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.
A TTENTION G RANT
C OUNTY
V ETERANS :
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disabled veteran is entitled to
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See your Grant County Veteran Services Katee
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108830
Call 541-620-8057 for an appointment
530 E. Main, Ste. 5, John Day, OR
98782