Salem

NACo Drug Discount Program

NACo Drug Discount Program

Counties Crisis Bills Heard

As Oregon Trails goes to press Monday afternoon, the House Rules Committee is hearing testimony on a slew of bills designed to help counties who might find themselves in a fiscal crisis. The bills, HB 2206, HB 3404, HB 3453, HJR 2, SB 496, SB 581 were lumped together for efficiency, but not all of them involve controversy.

HB 3453 is one of the more controversial measures. Governor Kitzhaber appeared before the Rules Committee to testify in favor of its passage. Without its provisions, the Governor said he might be forced to mobilize the National Guard if a county fell into a full fledged public safety crisis. Rep. Bruce Hanna (R-Roseburg), chief sponsor of the bill, said he didn't envy the Governor even if HB 3453 passes. Both leaders agreed that something needs to be in place if and when a county finds itself facing a public safety crisis.

We'll have a complete report in the next edition.

W&M Hears Voter Registration bill

Monday morning, the Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on General Government heard testimony on HB 3521, a bill sponsored by Secretary of State Kate Brown that would automatically register all eligible, but currently unregistered, voters in Oregon.

There are an estimated 500,000-700,000 citizens in Oregon that have supplied the Department of Motor Vehicles with age and valid residence, proof of citizenship and a readable signature but have chosen not to become registered to vote, even if offered at the DMV. This bill would transmit the data to the Secretary of State and ultimately to counties and, if the citizen does not opt-out within 14 days, the citizen would become a registered voter and receive ballots in the future. Initially, all new voters would be registered as non-affiliated but would have the ability to choose a party.

While acknowledging the potential system improvements that might result from a more automated registration system, AOC testified in opposition on the grounds that the bill was introduced with very little collaboration with the counties that would be implementing the new process, and would substantially increase election costs at a time when county general fund budgets are being stretched to the limit.

Labor Bills Coming and Going

Last Friday the Senate General Government Committee dealt with two significant collective bargaining bills in different ways. The committee, chaired by Sen. Chip Shields (D-Portland), in its last meeting day of the session, killed HB 2448 and moved HB 2418 to the Senate Rules Committee on a 3-2 party-line vote.

HB 2448 would have required binding arbitration when counties utilize mid-term bargaining to deal with the resolution of issues that arise during the length of the bargaining agreement that are not covered in the agreement. AOC and other local governments were opposed to this bill as costly and time-consuming, in addition to potentially forcing shorter and shorter bargaining agreements in the future.

HB 2418 was moved to the Rules Committee where it will remain in play until the close of the session. The bill would require public safety workers, including sheriff's department staff, community corrections staff and others, to have the authority to impose "economic discipline" in order to be considered supervisory employees for collective bargaining purposes. AOC is also opposed to this bill on the grounds that it will either force a significant shift in existing management structures or result in many current supervisory employees shifting into bargaining units. AOC encourages commissioners and sheriffs to express their opposition to this legislation to their senators.

Court Fines

House Bill 2562 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee last week with amendments that address court fine issues AOC has been working to fix. House Bill 2712 (2011) changed the way court fines were collected and distributed, creating a $60 priority payment to the state and redistributing some of that money back to counties. The bill had numerous unintended consequences, which have resulted in difficult budget situations for county justice and city municipal courts.

"This bill is a court survival bill," said Jad Lemhouse, the Linn County Justice of the Peace, in previous testimony on this issue. Carl Myers, representing the Oregon Justices of the Peace Association, and Patrick Sieng from AOC were at the hearing to testify in favor of the amendments, which were a product from a workgroup.

House Bill 2562's effort was led by State Sen. Floyd Prozanski (D-Eugene). The bill reduces the state's priority payment on traffic violations from $60 to $44 and re-creates a county assessment that will be paid from justice and municipal courts directly to counties for alcohol and drug programs, adult and juvenile corrections, and court security.

The bill passed the committee unanimously and now heads to the Joint Committee on Ways & Means.

County Loans to Forest Service?

A bill to explore county loans to the Forest Service, Senate Bill 357A, has passed the Senate, and is now on its way to the House floor courtesy of the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee.

The bill, which began as SB 257, originated when Grant County was interested in making a loan of road funds to the U.S. Forest Service to increase the pace and scale of management on the Ochoco and Malheur National Forests. The problem that developed was that the USFS had no means to repay a loan. Meanwhile, the Governor's Office has explored how the state could provide funds up front for this purpose, to no avail.

SB 357A will give more time to work with the USFS to provide ways, with county and state participation, to increase the critical work on the national forest landscape. Under the bill, the Federal Forestland Advisory Committee Implementation Work Group, of which AOC is a member, will develop recommendations to enhance the pace and scale of management on federal forestlands by projects that will justify county and state financial support. SB 357A is expected to become law without controversy.

Governance Forum/LGAC Update

At May's AOC/OHA/DHS Governance Forum, Senate President Peter Courtney (D-Salem) discussed SB 823, a six year plan to improve mental health care in Oregon. Addictions and Mental Health Division Director Linda Hammond went on to explain that the recommendations in the bill were based on the Community Services Report that was produced while developing the State Hospital Master Plan. The fate of SB 823 appears to remain up in the air.

The Local Government Advisory Committee will be meeting next Friday, June 14th in Salem (for an agenda, click here.) LGAC will be hosting presentations from the Office of Equity and Inclusion and CoverOregon. The Office of Equity and Inclusion will discuss the Cultural Competency training CCOs receive and CoverOregon will provide an update of the roll-out of the health insurance exchange. Join us at 10 am in room 306 at the Local Government Center.

State Fair and Expo

Senate Bill 7, which would transfer the State Fair and Expo Center from State Parks to a non-profit public corporation, advanced through Ways and Means on Friday and is headed for a floor vote.

Reversal of Cortez decision

SB 678 cleared the House Business and Labor Committee and was sent with a do pass recommendation to the floor. This bill reverses the Cortez decision which impacted limited liability companies and protections for liability under Workers Compensation. This was a bill that AOC voted to support because without the change, small businesses would face increased liability and higher costs than C-corporations.

Predatory Towing

The Senate General Government, Consumer and Small Business Protection Committee amended HB 3159 to include a change requested by AOC so it would be permissive rather than mandatory for counties to establish rates for towing companies. We appreciated the support from Rep. Paul Holvey (D-Eugene) and Chair Sen. Chip Shields (D-Portland) for this amendment.

GETF Bills Head to Governor

Several bills submitted on behalf of the Government Efficiency Task Force's (GETF) General Government Subcommittee successfully navigated both chambers and have been signed by the Governor.

HB 2140, which grants counties and other local governments the ability to invest in the Oregon Intermediate Term Pool, unanimously passed the Senate. This bill would give counties with a sizable reserve fund a potentially more attractive investment option than previously available. Several counties with significant road reserves have expressed an interest in utilizing the option.

Also, HB 2829 passed the Senate and was re-passed in the House after minor technical amendments were added on the Senate side. This bill allows counties the option to no longer post monthly expenditure lists at libraries and courthouses, along with publishing a monthly newspaper notice advertising the posting. Instead, counties would have the option to post the monthly expenditure list on their website.

With the passage earlier in the session of HB 2141 and HB 2142, all four General Government Subcommittee bills have now successfully become law. We thank Rep. Nancy Nathanson (D-Eugene) for chairing the overall GETF, as well as Greg Wolf for chairing the General Government subcommittee. Also thanks to Marion County Treasurer Laurie Steele and Linn County Treasurer Michelle Hawkins for their participation at the Capitol.

Senate Biz and Transpo Committee Done

Sen. Lee Beyer (D-Eugene), Chair, closed the Senate Business and Transportation Committee on Monday May 27 after dealing with the last of their bills. HB 2311 which would have changed the criteria for the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) died in committee.

HB 2657 which set forth requirements to be met by an applicant before a local government could approve rezoning of industrial land also died as a result of a partisan tie vote that prevented it from moving forward.

Could a Bridge Collapse in Oregon?

ODOT recently released a fact sheet that focuses on Oregon bridges and the potential for a collapse. Here's an excerpt:

Could an incident like Washington's Skagit River Bridge collapse happen in Oregon?

Until state and federal officials complete their investigation and we know exactly what happened, it's difficult to know.

Does Oregon have any bridges similar to the Skagit River Bridge?

Washington's Skagit River Bridge on Interstate 5 is a Steel Through Truss style bridge. Oregon has about 65 Steel Through Truss bridges on highways, county roads and city streets. Of those, three are on interstate highways; two make up the north and south portions of the Interstate bridge, also known as the Columbia River Crossing, on I-5 between Portland and Vancouver, and the third is on Interstate 82 in Umatilla (which is maintained by Washington Department of Transportation).

Interstate 5 Bridge

The Interstate 5 bridge, maintained by the Oregon Department of Transportation, crosses the Columbia River between Portland and Vancouver, Washington. It consists of two Steel Through Truss portions, one northbound and one southbound. Both are fracture critical: If one of the fracture critical members is impacted or removed, then the whole span could collapse. The bridge is not designed to withstand the loss of a single fracture critical member (in this case a section of the truss) being removed.

For the full document click here.

Bikes Contribute to Economy?

A recent study commissioned by TravelOregon highlights the economic impacts of bicycle tourism in Oregon. The information is also provided by regions. You can learn all kinds of useful stuff, like tourists who participate in bicycle-related activities spent $174.6 million on accommodation and food services, $53.5 million on groceries, $71.5 million on motor fuel (how do you do that on a bike?), $31.9 million on bicycle/cycling event fees and $27.9 million on bicycle repairs, clothing and gear. Find more here.

Tim Makes Waves

Tillamook County Commissioner Tim Josi, who is running for NACo 2nd Vice President, will be a featured speaker at the prestigious Friday Forum of the Portland City Club on June 14th. Commissioner Josi will be discussing the always interesting and timely topic of Wave Energy on the Oregon Coast: Sustainable Future or Threat?

It is a subject near and dear to Commissioner Josi who chaired the Territorial Sea Plan Advisory Committee. If you happen to be in Portland June 14 and want to hear his presentation, the City Club is the place to be.

Getting involved in NACo

If you are interested in serving on a NACo steering committee, now is the time to make that known. You must go through AOC to get an appointment to a steering committee. Just fill out this form and return it to Mike McArthur. Appointments will be announced at the NACo annual meeting in July. If you are already on a steering committee, Mike intends to reappoint you unless he hears otherwise.

Also, speaking of NACo, now is the time to get resolutions together to take to Texas. It is how Oregon gets involved in NACo policy. Getting a resolution through NACo involves some planning. Check out the process at the NACo website. Oregon counties have provided many worthwhile and valuable resolutions for NACo over the last several years, leading the nation in many respects. For more information on NACo resolutions, please contact Mike McArthur at AOC.

Plan for LGPI Conference

LGPI Conference 2013

Places To Go, Things To Do, Great Opportunities

Eastern Oregon Regional Counties Organization meets June 4, 10am to 2pm at the John Day Airport.

Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board meets June 11-12 in Pendleton to discuss proposed long term investment strategy for conservation. Meeting materials and more information can be found at the OWEB website.

Regards to Rural 2013 Conference, June 21-22, Oregon State University

Oregon Economic Development Association (OEDA) in partnership with Business Oregon presents a half day seminar on preparing businesses for export. The seminar is part of OEDA's Summer Conference in Corvallis July 18-19.

Oregon Department of Energy - Siting Division - Special Advisory Group and Reviewing Agency Seminar - July 17th - 10:00 am - 3:00 pm at the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute in Pendleton. More information, contact Shanda at ODOE.

Editorial Staff Expands

For the first time in recent memory, all five AOC Policy Managers (PMs) submitted material for this week's Oregon Trails. While this piece of inside baseball information may seem of lackluster general interest to our readership, it was an unexpected development for the Oregon Trails' staff and they felt it necessary to get the word out. Chances are, however, the PMs will not read this far in the newsletter and will therefore, fail to see the ironic humor.

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

Have a great week.