NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, July 20, 2019
Oregon Hemp Commission proposal likely to return
By MATEUSZ
PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
SALEM — A pro-
posal to raise much-needed
research money for Oregon’s
fast-growing hemp industry
failed to pass muster during
the legislative session that
just ended, but supporters say
it will likely return next year.
The concept of an Oregon
Hemp Commission again
died in the budget-setting
Joint Ways and Means Com-
mittee at the end of the 2019
legislative session, which is
the same fate that befell a
similar proposal two years
earlier.
Establishing a formal
industry-wide
organiza-
tion would have helped Ore-
gon State University better
understand the top difficul-
ties faced by hemp growers,
said Jay Noller, the universi-
ty’s hemp leader.
“It does set things back
because that was seen as a
means to collectively prior-
itize the research focus,” as
well as provide funding for
those projects, he said. “What
we’re missing is a tried-and-
true model of how the indus-
try can turn the head of the
research.”
Oregon already has 23
commodity
commissions
that collect assessment fees
from farmers, ranchers and
Capital Press Photo/Mateusz Perkowski, File
A bill establishing a state hemp commission is likely to resurface during the next legislative
session.
fishermen to pay for research
and promotions, so it’s hardly
a novel idea. Hemp produc-
tion in the state, meanwhile,
has surged from about 100
acres to more than 50,000
acres in the past five years.
House Bill 2740, which
Forecast for Pendleton Area
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would have added hemp to
that list, did not encounter
any opposition and would not
have involved spending sig-
nificant sums of tax dollars.
While the bill was unan-
imously approved by the
House Agriculture Com-
mittee in April, it wasn’t
assigned to the Ways and
Means Subcommittee on
Natural Resources until early
June — the final month of the
legislative session.
At that same time, the
subcommittee was debating
contentious climate legisla-
tion that would eventually
lead to a walkout of Republi-
can senators.
“There were a lot of other
things taking precedent at
the Capitol,” said Courtney
Moran, an attorney and pres-
ident of the Oregon Industrial
Hemp Farmers Association.
With the de facto legaliza-
tion of hemp at the national
level under the 2018 Farm
Bill, many questions about
federal rules remain up in the
air.
Lawmakers may have
wanted to avoid jumping the
gun before more is known
about how hemp will be reg-
ulated, said Michelle Binker,
chief of staff for Rep. Carl
Wilson, R-Grants Pass, the
bill’s chief sponsor.
“In some small measure,
people were reluctant to get
ahead of the USDA,” which
will decide on testing reg-
ulations, as well as the U.S.
Food and Drug Adminis-
tration, which will regulate
hemp products for human
consumption, she said.
Wilson also resisted
attempts to use HB 2740 as
a “political football,” Binker
said. “We didn’t allow it to
become part of the session
negotiations so it died.”
Draft rules from the
USDA are expected in
August and the FDA’s guid-
ance for hemp products is
also expected to be forth-
coming, so a bill to create an
Oregon Hemp Commission
would be better positioned
during the 2020 short legisla-
tive session, said Moran.
“We’re looking for that
additional guidance from
the federal government,” she
said.
There’s still a lot of basic
agronomic information that
growers need about hemp,
including fertility studies to
determine proper nutrition
for the crop, said Noller.
Research funded and
directed by an Oregon Hemp
Commission would also
likely focus on pesticide
options for insects and dis-
eases, as well as the impacts
from inadvertent pollination,
Noller said.
Many growers are using
drip tape for irrigation but
more data is needed on the
most effective way to apply
water, he said. “We don’t
know what the appropriate
irrigation rates are.”
Health insurance rate decisions
lower 2020 premiums by $44M
By KATY NESBITT
For the EO Media Group
SALEM — Oregonians
signed up for individual or
small group health plans got
some good news this week
when the state announced
their final rate decision will
lower premiums in 2020 by
$44 million.
The final rates for next
year are 2% lower than the
original request filed by insur-
ance companies in May and
1% lower, on average, from
the division’s preliminary rate
decisions.
“The rate increases over
the years have been high and
the costs for insurance can be
something difficult to pay,”
said Brad Hilliard, public
information officer for Ore-
gon Division of Financial
Regulation.
The division regulates
insurance rates through a
two-month review process
with an open public comment
period. Through that process
the state determines to what
extent insurance providers
can raise or lower their rates,
Hilliard said.
The division issued final
decisions for seven compa-
nies in the individual mar-
ket with average rate changes
ranging from a 3.2% decrease
to an 8.9% increase, for an
average increase of 1%. Under
the decisions, Silver Standard
Plan premiums for a 40-year-
old in Portland would range
from $436 to $530 a month.
The division encourages
everyone to apply for federal
subsidies who don’t qualify
for the Oregon Health Plan
through Medicaid.
“We encourage everyone
to apply,” Hilliard said. “The
vast majority who do qual-
ify for financial help for their
health insurance.”
The state’s announcement
gives those who work for
businesses with fewer than
50 employees or are self-em-
ployed several months to
look over the available poli-
cies ahead of the enrollment
period between Nov. 1 and
Dec. 15.
Since the Affordable Care
Act instituted the individual
and small group markets rates
have greatly fluctuated, but
are becoming more stable and
sustainable, Hilliard said.
To determine premium
rates Hilliard said health
insurance companies that
offer plans for individuals and
small groups submit financial
reports with enrollment num-
bers to his division, kicking
off a review process each year
in mid-May. The state’s actu-
aries look over the requests
and consider a broad range
of factors like medical loss
trends.
If the numbers don’t add
up, Hilliard said the state
pushes back on the insurance
companies and determines
MORE
INFORMATION
More information for
each insurance com-
pany can be found at
oregonhealthrates.org. A
complete premium com-
parison table for each
county based on ages 21,
40, and 60 will be posted
online in August.
what they can charge. Sev-
eral factors, such as medical
costs, federal policy changes,
the Oregon Reinsurance Pro-
gram, and federal risk adjust-
ment payments are consid-
ered to make sure rates will
adequately cover health care
costs.
The reinsurance program
— insurance for insurance
companies, Hilliard said —
has helped lower rates over-
all by 6% a year.
During the public hear-
ings each insurance com-
pany will state their case and
hear what the division has to
say about it, Hilliard said.
“We take into account
loss trends and claims to
predict future claims and to
determine what rates should
be — not too high, but high
enough to cover costs,” Hil-
liard said.
Insurance
companies
have 21 days to request a
hearing before the final rates
are set for 2020.
BRIEFLY
DMV worker accused of using
driver info to steal from cars
PORTLAND (AP) — An Oregon Driver
and Motor Vehicles Services worker and her
boyfriend have been indicted in an alleged
scheme to steal from dozens of cars in the
metro area over at least two years using driv-
er’s license information.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports 37-year-
old Valerie Applegate of Happy Valley also is
accused of accepting bribes to provide driver’s
licenses to people and other misconduct.
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The state Department of Transportation
says Applegate has worked since June 2010 at
the agency’s Mall 205 outlet in Portland. She’s
been on paid administrative leave since April
26.
Police say Applegate is suspected of look-
ing up driver information on cars for boyfriend
Israel Fonseca. Police say Fonseca is suspected
of using the information to follow cars from a
driver’s home, break in and drive them away.
Police say the cars would be stripped and
stolen items would be sold.
It wasn’t known if the two have lawyers.
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