2023-193-Minutes for Meeting June 16,2023 Recorded 7/3/2023ES Co
BOARD OF
0.
COMMISSIONERS
1300 NW Wall Street, Bend, Oregon
(541) 388-6571
Recorded in Deschutes County CJ2O23-193
Steve Dennison, County Clerk
Commissioners' Journal 07/03/2023 4:32:53 PM
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2023-193
FOR RECORDING STAMP ONLY
DESCHUTES COUNTY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 2023 VIA ZOOM CONFERENCE CALL
A virtual legislative update meeting was held on Friday, June 16, 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
Nick Lelack, County Administrator
PX
Commissioner Patti Adair
x
Erik Kropp, Deputy County Administrator
Commissioner Phil Chang
x
Whitney Hale, Deputy County
Administrator
Dave Doyle, Legal Counsel
x
Kim Riley, Assistant Legal Counsel
David Givans, Internal Auditor
x
Robert Tintle, Chief Financial Officer
Chris Doty, Road Department Director
Janice Garceau, Health Services Director
Kristie Bollinger, Property Manager
Stephen Gunnels, District Attorney
Peter Gutowsky, Community Development
Director
x
Kathleen Hinman, Human Resources
Director
Keith MacNamara, Veterans' Services
Manager
Deevy Holcomb, Community Justice
Director
x
Lee Randall, Facilities Director
x
Kevin Moriarty, Forester
Chad Centola, Solid Waste Director
Tim Brownell, Incoming Solid Waste
Director
Shane Nelson, Sheriff
x
Sara Crosswhite, 9-1-1 Director
Steve Dennison, Clerk
Charles Fadeley, Justice of the Peace
Geoff Hinds, Fair & Expo Director
Scot Langton, Assessor
x
Tania Mahood, IT Director
x
Bill Kuhn, Treasurer
x
Holly Harris, Health Services Deputy
Director (Behavioral Health)
Will Groves, Planning Manager
2023 DESCHUTES COUNTY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE JUNE 16, 2023 PAGE 1 OF 4
x
Tom Kuhn, Public Health Program
Manager
Heather Kaisner, Health Services Deputy
Director (Public Health)
x
Jen Patterson, Strategic Initiatives Manager
x
Angie Powers, BOCC Administrative
Assistant
Legislators Present:
Senator Lynn Findley
Senator Tim Knopp
x
Representative Emerson Levy
Senator Dennis Linthicum
Representative Vikki Breese Iverson
Representative Werner Reschke
x
Representative Jason Kropf
Andy Smith, Rep. Kropfs office
Bryan Iverson, on behalf of Representative
Vikki Breese Iverson
Others Present:
x
Doug Riggs, NW Policy Advocates President
Gabriel Velasquez, NW Policy Advocates
Legislative Coordinator
1. Introductions
Commissioner Adair called the meeting to order at 8:04 a.m.
2. Legislator Updates
Representative Kropf reported they are caught up on the House side, and they go
back on Tuesday and will try to get through as much as possible. He is optimistic for
courthouse expansion funding and Hawthorne Bridge funding. They anticipate
getting out of the Capitol on Thursday, but are prepared to be there through
Sunday. Capital construction and the Christmas Tree Bill will take longer. He
expressed his dismay with the Republican walkout.
In response to Holly Harris, Rep. Kropf said that there is optimism for IMPACTS
funding in the Christmas Tree Bill. Deschutes County's Navigation Center continues
to be a statewide model. Doug said that in May, Oregon's unemployment rate was
down to 3.7%, so the number of taxpayers continues to grow and there is optimism
for additional funding mechanisms for areas such as IMPACTS.
Representative Levy reported sustained funding of $1.1 million for the navigation
center, and $630,000 in funding for the City of Bend Homeless Shelter. Funding for
Alyssa's Law, the school safety bill, will be secured once it passes the Senate. $1.4
million in funding was secured for 15 homeless youth beds in Redmond at J Bar J.
There is a lot of funding ($600 million) available in the housing package, separate
from funding in the Governor's Executive Order. She would have liked to have seen
more funding towards middle income workforce housing.
2023 DESCHUTES COUNTY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE JUNE 16, 2023 PAGE 2 OF 4
Responding to Commissioner Chang, Rep. Levy reported that Deschutes County will
likely be pleased with courthouse expansion funding amount, although the actual
amount is unknown. She said that Senator Knopp, along with the entire Central
Oregon delegation as a team, all played an important role in working towards
securing courthouse expansion funding.
3. Commissioner Updates
Commissioner Adair shared that she was in Salem on Monday to speak to Senator
Steiner about state funding for the Deschutes County Courthouse expansion
project. She was pleased to report recent news of the Republicans' return to the
Senate floor.
4. Updates from NW Policy Advocates
Doug Riggs provided an update. After a 47-day walkout, Republicans returned to the
Senate floor after an agreement was reached. The two major sticking points were
HIS 2002 and HB 2005 (the abortion/gender bill and the gun bill). Amendments were
made in rapid fashion and adopted on the Senate floor on June 15 with no debate.
Both parties have reached an agreement and are now able to move forward with
the session, including an agreement to act upon almost all bills on the Senate
docket (close to 300 bills). In the next few days, some budget bills with capital
construction and bonding, including the courthouse expansion funding (HB 5030),
will come out of the Ways and Means Committee. The Christmas Tree Bill is
expected to be a much larger package than in previous sessions due to the high
revenue forecast.
A larger corporate kicker freed up other state general fund revenues, and goes
directly to the K-12 budget. Behavioral Health funding is expected to be $50 million
higher than initially forecasted.
HB 3126, which would have created regional acute treatment centers for high -risk
youth didn't make it through Ways and Means. Funding for homeless youth is
expected to see an increase in the final budget, and housing and homelessness
funding will get a further bump in the Christmas Tree Bill. Public Defender's budget
will get a bump in the Christmas Tree Bill, as it was woefully underfunded in the
initial budget. He is hopeful that we will see a bump in the Public Health budget.
Responding to Commissioner Chang, Doug clarified that all of the bills,
approximately 302 in total, that have advanced to the Senate floor from committee
will be acted upon. There are several hundred more bills in committee (especially
Ways & Means) that are unlikely to move out of committee, aside from the
Christmas Tree Bill and the bonding bill.
2023 DESCHUTES COUNTY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE JUNE 16, 2023 PAGE 3 OF 4
Commissioner Adair asked about HB 3003, the biomass bill in the drought package.
This is the tax credit that would make juniper management sustainable over the
long-term. Doug said that he believes this bill to be dead for now, adding that many
tax credit bills have failed to get across the finish line.
Commissioner Adair asked about a funding program for wells that went dry, and
how to gain funding for counties moving forward. Doug said that they typically look
at past precedence. Relative to the drought package, Commissioner Chang shared
that AOC solicited from counties their needs for well deepening funding, and
perhaps pursuing this through AOC would be the best path forward.
5. Other Items
Responding to Commissioner Adair, Doug reported that Representative Greg
Smith has been a valuable resource to the Deschutes County legislative
delegation, in providing inside information. He works for all of rural Oregon,
and is the Vice Chair of the Ways and Means Committee. He represents
House District 57, but has a second home in Deschutes County.
Next Meeting: The next virtual legislative update meeting is scheduled for Friday, June 23,
2023 at 8:00 a.m.
Adjourn: Commissioner Adair adjourned the meeting at 8:36 a.m.
Respectfully Submitted by:
BOCC Administrative Assistant
2023 DESCHUTES COUNTY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE JUNE 16, 2023 PAGE 4 OF 4