community
Salem Update
By Representative Brad Witt
Work
has
begun in Salem
once
again.
Thanks
to
everyone who has
been contacting
my office to share
your
thoughts
and feelings on upcoming legislation.
A great way to stay abreast of topics
or bills that you care about as we move
through this Legislative Session and it’s
3000 expected bills, is to set up alerts
on topics or bills that you care about.
The Oregon Legislature webpage has
some great tools to keep you up to date:
https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/
I also welcome visitors. If you
are planning a trip to Salem and your
State Capitol, please contact my office!
It is YOUR Capitol and I work for you!
It was a pleasure to meet with several
folks from our district in my office
this week who talked to me about their
programs and their hopes for the future.
Most legislation that flows
through this building never raises an
eyebrow, but every once in a while,
a bill comes up that strikes a chord
and over the last two weeks, we have
received literally hundreds of emails
and phone calls regarding SB 324.
Much of this response was generated by
a mailer (read hit piece) that was sent to
our district misrepresenting my position
on the bill.
First of all, it’s important to
understand what SB 324 does – it
removes the sunset provision of the
Clean Fuels Program. Sunsets are
placed on bills when the Legislature
decides that they want to “test drive” an
idea and then reevaluate it several years
down the line to make sure that it really
worked. With this particular program,
I have come to the conclusion that the
program has not worked as envisioned,
and furthermore, it impacts my district
negatively. Having been the legislator
that cleared the way for the passage of
the original Clean Fuels Bill in 2009, by
resolving issues surrounding the impact
of the bill on Public Utility Districts and
the trucking industry, I feel uniquely
positioned to evaluate the differences
between the initial efforts and where the
current legislation takes us.
Let me state from the outset
that I consider reductions in carbon
pollution essential to long-run global
stability…economically,
socially
and environmentally. I applaud the
sponsors of SB 324 for their efforts in
march5
2015
committing our state to its fair share
of carbon reduction. Unfortunately,
however, the proposed legislation has
too many shortcomings to allow it to
become law.
For the past four years, I have
been assured by proponents of SB 324
that an effective and timely means of
abating excessive fuel cost increases
caused by the legislation would be
developed. Four years later, that has
yet to occur, and that raises several red
flags.
First, broken commitments
mean broken trust as far as I’m
concerned. I have little faith that the
program is ready for roll out, that all the
necessary safeguards are in place or that
the advocates are capable of managing
that which they have created. Secondly,
a demonstrated inability to develop an
effective abatement formula gives me
little confidence that the proponents are
competent to administer the complex
energy credits system laid out in the
bill.
This leads me to the third
red flag: SB 324, also known as
the “Clean Fuels Bill,” is supposed
to make more clean fuels available
to consumers. This is a thoroughly
admirable goal, but here’s the rub…
among our more traditional fuels, it’s
already “mission accomplished.” Try
finding any non-ethanol gasoline these
days. You can’t – just ask all the upset
boaters, snowmobilers and small engine
enthusiasts around our district if there’s
any unblended gasoline to be had. And
for those consumers who’ve moved on
to electric cars, propane or a host of
non-traditional fuels, it’s been market
The
forces (read transportation costs)
that are leading to newer and cleaner
alternatives.
With consumers unable to
significantly reduce their individual
carbon footprints on the one hand, while
fuel costs threaten to rise substantially
on the other, little remains of SB 324’s
original promise. What does remain is
an energy tax credit system run by the
State. This is my fourth red flag.
The last time Oregon got
involved in something remotely similar,
it was a disaster. Readers may remember
the Business Energy Tax Credit
(BETC) venture of the 2000s. Initially
estimated to cost Oregon taxpayers $3
million per project, with an original
sunset date of 2012, the projects and
costs spiraled out of control with final
payments being made on July 1, 2014.
The final costs are still being calculated.
Current accounting shows $947 million
in project credits…the most generous in
the nation.
I am fully prepared to extend
the sunset on the Clean Fuels Program
in order to design a program that
actually works. I have invited my
colleagues from both sides of the aisle
to join me in a serious effort to make
this happen, however the vote on the bill
is scheduled for either this week or next.
By the time you read this column you
may know whether or not my efforts
were successful. In any event, I am a
“no” on SB 324 as currently written.
I appreciate all of you who
have contacted my office to share
your thoughts on this. Please call or
email anytime 503.986.1431 and rep.
bradwitt@state.or.us.
Birk
Publisher and Managing Editor
Scott Laird
503-367-0098
scott@vernoniasvoice.com
Contributors
Britt Bensen Steele
Stacey Lynn
Aaron Miller
Karen Miller
P.J. O’Leary
Michal Smith
Grant Williams
Representative Brad Witt
Photography
Scott Laird
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