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2024-68-Minutes for Meeting February 16,2024 Recorded 3/11/2024141,` E S C"6- BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 1300 NW Wall Street, Bend, Oregon (541) 388-6571 Recorded in Deschutes County CJ2024-68 Steve Dennison, County Clerk Commissioners' Journal 03/11 /2024 9:42:14 AM 2024-68 DESCHUTES COUNTY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE 8:00 AM FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2024 ZOOM MEETING A legislative work session was held on Friday, February 16, 2024 at 8:00 a.m. via Zoom Virtual Meeting Platform. Deschutes County Attendance: x Commissioner Patti Adair, Chair x Nick Lelack, County Administrator x Commissioner Anthony DeBone, Vice Chair x Erik Kropp, Deputy County Administrator x Commissioner Phil Chang x Whitney Hale, Deputy County Administrator x Kristie Bollinger, Property Manager Tim Brownell, Director Solid Waste x Sara Crosswhite, Director 9-1-1 Steve Dennison, County Clerk x Chris Doty, Director Road Department x David Doyle, Legal Counsel Charles Fadeley, Justice of the Peace x Janice Garceau, Director Health Services x Stephen Gunnels, District Attorney x Peter Gutowsky, Director Community Development Geoff Hinds, Director Fair & Expo x Kathleen Hinman, Director Human Resources x Deevy Holcomb, Director Community Justice x Bill Kuhn, Treasurer Scot Langton, Assessor Keith MacNamara, Manager Veteran's Services x Tania Mahood, Director Information Technology x Kevin Moriarty, Forester Shane Nelson, Sheriff x Elizabeth Pape, Internal Auditor x Lee Randall, Director Facilities x Robert Tintle, Chief Financial Officer 2024 DESCHUTES COUNTY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FEBRUARY 16, 2024 PAGE 1 OF 5 Heather Kaisner, Director Public Health x Holly Harris, Director Behavioral Health x Tom Kuhn, Public Health Program Manager x Jen Patterson, Strategic Initiatives Manager x Angie Powers, Administrative Assistant x Kim Riley, Assistant Legal Counsel Others Present: x I Doug Riggs, Director NW Policy Advocates 1. Welcome Chair Adair called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. 2. Commissioner Updates Commissioner Chang shared that HB 4107, which is the multiplier bill for wolf depredation compensation, is not moving forward. Jen and Doug added there will be a push for this in the 2025 legislative session. Commissioner Chang continues to track SB 1511, which directs the State Fire Marshal to establish a neighborhood protection cooperative grant program. Commissioner DeBone shared that he has signed up to testify on the capital construction bill HB 5201. Redmond Mayor Ed Fitch and COIC Executive Director Tammy Baney have also signed up to testify. Chair Adair recently testified in opposition to HJR 201, as it constitutes a state property tax. 3. Updates from NW Policy Advocates Doug Riggs provided a brief update. Most committees have completed work sessions on bills, and on Monday we'll have a much better sense of which bills are alive and which are dead. The budget process is heating up. SB 1537, the Governor's Housing Bill, and SB 1530, a key funding bill, both came out of Senate housing committee on Wednesday and are headed to Ways & Means, along with HB 3154, an infrastructure housing bill. Rumor is they'll be out of session by March 5. One of the largest issues relates to behavioral health and BM 110 in HB 4002, in that treatment programs and interventions must be funded adequately. The level of misdemeanor and deflection program are the two main sticking points. He stated that Holly Harris and Rick Treleaven did an excellent job testifying on Central Oregon's collaborative community solutions. 4. Review Bill Tracker Report by Department HB 4029 Erik Kropp shared this resulted from a court case out of Multnomah County related to family only and adult only shelters. A pregnant woman was relocated from the shelter for individuals to the family shelter and she sued based on discrimination based on family status. This bill would allow for Multnomah 2024 DESCHUTES COUNTY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FEBRUARY 16, 2024 PAGE 2 OF 5 County to continue operating its adults only and family shelters without the need to merge. The Board adopted a position of priority 2, monitor. SIB 1576 requires the Oregon judicial Department to study civil matters. It has gone through several amendments. One amendment relates to recreational immunity, which allows public agencies to allow recreation on their lands and they have immunity from litigation or lawsuits should someone be injured on their lands. Doug added there is a pending court case on this issue. The court will likely rule in favor of recreational immunity continuing as a standard for cities, counties and park districts, and this decision will guide legislation for the 2025 session. The Board adopted a position of priority 2, support. HB 4141 Doug shared this bill decreases the rate of interest charged on delinquent property taxes. Robert Tintle added that this decreased revenue would reduce funding for the Assessors and Tax Collectors offices. The state is doing a two-year estimate on County Assessment Function Funding Assistance (CAFFA) dollars, and they are not including this reduction of 1.333% annually (instead of monthly). There's no need to take a position on this bill as it's not likely to move forward. S)R 201 is the companion bill and Doug believes that neither are moving forward. HB 4120 establishes jail -based medications for Opioid Use Disorder, noting that Ideal Options currently operates a program in the Deschutes Countyjail. Deevy supports this bill, adding that the jail is most affected. Doug said this will likely be rolled into HB 4002 or any funding programs related to BM 110 reform. Janice expressed support for any bill that would provide additional funding towards treatment programs. Commissioner Chang questioned whether this competes with diversion programs. The Board adopted a position of priority 2, support. HB 4036 and HB 4062 are Republican -sponsored package bills that are alternatives to HB 4002 and are unlikely to move. HB 4075 establishes a task force for developing a plan for statewide public safety funding. Doug stated it's unlikely to move individually, but they will continue to study all of these items. HB 4121 DA Gunnels stated this bill would tighten up the law of what constitutes hemp and what constitutes marijuana and would tighten up grow operations. He is supportive of this bill, as this is a recurring hurdle in law enforcement investigations. Doug said this bill passed 10-0 and will go to Ways & Means. Commissioner Chang learned from Cannabis Advisory Panel members that technology exists in which tools can scan material to determine the presence of CBD, as CBD distinguishes hemp from marijuana. His hope is that this bill incorporates these tools and technology. The Board adopted a position of priority 2, support. 2024 DESCHUTES COUNTY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FEBRUARY 16, 2024 PAGE 3 OF 5 HB 4144 increases penalties for making and delivering counterfeit drugs. DA Gunnels supports if this bill targets pill presses that make fentanyl pills simulating prescription opioids. The Board adopted a position of priority 2, support. HB 4146 allows for restraining orders to be filed in the county where the abuse occurred. DA Gunnels stated this would make it easier for family abuse victims to get court orders where the abuse occurred. It changes the definition of "for unlawful dissemination of an intimate image" to make it more useful and allow for expanded prosecution in cases where someone's image is disseminated. This bill passed 10-0 out of the Judiciary Committee yesterday. The Board adopted a position of support for this bill. HB 4056 results from the U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding tax foreclosed properties. That decision allows the former property owner to claim from the county any surplus from a property tax foreclosure. Robert Tintle noted there are multiple efforts to reach out to the property owner during the pre -foreclosure process. Kim Riley added that the bill doesn't correct everything with the state's tax foreclosure process, but it does provide some guidance on claims and distribution processes that counties need to align the state's tax foreclosure process with the USSC decision. Kristie Bollinger listened to the hearing yesterday, and stated there is a good deal of opposition to this bill as they'd like more time to come up with a more robust bill. The House Committee on Revenue is taking testimony for 48 hours following yesterdays hearing. Commissioner DeBone advocated for a letter of support. Robert Tintle and Kristie Bollinger will work together in drafting a letter of support for submittal prior to Monday. HB 4065 authorizes cities and counties to develop programs for awarding grants to developers of affordable and moderate -income housing projects. Doug said this bill is unlikely to advance individually but may be part of a larger housing package. SB 1537 is the larger packaged bill. Robert flagged this bill as a housing proposal for a workforce housing loan program that provides grants to counties or cities who set up programs for basic loans to developers. The Association of County Treasurers has taken a neutral position. It allows for a one-time expansion of UGBs based on city size, but is not particularly useful in Central Oregon, as it's only for those who haven't expanded in the past 20 years. This bill has broad impacts on cities, counties and the land use process. Commissioner Chang questioned why this was trimmed down from $500 to $350 million, despite the higher -than -anticipated revenue forecast. After the Ways and Means process concludes, Doug expects money in different areas related to housing, particularly housing infrastructure. 2024 DESCHUTES COUNTY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FEBRUARY 16, 2024 PAGE 4 OF 5 Doug said that League of Oregon Cities (LOC) is unhappy with the ambiguous structure of the UGB expansion portion of this bill, and this section is being reworked to appease cities. There is pressure from cities for a UGB expansion they can utilize. Doug believes it would be helpful to weigh in on this portion of the bill in the form of testimony or a letter. Chair Adair agreed, noting the Gales property and her mobile home park concept. The Gales property is only 1,425 feet outside the UGB. Consensus was for the Board to write a letter of support, priority 2, for the UGB expansion portion of this bill. Doug will look into whether there is an existing letter we can sign onto. S. Other Items Relative to the hearing on capital construction projects, Doug said they are limiting testimony to 3 minutes per project, not per witness. If Tammy Baney and Mayor Fitch testify prior to Commissioner DeBone, he may not have an opportunity to provide additional testimony. Commissioner DeBone will coordinate with Tammy and Mayor Fitch. Next Meeting: The next virtual legislative update meeting is scheduled for Friday, February 23 at 8:00 a.m. Adjourn: Chair Adair adjourned the meeting at 9:04 a.m. Respectfully Submitted by: ngie we s, dministrative Assistant 2024 DESCHUTES COUNTY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FEBRUARY 16, 2024 PAGE 5 OF 5 Friday, February 16, 2024, 8:00 am This meeting will be held virtually. Members of the public may access the meeting using this link: https://bit.ly/3WDZYOx Or call (253) 205-0468 Webinar ID: 879 4809 6174 Passcod e: 156736 1. Welcome - Patti Adair, Chair 2. Commissioner Updates 3. Updates from NW Policy Advocates -Doug Riggs 4. Review Bill Tracker Report by Department Deschutes County encourages persons with disabilities to participate in all programs and activities. This event/location is accessible to people with disabilities. If you need accommodations to make participation possible, please call (541) 617-4747.