At the month-long interim session currently under way at the Capital, South Coast legislators are dealing with a number of issues that hit close to home, including ocean reserves, the loss of federal timber payments and property tax relief for seniors. There may be some legislation to help Oregon fishermen, too.



Rep. Arnie Roblan, D-Coos Bay, who is serving as chairman of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, has helped guide three pieces of legislation to the house floor, one which could help local fisheries develop an edge in the global market.

House Bill 3627 charges the Oregon State University Extension Service with forming a Sustainable Agriculture Needs Assessment Advisory Committee. Roblan said one of its duties would be to hire a couple of consultants who would help agricultural producers navigate the intricate processes of acquiring certification. He noted that the state’s pink shrimp fishery was recently certified as the first sustainable one in the world and could soon be joined by Dungeness crab.

Roblan also said the consultants would help farmers learn what requirements different countries have for getting produce listed as organic.

“We have a lot of our produce go out of state, and we want to make sure Oregon stays competitive as designations like organic and sustainable become more important to buyers,” he said.

As of Monday, the bill was still before the Ways and Means Committee, which must approve $412,000 to finance the program. Roblan said there is not a lot of money in the budget this year, but he would continue to try and get it through for a vote.

“It’s not an enormous amount we are asking for,” he said.



Sen. Joanne Verger knows all too well that bills with a fiscal impact are less likely to pass during the supplemental session. The Coos Bay Democrat, who sits on the Senate Transportation Committee and the Senate and House Joint Ways and Means Committee, said her own bill will have difficulty passing. Senate Bill 1077, a property tax relief bill for seniors older than 75 who earn less than $25,000, calls for $1.2 million, or $2 million with a roll-up cost for the next biennium. Although it will help approximately 126,000 seniors in Oregon, and has a much smaller financial impact than Senate Bill 825 — a similar bill Verger sponsored in 2007, which called for $20 million — it probably won’t see the light of day.

 “I don’t anticipate the bills that have any fiscal impact coming out of Ways and Means,” Verger said.

She explained that Ways and Means has tightened the state’s purse strings due to a $193 million loss in the last forecast for Oregon. “As much as I would love to feel that my bill ... would pass this session, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

The Rural Policy Committee, which Roblan also chairs, proposed a memorial that would call on Congress to reauthorize federal timber payments. Roblan noted many rural counties are facing funding emergencies because of lost timber receipts following the federal logging restrictions passed during the Clinton Administration.

“They need to pay in lieu of payments until we get a (forestry) policy that works,” he said.

The committee also has produced a resolution calling for the Legislature that meets in 2009 to consider giving counties more funding to maintain  roads. Roblan noted the loss of timber payments means road departments in 20 counties will see a significant drop in funding. One suggestion is to change the distribution ratios of the state gas tax. Currently, about 60 percent of revenues go into state coffers, while the remaining 40 percent is divided between counties and cities. Under one proposal, the gas tax receipts could be evenly divided.

“This resolution basically says that the Legislature needs to look at the distribution of funding for transportation in 2009,” Roblan said.



Rep. Wayne Krieger, R-Gold Beach, a member of the Emergency Preparedness and Ocean Policy Committee, dealt with an issue affecting ocean users — marine reserves.

House Bill 3609 limits the number of marine reserves and marine protected areas to no more than nine, gives size perimeters and defines a process for their establishment.

Krieger said the bill stipulates marine reserves and marine protected areas can only be created by an amendment to the Oregon Ocean Resources Management Plan. The amendment must have a monitoring and evaluating plan and be developed with participation of coastal community input.

The bill defines marine protected areas as sections of the Pacific Ocean off the Oregon coast that provide protection for all or part of the resources located within the area. Marine reserves, the bill states, offer more comprehensive protection than marine protected areas.

The size of the reserves is to be small enough to avoid significant negative economic and social impacts to coastal communities, yet large enough to allow scientific study of the benefits of closing off portions of the ocean to activity.

Krieger said that could prove to be a hard standard to meet.

“When they go in, they will have an effect,” he said.

Krieger said he has seen mostly opposition to marine reserves in coastal communities. But their use for research in the ocean off the Oregon coast may be beneficial and some common ground for those on both sides of the issue may be found.

“I think there is probably a chance we could look into that,” Krieger said.