by Jules Bailey

The 2011 Legislative Session is in the books. It was a historic session: the first evenly divided House in Oregon’s history, the first bipartisan redistricting plan in decades, and the challenge of one of the state’s largest budget holes. It is also the first time that we adjourn the session knowing that we will be back in the spring for the first even-yeared annual session.

I want to share some of my thoughts about the session with you – our successes, some of the difficult choices we had to make, the bills we blocked, and all the work we have left to do. It’s an honor to represent you, and I look forward to hearing what you have to say about this session.

Our Successes

In addition to adjourning on time with a balanced budget, there were several bills on which I personally worked that are worth calling out.

Cool Schools Initiative (HB 2960) Cool Schools allows the state to repair and retrofit aging schools to help create jobs while enhancing student learning, reducing operational costs, and building healthy learning environments. Cool Schools was a top priority of Governor Kitzhaber and was a key component of the House Democratic plan to “Revitalize Oregon.”

The Cool Schools plan will finance energy-efficiency projects at public schools across the state, creating jobs for Oregonians in the hard-hit construction industry. Best of all, the plan is a bargain for taxpayers, reducing costs for school districts and allowing more dollars to go directly into our classrooms and fewer dollars to utility bills.

Oregon Tax Credit Reform Bill (HB 3672) HB 3672A was an unprecedented shift in the way that the Legislature has approached tax expenditures. This bill is the product of an intensive review of twenty tax credits that the Joint Committee on Tax Credits undertook this legislative session. Nine of the twenty were allowed to sunset at the end of this year; one had its sunset date accelerated to this year; nine were extended or modified, and one was divided into three separate modified credits.

This bill fulfilled the promise of HB 2067 (2009) to examine each of the Oregon tax credits on their own merits, and begin the process of treating our tax expenditures like we treat our budget expenditures. In the next biennium, we’re reducing the cost of extension by $30 million – from $40 million to $10 million. In the biennium after that, we are reducing the cost by over $110 million. And we have built in spending caps, safety valves, transparency, and oversight that will help keep these credits from running away again, while preserving the core of our investment in the future of clean energy, innovation, and job creation.

Memorial on No More Nuclear Waste at Hanford (HJM 28) HJM 28 urges the US Dept. of Energy to remove the Hanford Nuclear Reservation from their list of candidate sites for national permanent disposal of radioactive waste. The US Dept. of Energy is currently considering Hanford as a candidate site for Greater-than-Class-C nuclear waste disposal.

However, Hanford is already the site of the largest environmental cleanup project in the world, after more than 40 years of generating waste during the production of plutonium for our nation’s nuclear weapons program. As a nation, we are paying billions of dollars every year to clean it up. We cannot afford to dump more waste there, especially when that waste might come on trucks right through the Portland Metro area.

The Community Engagement Act (HB 2275) I worked closely with the Oregon Employment Department to find a way to encourage those seeking work to expand their networks and opportunities by participating in volunteer activities without detracting from their ability to claim unemployment benefits. Studies show volunteering can improve the self-esteem of those out of work, while leading to career opportunities and helping the community.

The Employment Fairness Act (HB 2698) HB 2698A upholds the notion that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Job applicants are frequently obligated to tell a potential employer if they have ever been arrested, and background checks are typical. But even arrests that do not result in a conviction are public information. HB 2698A makes it a little easier in certain circumstances for a person to have an arrest without conviction set aside, while maintaining access for law enforcement.

Department of Environmental Quality budget (HB 5022) While every budget is being cut, the budget for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality initially included disproportionally deep cuts to clean air and clean water programs that protect the health of Oregonians. As Co-Vice Chair of the Natural Resources subcommittee of Ways and Means, I worked with Senator Jackie Dingfelder to oppose these cuts. As a result, we were able to restore basic funding for these programs, and authorize a Federal grant to allow monitoring of air toxics near schools.

The Farmers’ Market Bill (HB 2336) In response to the confusion as to whether a farmers’ markets meet the definition of a “food establishment” in ORS 616.695, the 2010 Interim House Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Rural Communities Committee established a work group to develop policy recommendations to guide the Department of Agriculture on how farmers’ markets should be regulated. HB 2336 is the result of their work and exempts certain agricultural products sold directly to general public from state laws regulating food establishments. This bill is a welcome reduction in red tape for small farmers who sell their food and products to farmer’s markets. It will allow for more local agriculture, and more sustainable communities.

Cracking Down on Child Prostitution (HB 2714) HB 2714B creates the crime of patronizing a prostitute. The bill also removes the requirement that the state must prove that the person knew the individual to whom the offer was made was under eighteen years of age. This bill is critical to protecting young women and girls who are victims of the sex-trafficking industry and is a first step towards reigning in abuse and victimization of these girls.

Homebrew bill (SB 444) Senate Bill 444 was drafted in response to a Department of Justice legal opinion, requested by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, regarding the legality of licensees conducting home brewed beer competitions and events on their licensed premises. The legal interpretation was that under current statute, home brewers are restricted to brew without a license only within the confines of their home. Naturally, this caused an outcry from the many enterprising home brewers (including me!) in House District 42.

Senate Bill 444 allows the making, keeping, storage, or transportation of homemade beer, wine or fermented fruit juice, and limits the amount of these products to be produced during a calendar year, in order to be exempt from the state’s Liquor Control Act, for up to 100 gallons in a household having one person who is at least 21 years of age, or 200 gallons in a household having two or more persons who are 21 years of age or older.

Tough Votes

Not every bill is a slam dunk, and we as legislators often struggle to balance the pros and cons of difficult, complex bills. I want to share a few of those with you. You may disagree, even strongly, with my call on these. Each was a difficult decision. I hope you will continue to let me know your thoughts.

Banning Protests at Funerals (HB 3241) – I voted NO. I am vehemently opposed to groups that disrupt funerals of any kind, especially those that disrupt funerals for soldiers with hate speech. It is reprehensible behavior. However, I voted against HB 3241A because the constitutionality of this bill is questionable, and as such, it only invites hate groups to come to Oregon to gain attention for their views by challenging this bill in court, which is their goal. Other states have tried approaches like this, and it has only incited more bad behavior and lawsuits from groups like Westboro Baptist Church. Moreover, I am opposed to further erosion of our right to free expression.

Regulating Hookah Lounges (HB 2726) – I voted YES. Most Democrats in the House voted for HB 2726 when it went over to the Senate. The bill finally put regulations on the proliferation of hookah lounges, which were generally unregulated in Oregon’s indoor clean air act. When it came back from the Senate, it had provisions in it that allow for limited expansion of cigar bars and for sampling of tobacco products in smoke shops that in some cases could be in a mall. I read the bill carefully, and an accompanying legal opinion that showed that the new provisions could not lead to a proliferation of hookah bars in malls, and that smoke shops could open under only very limited circumstances. While many groups were opposed to this bill, I was one of three Democrats who voted yes when it came back from the Senate because I felt the new provisions were not bad enough to warrant throwing away an opportunity to finally get control over the rapid expansion of hookah lounges in our district.

Exempting domestic violence shelters and concealed handgun licenses from public records requests (SB 347) – I voted YES. Sometimes bills in the legislature get smushed together when their subjects are similar. We heard from many advocates that we need to protect shelters that use public money to provide services to victims of domestic violence from public records requests. One shelter in the Portland area had already received a public records request, which could have exposed some victims to their perpetrators. SB 347 combined this protection with a controversial bill to exempt holders of concealed handgun licenses from public records requests. I voted yes on this bill because we can’t wait for a perfect bill to protect victims of domestic violence, and at the time we didn’t know if we would get another chance to address the issue.

Education votes Adequately funding K-12 schools and limiting the growth of for-profit online schools are two of my top priorities. I voted against the education budget because it left far too much money in reserves. We were able to access some of those reserves later in session, but not enough. I also opposed HB 2301, part of the “education package,” because it could lead to rapid expansion of online schools that take money from public education. However, I voted for a bill that allows for higher education institutions to authorize charter schools because of an amendment that would allow those institutions to control the growth, and because I believe we need more integration between higher-ed and K-12 education. I also voted for a bill that allows students to transfer to other districts in the state, which I believe could help allow families that have been pushed out of central Portland to send their kids to Portland Public Schools and reverse our declining enrollment.

Tax Credit Votes and Clean Energy I ran for office in part on the promise that clean energy can help create jobs and economic development for Oregon at the same time we confront climate change. This session, as co-chair of the Joint Committee on Tax Credits, I was in charge of getting control of our Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC) to bring down the cost while still maintaining our investments in clean energy. It was a challenging task.

HB 3672 was the culmination of a process that began with runaway costs and unexpected exponential growth of BETC and RETC as these programs spiraled out of control, draining dollars out of education, human services, and public safety. HB 2067 from our 2009 session accomplished that. That bill sunsetted all our non-structural tax credits, a first step towards getting control of all our tax expenditures, and brought them for review. When I carried that bill, I promised that we would examine each of these credits on their merits, and begin the process of treating our tax expenditures like we treat our budget expenditures.

Stakeholders came to the table, rolled up their sleeves, and accepted that the final product would be a dramatic scale back of Oregon’s tax credit gravy train. In the next biennium, we’re reducing the cost of extension by $30 million – from $40 million to $10 million. In the biennium after that, we are reducing the cost by over $110 million, and there are about $220 million in savings after that. And we have built into the bill spending caps, safety valves, transparency, and oversight that will help keep these credits from running away again. We are targeting our investments and getting more bang for our buck, and we have sunsets to review all of these in six more years.

I believe HB 3672 strikes a balance between getting tax credits under control and maintaining at least the structure for clean energy investments. It will be challenging for the industry to adapt, and I appreciate all the people who helped in good faith with the bill.

Also as co-chair of Joint Tax Credits, I helped pass SB 817, the Low-Income Community Jobs Act. This bill was controversial because it created a new tax credit. But it achieved something we desperately need: access to capital for small businesses at a time when banks aren’t lending. Unfortunately, some stakeholders badly misunderstood the bill and missed some of the key limitations and sideboards we put on the bill. This bill severely restricts the use of this program for building capital projects (like hotels) and the size of the investment targets it at small businesses. The program will sunset in five years so we can review it for effectiveness. While I would have preferred a State Bank (see below), this was the best tool we had before adjourning to provide some relief to local small businesses.

Bills We Stopped

Some of our successes included bad bills we stopped. There were bills introduced to give massive tax breaks to the wealthy and large corporations, and we were able to adjourn without passing them. We also stopped a new tax credit that would have given a subsidy to people who wanted to do things like build a pool in their back yard. These kinds of bills take money away from schools, health care, and public safety, without providing the kind of economic stimulus we can get from more targeted investments. Moreover, we stopped Wisconsin-style bills that would have gutted workers rights and collective bargaining, protecting working class jobs.

On the environmental front, a lot of thanks goes to Senator Jackie Dingfelder for her work in stopping bad bills that would have eroded our land use system, and opened the door to more pollution. I was pleased to work with her on the Natural Resources Sub Committee of Ways and Means, where we fought together to make sure this legislature did not take a backwards step on our clean air and water.

Future Work

Despite the success of this session, we adjourned with a lot of work left to do. Here’s just a few critical bills that didn’t make it:

Create a State Bank I have been a strong proponent of creating a finance authority, sometimes called a “State Bank,” that can do lending for capital construction and small business development. We desperately need to create access to capital, and a state bank would help us do so in a way where Oregonians, not Wall Street bankers, benefit from those investments.

The Healthy Teen Relationships Act (HB 2438/HB 3646/HB 2111) I’m pleased to have bipartisan support to pass this bill in February. This Act would give the State a foundation for dealing with teen dating violence and study the long-term effects of teaching teens about healthy relationships. The concept traveled a complicated route through the legislative process only to die on a technical point in the HB 2111 Conference Committee. However, the delay gives us a chance to come back in February with a stronger bill.

Ban Bisphenol-A (BPA) BPA is a toxic chemical found in many food containers. We failed to pass a ban this session, but the fight is not over. We will try again in February and maybe even at the ballot box. Your help will be critical to passing this and creating the groundswell of support to say that we must protect our children from toxic chemicals.

Move forward on marine reserves Despite over a decade of process and work, and bi-partisan support, right-wing interests killed a bill that would have adopted the recommendations of coastal communities to create marine reserves. Our fisheries are in decline, and we need these areas to ensure we have a baseline for studying our ocean ecosystem to develop best practices in our fisheries. Rep. Jean Cowan worked hard to get a bill passed, and in the end politics won out over good policy. This will be a top priority for February.