Chapter 947 Oregon Laws 2001

AN ACT

SB 973

Relating to economic development; appropriating money; and declaring an emergency.

Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:

SECTION 1. (1) The Legislative Fiscal Officer shall enter into a contract with a person not affiliated with Oregon state government to study how to improve economic development in this state. The study shall include evaluations of and recommendations on cost-effective changes in:

(a) State economic development programs.

(b) The organizational structure of the Economic and Community Development Department and the programs the department operates.

(2) The study required by subsection (1) of this section shall:

(a) Measure the jobs created by each program, the cost per job created, wage levels of the jobs created and the return on the state's investment in each program.

(b) Provide recommendations to:

(A) Clarify the Economic and Community Development Department's performance goals and expectations;

(B) Simplify the measurement process by selecting a limited set of the most useful performance measures that are clearly linked to the Economic and Community Development Department's mission, goals and objectives;

(C) Strengthen procedures to collect and verify the accuracy of the Economic and Community Development Department's data;

(D) Obtain access for the Economic and Community Development Department to the Employment Department's unemployment insurance data to verify the employment effect of the programs of the Economic and Community Development Department; and

(E) Use performance measurement information for the Economic and Community Development Department's accountability reporting and program management.

(3) The person retained to conduct the study required by subsection (1) of this section shall begin the study no later than September 1, 2001, and submit a report on the study, including recommendations for proposed legislation, to the Oregon Economic Development Coordinating Council by May 1, 2002.

SECTION 2. (1) There is created an interim task force, to be called the Oregon Economic Development Coordinating Council, consisting of seven members. The membership of the task force shall be as provided in this section.

(2) The President of the Senate shall appoint three members of the Senate to the council. No more than two members may belong to the same political party.

(3) The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint three members of the House of Representatives to the council. No more than two members may belong to the same political party.

(4) The Director of the Division of Audits or the director's designee shall serve as a member of the council.

(5) The council shall review and critique the report submitted pursuant to section 1 of this 2001 Act, including any recommendations, and report on its evaluation by August 1, 2002, to the person retained to conduct the study. The person retained to conduct the study shall consider the council's evaluation and provide a final report to the Governor and the Legislative Assembly by September 1, 2002. The council may recommend legislation, and all legislation recommended by official action of the council must indicate that it is introduced at the request of the council. The council shall prepare any legislation in time for presession filing by December 15, 2002, for presentation to the regular session of the Seventy-second Legislative Assembly.

(6) The Legislative Fiscal Office shall provide staff to the council.

(7) A member of the Legislative Assembly appointed to the council is entitled to compensation and expenses as provided under ORS 171.072 from funds appropriated to the Legislative Assembly. The Director of the Division of Audits is entitled to compensation and expenses under ORS 292.495.

(8) The council shall elect its own chairperson with the powers and duties that the council may fix. A quorum of the council is a majority of the council's members. Official action by the council requires the approval of a majority of a quorum of the members.

SECTION 3. In addition to and not in lieu of any other appropriation, there is appropriated to the Legislative Fiscal Officer for the biennium ending June 30, 2003, out of the General Fund, the amount of $75,000, which the Legislative Fiscal Officer may expend for the purposes of carrying out sections 1 and 2 of this 2001 Act.

SECTION 4. Sections 1 and 2 of this 2001 Act are repealed January 2, 2004.

SECTION 5. This 2001 Act being necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency is declared to exist, and this 2001 Act takes effect July 1, 2001.

Approved by the Governor August 9, 2001

Filed in the office of Secretary of State August 9, 2001

Effective date August 9, 2001

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