A8
State
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Trump fuels Democrats’ anxiety at session
By Paris Achen
Capital Bureau
Pamplin Media Group/Paris Achen
Left to right, Democratic
Sens. Sara Gelser, Chuck
Riley and Ginny Burdick
talk about the mood at
the Oregon Capitol on
the first day of the 160-
day legislative session
Wednesday.
President Donald Trump
was omnipresent as state
lawmakers commenced their
160-day legislative session at
the State Capitol Feb. 1.
Outside the Capitol, hun-
dreds of protesters stood on
the building’s steps to rally
against Trump’s executive
order last week temporarily
banning refugees and visa
holders from several pre-
dominantly Muslim countries
from entering the country.
Inside, state lawmakers
began the process of poli-
cymaking as they face un-
certainty about what policy
changes could still come
from the Trump administra-
tion, including a likely repeal
of the Affordable Care Act
and others that could affect
the state’s federal funding.
“My sense of it is with
what is going on in Washing-
ton, D.C., especially on is-
sues like the Affordable Care
Act, there is a growing sense
Oregon jobs recovery
lags in some rural areas
The overall
number of jobs
is 6.5 percent
higher than pre-
recession peak
By Mateusz Perkowski
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon now
has more jobs than before the
“great recession” but some
rural areas are still lagging
behind, according to the state
economist.
After the financial crisis
a decade ago, Oregon lost
roughly 8 percent of its jobs,
said Mark McMullen, the
state economist.
Since then, the state has
not only regained all those
lost jobs but also increased
the overall number by 6.5
percent from the pre-reces-
sion peak, he said during a
Feb. 6 hearing before the
House Committee on Eco-
nomic Development and
Trade.
However, McMullen said
those gains haven’t been felt
equally by all regions of the
state.
The Portland metropolitan
area has seen the strongest
recovery, with the number
of jobs now 9 percent higher
than before the recession.
There are now 7.5 percent
more jobs in the Columbia
Gorge, 6.8 percent more jobs
in Central Oregon and 3.3
percent more jobs in the Wil-
lamette Valley.
Jobs in Southern Oregon
contracted by roughly 12
percent during the recession
but the region now has 0.3
percent more jobs than be-
fore the crisis.
Northeast Oregon and the
North Coast haven’t yet fully
recovered, but the number of
jobs is less than a half-per-
cent lower than before the
recession.
Southeast Oregon still
has 4.7 percent fewer jobs
from the pre-recession peak,
while the South Coast has
6.1 percent fewer jobs. These
regions have seen worse
times, though — both have
recovered roughly half the
jobs they lost during the re-
cession.
Some counties are still
seriously reeling from the
downturn. Gilliam County
has recovered only 10 percent
of the jobs it lost during the
recession, while Crook and
Grant counties have recov-
ered fewer than 30 percent.
The good news is that
nearly 100 percent of Oregon
counties are now gaining jobs
rather than losing them, Mc-
Mullen said.
The lone exception —
Morrow County — is actually
an economic success story,
but has recently lost some
jobs due to the completion of
major construction projects,
he said.
Oregon now has about 2
unemployed people per job
opening, down from 11 peo-
ple per open position in late
2009.
In terms of income, the
top 20 percent of Oregon
households are now making
6.7 percent more money than
they were a decade ago, ad-
justed for inflation, he said.
Inflation-adjusted incomes
are about 1 percent lower
among the middle 20 percent
of households and 7 percent
lower among the bottom 20
percent.
Oregon is the 12th most
trade-dependent state in the
U.S., he said. Computer and
electronic equipment lead in
the way in exports, followed
by heavy manufactured
products such as metal and
machinery, then agricultur-
al goods and forestry prod-
ucts.
that we are on our own,”
said Senate Majority Leader
Ginny Burdick, D-Portland.
“There is so much confu-
sion back there, so much
that is frankly distressing
to many Oregonians going
on out there that there is a
sense that we need to work
together.”
State lawmakers this ses-
sion have to contend with a
$1.8 billion revenue shortfall
stemming from a reduction in
federal contribution to subsi-
dized health care for low-in-
come residents, spikes in hu-
man services caseloads and
rising state pension costs. But
the tone of the session largely
reverberated with resistance
to Trump.
In a gesture of resistance
to Trump’s executive order,
House Speaker Tina Kotek
kicked off Wednesday with
an invocation from a Port-
land imam.
Meanwhile, on the floor
of the Senate, Minority Lead-
er Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day,
spoke to some Democrats’
anxiety concerning the Trump
administration.
“We understand how Dem-
ocrats may be feeling, espe-
cially when they look at the
Washington, D.C., situation,
and it’s a terrible thing to be
without any access to the le-
vers of power,” Ferrioli said.
“We certainly know how that
feels here in Oregon.”
Despite the Legislature’s
Democratic majority, Repub-
lican votes are needed to pass
tax measures, which require a
three-fifths majority vote.
L EGISLATIVE B RIEFCASE
Legislation would
raise Oregon’s
smoking age to 21
An Oregon lawmaker who
also is a family physician
plans to reintroduce legisla-
tion this week that would raise
the legal smoking age from 18
to 21. The proposal by Sen.
Elizabeth Steiner Hayward,
D-Beaverton, is intended to
limit teenagers access to to-
bacco.
The legislation would im-
pose first-time civil penalties
of $50 for clerks and $500
for managers who sell to mi-
nors. People of legal age who
give tobacco to minors would
likely face similar penalties as
store clerks, Steiner Hayward
said.
Lawmakers
backing pesticide
restrictions
poised to shape
farm policy
Lawmakers with strong
track records of support-
ing pesticide restrictions are
chairing two Senate commit-
tees that are positioned to af-
fect Oregon agricultural poli-
cies in 2017. Senate Bill 499
— a proposal to strip pesticide
protections from Oregon’s
“right to farm” law — was in-
troduced at the behest of the
Senate Judiciary Committee,
whose chair is Floyd Prozans-
ki, D-Eugene.
Oregon’s “Right to Farm
and Forest” law prohibits
local ordinances restricting
common farm practices as
well as nuisance and trespass
lawsuits against such farm
practices. People who lose
such lawsuits are required
to pay the opposing party’s
attorney fees, which has dis-
couraged such cases against
farm practices from being
filed in Oregon. Under SB
499, however, complaints al-
leging nuisance or trespass
from pesticides are exempted
from the “right to farm” law.
Lawmakers
consider stronger
invasive mussel
defenses
Oregon lawmakers are
considering
whether
to
strengthen the state’s defenses
against invasive aquatic mus-
sels that threaten both irriga-
tion systems and ecosystems.
Currently, drivers haul-
ing boats who don’t stop at
check points can be ticketed
for traffic violations. The sta-
tions are located at common
entry points for watercraft
along Oregon’s borders. Un-
der House Bill 2321, drivers
who are pulled over by police
within five miles of failing to
stop at a checkpoint can be
charged with a misdemeanor
if they refuse to return for in-
spection.
During the Feb. 2 hearing,
lawmakers also considered
House Bill 2266, which per-
tains to funding for hatchery
fish research.
Currently,
unobligated
money left over in the Or-
egon Hatchery Research
Center Fund is transferred to
the Oregon Hatchery Con-
struction Fund at the end of
each fiscal year. Under HB
2266, that money would
be allowed to remain in the
fund dedicated to hatchery
research.
Senate committee
will release revenue
plan next week
Lawmakers in the Oregon
Senate’s Finance and Reve-
nue committee are expected
to release a package of mea-
sures this week that will likely
include a broad-based tax on
business.
Facing a nearly $1.8 billion
shortfall to maintain existing
services, business tax talks
are occurring in the context of
a larger discussion legislators
are having about the volatility
of state revenue.
Most of the state’s gener-
al fund comes from income
taxes, which rise and fall with
changes in the economy and
produce what State Rep. Cliff
Bentz, R-Ontario, has de-
scribed as “crazy gyrations.”
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served with all the trimmings
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Tuesday February 14
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