A3
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2019
Gov. Brown backs bill
to limit rent increases
By DIRK
VANDERHART
Oregon Public
Broadcasting
Gov. Kate Brown sup-
ports a bill that would limit
how much Oregon land-
lords could increase rents
and eliminate no-cause
evictions of long-term
tenants.
Brown believes those
ideas “are innovative and
will give renters some
peace of mind,” spokes-
woman Kate Kondayen
said Friday.
The
endorsement
increases the likelihood
Oregon will enact notable
tenant protections amid a
housing shortage after fail-
ing to pass similar laws in
2017.
Under the bill being
pushed by state House
Speaker
Tina
Kotek,
D-Portland, and state Sens.
Ginny Burdick, D-Port-
land, and Laurie Monnes
Anderson,
D-Gresham,
landlords of properties
across the state could only
raise rent by up to 7 percent
per year, plus the annual
change in the consumer
price index. That would
amount to a statewide
rent stabilization policy
that offi cials say would be
unique in the United States.
Rental properties that
are less than 15 years old
would be exempt from the
7 percent cap, and land-
lords could reset the rent
at whatever they want if a
tenant voluntarily leaves
the property.
The bill also would pre-
vent landlords from evict-
ing tenants without cause
after they’d lived in a prop-
erty for more than one year
— essentially banning
what is commonly known
as “no-cause evictions.”
It would also create
a new “for-cause” evic-
tion framework that would
increase the number of
valid reasons a landlord
can evict, including the
need for renovations or
wanting to move a fam-
ily member into the prop-
erty. Many landlords using
those new justifi cations
would be required to give
90 days notice and provide
the tenant a month’s rent
for relocation expenses.
The bill is a major
focus of Kotek, the most
powerful lawmaker in the
House, and Burdick, the
Senate majority leader, in
the legislative session that
begins Jan. 22. The gover-
nor’s support adds to that
momentum.
Brown has not commit-
ted to the fi ne-grain details
of the proposal, her offi ce
says, but after reading the
bill language she plans to
signal her support in an
inaugural address.
“She also understands
that Oregon will be the fi rst
state to adopt such a policy,
and we need to make sure
we keep an eye toward the
policy’s applicability in the
varying housing markets
across the state … ,” Kon-
dayen said Friday. “The
governor is ready to work
with the Legislature to
make sure that Oregonians
today and tomorrow bene-
fi t from this legislation.”
The tenant protec-
tion bill is the Legisla-
ture’s second high-profi le
crack at rent control since
2017. That year, the House
passed a bill that would
have allowed cities to limit
rent hikes, among other
provisions, but the effort
died in the Senate without
coming up for a vote.
In an interview Thurs-
day, Burdick said she
believes this time will be
different.
“This was a hard nego-
tiation,” Burdick said.
“Kudos to the speaker for
all her work on this. I’m
optimistic we can get it
through quickly.”
That doesn’t mean the
bill would pass without
controversy. Since Willa-
mette Week fi rst reported
details of the proposal,
some tenant advocates
have lambasted the bill,
saying a 7 percent limit
on rent increases is far too
high.
Center for Whale Research
Meet the newest southern resident orca whale, born to L77.
New orca calf seen among Puget Sound’s
critically endangered killer whales
By LYNDA V. MAPES
Seattle Times
A new calf has been
born to the critically endan-
gered southern resident
killer whales, researchers
confi rmed.
The calf was born to L77,
said Ken Balcomb, found-
ing director of the Center for
Whale Research. He con-
fi rmed the birth in a text to
The Seattle Times on Friday.
He estimated the calf is sev-
eral weeks old.
The calf, which Balcomb
named “Lucky,” is desig-
nated L124. The whale’s sex
is not yet confi rmed.
Center staff fi rst saw the
calf Friday morning at the
eastern end of the Strait of
Juan de Fuca.
“It’s great news,” Bal-
comb said, adding the calf
looks healthy.
It is the fi rst known birth
to the southern residents
since Tahlequah, or J35,
gave birth to a calf in July
that lived only a half-hour.
Tahlequah drew world-
wide attention when she car-
ried the dead infant for 17
days and more than 1,000
miles, refusing to let it go.
Any birth in the south-
ern resident population is big
news because the orcas that
frequent Puget Sound in the
J, K and L pods are critically
endangered. There are only
74 left, with three whales
lost last year.
The center on Friday also
was observing K25, a south-
ern resident whale known to
be in poor body condition. If
conditions allow, the center
is attempting to get an update
on that whale’s status.
K25 is doing poorly after
the death of his mother K13
in 2017. Mother orcas pref-
erentially feed their sons and
K25 has been getting thinner
and thinner — so thin that
Balcomb has said he is con-
cerned he may not last the
summer.
J17, Tahlequah’s mother,
is also so thin as to cause
similar concern.
Bill before Legislature would require
permits to buy guns, limit ammunition
Associated Press
SALEM — A bill set to
appear in the Legislature
this year would require Ore-
gonians to obtain a permit
before buying a gun, limit
the amount of ammunition
a person could buy, outlaw
magazines with a capacity
of more than fi ve rounds and
create gun locking and stor-
age requirements.
The Statesman Journal
reported that the measure is
the broadest of more than
a dozen bills dealing with
guns submitted by lawmak-
ers ahead of the 2019 Legis-
lature , which convenes Jan.
22.
The bill came from Stu-
dents for Change, a group of
Lake Oswego teens formed
last year after the shooting
at Marjory Stoneman Doug-
las High School in Parkland,
Florida.
State Rep. Andrea Sali-
nas, D-Lake Oswego, and
Sen. Rob Wagner, D- Tuala-
tin, submitted Senate Bill
501 on their behalf.
Wagner said that it’s
“probably a long shot that
something like this passes
in whole cloth,” but this
is the bill the students
wanted to put in front of the
Legislature.
Est. 1987
Now -hru
Jan12-21
For more information visit,
NorthwestAgShow.com
Look for the Show Guide
%
25
January 4th in Capital Press
E
TE
PA
ES
N
Y
PR
N
D
BY
HAR
VE ST C A
A
P IT
O
L C
M
off
Jan
31 s-
Jan
22-30
35 %
off
30 %
off
1 DAY ONLY
Up To
%
75
Clearance
I-ems
c
c
c
OVER
120 EXHIBITORS & PARTNERS
MORE THAN
25 seminars & workshops
3 BIG DAYS IN 3 BUILDINGS
Courtesy of :
TED
OUN
DISC REE
& F
N
ISSIO
ADM
Northwest Ag Show Sponsors
Title Sponsor
Major Sponsors
Presenting Sponsors
Annual January
Sale!
Almos- -he En-ire S-ore!
1116 Commercial
As-oria, Or
(503)325-5720
Follow us on Facebook & Ins-agram
EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER
EXCLUDES FOOD, CONSIGNMENTS, LAYAWAY.
Social Media Sponsor
Exhibitor Lounge Sponsor
LIMITED TO STOCK ON HAND