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THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JULY 2, 2019
Legislature adjourns after marathon weekend
Paid leave among
the highlights
By MARK MILLER,
CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE
and AUBREY WIEBER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — The state
Legislature, delayed by a
walkout by Senate Repub-
licans, sprinted to fi nish its
work, voting on the last bill
just before 5 p.m. Sunday.
The day consisted of
more recesses in the Senate
than time spent voting on
bills, as lawmakers gave one
last push to cut deals.
Two bills — one that
would provide for more
affordable housing and
another that would refer a
tobacco tax hike to voters —
failed before coming back to
life and passing.
The day was not without
drama as concerns over state
Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dal-
las, persisted. Boquist more
than a week ago made state-
ments alluding to violence
against police, and an out-
side investigator hired by the
Legislature found his pres-
ence in the workplace could
be seen as threatening.
Sen. Sara Gelser, D-Cor-
vallis, on Sunday said she
wouldn’t be on the fl oor
with Boquist, who refused to
leave. Gelser was absent for
some key votes, but in the
end the bills were brought
back.
Throughout the morn-
ing, several senators and
the staff of Senate President
Peter Courtney, D-Salem,
talked behind closed doors
about disciplining Boquist.
In the end, it was determined
the Senate Special Commit-
tee on Conduct would hold
a hearing July 8 to review
reports of safety concerns
regarding Boquist.
The turmoil was fi tting
considering an unprece-
dented fi nal two weeks of
the legislative session, which
included a nine-day walkout
where Senate Republicans
fl ed the state to Idaho and
other states.
Here are key bills headed
to Gov. Kate Brown for sig-
nature and to the law books:
BUY YOUR LEAVE:
Workers will lose a frac-
tion of their paychecks
under House Bill 2005. But
in exchange, they’ll have
access to one of the West-
ern Hemisphere’s most
robust paid leave programs.
A worker could take as much
as 12 weeks off per year —
plus two more for a preg-
nancy, childbirth or medi-
cal conditions — with up
to full pay. It’s not an unre-
stricted benefi t. Workers will
have to apply for leave and
demonstrate they are taking
time off work to deal with a
family medical emergency,
a health issue, the birth or
adoption of a child, or abuse
or harassment.
Employers have to chip
in as well, but at a lower
rate than employees. Com-
bined, they will pay up to
1% of wages into a state-run
insurance program modeled
off workers’ compensation.
Multiple business lobbies
and labor unions supported
HB 2005, which was devel-
oped through a bipartisan
process led by House Major-
ity Leader Jennifer William-
son, D-Portland. It will make
Oregon the eighth state with
paid family leave.
GREEN LIGHT FOR
CARDS: House Bill 2015
will allow Oregonians who
can’t prove legal residence
in the U.S. to get driver’s
licenses, nearly fi ve years
after Oregonians rejected
a similar law. Advocates
argued that the bill could
make the state’s roads
safer. Licensed drivers are
required to get insurance. At
least one state with a sim-
ilar law – Connecticut —
has seen dips in the number
of hit-and-run crashes since
implementation.
The bill applies to any-
one who may not have vital
records proving their legal
residence.
POWER TO THE
PEOPLE: It’ll be up to state
voters whether the Oregon
Constitution clearly allows
limits on campaign contri-
butions. Senate Joint Res-
Claire Withycombe/Oregon Capital Bureau
State Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas, on the Senate fl oor.
olution 18 refers a consti-
tutional amendment to the
ballot that would allow the
Legislature, local govern-
ments and voter initiatives
to cap the amount that some-
one can give to a candidate
for offi ce, as well as require
political campaigns to dis-
close their donors.
The voter referral was
a priority for campaign
fi nance reform advocates.
It had the strong support of
the governor, who pledged
last year to push for limits in
Oregon’s famously lax cam-
paign fi nance system. The
state is one of 11 that doesn’t
limit how much an individ-
ual can give to a political
candidate.
MISSING MIDDLE:
More than 50 Oregon cit-
ies, including virtually the
entire Portland area, will no
longer be able to limit neigh-
borhoods to single-fam-
ily homes. House Bill
2001 does away with what
some housing advocates
call “exclusionary zoning,”
requiring cities with a popu-
lation over 10,000 to allow a
duplex wherever they would
allow a single-family house.
Cities with more than 25,000
residents and suburbs of
Portland would also have
to allow townhomes, tri-
plexes, quadplexes and cot-
tage clusters.
Highly
controversial
when it was introduced
in January, HB 2001 was
amended several times and
picked up support from
Republicans in the House.
It makes Oregon the fi rst
state to do away with sin-
gle-family-exclusive zoning,
except in its smallest cities.
The bill was a top priority of
House Speaker Tina Kotek,
D-Portland.
SMOKED OUT: Vot-
ers will also decide whether
Oregon will increase its
tax on cigarettes and cigars
and expand the tobacco tax
to cover vaping products.
House Bill 2270 was stuck
in neutral for months this
spring before a compromise
referred the concept to vot-
ers next November instead
of being put into effect
directly by the Legislature.
Public health advocates say
more tax money is needed to
fund the Oregon Health Plan
and raising the tax will deter
young people from taking up
the nicotine habit, while crit-
ics say it’s wringing more
money out of poor Orego-
nians, who make up a dis-
proportionate share of the
state’s smokers.
DIRTY DIESEL: #Tim-
berUnity protesters who
thronged the Capitol on
Thursday called for the Leg-
islature to reject the cap-and-
trade bill and also another
piece of legislation some
truckers oppose: House Bill
2007, which sets an emis-
sions standard for diesel
trucks based in Multnomah,
Washington and Clackamas
counties. Trucks using dirty
old diesel engines instead of
newer models won’t be able
to get a title in those three
counties after 2024.
MOBILE
HOME
SECURITY: Mobile homes
comprise nearly one-tenth
of all housing units in Ore-
gon. But many of the state’s
mobile homes are aging,
a number of mobile home
parks have closed or are in
danger of closing, and many
mobile home residents sim-
ply don’t have the money
to dispose of a home that is
breaking down or to buy a
new one. That’s where House
Bill 2896 comes in. Mobile
home residents will be eli-
gible for grants to get out of
an old home and into a new
one. Money is also set aside
to preserve mobile home
parks, including by helping
tenants band together to buy
them cooperatively.
SIGN OF THE TIMES:
Under Senate Bill 998, the
so-called “Idaho stop” law,
bicyclists will be able to
roll through stop signs at
intersections without hav-
ing to come to a complete
stop. They’ll be able to treat
stop signs as yield signs. It
will still be illegal for them
to go through without stop-
ping if traffi c or pedestri-
ans are in their way. Cycling
advocates have been calling
on Oregon to adopt Idaho’s
traffi c law for years to make
biking through residential
neighborhoods less of a has-
sle, but this is the fi rst time
such a plan has actually
passed both chambers of the
Legislature.
LET’S BE FRANKED:
Did you know members
of Congress don’t have to
pay postage on their offi -
cial mail? Soon, Orego-
nians will enjoy this priv-
ilege of “franking,” as it’s
called. Senate Bill 861,
which affects elections start-
ing next year, makes it so
ballot return envelopes don’t
require a postage stamp. It
removes a cost, however
small, that election reform
advocates say is a barrier to
poor and homebound Orego-
nians voting. SB 861 was a
top priority for the late Den-
nis Richardson, Oregon’s
secretary of state.
COLLECT, CALL: It’s
unusual to see a Republican
pushing for a tax increase,
but that’s what Rep. Lynn
Findley, R-Vale, did this leg-
islative session. The fresh-
man persuaded colleagues
to support a 50-cent monthly
increase in the emergency
communications tax on Ore-
gonians with phone service.
Supporters say it’s a nec-
essary hike to upgrade 9 1 1
centers so they can have the
capacity needed in an emer-
gency. The increase will be
phased in 25 cents at a time
in 2020 and 2021.
HIGHER BAR FOR
DEATH: Oregon hasn’t
executed an inmate since
1997, but the death pen-
alty remains on the books in
the state. Senate Bill 1013
splits the two legal classifi -
cations of murder in Oregon
into three: aggravated mur-
der, fi rst-degree murder and
second-degree murder. The
death penalty could only
be applied someone con-
victed of aggravated mur-
der, and the burden would
be on prosecutors to prove
“beyond a reasonable doubt”
that death is the appropriate
punishment.
EGGS-CELLENT: Ore-
gon has already created
some rules and a sched-
ule by which Oregon hens
are supposed to have a cer-
tain amount of room to
lay eggs. Senate Bill 1019
takes that a step further by
requiring the state’s Agri-
culture Department to make
rules to require that hens be
“cage free” by 2024. The bill
exempts from state inspec-
tion operations with fewer
than 3,000 egg-laying hens.
FLOAT ON: The Port-
land metro area has among
the most houseboats and
fl oating homes on the con-
tinent. Floating homes pro-
vide affordable housing
in communities like Scap-
poose and Jantzen Beach,
moored at marinas where
owners rent slips. It’s a sim-
ilar setup to mobile home
parks, but Oregon law treats
them differently. Senate
Bill 586 adds tenant protec-
tions for fl oating home resi-
dents and amends the law so
that mobile home park reg-
ulations apply to residential
marinas.
IN CASE OF EMER-
GENCY: After a train of
oil tank cars derailed and
exploded in a 2013 disaster
in Quebec, killing 47 peo-
ple, environmentalists and
community activists got
very worried about the unit
trains carrying crude oil
through Oregon. That agita-
tion increased dramatically
when a train derailment near
Mosier in 2016 spilled oil
into the Columbia River and
caused a fi re that threatened
the town.
House
Bill
2209
requires railroads that oper-
ate “high-hazard routes,”
including any traversed by
a unit train with 20 or more
tankers of oil, to develop
contingency plans in case of
a derailment and spill.
The Oregon Capital
Bureau is a collaboration
between EO Media Group,
Pamplin Media Group and
Salem Reporter.
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Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500
Fourth of July
Fun for the Whole Family
in Astoria and Warrenton!
The Astoria-
Warrenton Area
Chamber of
Commerce
presents the
4th of July
fireworks!
Show begins at
dusk with fireworks
shot from a barge
near downtown
Astoria. Grab a
Photo provided by Frank Allen.
chair or blanket
and a flashlight,
then join us along 6:30p.m.: Free Concert “Spirit of Adventure”
the riverwalk to
North Coast Symphonic Band at Liberty Theatre with
enjoy the show.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 3RD
service flags from American Legion Clatsop Post #12
Special thanks to
WCT Marine,
Hyak Tongue Point,
CFMS, Mo’s Astoria
and your Chamber
Ambassadors
for making this
celebration
possible.
THURSDAY, JULY 4TH
11a.m. to 3p.m.: Warrenton’s Old-Fashioned Fourth
Barbecue, Car & Motorcycle Show, Kids Activities
3p.m.: Warrenton 4th of July Parade
Route follows South Main Avenue from the
Post Office to SW 9th Street
Dusk: Fireworks above the Columbia River
The fireworks will be shot from a barge in the river
near Columbia River Maritime Museum
FIND MORE HOLIDAY INFO
AND EVENTS ON OUR
COMMUNITY CALENDAR AT
WWW.OLDOREGON.COM