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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (May 26, 2016)
Page 2A NORTHWEST East Oregonian Thursday, May 26, 2016 Senate confi rms Oregon’s fi rst resiliency offi cer LOBBYING: Oregon has no campaign contribution limits Continued from 1A Lobbying cash spent in Oregon, 2007-15 Last summer, the Sunlight Foundation evaluated how all 50 states track spending on lobbying and created a scorecard ranking the states. The foundation awarded Oregon an F grade, meaning lobbyists and their clients face fewer disclosure requirements than in most other states. Most of Oregon’s neigh- bors received higher grades, from an A in California to a C in Idaho. Emily Shaw, a senior analyst at the Sunlight Foun- dation who was involved in the project, said the goal was to evaluate how much infor- mation states collected about lobbyists’ specifi c activities and the costs of those actions. “People should be able to fi nd out who has come to infl uence their laws,” Shaw said. “That’s not to say there needs to be any particular restriction on lobbying in a particular situation. But for good public awareness of what’s happening in these processes, we need good information about what lobbyists are doing, and when.” Pete Quist, research director at the National Institute on Money in State Politics in Montana, agreed that it is important for states to require lobbyists to disclose more about how they infl uence lawmaking. The institute is collecting information about state-level spending on lobbying across the nation. “The lobbying piece isn’t analyzed as much in the media as it should be,” Quist said. “What we see a lot of public discussion about is the campaign contributions.” Oregon lobbyists have resisted efforts to require them to disclose more details of their work, most recently in 2015 when they won passage of a bill that allows them to avoid reporting spending to lobby other lobbyists, for example to build a coalition for or against an issue. The 2015 bill — which easily passed both chambers of the Legislature and was signed into law by Gov. Kate Brown — extended the disclosure exemption through mid-2017. Dan Meek, a public interest attorney and co-chair $35.9 million (All sectors, millions of dollars) 33.9 29.8 27.2 A wide range of entities, from hospitals and nursing homes to utilities and the governor’s office, reported spending more than $251 million on lobbying Oregon lawmakers and other state officials from 2007 through 2015. Groups spend more in odd years, when the Legislature holds full-length sessions. 31.1 26.8 25.6 21.2 19.9 Up 31.7% from 2007 2007 ’09 ’11 ’13 Industry/sector Total spending Health $36.5 million Misc. business 30.8 Finance, insurance, real estate 27.3 Civil servants/public officials 27.1 Energy, natural resources 23.1 Agribusiness 19.1 Education 18.7 Oregon lobbying Ideological/single-issue 15.3 Communications/electronics 13.9 cash by industry Labor 11.3 sector, 2007-15 Transportation 11.2 (Millions of dollars) Construction 7.3 The health care sector spent the most on Lawyers and Lobbyists 3.9 lobbying state officials in Oregon over the last Non-profit institutions 3.5 nine years, according to an analysis of data reported Clergy, religious organizations 0.9 to the Oregon Government Ethics Commission. Defense 0.7 NOTE: Totals not adjusted for inflation. Other 0.6 Sources: Center for Responsive Politics; Oregon Government Ethics Commission Unknown 0.1 Hillary Borrud and Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group of the Independent Party of Oregon, said this exemption is a major reason the public cannot fi nd out how lobbyists use much of the money their clients report spending. Still, Meek said he remains more concerned that Oregon has no campaign contribution limits because political donations do not have to be reported as gifts, even if they are connected to lobbying efforts. “Lobbying regulation in Oregon is really of secondary importance because it can be so easily evaded,” Meek said. The extension of the lobbying reporting exemp- tion last year provided another example of how lobbyists avoid revealing their impact on Oregon’s laws. Lobbyist Marla Rae, who previously served on the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission and worked for the Oregon Department of Justice and former Gov. Ted Kulongoski, advocated for the bill during legislative hearings on behalf of the Capitol Club of Oregon, a professional organizations for lobbyists. However, the Capitol Club did not report spending any money on lobbying last year and Rae does not appear to have registered to lobby on behalf of the group. In an email, Rae explained the Capitol Club did not have to report spending any money on lobbying because she volunteered her time to advo- cate for the bill. Rae wrote that she did not spend enough time working on the issue — the threshold is 24 hours in a quarter — to trigger the state’s requirement to register as a lobbyist for the group. Bill Cross, the Legislative Committee chair for the Capitol Club, said the group still wants a permanent reporting exemption for lobbying other lobbyists, partly because it is burden- some for lobbyists to track the information. “I’m sure we’ll be pursuing some sort of way to adjust that because the value of that information just doesn’t seem apparent to us,” Cross said. Cross said it would also create a lot of work for lobby- ists — with minimal benefi t to the public — if lobbyists were required to report all the bills or executive actions they work to infl uence, because he sometimes tracks hundreds of bills during a legislative session. At the moment, no one is advocating for expanded lobbying disclo- sures in Oregon, Cross said. “I’m not aware of any issues, I guess, that have evolved in the last four or fi ve years where other organizations have said, ‘Wait a minute, we really need to reform our lobbying disclosure laws because of problems with corruption or something,” Cross said. 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211 333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211 Offi ce hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed major holidays To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255 or go online to www.eastoregonian.com and click on ‘Subscribe’ East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published daily except Sunday, Monday and Dec. 25, by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Single copy price: $1 Tuesday through Friday, $1.50 Saturday Copyright © 2016, EO Media Group REGIONAL CITIES Forecast FRIDAY SATURDAY Breezy with some sun Breezy with partial sunshine 70° 46° 66° 43° SUNDAY Times of sun and clouds Mostly cloudy PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 70° 46° 75° 48° 78° 44° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 70° 47° PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yesterday TEMPERATURE HIGH LOW 74° 73° 98° (1928) 48° 49° 30° (1918) PRECIPITATION 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date 0.00" 1.19" 1.06" 5.59" 4.42" 6.21" HERMISTON through 3 p.m. yesterday TEMPERATURE HIGH Yesterday Normals Records LOW 78° 75° 99° (1928) 52° 49° 33° (1964) PRECIPITATION 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date 0.00" 1.25" 0.90" 4.23" 3.14" 4.92" SUN AND MOON Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today Last New May 29 June 4 First 79° 50° 83° 47° Seattle 63/49 ALMANAC Yesterday Normals Records 74° 50° 5:13 a.m. 8:32 p.m. none 9:37 a.m. Full June 12 June 20 Today MONDAY Mostly cloudy and comfortable Spokane Wenatchee 66/45 72/49 Tacoma Moses 63/47 Lake Pullman Aberdeen Olympia Yakima 75/47 64/43 58/49 62/46 76/43 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 59/48 70/47 Lewiston 77/48 Astoria 71/50 59/48 Portland Enterprise Hermiston 65/50 Pendleton 64/36 The Dalles 74/48 70/46 68/49 La Grande Salem 67/42 65/46 Albany Corvallis 64/45 66/45 John Day 68/40 Ontario Eugene Bend 78/48 66/43 64/34 Caldwell Burns 76/48 67/34 Astoria Baker City Bend Brookings Burns Enterprise Eugene Heppner Hermiston John Day Klamath Falls La Grande Meacham Medford Newport North Bend Ontario Pasco Pendleton Portland Redmond Salem Spokane Ukiah Vancouver Walla Walla Yakima Hi 59 68 64 64 67 64 66 67 74 68 68 67 63 74 57 61 78 77 70 65 65 65 66 63 61 70 76 Lo 48 37 34 48 34 36 43 40 48 40 35 42 39 46 46 49 48 47 46 50 33 46 45 35 49 47 43 W c c c pc pc pc c pc pc pc pc pc pc c c c pc pc pc c c c pc pc c pc pc Hi 60 60 59 64 62 57 66 62 70 62 63 60 57 73 57 61 71 72 66 65 63 65 61 56 61 66 71 Today Beijing Hong Kong Jerusalem London Mexico City Moscow Paris Rome Seoul Sydney Tokyo (in mph) Klamath Falls 68/35 Boardman Pendleton Lo 48 32 33 48 30 36 42 39 47 40 33 38 35 44 45 47 43 45 43 49 33 45 41 32 48 46 42 W sh pc pc c pc c c pc pc pc pc pc pc pc c c pc pc pc sh pc sh pc pc sh pc pc Lo 57 81 56 50 55 54 55 57 59 51 70 W pc c s pc pc pc t pc pc sh pc Fri. Hi 89 88 71 69 80 75 73 79 80 67 78 Lo 60 81 55 51 54 59 56 61 59 51 66 W pc c s pc t pc t pc pc s r REGIONAL FORECAST Coastal Oregon: Mostly cloudy today; a shower in spots across the north. Partly sunny in the south. Eastern and Central Oregon: Times of clouds and sun today. Partly cloudy tonight. Partly sunny tomorrow. Western Washington: Cloudy today with a shower in places. Eastern Washington: Periods of clouds and sun today. A passing shower in the mountains tonight. Cascades: Clouds and occasional sunshine today. Patchy clouds tonight; a shower in spots. Northern California: Mostly sunny today. Mainly clear tonight. Clouds giving way to sun tomorrow. Today Friday WSW 10-20 W 12-25 WSW 8-16 WSW 10-20 UV INDEX TODAY Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. 2 4 7 NEWS • To submit news tips and press releases: • call 541-966-0818 • fax 541-276-8314 • email news@eastoregonian.com • To submit community events, calendar items and Your EO News: email community@eastoregonian.com or call Tammy Malgesini at 541-564-4539 or Renee Struthers in at 541-966-0818. • To submit engagements, weddings and anniversaries: email rstruthers@eastoregonian.com or visit www.eastoregonian. com/community/announcements • To submit a Letter to the Editor: mail to Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com. • To submit sports or outdoors information or tips: 541-966-0838 • sports@eastoregonian.com 6 4 COMMERCIAL PRINTING Production Manager: Mike Jensen 541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. WORLD CITIES Hi 86 88 82 66 79 74 71 75 74 69 79 Classifi ed & Legal Advertising 1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678 classifi eds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Fri. WINDS Medford 74/46 Corrections Multimedia Consultants • Jeanne Jewett 541-564-4531 • jjewett@eastoregonian.com • Terri Briggs 541-278-2678 • tbriggs@eastoregonian.com • Dayle Stinson 541-966-0806 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com • Stephanie Newsom 541-278-2687 • snewsom@eastoregonian.com • Audra Workman 541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com • Chris McClellan 541-966-0802 • cmcclellan@eastoregonian.com • Amanda Jacobs 541-278-2863 • ajacobs@eastoregonian.com SUBSCRIPTION RATES Local home delivery Savings off cover price EZPay $14.50 41 percent 52 weeks $173.67 41 percent 26 weeks $91.86 38 percent 13 weeks $47.77 36 percent *EZ Pay = one-year rate with a monthly credit or debit card/check charge www.eastoregonian.com nities throughout Oregon, especially along the state’s coastline. Much of Oregon’s infrastructure, such as hospitals, roads, and bridges, remain vulnerable to collapse, according to the 2013 Oregon Seismic Safety Policy Advisory Commis- sion Report. Lawmakers also recently approved a record amount — $50 million — to reinforce the state’s schools against collapse in the event of an earthquake. The Legislature created Harryman’s position in 2015 to develop earthquake response and recovery plans for the state. Harryman is the gover- nor’s second nominee for the position. Brown had to withdraw her previous nominee for the position in February because a majority of senators indicated they would vote against her choice. The previous nominee, Derek Smith, a former chief executive offi cer of Clean Energy Works, had no experience in disaster response or recovery. Brown announced May 2 that she nominated Harryman, director of emergency operations at the Oregon Public Health Division, to fi ll the post. Harryman has a master’s degree in emergency and disaster management and has directed emergency operations at the Public Health Division for the past 10 years. “Mr. Harryman has the experience and expertise needed to bring our state agencies together to ensure they are well coordinated as we work toward making Oregon seismically resil- ient,” Brown said in a May 25 statement. The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely regrets any errors. If you notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818. ADVERTISING Advertising Director: Jennine Perkinson 541-278-2683 • jperkinson@eastoregonian.com Didn’t receive your paper? Call 1-800-522-0255 before noon Tuesday through Friday or before 10 a.m. Saturday for same-day redelivery — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 74° 48° SALEM — The Oregon Senate on Wednesday unan- imously confi rmed Gov. Kate Brown’s nominee for the state’s fi rst resiliency offi cer to develop plans for responding to a major earthquake. Michael Harryman, former director of emer- gency operations for Oregon Health Authority’s Public Health Division, starts his new job May 26. “I am honored that the governor has nominated me for this important position,” Harryman said May 23 during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Rules and Executive Appoint- ments. Harryman is charged with “directing, imple- menting, and coordinating seismic safety and resil- ience goal-setting, which includes working with state agencies to improve Oregon’s seismic safety and resilience,” according to a statement from Brown’s offi ce. One of Harryman’s fi rst tasks is to participate in the regional earthquake prepa- ration exercise, Cascadia Rising, June 7 to 10. The event is intended to prepare the Pacifi c Northwest to coordinate a response to a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake and tsunami. Participants include state and local agencies from Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, along with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, military commands and members of the private sector. Geologists and seismic experts predict major seismic activity along the Cascadia faultline could devastate commu- 2015 Subscriber services: For home delivery, vacation stops or delivery concerns: 1-800-522-0255 TODAY By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau 2 8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m. 0-2, Low 3-5, Moderate 6-7, High; 8-10, Very High; 11+, Extreme The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index™ num- ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection. Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2016 -10s -0s showers t-storms 0s 10s rain 20s flurries 30s 40s snow ice 50s 60s cold front 70s 80s 90s 100s warm front stationary front 110s high low National Summary: A mosaic of showers and thunderstorms will affect the Midwest, Great Basin and northern and central Rockies today. A new outbreak of severe weather will begin over the central and southern Plains. Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 100° in Pecos, Texas Low 23° in Bryce Canyon, Utah NATIONAL CITIES Today Albuquerque Atlanta Atlantic City Baltimore Billings Birmingham Boise Boston Charleston, SC Charleston, WV Chicago Cleveland Dallas Denver Detroit El Paso Fairbanks Fargo Honolulu Houston Indianapolis Jacksonville Kansas City Las Vegas Little Rock Los Angeles Hi 70 87 77 88 65 90 75 76 87 86 86 82 85 61 83 84 55 79 85 84 81 85 85 83 86 72 Lo 50 66 63 66 46 68 46 61 64 65 67 66 70 46 67 57 43 54 71 75 68 62 65 66 68 58 W pc s pc pc pc pc pc s s pc pc c t t t s sh c sh t t s t s t pc Fri. Hi 76 86 74 86 69 89 68 76 86 88 82 88 83 58 86 85 64 75 86 82 84 84 75 88 81 72 Lo 52 63 63 66 48 68 42 63 66 67 65 68 71 44 68 57 45 56 73 71 69 64 63 69 67 58 Today W pc pc pc pc t pc pc pc pc pc t t t r t s c c sh t t pc t s t pc Louisville Memphis Miami Milwaukee Minneapolis Nashville New Orleans New York City Oklahoma City Omaha Philadelphia Phoenix Portland, ME Providence Raleigh Rapid City Reno Sacramento St. Louis Salt Lake City San Diego San Francisco Seattle Tucson Washington, DC Wichita Hi 86 87 84 82 82 90 88 88 85 82 89 86 77 83 88 69 74 86 87 70 68 68 63 82 89 85 Lo 69 71 73 63 63 67 75 67 66 64 68 67 53 60 65 44 48 55 71 51 62 53 49 57 69 65 W pc t pc pc pc pc pc pc t t pc s s s pc t pc s t pc pc pc c s pc t Fri. Hi 87 83 86 76 80 88 87 84 82 78 90 92 66 77 87 70 77 90 77 71 69 72 63 87 87 80 Lo 70 69 74 59 64 68 73 70 66 62 68 70 56 63 61 45 47 60 68 49 61 55 49 61 70 61 Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice. W t t pc t t c pc pc t t pc s c pc s pc s s t pc pc pc sh s pc t