|
 The
Last Hurrah
by Oregon State Senator Doug Whitsett 12/15/16
The latest round of
legislative committee days was just completed at the
state capitol in Salem. It also happened to be my final
set of official meetings in office, as I am set to
retire at the end of my current term in early January.
On Monday, December 12, the
Senate Interim Committee on Environment and Natural
Resources convened for a
series of informational hearings. We heard two
presentations from representatives of the Department of
Environmental Quality (DEQ), including a
Woodstove Workgroup Report and
Water Quality Permitting Program Review.
The senior policy coordinator for the Oregon Water
Resources Department presented us with a report on the
Task Force on Drought Emergency Response. The
associate director of the Oregon Climate Change Research
Institute provided an
Oregon Climate Assessment Report, the chairman of
the Global Warming Commission gave a preview of that
body’s 2016-17
Biennial Report and a representative of the Oregon
Farm Bureau spoke about the
Importance of Agriculture to Oregon's Economy.
Legislative concepts (LCs) that will be introduced by
the committee for the upcoming 2017 session were also
discussed.
LC 1845 modifies trap check requirements and
requires the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission (OFWC)
to adopt rules for a wildlife control operator permit
program for trappers. If this concept is passed into
law, it would require trappers to meet certain
requirements and require the Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife to compile a statewide annual trapping
report and make it available to the public.
According to
written testimony from Senate President Peter Courtney
(D-Salem), the concept was brought forth by the Humane
Society of the United States. Courtney wrote that it
“seeks to continue to allow trapping but to make it a
more humane practice.” However, in responses to
questions, he conceded the bill would likely result in
significant reductions in trapping opportunities.
LC 1845 would require that animal traps be checked every
24 hours to protect unintended victims and “reduce
animal suffering,” but it does make exceptions for mice,
rats, gophers, mountain beavers and moles. It calls for
mandatory reporting of all animals trapped and signage
when traps are placed on public lands for the sake of
protecting humans and their pets who are recreating in
the area.
LC 2216 would establish the Oregon Independent
Scientific Review Board and a create a secretariat as
its administrative section within the Institute for
Natural Resources at Oregon State University (OSU). It
would also establish an Independent Scientific Review
Fund and appropriates money in the fund to the Higher
Education Coordinating Commission to distribute to OSU
to fund the Board and secretariat.
LC 2363 would establish product stewardship for
household hazardous waste. Unless it is amended, I think
this concept would be nothing short of disastrous if it
is ever passed into law.
It would require manufacturers of household products
with hazardous substances to develop, finance and
implement a statewide system to collect and manage the
waste. They would have to track and document those
products from collection to final inspection, both
within and beyond Oregon. They would also have to
conduct performance audits and inspections, maintain
environmental liability insurance and provide consumers
with information, at the time of the product’s sale,
about the waste collection.
Those companies would have to register with DEQ a list
of their brands, pay an administrative fee to the agency
and provide a plan to it describing how they intend to
finance, manage and conduct the program. They would also
have to provide public education on reducing the use of
such products and advertise and promote collection
events, as well as establish permanent physical
collection sites in every county and holding collection
events every year.
To view footage of the Senate Interim Committee on
Environment and Natural Resources meeting,
click here.
The
Joint Interim Committee on Department of Energy
Oversight met on Tuesday, December 13.
This committee was formed in response to various
troubles at the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE)
involving the controversial Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC)
program, as well as the high default rate in its Small
Energy Loan Program (SELP) and significant controversy
regarding alleged bias in the Energy Facility Siting
Council (EFSC). It presented a tremendous opportunity
to examine the agency and the ways in which it could
better serve its stakeholders and everyone else in the
state.
Unfortunately, it does not appear that majority
Democrats will be taking action to recommend significant
changes within the department. I feel that the chance to
truly reform the troubled agency may have been
squandered.
The committee met regularly for most of the past year.
It spent way too much time listening to long agency
presentations rather than proactively working to find
bipartisan solutions to improve the agency’s
performance.
The co-chairs of the committee developed their
preliminary report of recommendations. They issued a
second draft following our next-to-last committee
meeting that addressed some of the concerns expressed by
other members of the committee. However, the second
draft fell short of addressing all of our concerns.
Sen. Alan Olsen (R-Canby) and I worked together with
other Republican members of the committee and industry
representatives to compile a set of
alternative recommendations for the oversight
committee to consider. Our alternative recommendations
were much more specific than the co-chairs’ plan.
It called for different membership on the to-be-formed
Energy Board that better represents those involved in
energy production and distribution. Rather that creating
new positions at ODOE, it transferred positions within
the agency to better align positions with new projected
workloads.
We suggested specific changes within EFSC to address
perceived bias in energy facility siting. We recommended
third-party audits of the BETC and SELP programs, as
well as a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation of
how BETC capital gains were taxed. We proposed the
energy supplier assessment be changed to a fixed rate
tax and applied equally to all energy providers. And we
advised the residential energy tax credit should be
discontinued, along with all other tax credits
supervised by ODOE.
Finally, we urged letters be sent to the DOJ
recommending investigations regarding any unethical or
other wrongdoing by ODOE employees regarding the BETC
and SELP programs.
To view footage of the meeting,
click here.
The
Joint Emergency Board met on the morning of
Wednesday, December 14. That body is similar to the
budget-writing Ways and Means Committee. It considers
federal grant funding requests, accepts reports required
by the legislative assembly and responds to funding
requests from state agencies made during the interim
period between legislative sessions.
The E-Board considered 37 requests from 20 different
state agencies. The work included accepting rebalances
of the combined nearly $30 billion budgets for the
Oregon Health Authority and Department of Human
Services. The Board also took action on the Department
of Education request for funding for
lead testing in schools, the Oregon Department of
Forestry for
fire season cost reimbursement, funding for
Umpqua Community College in Roseburg for expenses
related to the shooting that took place on its campus
last year and the Higher Education Coordinating
Commission for the
Portland Community College Nursing Program Teach-Out.
The latter was appropriated to help about 300 former
students of the ITT Technical Institute in Portland, who
were unable to complete their educations after the Obama
administration took action that caused the college shut
its doors. My office has received numerous e-mails from
former ITT students and their families asking for
assistance in this area.
At least 40 of the affected student were in the chamber
to hear the results of the E-Board deliberations. I’m
pleased to report the Legislature rose to the occasion
and was able to provide the critical funding.
To view footage of the meeting,
click here.
A Senate floor session was held immediately after the
E-Board adjourned for the Senate confirmation of the
Governor’s appointments to various boards, commissions
and agencies. The confirmation process was marred by
disagreement regarding appointments to the OFWC and the
Board of Forestry. At the heart of the controversy was
the Governor’s refusal to appoint balanced memberships,
including landowners, to the OFWC and foresters to the
Board of Forestry.
That debate and vote was followed by a special ceremony
for five outgoing Senators. As you may know, I am among
those who did not seek reelection.
To view my farewell speech on the
Senate floor,
click here. My remarks begin
at 1:46:50.
It’s been an honor serving the citizens of Senate
District 28 for the last 12 years. Throughout my
legislative career, I always made every effort to stay
true to the conservative values I was sent to Salem to
represent.
I will look back fondly on all the connections and
friendships that I and Rep. Gail Whitsett (R-Klamath
Falls) have been able to make both inside and outside of
the capitol. Thank you for allowing me to stand up for
rural Oregon for all these years.
Please remember--if we do not stand up for rural Oregon,
no one will.
Best Regards,
Doug
Senate District 28
Email:
Sen.DougWhitsett@state.or.us I Phone: 503-986-1728
Address: 900 Court St NE, S-311, Salem, OR 97301
Website:
http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/whitsett |
