2023-100-Minutes for Meeting February 10,2023 Recorded 3/30/2023ES COG
BOARD OF
COMMISSIONERS
1300 NW Wall Street, Bend, Oregon
(541) 388-6571
Recorded in Deschutes County
Steve Dennison, County Clerk CJ2023-100
Commissioners' .journal 03/30/2023 2:32:23 PM
20 23 100 I
FOR RECORDING STAMP ONLY
DESCHUTES COUNTY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
8:00 AM FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2023 VIA ZOOM CONFERENCE CALL
A virtual legislative update meeting was held on Friday, February 10, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. via Zoom
Virtual Meeting Platform, for a weekly scheduled event during this 2023 Legislative Session,
Deschutes County Attendance:
Commissioner Anthony DeBone
X
Nick Lelack, County Administrator
X
Commissioner Patti Adair
X
Erik Kropp, Deputy County Administrator
X
Commissioner Phil Chang
X
Whitney Hale, Deputy County
Administrator
X
Dave Doyle, Legal Counsel
Kim Riley, Assistant Legal Counsel
David Givans, Internal Auditor
X
Robert Tintle, Chief Financial Officer
X
Chris Doty, Road Department Director
X
Janice Garceau, Health Services Director
X
Kristie Bollinger, Property Manager
Stephen Gunnels, District Attorney
X
Peter Gutowsky, Community Development
Director
X
Kathleen Hinman, Human Resources
Director
Keith MacNamara, Veterans' Services
Manager
X
Deevy Holcomb, Community Justice
Director
X
Lee Randall, Facilities Director
X
Kevin Moriarty, Forester
X
Chad Centola, Solid Waste Director
Tim Brownell, Incoming Solid Waste
Director
Shane Nelson, Sheriff
X
Sara Crosswhite, 9-1-1 Director
Steve Dennison, Clerk
Cheyenne Purrington, Houseless
Strategies and Solutions Director
X
Geoff Hinds, Fair & Expo Director
Scot Langton, Assessor
Charles Fadeiey, Justice of the Peace
Will Groves, Planning Manager
X
Holly Harris, Behavioral Health Director
X
Jen Patterson, Strategic Initiatives Manager
2023 DESCHUTES COUNTY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FEBRUARY 10, 2023 PAGE 1 OF 5
X
Tom Kuhn, Public Health Program
Manager
X
Angie Powers, BOCC Administrative
Assistant
Legislators Present:
Senator Lynn Findley
Rep resentativeJason Kropf
Representative Emerson Levy
X
Representative Werner Reschke
X
Representative Vickki Breese Iverson
Others Present:
X
Doug Riggs, NW Policy Advocates President
X
Gabriel Velasquez, NW Policy Advocates
Legislative Coordinator
X
Pappy Winkle, Oregon Liquor Control
Commission
X
Sherrie Grieef, Community Member
1. Introductions
Doug Riggs called the meeting to order at 8:04 a.m. Legislators will join us on the 2nd
and 4`h of each month, so we may have some joining us this morning.
2. Updates from NW Policy Advocates
Doug Riggs, Northwest Policy Advocates President, provided a brief update to the
group. The capitol building has been under construction for earthquake upgrades,
so space is compact and amenities are limited. Week four just concluded and they
will finish by mid June. The mood in the capitol has been positive, people are willing
to work across the aisle and appear happy to be back in -person. All three
commissioners have had good meetings with our delegation, working towards
County priorities such as uncoupling ADUs from wildfire risk maps. So far, the
session has focused on large overall packages: homelessness, semiconductors and
drought.
Industrial land owned by Department of State Lands near Redmond Airport may
have an opportunity for the Semiconductor Committee to fund tech industry
infrastructure. Ballot Measure 110 will go through some revisions. Behavioral health
is a hot topic, with between 20 and 30 related bills. They may choose to put some of
these together to form a larger package.
The beginning of the session is educational, informational and meeting new
committee members. Mr. Riggs has been impressed by the new members,
especially in our delegation.
3. Department Updates on Priority Bills
Whitney Hale, Deputy County Administrator, discussed two requests from Health
Services to testify. Holly Harris, Behavioral Health Director, discussed a request by
2023 DESCHUTES COUNTY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FEBRUARY 10, 2023 PAGE 2 OF 5
the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission to testify on the continuation of IMPACTS
funding ($4.8 million in grants helping the Stabilization Center staying open 24/7).
Ms. Harris said that it would be beneficial to provide a written letter of support as
testimony from the County. This grant funding was a pilot project, and the
testimony will attest to the importance of longer -term stable state funding.
Commissioner Chang directed staff to draft a letter of support.
Tom Kuhn, Public Health Program Manager, suggests priority 2 support for HB
2574. This bill requires hospitals to adopt policies to provide post -HIV exposure
prophylactic drugs following healthcare workers' possible exposure. This bill targets
rural hospitals. County Health Officer Richard Fawcett, MD is testifying in support of
this bill. Commissioners Adair and Chang were in full support of Dr. Fawcett
testifying for the County. Commissioner Chang directed staff to draft a letter of
support towards this testimony.
Mr. Kuhn asked for priority 2 support of HB 3090, which prohibits distributing or
selling flavored inhalant delivery systems or flavored tobacco products. This bill's
aim is to reduce vaping by youth. Many vape canisters are imported and
unregulated and contain harmful chemicals and nicotine. Vaping products are not a
safe alternative to smoking cigarettes. Commissioner Adair is very supportive of this
bill, and has supported similar bills in the past.
Mr. Kuhn suggest priority 2 support for SB 5525, the Oregon Health Authority
Budget. Within the budget is Public Health modernization funding including an
additional $50 million. $60 million has already been approved, for a total of $110
million total for public health modernization. This represents a 50% increase over
previous funding levels. Commissioner Chang asked if this is OHA's entire budget, to
which Mr. Kuhn responded this bill is the entire budget but he is only highlighting
the public health portion. Commissioner Chang expressed support for this
additional $50 million in funding. Mr. Riggs said that this will be one of the last
appropriations bills coming out of the Ways & Means Committee, likely in May or
June.
Kevin Moriarty, County Forester, suggests priority 2 support of SB 653. It
appropriates $50 million funding to State Forestry to fund thinning operations in
fire -prone counties, and allocates $5 million to fund thinning operations on public
lands in fire -prone counties, which includes Deschutes County. Although there is not
a substantial amount of state lands in Deschutes County, this is an important bill
state-wide. Commissioner Chang reported that AOC is working on this bill as well,
and western juniper is included in this bill. Eric Kropp, Deputy County Administrator,
shared that the state owns 2.5% (50,000 acres) of land in Deschutes County, made
up mostly of state parks and ODOT. This bill will be held for a future meeting, as
some amendments are in the works.
2023 DESCHUTES COUNTY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FEBRUARY 10, 2023 PAGE 3 OF 5
Mr. Riggs welcomed Rep. Breese -Iverson and Rep. Reschke to the meeting. Rep.
Reschke provided a broad overview of the week. He is on the Revenue and Ways &
Means committees, and he is not on any policy committees. He reported the mood
in the building is tepid, and everyone is still getting to know one another. Few
controversial bills have popped up in committee. He's working toward increasing
the threshold for triggering payment of Inheritance Tax, in order to keep
generational wealth within families. Oregon has a $1 million threshold. If it's under,
it is untaxed and if it's over, it is taxed. The value of homes in many areas of Oregon
is increasing rapidly, and as the value of homes goes up, heirs are becoming
accidental millionaires. Selling the inherited home is the only way to pay the tax,
even when families would rather keep the home.
Rep. Breese -Iverson provided a brief overview of the session. She sits on the House
Rules and joint Ways & Means Committees. The Rules Committee will have a
discussion on Ethics. There will also be an informational discussion of the
Governor's powers and how these powers are enacted when emergency
declarations are made. They have committed to more collaboration as the session
moves forward. The Governor's homelessness package is front and center, and
there is a joint effort to find out how this looks and to ensure that resources are
applied equally across the state. Mr. Riggs echoed Rep. Breese-Iverson's opinion of
holding agencies accountable for getting funding allocated to counties in a
reasonable amount of time.
Mr. Riggs thanked Rep. Reschke and Rep. Breese -Iverson for their participation.
Kevin Moriarty discussed HB 3142 which directs Oregon Dept. of Admin. Services to
provide grants to counties and soil and water conservation districts for removal of
western juniper to make a positive impact on water resources. He stated that a
neutral position on this bill would be sufficient, but that it should be tracked. Mr.
Riggs said that some specific areas could be pinpoint targeted forjuniper removal
projects to make the biggest impact. This bill is likely to be included in the drought
package. Commissioner Adair wishes to support this bill. Commissioner Chang
noted that if the bill is framed primarily as a benefit for water resources, it's not our
bill, but if it's framed for habitat enhancement and community wildfire protection,
then it is of concern to Deschutes County. Commissioner Chang suggests support of
HB 3142 with amendments.
HIS 3003 provides tax credits for electric utilities that purchase electricity produced
from fuel source at least 50% sourced from western juniper biomass. Commissioner
Chang would like to see this broadened to provide incentives for all types of
renewable energy projects. Commissioner Chang supports HB 3003 with
amendments. Commissioner Adair supports HB 3003 and doesn't want it getting
2023 DESCHUTES COUNTY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FEBRUARY 10, 2023 PAGE 4 OF 5
lost. Staff will keep both of these flagged for a future meeting that Commissioner
DeBone is able to attend.
Next Meeting: The next virtual legislative update meeting is scheduled for Friday,
February 17, 2023 at 8:00 a.m.
Adjourn: Whitney Hale adjourned the meeting at 9:12 a.m.
Respectfully Submitted by:
'Afigie Po ers, B CC Administrative Assistant
2023 DESCHUTES COUNTY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FEBRUARY 10, 2023 PAGE 5 OF 5