The historic supplemental session is history. It ended Friday evening, one week before the anticipated deadline.

Was it a success?  I believe those who oppose annual sessions were not persuaded to change their minds by anything which happened in this February session.  However, the door remains open to moving to a system of yearly meetings of the legislature.  I remain convinced that a better schedule is possible if we can agree on strict time limits. Regular sessions should be no more than 120 days.  This would give time to write the budget for the biennium, which is the Legislature’s constitutional duty.  Off year sessions should be limited to 60 days.  This is more time for vetting statutory changes than we had during this “experiment.”   I don’t believe Oregonians want more Legislature, or to lose the “citizen” participation which is the heart of our process.  The State of Washington has a model for more frequent, shorter sessions which I believe we can emulate.  The voters, however, will decide this issue.

Here are highlights of some late session bills:

Funding higher education projects using the state’s bonding authority included the Center for Health Professionals at Oregon Institute of Technology, campus improvements at Clatsop Community College and the very controversial University of Oregon Arena project.  I supported the U of O arena because I am persuaded that the funding mechanisms provided give proper assurance that the taxpayers will not bear the burden of paying this debt.  And no money will be  taken from education budgets to spend on this sports related project. (HB5100)

The legislature developed an alternative to Initiative Petition 40 (IP 40) which mandates stiff sentences for property crimes.  The legislative referral differs from the Kevin Mannix initiative in several ways. It has more treatment options and less incarceration for first time offenders. But it has stiffer penalties for high level drug dealers.  The price tag however is the main difference.  IP 40 will mandate building more prisons and cost roughly twice what the legislative proposal does.  I support the legislative proposal as a reasonable response to the property crimes issue which will leave more money in state coffers for educating our students and other important priorities.  Again, the voters will have the final say in this debate. (SB1087)

Senate Bill 1069 would establish a water mitigation bank in Eastern Oregon. It is long passed time the legislature supported this idea, in my view.  The proposal seeks to store Columbia River water when it is high in winter by putting it in underground aquifers.  The water could then be used in summer to support vital agriculture in the dry Umatilla basin area.  (SB1069)

The “Toy Bill” was finally passed with bipartisan support after the Senate made amendments to help protect small retailers from harsh litigation exposure.  This bill assures grandmothers like me that the toys they buy from retailers are not on a federal recall list.  With the number of toy recalls lately, consumers need to know that toys for sale on the shelves are safe. (HB3631)

There were many other bills and budget items passed this session and I am happy to provide information on specific proposals through my office.  Please feel free to contact me during the interim.  The exact wording of all bills is also posted on the legislative website: www.leg.state.or.us.