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2005-03-06 Alert
Annexation Day Mar. 14
Monday, March 14, is currently scheduled to be "ANNEXATION DAY" in the Oregon Senate.
The Senate Environmental & Land Use Committee has 7 bills scheduled for public hearing, 6 of which are annexation-related. These include the following bills:
SB 887: repeals the "island annexation" language of ORS-222, among other provisions.
SB 380: Senate companion bill to HB 2484: amends ORS-195 to require "double majority."
SB 699: Grants certain businesses immunity from forced annexation, but doesn't extend that right to anyone else. (Note: 699 isn't the "NIKE Bill" - that's SB 728 - but is the same type of deal)
Plus SB 886, 888 and 732. Notably ABSENT from the docket is SB 648 to repeal the ORS 268 prohibition against Metro cities using ORS 195 to annex territory.
The hearing starts at 3 PM in Hearing Room "B" at the capitol. The schedule is way too aggressive unless the committee plans to meet into the early evening, which is very doubtful. So it is unlikely that all of these bills will actually get a hearing that day. 887 is second on the present schedule, 380 is 5th and 699 is last. It is therefore quite likely that the existing schedule will be changed.
Some of us are planning to attend. If you plan to go, contact Katie Lowry at 503-986-1640 the morning of 3/14 to confirm the hearing is still on. And bring LOTS of quarters to feed the parking meters. Staff requests 20 copies of your testimony on each bill. We've already discussed 380 and 887. On 699, we want to see this bill amended to extend the same right to ALL Oregonians. It is unfair as written.
Those who are not attending should get testimony in on at least the 3 major bills noted above. We're re-publishing the contact information below:
Sen. Charlie Ringo (Chair): 503-986-1717
Sen. Jason Atkinson: 503-986-1702
Sen. Roger Beyer: 503-986-1709
Sen. Ginny Burdick: 503-986-1718
Sen. Frank Shields: 503-986-1724
E-mail addresses are all in the format: sen.fullname@state.or.us e.g., sen.charlieringo@state.or.us
REGARDING HB 2484: Its status changes daily. Thanks to everyone who contacted Speaker Minnis as requested - if you haven't done so, please do ASAP. Many who did contact her office received a reply that said 2484 "is not shelved or killed." But right now we're in a holding pattern and are awaiting the Legislature's next move.
Hopefully you all received Rep. Krummel's admonition to us to "keep up the good work." We've asked a lot from all of you in recent weeks. But if we're to have a chance to bring FAIRNESS to these statutes, the opportunity is NOW and we have to take advantage of it. So please keep the phone calls and emails to Salem flowing!
Jerry Ritter, Secretary
Oregon Communities for a Voice in Annexations
This page last modified on 2005-11-16 08:29.
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