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STATE BlueMountainEagle.com Wednesday, April 3, 2019 Oregon lawmakers go into second half of session with a full plate By Aubrey Wieber, Claire Withycombe and Mark Miller Oregon Capital Bureau Oregon’s legislators are halfway around their politi- cal track in Salem, and major reforms in taxation, environ- ment and education remain in the works. They now have about 90 days to finish their work and go home. Democrats, who dominate the House and Senate, say key proposals have already been passed and turned into law, including first-of-its-kind state- wide rent control. About 200 bills have made it through, most with no con- troversy. They honor influen- tial figures and tidy up tech- nical details in existing laws among other steps. Friday was a critical day. Legislative leaders mandated that proposed bills were being actively processed or they would die for lack of progress. That could whittle down legis- lators’ “to do” list considerably. Hundreds of proposals are still being considered that would regulate guns, strictly require vaccinations, provide paid leave to Oregon workers and transform the criminal jus- tice system. “The vaccination bill is important, the housing bills are important, the funding bills are important,” House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, said. “There’s just so much going on right now. Our members, I think, are struggling to keep up with it all.” Combined, they are just as powerful as the headliner bills, and as March turns to April, Democratic leaders are getting impatient. “I’m nervous because March is basically gone, so now we have three months left,” said Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem. “That might seem like a lot of time, but to consider the mag- nitude of the proposals and bills…” Asked when he’d like to see bigger bills move, Courtney was succinct. “Today,” he said. Expectations are high. In November, Democrats took several seats to gain near-historic numbers in the House and a three-fifths major- ity in the Senate. Gov. Kate Brown responded by proposing an ambitious Oregon Capital Bureau The Oregon Capitol. budget, telling lawmakers this wasn’t the time for Oregon to “rest on her laurels.” “It’s so hectic,” Sen. Laurie Monnes Anderson, D-Gresham, said of the ses- sion, which began Jan. 22. “Legislative Counsel hasn’t been able to get us our bills or our amendments in a timely manner.” Some of those bills and amendments are complicated, Monnes Anderson noted. That’s also hard on state ana- lysts, who calculate the fiscal impact. Legislators are also deal- ing with the near-certainty of wide-ranging budget cuts. Not only is it challenging to find the money for new programs, but some existing services would have to be pared back. “It’s tough,” Monnes Ander- son said. “It’s not like we’re not trying, but it is frustrating.” Longtime business lobby- ist Shaun Jillions, whose cli- ents are largely opposed to the Democrats’ agenda, said he doesn’t think there’s reason to panic. Jillions remembers years ago when bills spent more time in committee. Now, lawmak- ers just “rush a bunch of bills through,” he said. “I don’t feel like the session is moving slow at all,” he said. Jim Carlson has been lob- bying in Salem since 1987. From his perspective, what he called the “big rock” issues — the priorities Brown, Kotek and Courtney share — are on the right track. Carlson, who heads the Oregon Health Care Associ- ation, said Medicaid funding, the education budget, housing, carbon reduction and revenue reform were the top five issues coming into the session. “Two of those five have crossed the finish line, or major pieces,” he said, referring to Medicaid funding and rent control. The others are coming along as well, he said. “At this midpoint, we’re feeling that we’ve made some really good progress,” said Morgan Gratz-Weiser, legis- lative director for the Oregon Environmental Council. “All of our bills are moving along as they should. That said, the ses- sion is far from over.” Felisa Hagins, political director for Service Employ- ees International Union Local 49, said there appears to be more agreement on the K-12 education policies, and less general chatter about it in the Capitol than the cap-and-trade proposal, in part because a core group of lawmakers from both parties has put months of work into it. The amount of engagement surpasses the major collabora- tive achievement of the 2017 session, which was $5 billion in state transportation funding, Hagins said. Last week, Kotek called for greater urgency from House Democrats. On Friday, nearly all legis- lation that hasn’t been worked over by a committee or had a work session scheduled will die. That deadline has quieted the generally chaotic Capitol, as more work is being done behind closed doors than in hearing rooms. Come April, a clearer picture of what law- makers chose to prioritize will emerge. But surviving March is only one victory in a gauntlet of political obstacles for law changes. Some lawmakers will see cherished proposals and pet projects slowly suffocate in committee. Courtney wants to priori- tize the agenda to get proposals onto the floor for votes. He’s leading by example. One of Courtney’s first proposals — Senate Bill 7 — would have lowered the blood alcohol content threshold for a drunken-driving arrest from .08 to .05. Only Utah has such a strict law. It was poetic, in a way. As a young lawmaker, Courtney fought for .08 in 1983. Court- ney said Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wanted more work done on the idea outside of the session. Rather than fighting it, Courtney is going to let it die. “That’s a very big bill for me, but I’m going to live with it,” Courtney said. Despite having the power to pass bills, Democrats don’t move in lockstep. Every lawmaker comes in with a list of wants that can pull the party in too many direc- tions, Jillions said. “Be careful what you wish for,” he said. “When you start having that large of a majority, the expectations of what you will deliver are off the charts.” Courtney said, so far, the Democratic dominance hasn’t been an issue. “I don’t see where the supermajority has been a fac- tor in any of this in terms of causing dissension or anger,” he said. Republicans, meanwhile, say they feel left out. Senate Republican Leader Herman Baertschiger Jr. of Grants Pass said, when he took the post last fall, he didn’t want Senate Republicans to be the party of “no.” “I said, ‘What we’re gonna do is, we’re gonna bring our ideas and we’re gonna show contrast to how our ideas are better,’” Baertschiger said in an interview. But he said Senate Repub- licans haven’t had that chance. “We have not been allowed that on many of the bills,” Baertschiger said. “The amend- ments don’t even get heard.” Strategically, the Republi- cans have few options. “We’re running out of gas,” said Baertschiger. “All we can do is vote no. And we can do floor speeches and we can do remonstrances. But at the end of the day, they’re still gonna move this legislation.” This year, Democrats have the power to easily tweak bills how they want and pass what they want on a party line — if they stay together. A7 Gov. Brown appoints Bev Clarno Oregon secretary of state By Aubrey Wieber Oregon Capital Bureau Gov. Kate Brown has tapped former legislator Bev Clarno to be Oregon’s 37th secretary of state. The announcement came Friday, just over a month after former Secre- tary of State Dennis Rich- ardson died. Clarno will finish Rich- ardson’s term, which will conclude in January 2021. In filling Richardson’s term, Brown sought a Republican with no inten- tion of running for election in 2020. Brown has said she didn’t want to give an incumbent bump to anyone running for the office. A large list was formed after people nom- inated themselves or oth- ers. Oregon Republicans also proposed five can- didates. Twenty candi- dates advanced into an ini- tial round, said Chris Pair, Brown’s communications director. Brown interviewed three finalists, asking about their “vision for the Office of Secretary of State, their approach to Dennis Rich- ardson’s legacy, manage- ment of large organizations or government agen- cies, and commitment to accountability in state gov- ernment,” Pair said. The office is not releas- ing the names of the other finalists. The secretary of state oversees elections and campaign finance, conducts audits of state agencies and registers businesses. The secretary of state also sits on the State Land Board. “I’m honored by the confidence that Governor Brown has placed in me and pledge to be a good steward of the office. I know there is not a Repub- lican way or a Democrat way to oversee elections — there is only a fair and hon- est way,” Clarno said in a news release. Clarno is a former Ore- gon lawmaker from Red- mond who served as House speaker from 1995 to 1997. After losing a run at state treasurer, Clarno left pol- itics for a few years. She returned in 2000 when she was elected to the Sen- ate. She became Oregon Republi- Secretary can leader of State Bev in 2003 Clarno w h e n Demo- crats and Republicans had a 15-15 split. Her coun- terpart on the left that year was Brown. “Bev’s career is marked by her trailblazing spirit, focus on fiscal responsibil- ity, and a commitment to Oregonians,” Brown said in a news release. “Bev’s experience as a legislator and as a manager of a large government organization is key to the success of the programs and employees the Secretary of State over- sees. I’m confident that Bev will continue the legacy of accountability and integrity that Secretary Richardson left on the office of secre- tary of state.” In 2003, President George W. Bush appointed Clarno to serve as a regional director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Clarno has lived nearly her entire life in Central Oregon, where she is a pig farmer, cattle rancher and real estate broker. While in politics, Clarno had to bat- tle misogynistic views of men who did not believe women should work in the Capitol, according to a biographical video. “I’ve raised 3,000 hogs and I’ve castrated 200 in a day,” she famously said to a doubter. “I think I’m tough enough to be speaker.” Clarno will be the fifth woman to serve as Ore- gon’s secretary of state. Richardson died Feb. 26, and since then the office has been run by his deputy, Leslie Cummings. Rich- ardson’s death followed a nearly yearlong battle with brain cancer. Accord- ing to records requests showing communication between the governor’s staff, Brown’s team started discussing a replacement as early as Feb. 5. Carbon bill amendments give nod to rural Oregon By Aubrey Wieber Oregon Capital Bureau Climate advocates are coming up roses after leg- islative revisions to a pro- posed carbon pricing policy for Oregon left unchanged the most significant man- dates while softening the impact across the state. Rural Oregonians would now get additional special treatment, while polluters were given little, if any, con- cessions. Two major exemp- tions originally proposed for polluters were stripped following advocacy from environmentalists. The anticipated changes are the first major changes to House Bill 2020, the Leg- islature’s latest attempt to impose new environmental standards that would limit and price pollution in new ways. The “cap and trade” policy was the subject of recent hearings across the state, drawing unusually large crowds for a legisla- tive hearing as witnesses either painted gloomy pic- tures of what would happen with such a new policy or said it wasn’t tough enough. The changes were revealed Monday by state Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, and state Rep. Karin Power, D-Milwaukie, who are co-chairs of the Legislature’s Joint Commit- tee on Carbon Reduction. The 129-page amendment is based on public testimony from citizens and indus- try players providing the a range of concerns. Overall, Power and Dembrow said, the heart of the bill remains. “Our goal is not only to create a program that will effectively combat climate change, but also of course to do it in a way that invests in Oregon’s economy, espe- cially our rural economies,” Dembrow said. The program would put a cap on certain emissions. Companies would have to reduce their emissions to under 25,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases a year or buy certificates allowing excess pollution. Money from selling allowances would pay for state and local transporta- tion and climate projects. The intent is to force indus- try to find greener ways to operate, lowering Oregon’s emissions. Power said the revisions address themes that emerged during the public hearings. “It didn’t matter if you were for the bill or against the bill,” Power said. “We heard a common thread that people felt that industry was getting a number of exemp- tions while regular people were not.” The changes have the endorsement of Renew Oregon, the environmen- tal group most actively lob- bying for a cap and trade program. “Oregonians of all ages across the state are calling for bold climate action. Our legislators have put in an enormous amount of work shaping a policy with input from communities and inter- ests across the state,” Tera Hurst, the group’s execu- tive director, said in a state- ment. “These amendments address many concerns our coalition had and, taken as a whole, this represents the kind of major action needed to transform Oregon to a clean energy economy.” Rural Oregon gets sig- nificant relief in the bill. One of the biggest concerns the committee heard from the public is the projected 15-cent per gallon increase in gasoline prices as fuel suppliers would have to buy credits to cover emissions from their total fuel sales. To mitigate those impacts, Power and Dem- brow now propose that up to $100 million a year be refunded to low income households. The refund would be about 33 cents per day, which is the estimated impact the gas price increase would have on the rural, most eastern part of the state which is more dependent on driving. Rural areas were also added to the program’s defi- nition of “impacted com- munities” which include tribes, communities of color, low-income communities and communities especially vulnerable to climate change impacts. Half the money generated from certificate sales would go to projects in those communities. Other significant changes in the bill involve how pol- luters would be regulated. The new version takes out exemptions initially pro- posed at the request of industry. Now, fluorinated gas emissions would be reg- ulated immediately. That would affect Intel, Oregon’s largest emitter of the potent gas. “At every single pub- lic hearing we had, some- one raised the optics of giv- ing Intel a free pass,” Power said, though she added she didn’t fully agree with those views. A proposed exemption for garbage incineration also is gone. Covanta Mar- ion, an incineration-to-en- ergy plant in Brooks, would feel the brunt of that change. Covanta will now have to pay to offset emissions from burning 74,424 metric tons of garbage and medical waste. Some of the proceeds from the regulation would fund projects to reduce and recycle plastics, a bigger challenge since plastics have become harder to recycle. Dembrow said he hadn’t heard from Intel following the change, and declined to discuss communication with Covanta. Covanta also declined comment, but reit- erated it believes the policy should treat trash incinera- tion the same as landfills. In the original pro- posal, methane released from landfills that is recap- tured for energy production was exempt. Revisions now would put landfills under the jurisdiction of the state Department of Environ- mental Quality and face the strictest regulations in the nation on landfills. Perhaps the biggest change comes in how the program would regulate industry viewed as espe- cially vulnerable to carbon pricing. Some companies, whether it’s because they operate on Oregon’s bor- der or compete with com- panies based in more indus- try-friendly states, have said the policy could force them to leave the state. That would cause what legislators refer to as “leak- age.” Because climate change is a global problem, forcing a company out of Oregon only to pollute heav- ily in another state doesn’t achieve lower emissions. 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