NEWS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2022
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
Legislature sending millions of dollars for local projects
By PHIL WRIGHT
Hermiston Herald
Almost $5 million is
coming to the Hermiston
area to build a center to help
people in a behavioral crisis
Those funds and a lot
more came out of the 2022
short legislative session,
which wrapped up Friday,
March 4, four days ahead of
its deadline.
Republican Sen. Bill
Hansell of Athena said to
speed up the session, his
party on March 3 agreed
to suspend the rules that
required the full reading of
bills before fl oor votes, a
move the GOP used to slow
down majority Democrats
from ramrodding through
their agenda.
Hansell during an inter-
view March 3 said he would
be heading back home after
the fi nal few bills go to a
vote March 4. He said this
short session was unusual
because of the infl ux of fed-
eral money for allocations.
“So it was far more than
what I remember the short
session having available
in the past, and it will be a
one time opportunity type
thing,” he said.
‘Spread the peanut butter
Rep. Greg Smith, R-Hep-
pner, said he worked to
bring state
funding to
projects
in his dis-
trict, which
now spans
Umatilla,
M o r r o w,
Smith
Gilliam,
Sherman
and Wasco counties.
“The projects within HB
5202 were requested by
the communities,” Smith
said, “and then I negotiated
on their behalf, as a mem-
ber of the full Ways and
Means (Committee) and
the Capital Construction
Subcommittee.”
He said a big highlight
is the $4.59 million for the
Northeast Oregon Regional
Acute Care Center that will
be in the Hermiston area.
He said the facility will
be a “navigation center” —
a place for people suff ering
behavioral or mental distress
who “need a place to to chill
out for a couple of days” but
have not broken any laws.
A navigation center came
out of the 2021 session, but
that is at the western end of
his district in The Dalles.
Smith said that’s quite a
drive for police from Mil-
ton-Freewater, for example,
especially in the winter.
This new center could
go on property the Port of
Umatilla owns, he said, or
even the Columbia Devel-
opment Authority site, the
former location of the U.S.
Army’s chemical depot near
Hermiston.
He said while he has tra-
ditionally worked to obtain
state funds for infrastructure
and capital improvement
projects, local governments,
including the ports, cities
and counties, are doing well
there. But when it comes
to mental and behavioral
health, he said, there are
people in our communities
who are hurting and need
the help.
Still, Smith pointed to the
$1 million each for infra-
structure improvements at
regional fairgrounds and the
nearly $167,000 each that
went to a number of smaller
cities, including Spray, Fos-
sil, Condon and Arling-
ton. That kind of funding to
small towns, he said, is akin
to $10 million in Portland.
“Let’s spread the peanut
butter to everyone,” he said.
Not every bill is a winner
Rep.
Bobby
Levy,
R-Echo, said the money
from the short session will
benefi t her district, but fund-
ing for those projects was
possible only because the
Democrats supported them.
The two key bills she pushed
for, she said, did not make it.
Levy led the charge on
House Bill 4127, which
would have pulled an addi-
tional $1 million from the
state general fund into the
Oregon Department of Agri-
culture fund to compensate
ranchers for wolf problems.
She was a chief sponsor
of the bill, along with Smith,
Hansell and fellow Repub-
licans Rep. Mark Owens of
Crane and Sen. Lynn Find-
ley of Vale. But the bill
faced strong opposition from
Democrats and environmen-
tal groups and never made it
out of committee.
Likewise, Levy and
Hansell were the chief
sponsors on HB 4154,
which would have pro-
vided $400,000 to expand
the capacity of the fuel farm
at the La Grande/Union
County Airport.
“I didn’t get funding for
either one of them,” she
said. “Those were my top
priorities.”
Hansell said he had two
bills, one didn’t even get a
hearing and one he had to
“gut and stuff ” and it still
didn’t go. He said there were
50 bills with Democrats as
chief sponsors that moved
forward in the Senate, com-
pared to just four bills with
Republican chief sponsors.
He also said the short
session was biting off more
than it could swallow.
“We’re trying to do far
too many major policy bills
in the short session,” he said.
“It was never intended for
that.”
Hansell said there are two
fronts when it comes to leg-
islation: policy and projects.
Policy proposals he tends to
bring in the long session, he
said, and in this short session
he worked only on projects.
That work involves fi nd-
ing sources to fund every-
thing from infrastructure
improvements to building
construction.
He said that takes build-
ing relationships, collabora-
tion and teamwork to deliver
funds to crucial projects in
Eastern Oregon.
AARP volunteers off er free tax help in Hermiston, Boardman
Help will be available
by appointment for
the next month at
two locations
GETTING ASSISTANCE REQUIRES AN
APPOINTMENT
To receive help, people must make appointments from
8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Local sites are in Hermiston and
Boardman. Volunteers are at New Hope Community Church,
1350 S. Highway 395, Hermiston (Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursdays through April 13). The Boardman volunteers are
at the Port of Morrow, 2 Marine Drive, Boardman (Mondays
through April 11).
Volunteers said people do not need to be AARP members
or even seniors to receive help. Services are provided in En-
glish and Spanish. To register, call 541-612-1307. For more
information, visit www.aarp.org/money/taxes.
By ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Herald
Tax season is here, and
once again the AARP Foun-
dation Tax-Aide program
is helping locals with their
2021 tax forms.
“People are a little bit
scared of the IRS,” said
Steve Frazier, who is help-
ing with the program. “They
want to do the right thing,
but they get nervous. We’re
here to help them do the
right thing.”
In a regular day, he said,
he and other volunteers will
help around a dozen people.
On Feb. 22, he met with
a couple of people who
expressed gratitude for
the help. He received their
information, imputed data
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Steve Frazier, AARP tax preparation volunteer in Hermiston,
looks over a person’s taxes on Feb. 22, 2022.
into his computer and asked
them to return after for dis-
cussion. Frazier let the cli-
ents know their taxes would
be sent to the IRS once they
approved.
Their taxes would be
completed within the same
day as their appointment, he
said.
Frazier said this is how
most of his appointments
occur — clients enter and
their needs are met quickly.
That is, however, if their
taxes are simple. If a per-
son’s taxes are complicated,
as when they involve a
person’s business, volun-
teers advise clients seek
out tax services from paid
professionals.
Volunteering to help
A former fi reman, Frazier
said he does not have a deep
background in accounting.
But he has, he said, received
training for the work he is
doing on behalf of AARP.
Frazier, a Hermiston res-
ident, said he started this
work 12 years ago, after
he retired. Helping people
with their taxes, he said, was
something he could do, and
it was enjoyable.
According to Frazier,
many volunteers come to
this service the same way
he did. They stumble upon
it, discover it is something
they are capable of doing
and off er to lend a hand, he
said. He added there are vol-
unteers who have worked in
banks, but none are profes-
sional accountants.
To get potential volun-
teers up to speed, AARP
provides study materials to
them in October. Then, there
are training classes to under-
stand the tax program being
used. Also, there are tests
volunteers need to pass to
be certifi ed by the IRS and
AARP.
Still, Frazier said, it is not
hard.
“If you learn where to put
the information, the program
does a lot of the work,” Fra-
zier said.
He added that deep
knowledge of tax law is not
required of volunteers.
Currently, there are nine
local volunteers, serving
Hermiston and Boardman.
“We used to have quite a
bit more,” he said.
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TIME AND MEETING
CUSTOMER NEEDS
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We recognize the impact that price increases have on our customers. As we
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On March 1, 2022, Pacific Power filed a general rate case requesting an overall
rate change of $82.2 million, or 6.6 percent, to become effective January 1,
2023. The company’s requested change will be reviewed by the Public Utility
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monthly bill for an average residential customer using 900 kWh per month
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wildfire mitigation efforts, including vegetation management, as part of our larger
commitment to providing resilient, safe, reliable electricity for our customers.
We understand the impact that price increases have on our customers and
will work to mitigate that impact as much as possible. Customers can visit
pacificpower.net/wattsmart for energy- and money-saving tips and information.
Energy Trust of Oregon also offers energy efficiency programs and information to
Oregon residents and businesses. Contact Energy Trust of Oregon at energytrust.
org or 1-866-368-7878 for more information.
Copies of Pacific Power’s rate request application are available at our main
office, located at 825 NE Multnomah Street, Portland, Oregon 97232 and on
our website at pacificpower.net/rates. Customers may contact Pacific Power for
additional information about the filing by mail to Pacific Power’s main office at
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Salem, Oregon 97301-3398 or by calling 1-800-522-2404.
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