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2024-81-Minutes for Meeting March 01,2024 Recorded 3/25/2024\)-s E s c°�2� I BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 1300 NW Wall Street, Bend, Oregon (541 ) 388-6571 Recorded in Deschutes County OJ2024-81 Steve Dennison, County Clerk Commissioners' Journal 03/25/2024 9:46:03 AM \,S�c� 01 2024-81 8:00 AM FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 2024 ZOOM MEETING A legislative work session was held on Friday, March 1, 2024 at 8:00 a.m. via Zoom Virtual Meeting Platform. Deschutes County Attendance: x Commissioner Patti Adair, Chair x Nick Lelack, County Administrator 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 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 MARCH 1, 2024 PAGE 1 OF 5 x 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 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 There were no commissioner updates. 3. Updates from NW Policy Advocates Doug Riggs reported on a busy week in Salem. Both FIB 4002 fixes, as well as the housing packages have begun to move through the floor chambers. He anticipates the session will be completed by Thursday or Friday of next week. HB 4002 includes the recriminalization of offenses under BM 110, creating a class U misdemeanor combined with a deflection program. Counties have been asked to commit to a deflection program. To -date, 23 counties have committed and were listed in the bill. This commitment opens counties up for early funding. Deschutes County had a significant impact on the outcome of this bill. Rep. Kropf, Co -Chair of the Addiction committee, took into consideration what the County has been rn i in rai 7 c ther mn i funding ill t 2Benefits to �.�mmu,.i�ut;rg. HB 5-04 i, �„� I„Nan,on �undi„g b;,, t, HB 40046 1zIL Deschutes County include allocations to BestCare Treatment Services, community corrections funding, community restoration services (aid and assist), Medication - Assisted Treatment (MAT) for incarcerated persons, limited immunity for workers, among other programs. The original advocates for BM 110 are unhappy with the bills, but people at the epicenter of the fentanyl crisis, such as those in downtown Portland, believe that possession needs to be recriminalized. Outstanding is a separate proposal to create a class A misdemeanor for drug use on public transit. Responding to Commissioner Chang, Doug said that HB 5204 is a larger behavioral health package, and the funding outlined by Doug is additional money not taken out of existing cannabis tax revenue. Additionally, they have not yet seen a Christmas tree bill come out of Ways and Means. Doug reported this reflects a significant increase in funding for counties to respond to these issues, and counties will experience a net increase for community corrections, aid and assist, and medically assisted treatment. Doug provided an update on housing. The Governor's Housing Bill from the last legislative session that failed went back to the drawing board, and SB 1537 is an 2024 DESCHUTES COUNTY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE MARCH 1, 2024 PAGE 2 OF 5 improved product. This bill includes a Housing Accountability Production Office, a potential one-time UGB expansion, and other significant investments. Overall, our region will receive $7.8 million for housing infrastructure. Redmond, Prineville, Madras and Culver have received allocations. Bend applied for $12 million in funding and hasn't received any money thus far but may be in the end of session funding bill. Few projects received more than $3 million. He noted the overall process has changed dramatically in the past 4 or 5 years. Lists of shovel -ready projects were used in the legislative package. Housing bills are currently out of committee and off to the senate floor. Responding to Commissioner Adair, Doug reported the CORE3 "4-in-1" proposal ($1.785 million request for 215Y street infrastructure) was not included in the housing package, as it's viewed as a transportation issue and not a housing issue. It will be included in the 2025 legislative session. However, there may still be an opportunity for it to appear in the Christmas tree bill. Responding to Commissioner Chang, Doug said the one-time UGB expansion parameters are lengthy, with 12 sections, one of which relates to how recently a city last expanded its UGB. Bend and Redmond are precluded, and La Pine is not interested in taking advantage of this tool. It's unclear whether Sisters will qualify. Nick stated he plans to reach out to the City of Sisters to gauge their interest. Doug spoke about transportation issues. The right-of-way bill has ended up the way they intended it to be and kept focus on the single statute which was the issue at hand and did not bring wastewater or stormwater into the definitions. Sen. Findley worked hard on our behalf. This was a significant victory on our part. Chris DOty expressed his gratitude for Sen. Findley as well. Commissioner Adair echoed this sentiment. Doug stated that transportation funding will be one of the largest issues in the 2025 session. There will be a major effort to revise the way in which transportation is funded in the state. The state has heavily relied on weight -mile and gas tax. ODOT reports that gas tax revenue will not keep up with operations, maintenance, and infrastructure expansion. The Oregon Trucking Association and three Oregon -based trucking companies have filed a lawsuit, alleging the state has over collected weight - mile taxes on truckers, and the legislature has admitted the ratio of tax collections has been disproportionate. The joint Committee on Transportation will have a series of roadshows and Doug will update the group with dates. The session will likely wrap up by Thursday or Friday, and the Christmas tree bill will likely come out on Monday. 4. Review Bill Tracker Report by Department 2024 DESCHUTES COUNTY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE MARCH 1, 2024 PAGE 3 OF 5 Kathleen Hinman summarized HB 4045. This bill is related to PERS and creates a third classification of employee: hazardous positions, in addition to police/fire and general service. Telecom municators (9-1-1 dispatchers) and those who work in Behavioral Health hospitals in Salem would fall under the hazardous position category for PIERS. Doug shared this bill will be on the House floor on Monday. Kathleen summarized HB 4115, which redefines a supervisor to include certain employees and exclude certain strike -prohibited public employees. Sheriffs Office, 9-1-1, Adult Parole and Probation would be impacted. It's declared an emergency, effective date upon passage. It has bipartisan support, and she expects it to pass. It has law enforcement and union support. The Board maintained their position on both bills as priority 2, informational. Kevin Moriarty spoke about HB 4016, which is a technical fix to SB 80 from last year for the Prescribed Fire Liability Pilot Burn Program. His only sticking point is the nature of the Oregon Department of Forestry and how they provide protection, and there are areas in Central Oregon wouldn't be covered under liability to conduct prescribed fire. He does support the bill overall. Doug reported it passed the House floor overwhelmingly has moved to the Senate, adding it includes a pot of money for resiliency and hardening. Responding to Commissioner Chang, Doug said that SB 1511 has been a point of contention. This bill directs the State Fire Marshall to establish a neighborhood protection cooperative grant program and is currently stuck in Ways and Means and not scheduled for a hearing or work session. He assumes this bill will not move fonti'ard. HB 4056 allows former property owners to claim from the county any surplus property tax foreclosure proceeds. Relative to HB 4056-3, Doug said the Revenue Committee has one more work session scheduled for Monday, and this bill is not on the list. Kristie Bollinger spoke about a request by AOC for a letter of support for HIS 4056-3. She noted there is also a Dash 4 version, with important differences including a 10-year statute of limitations, and she's hesitant to support Dash 4. Dave Doyle elaborated, stating that Dash 4 extends the statute of limitations for the lookback period to 10 years, from 6 years in Dash 3. This would put the County in a precarious position in finding the money to pay out claims. Dave noted that in Oregon, property owners have a five-year foreclosure window to remedy the situation. Kristie said that HB 4056-3 this is a quick fix, and in the next session there will be a rewrite of ORS Chapter 312. Doug added the Revenue Commission has been struggling with this topic. Bill Kuhn hopes for further clarity on the lookback period, as this is an important feature for tax assessors. Commissioners Adair and Chang expressed their desire to sign onto the sign onto the letter of support for HB 4056-3. 2024 DESCHUTES COUNTY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE MARCH 1, 2024 PAGE 4 OF 5 5. Other Items Doug concluded that Deschutes County and our region fared very well and attributed much of this to our delegation. DA Gunnels stated he is pleased with the responsiveness of our congressional delegation relative to the BM 110 fix. They listened to professionals and constituents and he's confident the current version of HB 4002 will improve public safety. Next Meeting: The next virtual legislative update meeting is scheduled for Friday, March 8 at 8:00 a.m. Adjourn: Chair Adair adjourned the meeting at 8:55 a.m. Respectfully Submitted by. Angie P wers, Administrative Assistant 2024 DESCHUTES COUNTY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE MARCH 1, 2024 PAGE 5 OF 5 Friday, March 1, 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 Passcode: 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.