Rep. Nancy Nathanson, D-Eugene, wears one of her collection of vintage hats on June 12, 2023. She starts wearing the hats when the Legislature gets close to Sine Die - adjournment. Legislative leaders say the session could end as early as Thursday.

The Oregon Legislature did a double dip of lawmaking on Tuesday, breaking only for committee meetings to send even more legislation to the House and Senate for votes.

Despite a 42-day walkout by Senate Republicans that created a mountain of backlogged bills by the time the boycott ended last Thursday, House Speaker Dan Rayfield believed the end of the 2023 session was on track to adjourn in the next few days.

“Seat backs and tray tables are in their upright and locked position,” Rayfield said.

The need for speed was also colorfully underlined at the start of a Joint Ways & Means Committee meeting with a long list of complex funding bills, including the “Christmas Tree Bill,” a package of projects advanced by lawmakers for their districts and preferred issues that is usually one of the last bills of a session.

“It would be nice if we could rock and roll,” Sanchez said before the meeting quickly hit the quagmire of multiple objections from various lawmakers on spending priorities.

While Tuesday was primarily about getting the final package of bills, including the 2023-25 state budget, set for floor votes, in an important way it was the last chance for any course correction on legislation. Billions of dollars of bond authorizations, construction, and program funds sped from subcommittee to committee in a single day, with the second vote sending bills to the full House and Senate. Under Oregon law, legislation cannot be amended on the floor. Debate now will be over a straight up-or-down vote.

One illustration of the lightning fast movement of large sums was the construction funds for universities. Gov. Tina Kotek asked for just $100 million for ongoing maintenance of existing buildings. But on Monday night, materials for the Tuesday morning meetings of the budget-writing Joint Ways & Means Committee filled up with amendments and other materials. 

The version of the university construction plan that lawmakers considered at a 9 a.m. meeting on Tuesday included $219.5 million in previously undisclosed spending that mostly went to projects at the University of Oregon, Portland State University and the Corvallis campus of Oregon State University. No money was allocated for Oregon State University-Cascades, which requested $45 million in bonds to continue the build-out of the Bend campus with a new health center.

The issue was not raised in the capital construction subcommittee that morning. Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp, R-Bend, and House Minority Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson, R-Prineville, sit on the full Joint Ways & Means Committee. During the afternoon meeting to approve the plan, neither brought up the OSU-Cascades funding. 

With the support of the Democratic majority, the plan was forwarded to the floors of the House and Senate with a “do pass” recommendation.

Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, a member of the committee, said the projects that were funded were based on the priority list of the Higher Education Coordinating Committee, and the OSU-Cascades project had a low rating by the commission that controls universities and community colleges.

Dembrow said the email he received from HECC said “There continues to be a need for the state to more strategically consider the ultimate scope and size of a fully built campus in Bend,” Dembrow said. “I agree with that last point. Should Cascades remain as a satellite of OSU or should it be its own regional university with its own board and its own appropriation? Perhaps at some point. I think it’s an important discussion to be had, perhaps soon.”

The other major funding legislation moved into place was the House Bill 5006, nicknamed the “Christmas Tree Bill.” During the afternoon Joint Ways & Means Committee meeting, several lawmakers singled out a $250 million allocation for a proposed bridge across the Columbia River at Portland. 

Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, said he was disappointed the final package did not include a plan for helping rural homeowners offset wildfire costs. Oregon ended a long-term relationship with Lloyd’s of London to provide a one-of-its-kind wildfire insurance that included a way for private property owners to get coverage and then reimburse the state for some of the costs. 

Rep. Dick Anderson, R-Lincoln City, criticized the lack of money for a behavioral health addiction program that is supported by some federal funds.

“We missed the boat here on the mental health and addiction problems,” Anderson said. “Everybody has put in some money except the state of Oregon. They are going to be the shining star, in their absence.”

But Rep. Emerson Levy, D-Bend, tweeted a message with her happiness over local projects that received money.

“Big wins for Central Oregon in the budget – Northpoint Project in Redmond (450 units), Hawthorne Ped Bridge, Food Bank, Courthouse, Oasis Village, COCC construction,” she wrote. 

Other local projects included a Deschutes River water project and renovation of the Tower Theatre in Bend.

The floor votes on the budget and other legislation is scheduled to begin Wednesday. The House is also slated to take up the watered-down versions of House Bill 2002 (abortion access and transgender medical aid) and House Bill 2005 (gun control). The bills that passed the House earlier in the session were amended in the Senate as part of a deal to get Senate Republicans to return from a walkout to provide a quorum. The House must vote to accept the changes, which is expected to lead to a heated debate. If approved, the bills would then go to Gov. Tina Kotek.

By the OREGON CAPITAL CHRONICLE

Oregon lawmakers on Tuesday tucked $1.1 billion into an end-of-session budget bill, a move that pumps last-minute cash into purposes ranging from preparing for natural disasters to helping people seeking citizenship.

The proposal, called the “Christmas tree bill” by Capitol observers because it’s loaded with spending like a tree with ornaments, serves a key purpose: Lawmakers, state agencies and lobbyists can get money for projects and needs that didn’t attract as much attention earlier in the legislative session. The Joint Ways and Means Committee heard the proposal on Tuesday, sending Senate Bill 5506 to the Legislature for a vote as lawmakers face a Sunday deadline to adjourn.

The 124-page list of budget projects sprinkles money throughout state agencies and services. The bill also provides money for local priorities, including courthouse renovations, new fire stations, roads, sewer systems and broadband service.

The end-of-session bill gives lawmakers a chance to push for projects in their districts, whether rural or urban. Some Republican lawmakers raised concerns about rural Oregon getting short-changed, such as by not receiving enough money for wildfire fighting or children’s advocacy centers that serve youth in small communities.

But even rural lawmakers can still go home with something.

“We’re at that point in the session where no one’s going to be entirely happy,” said Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner. “I felt as if my voice was heard.”

Here’s a look at the highlights:

• $450 million for state employee compensation increases, including those needed to aid recruitment and retention of staff. The budget bill doesn’t specify what salary raises employees will get. That’s up to state agency managers, who often negotiate with unions for raises. That work is ongoing, including Oregon’s negotiations with the union that represents about half of state employees.
• $50 million to help the Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Department of Human Services respond to increased demand from Oregonians for services including food assistance, medical coverage and child welfare.
• $35 million to help the state prepare and respond to natural disasters.
• $23 million for a state program that helps working Oregonians cover part of their child care costs. $15 million will go toward increased payments to providers in the program, and another $8 million will help the state enroll more people.
• $22 million for wildlife prevention and firefighting in Oregon, including equipment, staffing and aid for communities.
• $20.9 million to provide housing and food benefits to people pursuing citizenship.
• $20 million to help the Oregon Health Authority cover costs of modernizing the public health system. The COVID pandemic demonstrated the need for states to have robust public health systems to collect data and conduct community outreach.
• $19.4 million so providers of residential psychiatric facilities and community programs for children can pay employees better. The children need extra help because of homelessness, addiction, abuse or behavioral health challenges.
• $13.8 million for community violence prevention programs that reach people who have a high risk of arrest or becoming a crime victim. It provides $10 million for state grants to cities and $3.8 million for the Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center, which mentors and provides youth and adults with education, job training and placement.
• $8.9 million in stipends to teachers and classified school employees who work in special education for the 2024-205 school year.
• $7.6 million to Oregon State Police to conduct background checks for people who are purchasing firearms. Measure 114, a voter-approved proposal, would require the state to set up a new permit-to-purchase system with safety courses for applicants purchasing firearms. The measure faces court challenges.
• $5 million for grants to help Oregon police agencies target illegal marijuana grows.
• $1 million for district attorneys for costs related to cases with non-unanimous jury verdicts, including victim assistance and investigations. The Oregon Supreme Court in December 2022 determined that non-unanimous jury verdicts are not constitutionally sound and have overturned hundreds of cases involving felony convictions.
• $100,000 so the state can study the pros and cons of decriminalizing prostitution in order to combat human trafficking.

Republicans voice concerns

Sen. Fred Girod, R-Stayton, said he was concerned about the state’s plans to study decriminalizing prostitution. The negative impacts of Measure 110, which decriminalized low-level drug possession, demonstrate why doing the same for prostitution is a bad idea, Girod said.

“That sort of philosophy, in my opinion, just doesn’t work,” Girod said.

In an earlier meeting Thursday about the budget bill, Sen. Elizabeth Steiner, D-Portland, said the study would explore the question in part because sex trafficking victims are worried they will be prosecuted.

Girod also said he’s concerned about a requirement of the budget bill for the Department of Fish and Wildlife to study fish hatcheries and develop models for their long-term finances and sustainability in light of climate change. He raised concerns the measure could become a starting point that would lead to the state shutting down hatcheries, stressing their value in rural areas.

Steiner said there were no conversations about shutdowns of hatcheries related to the study.