NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Page 2A
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
$8B transportation package would strip House approves
governor’s ability to appoint ODOT head tighter tracking
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM – Legislators on a
joint committee to craft a trans-
portation package plan to propose
shifting authority to appoint
the director of the
Oregon Department of
Transportation from
the governor to the
Oregon Transportation
Commission.
“If you are going
to have entity with
fiduciary
responsi-
bility, they need the
ability to appoint the
CEO,” said Committee
Co-Chairman
Lee
Beyer, D-Eugene.
Under the proposal, the five-
member commission would
appoint the director “in consulta-
tion with the governor.”
The proposal is one part of
a transportation package that
would raise about $8 billion
over the next 10 years to pay for
projects to relieve congestion and
maintain roads and bridges.
The 14-member committee
met over the last two weeks
to refine points they wanted to
include in the legislation, which
legislative counsel is in the
process of drafting. Lawmakers
emphasized
that
their agreement for
the first draft of the
legislation did not
necessarily
indicate
their support for all of
the provisions. Many
of the finer points will
be hashed out after the
first draft is completed.
Co-chairwoman Rep.
Caddy
McKeown,
D-Coos Bay, estimated
the first draft would be finished
by May 31, with public hearings
scheduled afterwards.
The money for the plan would
come from a combination of hikes
in the gas tax and registration
and license fees, tolls and new
taxes on payroll and purchases of
new vehicles and bicycles. The
legislation also would require a
for medical
marijuana
about $800 million per year in
additional transportation funding.
The money would come
from increases in the gas tax and
vehicle fees and a set of new taxes
over the next 10 years, including:
• Gas tax increase from 30
cents to 44 cents.
• Tiered increase in title and
registration fees, with higher
increases for fuel-efficient vehi-
cles, which pay less in gas taxes.
• Statewide payroll tax of
one-tenth of 1 percent to pay for
mass transit.
• Tolls to be determined.
• Bicycle excise tax of 5
percent.
• Dealer privilege tax of 1
percent on new vehicle purchases.
The state spends about $1.3
billion a year on transporta-
tion system maintenance and
upgrades. This proposal would
bring that amount up to about
$2.1 billion.
The committee’s co-chairs
have estimated a vote on the
package could happen as early as
mid-June.
website where taxpayers could
follow the progress and budgets
of projects in their area and create
an independent staff for the OTC,
which sets policy for ODOT.
Tammy Baney, OTC chair-
woman, earlier this year asked
Gov. Kate Brown for a separate
staff and for more involvement
in the appointment of the ODOT
director.
The plan identifies a few
specific projects to ease conges-
tion, but other projects would be
prioritized by the Oregon Trans-
portation Commission. Specific
projects would:
• Add lanes on Interstate 5 near
Portland’s Rose Quarter from
Interstate 84 to Interstate 405.
• Add northbound and south-
bound lanes on Highway 217
through the Portland metro area.
• Widen Interstate 205 to six
lanes from Oregon City to Staf-
ford Road.
• Widen and seismically rein-
force Interstate 205’s Abernethy
Bridge.
The plan raises an average of
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — The Oregon House of
Representatives Monday passed a bill
51-to-7 that requires medical marijuana
to undergo the same tight-looped tracking
as the recreational product.
“The core purpose of this bill is to
make sure that we eliminate the illegal
market by enhancing tracking and
other associated things that will prevent
diversion from Oregon’s legal mari-
juana sector to the illegal market,” said
Rep. Ann Lininger, D-Lake Oswego,
co-chairwoman of the Joint Committee
on Marijuana Regulation.
The effort to pass the reforms took on
more urgency after the Trump admin-
istration indicated it could crack down
on marijuana commerce in states where
the drug has been legalized, committee
members have indicated.
The requirement is the most signifi-
cant of several tweaks the bill makes to
Oregon’s marijuana regulations.
The Senate passed the bill 23-to-6 on
May 10.
Under
existing
law,
medical
producers, processors, wholesalers and
retailers have to self-report to the Oregon
Health Authority how much marijuana
they have. The bill requires all of that
product to be tracked with a bar code or
computer chip that follows the plant from
a seedling to its final product.
The bill exempts medical marijuana
cardholders and home growers from the
tracking requirements.
The legislation also requires:
• OHA to create an electronic database
to track medical marijuana cardholder
activity and to share that information
with the Department of Revenue and the
Oregon Liquor Control Commission.
• Adding two commissioners to the
OLCC from Eastern Oregon and Western
Oregon.
• Financial disclosures to the OLCC
by people with a financial interest in a
marijuana business applying for a license.
• OLCC to pursue disciplinary action
against a former licensee even if the
license has been revoked or suspended.
(OLCC previously did not have that
enforcement authority over former
licensees.)
Dems: Medicaid concerns haven’t derailed provider tax talks
By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Two key Demo-
cratic legislators maintain that
concerns raised last week by
the secretary of state about the
state’s Medicaid population have
not affected negotiations over
a possible tax on health care
providers.
The so-called provider tax
aims to raise between $575
million and $600 million to
cover part of the state’s costs of
expanding the pool of people
who qualify for Medicaid, the
federal government’s health care
coverage for the poor and other
needy groups.
It allows the state to receive
matching federal funds. A private
work group of legislators and
others involved in health care is
hashing out the details.
Last week, Oregon Secretary
of State Dennis Richardson
released a memo saying that the
state, more than three years after
expanding Medicaid under the
federal Affordable Care Act, has
not verified everyone covered by
the Oregon Health Plan still met
the criteria.
It’s unclear whether about
115,000 of the 1 million Orego-
nians on Medicaid are still
eligible, Richardson’s memo
said.
Of that group, about 14,000
people are in the process of being
removed from the plan for not
responding to the state’s inquiry;
17,000 people are undergoing
analysis; and by the end of
the month, the Oregon Health
Authority says it will know
whether the remaining 84,000
people require further analysis.
The state received a series
of passes on performing annual
eligibility determinations until
mid-2016.
The Oregon Health Authority
blames old data systems and the
failure of an attempted health
insurance exchange called Cover
Oregon as the source of the prob-
lems processing eligibility data.
Speaker of the House Tina
Kotek, D-Portland, and Sen.
Elizabeth Steiner Hayward,
D-Beaverton, who is a co-chair
of the legislative subcommittee
that handles OHA’s budget, said
Monday that the issues raised
last week have not affected
negotiations on the provider tax.
Oregon already taxes certain
hospitals and long-term care
providers, but the new tax could
include insurers and coordinated
care organizations, Steiner
Hayward said Monday. Coor-
dinated care organizations, or
CCOs, are the regional networks
of health care providers for
Oregon Health Plan patients.
Steiner Hayward, a family
physician, said people involved
in provider tax talks — including
legislators on both sides of the
aisle, representatives of hospi-
tals, insurers and CCOs — were
already aware of the eligibility
and enrollment problems at the
Oregon Health Authority.
“I don’t think the audit alert
has affected anything,” Steiner
Hayward said. She argued that
while some providers could lose
money, that depends on how the
tax is structured; and maintained
“there’s no downside” for the
state when it comes to a provider
tax, as it would help pay for
the cost of expanding Medicaid
coverage to more people, which
she contends is good policy.
“I really think the entire state
benefits when as many Orego-
nians as possible have access
to insurance,” Steiner Hayward
said.
State Rep. Julie Parrish,
R-Tualatin/West Linn, argued
last week that the eligibility
problems were important in
context of the provider tax
discussions.
“Before we talk about raising
$575 million as part of a package
for health care in this state, if
there are people who are not
eligible, and we’re using those
numbers as part of the eligibility,
then I think we have a problem,”
Parrish said, “Because who is
picking up the tab for hospital
provider taxes, and insurance
taxes, and CCO taxes? It’s the
actual taxpayer.”
Parrish said in a phone
interview Monday that she was
not part of the private work
group hammering out the tax.
She maintained that the costs of
the tax would be passed down
to individual buyers of health
insurance on private market.
Kotek said Monday that the
Oregon Health Authority was
reassessing its caseload, so the
budget lawmakers pass by the
end of session would not be based
on old eligibility numbers.
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REGIONAL CITIES
Forecast
TODAY
FRIDAY
THURSDAY
Partly sunny,
breezy and cooler
Partly sunny with a
shower
67° 45°
68° 47°
Pleasant and
warmer
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
Plenty of sunshine
Mostly sunny
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
78° 52°
83° 53°
88° 57°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
75° 46°
73° 48°
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
LOW
86°
72°
95° (2001)
52°
49°
23° (1903)
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"
0.93"
0.96"
9.14"
5.54"
6.07"
HERMISTON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
Yesterday
Normals
Records
HIGH
LOW
92°
74°
101° (1951)
48°
49°
30° (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"
0.43"
0.83"
6.31"
4.23"
4.82"
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
New
First
May 25
June 1
90° 55°
93° 58°
Seattle
62/50
ALMANAC
Yesterday
Normals
Records
84° 52°
Full
5:15 a.m.
8:30 p.m.
4:53 a.m.
7:12 p.m.
Last
June 9
June 17
Today
Spokane
Wenatchee
62/46
68/49
Tacoma
Moses
63/44
Lake
Pullman
Aberdeen Olympia
Yakima 71/49
60/44
60/46
63/43
73/46
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
62/46
69/50 Lewiston
74/48
Astoria
68/49
60/47
Portland
Enterprise
Hermiston
64/49
Pendleton 60/37
The Dalles 73/48
67/45
68/47
La Grande
Salem
63/42
65/45
Albany
Corvallis 67/44
68/45
John Day
65/38
Ontario
Eugene
Bend
76/47
66/42
68/35
Caldwell
Burns
72/42
68/32
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
60
64
68
66
68
60
66
65
73
65
76
63
60
80
59
62
76
74
67
64
69
65
62
62
63
69
73
Lo
47
36
35
48
32
37
42
41
48
38
34
42
39
46
45
48
47
47
45
49
33
45
46
37
48
50
46
W
sh
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
c
pc
pc
pc
pc
sh
pc
pc
pc
pc
c
pc
pc
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Thu.
Hi
65
62
67
62
65
56
71
67
75
64
72
62
60
81
59
62
70
74
68
74
70
72
65
60
72
69
75
Lo
49
36
39
48
36
39
46
43
46
41
39
41
39
50
46
49
50
47
47
53
37
49
47
38
51
51
48
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
W
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
r
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
WORLD CITIES
Today
Beijing
Hong Kong
Jerusalem
London
Mexico City
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Seoul
Sydney
Tokyo
Hi
93
84
74
76
83
72
77
77
80
72
77
Lo
63
73
54
56
56
55
58
58
57
53
69
W
s
t
s
s
pc
pc
pc
pc
s
s
c
Thu.
Hi
86
82
77
77
81
63
81
76
77
67
75
Lo
56
74
55
57
56
51
58
58
53
52
67
W
s
r
c
s
pc
r
s
pc
s
s
sh
WINDS
Medford
80/46
(in mph)
Klamath Falls
76/34
Boardman
Pendleton
REGIONAL FORECAST
Eastern Washington: Partial sunshine today.
Thursday
NW 4-8
NW 6-12
UV INDEX TODAY
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
Coastal Oregon: Winds subsiding today
with clouds and sun; showers around across
the north.
Eastern and Central Oregon: Partly sunny
and cooler today; pleasant in central parts
and near the Cascades.
Western Washington: Mainly cloudy today.
A couple of showers; only in the morning
at the coast.
Today
WSW 10-20
W 10-20
2
5
7
7
4
2
8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m.
Cascades: Cooler today with times of sun
and clouds; a couple of showers across the
north.
Northern California: Times of clouds and
sun today. Partly cloudy tonight. Clouds and
sun tomorrow.
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. ©2017
-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: Rain will soak areas from the Midwest to a large part of the Southeast
states today. Storms can be locally severe in southern Georgia and the Florida Peninsula.
Most other areas will be free of rain.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 111° in Palm Springs, Calif.
Low 22° in Aspen Springs, Colo.
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
89
73
63
70
79
72
72
64
80
71
62
71
80
81
70
96
62
68
86
83
65
79
65
102
69
75
Lo
59
56
56
57
46
54
44
52
64
56
51
59
60
52
58
72
38
48
72
62
55
62
45
76
50
57
W
s
t
pc
pc
t
sh
pc
pc
t
r
sh
r
s
s
r
s
c
s
pc
s
r
t
pc
s
sh
pc
Thur.
Hi
87
71
66
72
64
74
67
56
78
64
67
68
92
73
68
97
53
68
85
91
67
81
76
95
79
66
Lo
54
58
60
56
44
57
47
52
60
56
51
56
75
45
54
70
35
49
70
74
54
56
60
68
64
57
W
s
sh
t
t
pc
s
pc
r
sh
sh
pc
sh
s
t
sh
s
c
pc
sh
pc
sh
pc
s
s
s
pc
Today
Hi
Louisville
67
Memphis
69
Miami
92
Milwaukee
58
Minneapolis
66
Nashville
69
New Orleans
77
New York City
69
Oklahoma City
71
Omaha
69
Philadelphia
72
Phoenix
107
Portland, ME
65
Providence
67
Raleigh
69
Rapid City
76
Reno
86
Sacramento
79
St. Louis
69
Salt Lake City
86
San Diego
70
San Francisco
68
Seattle
62
Tucson
103
Washington, DC 72
Wichita
69
Lo
57
54
78
50
51
55
60
56
51
48
56
76
48
52
62
48
53
52
54
53
61
54
50
70
60
50
W
r
c
t
sh
pc
sh
pc
r
s
pc
pc
s
pc
r
r
s
pc
pc
sh
t
pc
pc
c
s
pc
pc
Thur.
Hi
69
77
88
62
72
74
83
62
85
77
70
99
60
60
75
68
79
76
77
70
67
68
69
97
74
81
Lo
58
64
76
50
58
56
68
57
64
58
59
71
48
54
58
42
49
51
61
53
61
54
52
65
59
62
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
W
sh
s
t
pc
s
pc
s
r
s
s
t
s
r
r
t
pc
pc
pc
pc
t
c
c
pc
s
t
s