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2005-04-01 Alert
Today's Legislative news
We encountered what I would consider a couple setbacks today. Unfortunately, this is not an "April Fools" joke.
First, the work session on HB 2464 (ORS 195 "double majority" reform) was again canceled - this time at the last minute before any of us who traveled to Salem knew. Instead, Chairman Garrard announced that a subcommittee "work group" has been formed to bring all the annexation issues together into one bill that "all parties can live with." You may recall that Senator Ringo hinted on 3/14 that this is the way things are headed.
The work group will consist of Representatives Ackerman, Krummel and Greenlick - all solid allies, Representative Anderson - we aren't certain where he stands - and (here's the troubling part) Linda Ludwig, lobbyist for the League of Oregon Cities.
It wasn't till I was on 99W from Salem (I-5 south was gridlocked for miles with several really bad accidents) that I started to feel snubbed. The Chairman never contacted us about the work group nor offered any explanation as to why the League was given a seat at the table and the citizens behind these bills were not. I intend to ask Representative Garrard that question.
I believe our allies will keep Ms. Ludwig in check on the work group, but that's only partial consolation. I'm not sure how to read this development. The Chairman directed the group to have its recommendations ready by the committee's 4/18 meeting. The bill now has -10 amendments with probably more on the way as the House and Senate measures are consolidated.
The other concern is timeliness. Assuming the best - that a livable bill gets out of the HLU committee on 4/18 - it still has to get a House floor vote, then go to (presumably) Senator Ringo's Senate committee and then to the Senate floor. This process doesn't happen overnight. The longer this thing gets hung up in debate, the slimmer its chances.
The upside is that if the subcommittee can come up with something we can live with - and end up with some meaningful reform - while getting a buyoff from the opposition, it greatly increases the bill's chance of making it through. That's why I have supported such an effort from the day the idea surfaced...but it should include all parties. Chairman Garrard may feel that we have representation through our allies and that's almost certainly true. He did not place a known opponent, other than Ms. Ludwig, on the committee. Still, I would like to have seen one of the recognized representatives of the various citizens' groups supporting annexation reform be included.
We haven't seen the amendments so don't know what all they entail. Representative Ackerman told me he'd keep me in the loop. So we're waiting on 4/18 to see what the next step is.
I mentioned other apparent setbacks. SB 887 (Island annexation reform) which cleared the Senate Environment & Land Use Committee on Tuesday will apparently NOT get a floor vote. Presumably, this is part of the "consolidation" plan underway. And the school SDC bill, SB 307, underwent no action on Tuesday. The committee spokesperson is not sure if it will be reconsidered.
So, all in all, not the greatest day. I think our next course of action is to lobby Reps. Ackerman, Krummel, Greenlick and Anderson to not allow the League to gut HB 2484 of its originally-intended protections. Our two priorities are ORS-195 "double majority" and ORS 222 "Island annexation" reform to stop the practice of cherrystemming and to give citizens a voice in island annexations. Contacts:
rep.robertackerman@state.or.us
rep.gordonanderson@state.or.us
rep.mitchgreenlick@state.or.us
rep.jerrykrummel@state.or.us
Once again, my thanks and appreciation to the group who showed up today. This battle is still on!
Jerry Ritter,
Secretary OCVA
This page last modified on 2005-11-16 08:29.
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