Editor's note: Here are
highlights of the Oregon
Legislature last week.
Sales Tax
The Senate Revenue Commit
tee has decided to apply the
proposed state sales tax to
materials local governments
buy for construction projects.
Lobbyists for local govern
ments are up in arms over the
decision, claiming that it will
limit local governments' ability
to engage in construction
projects.
Contractors’ groups, who for
years have pushed for a law to
require local governments to
hire private contractors
whenever possible, said the
decision will allow private
enterprise to compete more
equitably for government con
struction projects.
The House-passed version of
the sales tax package exempted
local governments from paying
the tax. ’
'* The committee spent most of
the week deciding on additional
exemptions to the House-passed
sales tax package, and included
exemptions for churches,
private schools and non-profit
service organizations. The
panel agreed to' amend the
House version to apply the sales
tax to cigarettes.
Gypsy Moths
Lane County legislators have
sent a letter to Sen. Mark Hat:
field., chair of the U.S.- Senate
Appropriations Committee, and
David Stockman, director of the
Office of Management and
Budget,, urging them to ex-,
pedite'funds for the spraying of
B.t., a biological, pesticide, on
227,000 acres of' Lane County
infested by gypsy moths.
The Oregon Department of
Agriculture is requesting $7.66
million in federal assistance'for
the- spraying program. The
legislators said the spraying
must begin in early May to be.
effective.
But environmentalists have
charged that state officials have
secretly decided to use
chemical sprays in the moth
eradication program and have
deliberately downplayed the
possible health risks of
chemical use.
Officials from the Department
of Agriculture and Oregon State
University deny the accusa
tions, saying the information on
which the environmentalists’
statements are based was being
misconstrued.
Lane County legislators will
consider gypsy moth spraying
at their biweekly “Brown Bag”
meeting to be held in the
Capitol at noon on Thursday.
Miscellaneous
A Senate-passed measure re
quiring motorists to wear seat
belts was narrowly killed in the
House, even after it had been
diluted so that it merely would
have put the proposal on the
ballot in 1986.
The House Environment &
Energy Committee approved a
bill imposing a one-year delay
on implementing measured-rate
billing for local calls for.
business customers of Pacific
Northwest Bell; the bill npw
goes to the full House.
Gov. Vic Atiyeh signed into ;
law' a.bill'allovving an-Alaska
bank to buy the financially ail-'
• ing Bank of Oregon and permit
ting expanded interstate bank
ing in Oregon after mid-1986.
The House passed and sent to '
the Senates bill aimed at reduc- :
ing .workers’.compensation in- '
•. surance .costs by, lowering the.
ceiling on payments.to doctors. '
Legislation introduced' last
week includes House Bill 2899
which would make possession
of less than one ounce of mari-..'
juana punishable by a max^
imiira 30-day jail term and a
$500 fine. •Maximium penalty
now for the offense is a $100 '
fine.
HB.2940 would legalize pro
stitution subject to regulation
by cities and counties. Senate
Bill 645 would nearly triple
legislators salaries, increasing
them from $8,400 a year to
$24,178. ■' •
This Week
An Oregon House Judiciary
subcommittee will begin hear
ings Thursday on a gun control
measure backed by Oregon Han
dgun Alert, a pro-control
organization.
The measure would tighten
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requirements for obtaining con
cealed weapons permits, raise
the minimum age for buying
handguns from 18 to 21, and
make it a felony with a max
imum five-year prison term to
possess machine guns.
Oregon courts have broadly
interpreted the righhto-bear
arms provision in the state con
stitution’s bill of rights. It says
citizens can "bear arms for the
defense of themselves.”
Another bill on the subcom
mittee agenda Thursday would
regulate possession of switch
blades.
The House Transportation
Committee starts hearings
Thursday on bills to reduce the
fine for exceeding the 55 mph
speed limit to $10 and to raise
the speed limit under the state’s
"basic rule” law to 65 mph.
The House Human Resources
Committee opens hearings
Monday on a bill to establish a
statewide clearinghouse for in
formation on missing children.
The .Senate Labor Committee
continues hearings Monday on „
a comparable worth pay system
for state employees, *• «
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Report released
on phone survey
A report released Friday by an Oregon consumer group
charges that the majority of telephone packages fail to pro
vide the information consumers need when purchasing a
telephone.
“Many consumers are misled into buying phones that do
not fit their needs,” said Ann Frenkel, a University student
who compiled the report for Oregon State Public Research In
terest Group.
Frenkel said she surveyed the packages of 55 different
types of phones at 24 Oregon stores.
According to Frenkel, 80 percent of the phone packages
failed to indicate possible imcompatibility with alternative
long distance services, such as Sprint or MCI; 66 percent did
not list an address for repair service; 80 percent failed to com
ply with federal warranty laws requiring that written warran
ties be available to customers before purchase.
Frenkel said that OSPIRG supports legislation now
before the Oregon House Committee for Consumer Affairs
that would require display of pertinent information on the
telephone package.
Jeff Davis, a spokesperson from the American Telephone
and Telegraph Co. regional office in Oakland, Calif., said he
is not familiar with either the OSPIRG study or the proposed
legislation, but said he believed AT&T was already doing a
good job informing its potential customers.
“AT&T’s position is that customers should be well ac
quainted with what they’re buying,” Davis said. “It is our
feeling that the information consumers really need is on the
package.”
Any information not on the package can be obtained
from the company’s phone store salespersons, he said.
But Frenkel said that salespersons in some department
stores selling telephones were unable to answer her questions
about the phones.