News

Housing, Workforce and Education Bills Signed

Oregon’s legislative session wrapped up on March 4, passing a more ambitious agenda than typical for short sessions

By Jack Harvel

Oregon’s 2022 legislative session wrapped up with over 60 bills crammed into the final two days of the 31-day short session. Lawmakers added $2.7 billion in spending to a budget passed the year before as the state took in $2.5 billion more in revenue than expected.

Short sessions usually focus on budget adjustments and technical issues from the previous year, but Democrats believed larger challenges like houselessness, building sustainable workforces and child care needed to be addressed.

Housing and houselessness

Oregon has the fourth-most houseless people per capita (35 people per 100,000) in the U.S. behind California, New York and Hawaii. A $400 million bill seeks to address this with investments in services, affordable housing and supporting home ownership.

Some $165 million of the package will go toward expanding shelter capacity — $50 million will go directly toward Project Turnkey, a state program that renovated motels into shelters. Some $80 million of the package would support rapid re-housing, including short-term rental assistance and services. The remaining $25 million would be put in the hands of municipal governments to address to respond to specific local needs. It will build off the legislature’s previous work, like House Bill 2006 which will partially fund Bend’s Navigation Center that Bend City Council was likely to approve on Wednesday March 16.

On the affordable housing side of the spending package, $215 million is allocated to building and preserving affordable housing. Additionally, House Bill 4123 allocates funding directly toward local governments to set up joint offices coordinating services for the unhoused.

“The goal of this is to provide some money so our cities and counties can start a joint office that can work with our community partners and have an overall vision and strategic plan in a community,” said Jason Kropf (D-Bend), who drafted the bill. “Bend will get about $1.9 million in a direct allocation.”

Child care and Education

Every Oregon county is a child care desert for families with preschool-aged children, meaning there’s less than one available spot for every three children. Last year the legislature consolidated two separate agencies that oversaw child care in the state into the Department of Early Learning and Care, and this year they’re paying $100 million to bolster the industry.

“We streamlined that process moving forward, created increased investments, we put another $100 million dollars into child care investments this last session in 2022, in part to bolster that child care workforce,” Kropf said.

The legislature also prioritized funding to address teacher burnout and increase summer learning programs for K-12 students. Oregon school districts reported over 1,800 vacancies in 2021, citing high workloads, burnout and pandemic disruptions. The bill establishes grant programs to recruit and retain educators and waives some professional development requirements. Legislators also approved protections for superintendents. The Newberg School board fired superintendent Joe Morelock on Nov. 9 without cause, though Morelock told OPB he believed his firing stemmed from an alleged failure to enforce a policy enacted by the school board banning “political, quasi-political, or controversial symbols.”

“The superintendent bill was to make sure that superintendents couldn't be fired for following things like public health guidance, requiring some level of notice if a superintendent is going to be fired without cause, that there'll be some period of time between when that notice is given and before that superintendent can be fired,” Kropf said. “The goal is to try to create continuity of leadership within our school districts so that we're not having these abrupt changes.”

School districts affected by wildfires will get some percentage of $25 million in aid after declining enrollment led to a reduction in funding.

Workforce training

A $200 million workforce training program will contribute to existing job training, apprenticeship and education programs to connect people to upwardly mobile jobs, and with a focus on supporting people from historically underserved communities, including people of color, adult learners, rural communities, low-wage earners and disconnected youth. The bill, called Future Ready Oregon, was among the top priorities of Gov. Kate Brown.

“I want to thank the legislature for passing Future Ready Oregon,” said Gov. Brown in a press release. “And a special thank you to the Racial Justice Council, as well as our business community, and the working Oregonians who shared their stories during the legislative process. Now, it’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work to build a skilled and diverse workforce.”

Perhaps the most contentious piece of legislation passed afforded farmworkers the same overtime requirements as every other occupation. Agricultural laborers are the only workers excluded from overtime pay in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Republicans objected to the bill, saying it disadvantages family farms over large corporations. The bill phases in overtime pay for an adjustment period and offers tax credits for farms that offset the increased wages. The tax credits become greater as the farms get smaller.

Oregon Republicans opposed many of the proposals that passed in the short session, but in many cases were unable to override the Democratic majority. Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp (R-Bend) said his party was able to block some of the most extreme proposals, but questioned Democrats’ priorities.

“At a time when inflation is out of control, Democrats introduced a new sales tax and new spending. When Oregonians don’t feel safe in their homes, Democrats pushed an extreme soft-on-crime agenda that makes our streets more dangerous. As we close the book on the pandemic, Democrats clung to government overreach and mandates,” Knopp said. “Even with our big disagreements, we got some good bipartisan things done for Oregon this session. Unfortunately, we left a lot of good policy on the table. Short sessions reveal priorities, and the majority’s priorities were misplaced in many cases.” The luxury sales tax Knopp mentioned was still in committee at the end of the session. Regarding crime, there were mixed results; one bill banning police from conducting stops over busted taillights or headlights passed, as did a bill that allows people convicted in non-unanimous cases eligible for a new trial so long as they remained in custody and only victimized adults. The legislature also loosened the requirements for police to use tear gas after complaints that 2021 legislation restricting its use was ambiguous and prevented police intervention in violent demonstrations.

Courtesy of Zehn Katzen via Wikimedia

The Oregon legislature adjourned its short session on Friday, March 4, voting on over 60 bills in its last two days.

Who’s Running, Part Deux

Last week we brought you a list of local candidates running in the upcoming May primary, where candidates from the same party run against each other to see who moves on to the November general election. This week, we’ve compiled a list of who’s running in the races for governor, U.S. House and U.S Senate—but with over 20 candidates for governor alone, we’ve made that long list available—including links to information on who’s donating to their campaigns—available on the News page of our website, bendsource.com/bend/local-news.

Pray for Rain

After years of drought, Central Oregon is at a tipping point

By Jack Harvel

The last two years represents the third-driest twoyear period in the state’s history, mostly driven by Central and Southern Oregon that’ve experienced the driest period in recorded history. Seven Oregon counties, including Deschutes and Crook, experienced worse drought than ever, and surrounding counties are much drier than usual.

With two years straining reservoirs and with many people reporting wells running dry, the outlook for next year is not good. Usually wet years give a chance for more moisture to fill in reservoirs and aquifers, but without that the probable drought this upcoming year is expected to be worse than the region has ever seen.

“We usually will require a couple years of normal or slightly above normal precipitation to recover all those water deficits that we accrued,” said Larry O’Neill, the Oregon State climatologist associate professor in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University. “The drought from last year really likely was not going to recover with just one year. So even if we had a good year, good winter, this year, it probably wouldn't have fully recovered.”

As of March 1 all areas of Deschutes County were experiencing some form of drought, with the southeastern portion of the county in the most severe classification, D4, meaning exceptional drought. To qualify as D4 it must be among the driest 2% of years on record, and D3 (extreme drought) is among the driest 5% of years.

“The data we use to base that off of is precipitation, estimates of evaporation and then the streamflow numbers, too. Other kinds of data that are based off of those primary data sources, like soil moisture content, so the amount of soil water that's been stored in the soil, you know, and that can depend on kind of what cell type you have, and kind of the character of the precipitation you did receive,” O’Neill said.

There’s been plenty of drought years over the last two decades, and O’Neill believes at this point a lot of people tune out of drought news.

“I think people are starting to feel drought fatigue a little bit like you every year, but we just wanted to get the word out that without a miracle rainstorm, or multiple miracle rainstorms, this will be really kind of an extraordinary year, in terms of the impacts,” O’Neill said.

Those impacts can be severe. Some wells are already running dry, or pumping up lower quality water. Low reservoirs may keep people from recreational opportunities. Agricultural products may be undersupplied, which can cause an increase in the price of commodities like hay, which translates to higher beef prices. Hydroelectric power generation dwindles with reservoir levels. Fish habitats become inhospitable. Grasshoppers, thriving in a dry climate, eat up more crops. And, of course, wildfires have a greater chance to spread with the dry fuels lying on the ground.

“The combination of low winter precipitation and early snow melts will give us an early start to the fire season. So we'll be vulnerable to things like big east wind events,” O’Neill said. “Looking forward to things like Fourth of July, we might see a lot more concern with firework bans, an early finish to field burning season and things like campfire bans. Those are all seen as maybe a little bit of a nuisance, but you know, it is important for various people, so those are direct impacts that we can expect.”

The Predictive Services of the National Interagency Fire Center reported on March 1 that Central Oregon will have a near-normal amount of fire risk in March and April, but by May there will be significantly more potential for fires due to escaped ignitions on dry and windy days.

Patrons of Central Oregon irrigation districts can expect shorter irrigation seasons and potentially altered schedules. Tumalo Irrigation District is scheduling patrons on a one-week-on, one-week-off, or oneweek-on, two-weeks-off, schedule, depending on the time of year. Arnold Irrigation District projects its irrigation season will finish at the end of June or early July; last year it went until the end of July. North Unit Irrigation, the most junior water right in the Deschutes Basin, is bracing for another tough year considering it relies on Wickiup Reservoir, which is currently at 48% of its capacity in a reservoir which is typically near-full at this time of year.

Por Jack Harvel Translated by/Traducido por Jéssica Sánchez-Millar

La sesión legislativa de Oregon 2022 culminó con más de 60 proyectos de ley atestados en los últimos dos días de la sesión de 31 días. Los legisladores agregaron $2.7 billones a un presupuesto aprobado el año anterior, ya que el estado recibió $2.5 billones más en ingresos.

Vivienda y Desamparo

Oregon tiene el 4to lugar con mayor número de personas sin hogar (35 personas por cada 100,000) en los Estados Unidos después de California, Nueva York y Hawái. Un proyecto de ley de $400 millones busca encargarse al invertir en servicios, vivienda accesible y apoyo a la propiedad de vivienda.

Unos $165 millones del paquete serán destinados para ampliar el albergue, $50 millones irán directamente a Project Turnkey, un programa estatal que renueva moteles en albergues. Unos de los $80 millones del paquete apoyarían a la reubicación rápida de vivienda, incluyendo el apoyo y servicios de la renta a corto plazo. Los $25 millones restantes se pondrían en manos de los gobiernos municipales para que se encarguen y respondan a las necesidades de la localidad. Se basará en el trabajo anterior de la legislatura, como el Proyecto de Ley 2006 de la Cámara de Representantes, que financiará parte del Navigation Center de Bend, que el consejo de la ciudad de Bend muy probablemente apruebe el miércoles 16 de marzo.

En el aspecto de la vivienda accesible y el paquete de gastos, $215 millones se destinan para construir y preservar la vivienda accesible. Además, el Proyecto de Ley 4123 de la Cámara de Representantes destina los fondos directamente a los gobiernos locales para establecer despachos conjuntos que coordinen los servicios para las personas sin hogar. “La meta es otorgar algo de dinero para que las ciudades y los condados puedan establecer despachos conjuntos que trabajen con socios comunitarios y que tengan una visión y un plan estratégico en una comunidad,” dijo Jason Kropf (Demócrata de Bend), quien redactó el proyecto de ley. “Bend recibirá alrededor de $1.9 millones en distribución directa.”

El Cuidado de Niños y La Educación

Cada condado de Oregon sufre una escasez de guarderías para las familias con niños en pre-escolar, lo cual quiere decir que hay menos de un espacio abierto de cada 3 niños. El año pasado la legislatura consolidó dos agencias que supervisaban las guarderías del estado en el Departamento de Cuidado y Aprendizaje y este año están pagando $100 millones para impulsar a la industria.

La legislatura también priorizó los fondos para abordar el agotamiento de los maestros e aumentar los programas de aprendizaje de verano para los estudiantes de Kinder al último año de preparatoria (high school). Los legisladores también aprobaron la protección para los superintendentes.

Los distritos escolares afectados por los incendios forestales obtendrán un porcentaje de $25 millones de auxilio después que la baja de inscripciones condujo a la reducción de fondos.

Capacitación de la Fuerza Laboral y Protección para los trabajadores del campo.

Un programa de capacitación laboral de $200 millones contribuirá a los programas existentes de capacitación laboral, de formación y de educación para conectar a la gente con trabajos y con un enfoque en apoyar a las personas de comunidades históricamente desantendidas, incluyendo personas de color, estudiantes adultos, comunidades rurales, de bajos ingresos y jóvenes desvinculados. El proyecto de ley, llamado Future Ready Oregon, estuvo entre las prioridades principales de la Gobernadora Kate Brown.

Tal vez la de la legislación más polémica aprobada otorgó a los trabajadores agrícolas son los únicos trabajadores excluidos del pago de horas extra dentro de la Ley de Normas Laborales Justas de 1938. Los republicanos rechazaron la propuesta de ley, comentando que pone en desventaja a las granjas familiares en comparación con las grandes empresas. El proyecto de ley introduce paso a paso el pago de horas extras durante un período de ajuste y ofrece créditos fiscales para las granjas que compensan el aumento de los salarios. Los créditos fiscales aumentan a medida que las fincas se hacen más pequeñas.

El líder republicano del senado, Tim Knopp (Republicano de Bend) dijo que su partido pudo bloquear algunas de las propuestas más extremas, pero cuestionó las prioridades de los demócratas. “En tiempos en que la inflación está fuera de control, los demócratas presentan un nuevo impuesto sobre la venta y gastos nuevos. Cuando los residentes de Oregon no se sienten seguros en su propia casa, los demócratas impulsaron una agenda extremadamente leve en relación al crimen que hace que las calles sean más peligrosas. Conforme cerramos el capítulo de la pandemia, los demócratas se aferran a los mandatos y extralimitaciones del gobierno, “Tim Knopp (Republicano de Bend).

En relación al impuesto sobre la venta, de la cual habló Knopp todavía se encontraba en el comité al final de la sesión. En cuanto a la delincuencia, hubo resultados mixtos; se aprobó una propuesta de ley que prohibía a la policía parar a los automovilistas porque sus faros fronteros y traseros estaban fundidos, al igual que un proyecto de ley que permita a las personas condenadas en casos no unánimes ser elegibles para un nuevo juicio siempre y cuando permanezcan bajo custodia y solo sean víctimas adultas.

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