Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 12, 2017)
State Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, July 12, 2017 A9 Legislature adjourns difficult session with mixed outcomes By Claire Withycombe and Paris Achen Capital Bureau Oregon lawmakers ad- journed a contentious legisla- tive session Friday. The more than five-month session yielded a two-year budget, new taxes, transporta- tion funding, expanded health care benefits and staved off the need for a second wom- en’s prison. But lawmakers also succumbed to partisan gridlock over corporate tax reform, paring pension costs and tenant protections. “At best, our successes are tempered by disappointment,” said Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem. House Minority Lead- er Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte, said the session was the “most partisan and divisive” one he had “ever been a part of.” The state faced a $1.4 bil- lion revenue shortfall in the budget for the next two years. Republicans agreed to support moderately increasing taxes on corporations in exchange for reducing the cost of pub- lic employee pension costs and spending reductions, but the two parties were unable to reach an agreement. Contributed photo/Oregon Department of Transportation The Legislature adjourned Friday after a contentious session. Although a budget and a transportation package were passed, there was no progress on long- term pension cost and revenue reforms. A last-ditch effort to re- structure small business tax- es, which would have raised nearly $200 million in the next two years, also went by the wayside. “The session will be more about missed opportunities than anything else,” McLane said. “The sound of a can be- ing kicked down the road is resonating.” Lawmakers passed a long-awaited transportation funding bill, made repro- ductive health care free-of- charge to patients and made undocumented children el- igible for health care under Medicaid. Democrats and Republi- cans did cooperate to pass a health care provider tax to help offset the state’s in- creasing financial responsi- bility for expanded Medic- aid. Without the tax, 350,000 Oregonians would have lost health coverage, some Dem- ocrats argued. “I am just really proud of the work they did this legisla- tive session,” said Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat. “There were some very difficult votes taken, both sides of the aisle, and I want to applaud their courage and their willingness to put politics aside and do the right thing for Oregonians.” Some of those accomplish- ments, including the transpor- tation package and the state’s funding mechanism for Med- icaid, appear to face possible challenges at the ballot box. The legislature convenes the five-month session in odd numbered years. In that time, they must balance the state’s budget. Lawmakers made cuts and ended tax credits in the effort to close the $1.4 billion gap. “Our budget was the best we could do without real rev- enue reform,” Senate Presi- dent Courtney said. “It funds schools better than expected. It limits tuition increases. It protects the Oregon Health Plan.” Lawmakers came up with a few ways to save money in the future through Senate Bill 1067, mainly through holding down costs of public employ- ee health benefit plans. The savings attributable to the bill in the next two years are in- determinate, according to the legislative fiscal office, but are projected to save about $1 billion in the 2019-21 bienni- um. The transportation fund- ing bill crowned lawmakers’ accomplishments this session, after a similar plan crumbled in 2015. Brown and legislative leaders identified the transpor- tation funding deal as top pri- ority for the session. The bill raises the revenue over 10 years through an in- crease in the gas tax and regis- tration and title fees, a flat tax on adult bicycles priced more than $200, and a 0.5 percent excise tax on the purchase of new vehicles. However, lawmakers sig- naled fear that voters might challenge the proposal at the ballot: They passed another law to move up the date of any election on any referral to May 2018. While a bill to ban no-cause evictions came to a standstill, the Legislature approved tens of millions of dollars in fund- ing to address the state’s crit- ical affordable housing short- age with emergency housing assistance, affordable housing preservation, state-backed bonds for development and an increase in the cap for the af- fordable housing tax credit. Other legislation helps to accelerate permitting for affordable housing and ac- cessory dwelling units and establishes a loan program to developers to purchase land for affordable housing. “We made good progress, but we need to do more to pro- tect renters from staggering rent spikes and no-cause evic- tions. In 2018, we will push to finish this session’s unfinished business on housing,” said Speaker Tina Kotek. To avoid opening a second women’s prison, lawmakers expanded early-release and alternative programs to help keep low-level female offend- ers out of prison. They also reduced penalties for drug and property crimes, which are the main drivers of female incar- ceration. Under another law, secret grand jury proceedings must be recorded. Lawmakers also instituted a new mandate aimed at re- ducing racial profiling during police stops. The law requires police to collect data on race, gender and other information during law enforcement stops. The Criminal Justice Com- mission would analyze the data to identify trends and the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training would provide training to all law en- forcement on preventing pro- filing. has the authority to hold spe- cial elections. Three Republican law- makers plan to file a petition to refer the so-called $550 million “provider tax” to the ballot. Democrats in the House and Senate passed legisla- tion Thursday to hold the possible referral election on that issue in January 2018, rather than the November general election. The same elections bill says that if the transportation package gets referred, it will be voted on in the May 2018 primary election. The transportation pack- age, an effort more than two years in the making, raises $5.3 billion over 10 years through increased gas taxes, registration and title fees and a flat tax on adult bicycles priced more than $200. Many Republicans have cried foul at the Democrat- ic effort to hold a January election on the possible pro- vider tax referral. Sen. Alan Olsen, of Canby, was moved to remark on the Senate floor Thursday: “It’s like the Grinch stole the election.” The state already assesses certain urban hospitals 5.3 percent of their net revenues to help pay for Medicaid. Hospitals receive most, if not all, of the amount back in the form of payments. Legislation passed this session creates a tax of .7 percent on those hos- pitals, a new 4 percent assess- ment on rural hospitals, and taxes insurers. L EGISLATIVE B RIEFCASE Transportation package heads to governor A $5.3 billion statewide transportation package is headed to Gov. Kate Brown for a signature after the Senate passed the bill 22-to-7 Thurs- day. The House of Represen- tatives passed the bill 39-to- 20 Wednesday. The 10-year plan includes hikes in the gas tax, registra- tion and title fees and new taxes on payroll, new vehicle purchases and bicycles priced more than $200. Legislature passes bill requiring coverage of abortion at no cost The state of Oregon will soon require insurers cover specific health services, in- cluding abortions, at no out- of-pocket cost to patients. House Bill 3391, approved by the Oregon Senate Wednes- day, now heads to Democratic Gov. Kate Brown’s desk. The legislation would prohibit plans from impos- ing a deductible, coinsur- ance, copayment or other cost-sharing requirements on specific services, such as preventive reproductive healthcare, contraception and postnatal services. The House passed the bill after hours of debate Satur- day, repeated briefly in the Senate Wednesday. One point of contention: A provision that would have the state separately provide abor- tion coverage for women who have health insurance through religious employers exempted from covering the service in their health benefit plans. Under the bill, the Oregon Health Authority will develop a program with the Depart- ment of Consumer and Busi- ness Services to cover abor- tion services for employees with those plans. The bill sets aside about $10 million in the next two years for the Oregon Health Authority to administer the provisions of the bill. The bill also would guarantee cover- age of the specified services for Oregon residents regard- less of immigration status or gender identity. Senate Democrats said in a statement that the bill would expand access to contracep- tion for over 18,000 Orego- nians and reduce the number of unintended pregnancies in the state. Senate Republicans, on the other hand, said they did not oppose the bill in its entirety, but wanted to amend the bill to exclude required coverage for abortion, a move they por- trayed as a possible bipartisan compromise. A motion to re- fer the bill back to the com- mittee to consider the amend- ment was voted down. Many Republicans who spoke on the floor before the vote made clear their opposi- tion to abortion. “The issue here is real- ly quite simple: What we’re talking about is the unjustified taking of an innocent human life,” said Sen. Dennis Linthi- cum, R-Beatty. them, saving Oregonians bil- lions of tax dollars, and the lives of thousands of loved ones, each year,” said Rep. Rich Vial, R-Scholls. Vial and Sen. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward, D-Beaver- ton, sponsored the legislation to help prevent youth from becoming addicted to tobac- co. Tobacco-related disease is the state’s leading cause of preventable death and claims the lives of more than 5,500 Oregonians each year. Bill to raise state smoking age to 21 passes Legislature approves election dates for referrals Oregon is on its way to become the third state to raise the legal age to buy tobacco from 18 to 21. The House of Represen- tatives on Thursday passed a bill to increase the legal age. The Senate, which had pre- viously passed the bill, then approved a minor language change made by the House, sending the bill to Gov. Kate Brown for a signature. “Research has shown that raising the minimum legal sale age of tobacco products and electronic cigarettes to 21 years, in line with alcohol and marijuana, significantly reduces the number of youth who begin using these prod- ucts and become addicted to The Oregon Legislature Thursday approved election dates for two major pieces of legislation if they are referred to voters. A $5.3 billion transporta- tion funding package passed Thursday and new taxes on health care providers to pay for Medicaid could get re- ferred to voters next year. Oregonians can petition to refer legislation to the ballot. The referral typically gets voted on in the next general election, but the Legislature 05880 Oregon lawmakers approve state REAL ID A bill to give Oregonians a voluntary path to upgrade their state-issued driver’s li- cense or ID card to federal standards is headed to Gov. Kate Brown for a signature. The upgraded identifica- tion will be necessary as soon as 2018 to board domestic commercial flights and enter any federal facility, including Bonneville Dam or a federal courthouse. Without compliant state-is- sued ID, travelers will instead have to use a passport or oth- er federally approved form of ID.
