July 31, 2015
CapitalPress.com
Content & Design Provided by Oregon Farm Bureau
OREGON
FARM
'I
BUREAU
he 2015 Oregon
Legislative Session will
be remembered as a
long, hard-fought battle
for farmers and ranchers from
the very start.
Important agriculture-related
bills that gained traction early
this session included the Low
Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS)
and several labor-related bills.
Farm Bureau members and
small-business owners flocked
to the Capitol to advocate
against costly legislation like
LCFS and mandated paid sick
leave, which passed and are
now laws, and a substantial
minimum wage hike, which
died in committee.
/'
•..-*'
OFB's Jenny Dresler welcomed Marion
County Farm Bureau President John
Zielinksi as he arrived to the Capitol to
meet with lawmakers.
"OFB succeeded in stop-
ping a lot of legislation that
was harmful to Oregon
agriculture, thanks to a strong
OFB Government Affairs team,
coalition partners, and friends
in the legislature," said Jenny
Dresler, OFB director of state
public policy.
Their combined efforts also
were critical to passing g o o d
bills and investments in Ore-
gon's natural resources: $ 5 0
million in water infrastructure
funding, investments in sage
grouse work, $ 3 . 3 million and
an expansion for the Farm to
School Program, and $ 1 4
million in additional funding to
OSU's Statewides (Extension
Service, Agriculture Exper-
iment Stations, and Forest
Research Lab).
OFB thanks the many Farm
Bureau members w h o took
the time to engage with law-
makers this session.
"If Farm Bureau opposes a
bill, legislators know our mem-
bers will show up and speak
up, said M a r y Anne Nash,
OFB public policy counsel.
Volunteers called and wrote
lawmakers, testified in commit-
tees, gave media interviews,
and discussed important pol-
icy issues with elected officials
throughout the 2 0 1 5 session.
These efforts were critical to
OFB's successes in the Capi-
tol, and we thank Farm Bureau
members for their advocacy.
OFB 2nd VP Angela Bailey (left) and
Farm Bureau members Amy Doerfler
Phelan and Bob Schaefer spoke at
a public hearing in opposition to a
significant minimum wage hike.
Bills That
Passed
HB 2 4 4 3 , Fertilizer Fees:
Increases registration fees on
fertilizers, adds a tonnage fee
on lime, and increases the
product evaluation fee for soil
enhancing products to bring
parity to the system. SB 2 4 4 3
also updates the fertilizer
statute to be consistent with
the national model language.
OFB supported; bill passed.
HB 2 5 0 9 , Ag Mediation:
Establishes statewide policy
on ag coexistence. The result
of a workgroup on G M O s
and coexistence conflicts, HB
2 5 0 9 provides incentives to
neighboring farmers to work
out disputes through a third-
party mediator instead of gov-
ernment intervention. Growers
may utilize either O D A or
USDA's agriculture mediation
programs. OFB supported;
bill passed.
HB 2 6 9 0 , State Retirement
for the Private Sector:
Requires ALL employers who
do not offer a retirement plan
to enroll ALL employees in
a state-sponsored retirement
plan. Employees may opt out
after enrollment. HB 2 9 6 0
puts a burden on employers
for compliance and reporting,
and puts employers at risk
of a potential lawsuit. OFB
opposed; bill passed.
HB 2 7 6 4 , Workers' Com-
pensation: As passed by
the House, HB 2 7 6 4 would
increase trial attorneys' fees
and workers' compensa-
tion system costs by several
percentage points. This would
increase costs for employers.
However, the Senate adopted
an amendment agreed to
by the Management-Labor
Advisory Committee (MLAC)
to maintain fairness in the
system. It will still cost the sys-
tem more as amended. OFB
neutral; bill passed.
HB 3 1 2 5 , Food Processing
Personal Property Exemp-
tion: Expands food production
tax exemption to bakery,
dairy, e g g , and grain proces-
sors. HB 31 25 encourages
job growth in the food pro-
cessing industry in Oregon ,
helping producers keep costs
Upcoming events
For more information, visitoregonfb.org.
Century Farm & Ranch Induction Ceremony:
Aug. 29, 1 1:00 a.m. at the Oregon State Fair
O F B Classic Golf Tourney: Sept. 2 4 a t Stone C r e e k
Golf Club in Oregon City
County Farm Bureau Annual Meetings: October &
November
Oregon Farm Bureau Annual Meeting: Dec 8 10 in
Sun River
American Farm Bureau National Convention:
Jan. 10-13, 2 0 1 6 in Orlando, Florida
I
d o w n and remain viable. OFB family members when part of
immediate cease and desist if
he/she has "reason to believe"
the natural resources property
supported; bill passed.
that
the employer is engaging
is
out
of
state.
SB
8
6
4
deter-
HB 3 1 8 8 , Predator Control
in unlawful w a g e practices.
mines eligibility for the natural
Funding Districts: Allows
OFB opposed; bill died.
resources
tax
credit
based
on
certain counties to adopt a
the ratio of in-state property to
voluntary funding mechanism
the in-state portion of the gross
to pay for county predator
estate. This should facilitate
control services (i.e. USDA
transitions of the family farm
APHIS Wildlife Services).
from one generation to the next.
As timber revenues continue
OFB supported; bill passed.
to decline, it is critical that
counties are able to provide
predator management to help
prevent costly depredation
on livestock and timber. OFB
supported; bill passed.
HB 3 5 4 9 , Pesticide Reform
Package: Faced with over
two dozen pesticide bills this
session, OFB participated in
two workgroups to find consen-
sus on how to move forward
with pesticide regulations.
HB 3 5 4 9 allocates resources
to O D A and the Pesticide
Analytical & Response Center
(PARC) to conduct adequate
investigations, creates a new
aerial applicators' certificate,
and increases penalties for
pesticide violations. It does not
include additional reporting or
new notification requirements.
OFB supported; bill passed.
SB 3 2 4 , Low Carbon Fuel
Standard (LCFS): Requires
mandatory reduction of car-
bon content of fuels through
a cap-and-trade of carbon
credits. Although the LCFS
is estimated to increase the
cost of fuel for families and
businesses anywhere from 4
cents to $ 1 . 0 6 per gallon, the
hidden tax will not fund road
infrastructure improvements.
OFB opposed; bill passed.
OFB's Mary Anne Nash testified on a
land use bill at a legislative committee
hearing.
SB 3 4 1 , Agritourism Lia-
bility Protection: Addresses
the issue of farm liability
protection for certain rec-
reation activities. SB 3 4 1
provides liability protection
to agritourism operators w h o
post certain notices on their
properry, enabling them to
more readily obtain liability
insurance for their activities.
OFB supported; bill passed.
SB 4 5 4 , M a n d at o r y Paid
Sick Leave: Requires employ-
ers with 1 0 or more employ-
ees outside of Portland to offer
employees paid sick leave.
O n e hour is accrued for every
30 hours worked, and paid
sick leave can be used after
90 days of employment.
Hours may be carried over
for 1 80 days after termination
of employment and up to 40
hours may be carried over to
the next year. SB 4 5 4 places
a significant burden on ag
producers w h o need a reli-
able workforce during the crit-
ical time of harvest and must
track hours for all seasonal
and temporary positions. OFB
opposed; bill passed.
SB 8 6 4 , Estate Tax Fix:
Modifies estate tax provisions
to facilitate transfers between
SB 5 3 4 , A i r p o r t Annexation:
Authorized cities to extend
water and sewer services
to airports outside the city's
boundaries without first annex-
ing the airport into the city.
OFB opposed; bill passed.
Farm Bureau member Pieper Sweeney
spoke at a House committee hearing
about how proposed legislation would
impact her family farm.
HB 2 5 9 8 / SB 9 2 0 , Livestock
and Antibiotic Use: Prohib-
ited the use of antibiotics for
any nontherapeutic purposes,
including some medical
purposes in food-producing
animals. These bills created
HB2004/SB130/SB332,
conflicting federal and state
Preemption on Minimum
regulations, required annual
Wage: Removed the state pre-
emption that prohibits local gov- reporting of the use of any
ernments from setting their own medical antibiotics used
on food animals without a
minimum w a g e requirements.
scientific purpose, and put
These bills would allow for a
Oregon food producers at
patchwork of minimum w a g e
regulations throughout the state. a competitive disadvantage.
OFB opposed; bills died.
OFB opposed; bills died.
Bad Bills
Killed by OFB
Involvement
-__
Farm Bureau member Karl Dettwyler
explained to lawmakers how his family
farm couldn't sustain a $15/hour
minimum wage for employees.
HB 2 0 0 8 / HB 2 0 0 9 / HB
2012/SB 327/SB 682/
SB 610, Minimum Wage
Increase: Bills increased
Oregon's minimum wage in
increments to $ 10.75/hour
by 2016, $12.20/hourby
2017, $13.50/hourbythe
end of 2017, or $15/hour
by 201 8. An amendment was
introduced to HB 201 2 at
the end of session to increase
state minimum wage to $1 3/
hour by 201 8 and remove the
preemption on minimum wage
to allow local governments
to set their own wage. OFB
opposed; bills died.
HB 2010/HB 3377/SB
888, Mandatory Predictable
Flexible Scheduling: Required
employers to discuss creating
a personalized schedule with
their employees if he/she has:
a health condition, caregiving
responsibilities for children or
the elderly a second job, or is
attending school or job-training.
HB 3 3 7 7 also would require
employers to provide a written
schedule 21 days in advance
and compensation if the
employer made changes to that
schedule after the three weeks.
OFB opposed; bills died.
HB 2 1 0 5 , Personal Property
Tax Exemptions: Under current
law, personal properry of
farmers and farm operations,
such as machinery, equipment,
inventory, annual or perennial
plants or crops, and irrigation
tools, are exempt from annual
property taxation. This bill
repealed those exemptions after
HB 2 6 6 6 , Aggregate:
Changed the land use policy
for processing aggregate oper-
ations by: heightening the stan-
dard that a farmer would have
to meet to prove an impact on
their operations, substituting
other permit approvals for the
analysis of impacts to farmers
required under the land use
statutes, and limiting the zone
of impacts to farms that can be
considered by local govern-
ment. OFB opposed; bill died.
HB 2674/ HB 2675/ HB
3121/HB 3122/HB 3554/
SB 207, GMOs: The 2015
Legislative Session continued
to target genetically engi-
neered/genetically modified
organisms and production
methods. Bills were introduced
to implement bans, control
areas, or market preferences
that would exclude G M O s
or other patented crops. OFB
opposed; bills died.
HB 2 7 1 8 , Fertilizer Fee
Expansion: Oregon Envi-
ronmental Council's bill to
increase the limit on soil-en-
hancing products' registration
fees to fund soil scientists and
research grants. HB 2 7 1 8
increased the tonnage cap on
these products by 77%. It also
mandated a change to the
composition of the Fertilizer
Research Committee. OFB
opposed; bill died.
HB 3 3 1 0 / S B 8 2 4 / S B 823,
California Clean Diesel:
Imposed varying provisions of
California's Truck & Bus Regu-
lation on Oregon agriculture
and small businesses. These
bills increased registration
fees for off-road vehicles and
required significant investments
in diesel particulate retrofits
or in new trucks entirely. OFB
opposed; bills died.
SB 7 1 6 , Industrial Lands:
Authorized Clackamas, Mult-
nomah, and Washington Coun-
2018. OFB opposed; bill died. ties to designate 1 5 0 to 5 0 0
acres of land outside of urban
HB 2 3 8 6 , Cease & Desist:
growth boundaries to develop
Allowed the Commissioner of
the Bureau of Labor & Industries one large-lot industrial reserve.
(BOLI) to issue a temporary but OFB opposed; bill died.
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