Merkley, Wyden list key Oregon items in spending bill

Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced Friday major investments that will help Oregon’s rural communities are included in the 2019 package of spending bills, which have been passed by Congress and signed by President Trump.

Key funding for Oregon includes support for the Klamath Basin, salmon recovery, wildfire prevention, and Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program.

“We have rescued the spending bills that Trump took hostage in his 35-day shutdown,” Merkley said. “These bipartisan spending bills fund important programs for rural communities across Oregon, and should have been passed months ago. The critical investments made by the bills passed today will help with water resource issues in Central and Southern Oregon; with wildfire preparedness throughout our state; with salmon management and recovery efforts; and more.”

“Rural Oregonians regularly tell me in town halls and grocery store checkout lines they’re concerned how recent uncertainty over government funding threatens important support for a quality way of life in their communities,” Wyden said. “I am pleased Congress at last has passed a bipartisan spending package that addresses those concerns with essential resources for wildfire prevention, agriculture research, water conservation, habitat restoration and more.”

Merkley is the only Oregon member of Congress from either chamber since Senator Mark Hatfield to serve on the Appropriations Committee, considered to be one of the most powerful on Capitol Hill. He helped write the Agriculture and Rural Development bill as the top Democrat on the subcommittee.

Agricultural Research: The Agricultural Research Service received an increase of over $300 million in funding to for cutting-edge research to improve the productivity, sustainability, and health of our nation’s agricultural systems. The senators also secured funding for key Oregon agriculture research programs on Sudden Oak Death, alfalfa, pear, wheat, hops, apple, shellfish, small fruits, seaweed, floriculture, and nurseries.

Wildfire Prevention: The bill includes funding increases for several programs to prevent wildfires, reduce hazardous fuels, and support important research activities. The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management each received an additional $5 million for hazardous fuels reduction. The Joint Fire Science Program, which funds fire management research focused on applied research, received an additional $3 million. The senators also protected funding for vegetation and water management activities within national forests.

Wildfire Management: In anticipation of the coming fire season, Merkley and Wyden secured $2.5 billion for fire suppression at the Forest Service and Department of the Interior, which is $100 million above the last fiscal year. In the omnibus, Congress enacted a provision to allow federal agencies to use disaster money to fund fire suppression efforts beyond a certain point. Unfortunately, the provision does not come into effect until Fiscal Year 2020. The additional $508 million included in the bill will help minimize the amount of money borrowed from fire prevention and other forest management programs to pay for wildfire fighting during this fire season.

Water Conservation and Habitat Restoration: For the third consecutive year, the Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations program received $150 million, including funding for irrigation districts that need to improve water efficiency and conservation or otherwise improve fish and wildlife habitat. This program is providing critical funding for the collaborative process underway in the Deschutes Basin to conserve water and improve the habitat of the spotted frog, helping to keep Central Oregon family farms in business.

Collaborative Forest Management: The bill includes $40 million for the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP), which was targeted for elimination in the President’s budget. Oregon has three active CFLR projects: Southern Blues Restoration Coalition Collaborative Landscape Restoration Project, Deschutes Collaborative Forest Project, and Lakeview Collaborative Landscape Restoration Project. In the 2018 Farm Bill, the senators won authorization to double the size of the program in future budgets.

Salmon Management: Programs to help manage salmon populations, which include the operations and maintenance of Mitchell Act hatcheries and the implementation of the Pacific Salmon Treaty, received $37 million, a $1.5 million increase.

Salmon Recovery: The Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund received $65 million. President Trump proposed eliminating this competitive grant program, which is designed to address declining Pacific salmon and steelhead populations by supporting conservation efforts in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska. Since 2000, the program has funded $3 billion in projects–including $1.3 billion in awards and $1.7 billion in state and other matching funds–that have helped prevent the extinction of the 28 listed salmon and steelhead species on the West Coast.

Klamath Basin Water and Wildlife Conservation: The senators continued efforts to support progress toward a long-term water resource solution in the Klamath Basin by securing $4 million for local efforts in the Klamath Basin, including $3.5 million to support strategies to restore fish habitat and scale up ongoing efforts to restore healthy populations of shortnose and Lost River sucker fish.

Tribal Programs: The Indian Health Service, which provides healthcare to thousands of Oregon Tribal members, received $4.1 billion, which is a $150 million increase. The Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education received an additional $17 million.

Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT): The bill includes $500 million for the PILT program to fund vital services for rural communities, including public safety, social services, transportation and housing. This funding goes to Oregon counties that have large tracts of federal land, which doesn’t pay property taxes.

Land and Water Conservation Fund: The program maintained funding at $435 million. For over 50 years the LWCF has been the main source of funding for federal land and water acquisitions. Acquiring and protecting our public lands not only provides environmental and recreational benefits, but also creates jobs in the tourism, recreation, timber, fishing, and other natural resource sectors.

Clean Air and Water Funding: Merkley successfully led Senate Democrats in protecting funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The President’s Budget proposed cutting the agency responsible for reducing pollution and safeguarding public health by 23 percent. Merkley, Wyden and 36 of their colleagues urged opposition to those cuts, which were ultimately rejected by the Appropriations Committee. The proposed cut would have led to a 20 percent reduction in EPA federal employees, which includes nearly 1,200 veterans. The final bill increases funding for the agency to $8.85 billion

Columbia River Basin Restoration Program: The EPA received $1 million to begin the planning process to implement the Columbia River Basin Restoration Program. The program provides grants to business owners, farmers, ranchers, local governments, and others in the Columbia Basin to clean up and reduce toxics for a cleaner, healthier basin.

Merkley and Wyden also announced important investments that support economic development efforts in Oregon are included in the 2019 package of spending bills.

The bill includes significant investments in the Small Business Administration and the Economic Development Administration, as well as funding to help reduce delays in approval processes for beer, wine and spirit makers.

“We have rescued the spending bills that Trump took hostage in his 35-day shutdown,” Merkley said. “These bipartisan spending bills include vital assistance important support for small businesses, high-tech companies, and rural entrepreneurship, supporting economic development in Oregon and across the country.”

“I’ve heard consistently from Oregonians in town halls and grocery store checkout lines both their frustration over recent uncertainty and desire to see their government funded,” Wyden said. “At long last, Congress has passed the bipartisan spending bills that were left to languish and will make a critical difference to Oregon’s job-creating small businesses in all parts of our state — from craft beverage makers to high tech and more.”

Merkley is the only Oregon member of Congress from either chamber since Senator Mark Hatfield to serve on the Appropriations Committee, considered to be one of the most powerful on Capitol Hill. He joined the committee in 2013 so that Oregon would have a strong voice in decisions about the investments our nation should be making.

Key elements of the legislation that will impact Oregon include:

Economic Development Administration (EDA): Merkley led a successful bipartisan effort, with support from Wyden, to secure $304 million for the program, a $3 million increase in funding. The EDA, which was zeroed out in the President’s budget, leverages existing regional assets to support economic development in rural communities.

Rural Development: As ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee, Merkley successfully protected funding for the USDA’s Rural Development program, which President Trump proposed eliminating. The program makes millions of dollars of investments in rural broadband, housing programs, and business development programs. In addition, the senators secured a $1 million increase for grants for rural business development for 2019.

Helping Small Brewers, Distillers, and Wine Makers: The surge in small brewers, distillers, and winemakers in the last few years has caused long delays for small businesses who must apply for labeling and ingredient approvals through the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). The legislation includes an additional $5 million for the TTB to reduce delays in processing applications for beer, wine and spirits.

Small Business Development Centers: The bill includes $131 million for Small Business Development Centers, which provide technical assistance to small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs. Oregon’s Small Business Development Center Network has 19 centers throughout the state to provide advising, training, online courses and resources in every aspect of business development and management. In 2016, Oregon’s SBDC advised 5,148 clients, helped with 195 new business starts, and attributes 987 new jobs created due to their assistance.

Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership: The legislation includes $3 million for the FAST program that is designed to stimulate economic development among small, high-technology businesses through federally funded innovation and research and development programs like the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer.

State Trade and Export Promotion (STEP): The legislation includes $18 million for the STEP program that provides matching federal funds to states and territories to carry out export promotion efforts for small businesses. Grant recipients have used their funds for trade missions, international marketing efforts, business counseling, export trade show exhibits, and other promotional activities.

Protecting Oregon Taxpayers: Merkley secured language in the bill that expresses the Senate Appropriations Committee’s deep concern for the scale of tax fraud connected to identity theft, and directs the IRS to establish stronger security measures to protect all tax filers before identity theft occurs, as well as to establish reliable measures to protect tax filers who experience identity theft.

The two senators also announced that major investments in community infrastructure–ranging from roads and bridges to rural broadband– are included in the 2019 package of spending bills. The infrastructure bill includes significant funding for rural water and wastewater infrastructure, capital infrastructure projects, and more.

“Congress voted to release the hostages, and fund one of the top priorities for Oregonians–infrastructure,” Merkley said. “These bipartisan spending bills include a significant increase in funding for rural water and wastewater infrastructure, which is one of the top issues I hear from small communities across Oregon. And, with more than $2.5 billion in funding, the legislation supports new roads, bridges and rail lines in both urban and rural Oregon.”

“One of the top frustrations I have heard consistently from Oregonians in town halls and grocery store checkout lines is that recent uncertainty over government funding leaves key infrastructure needs in their communities to languish,” Wyden said. “I am glad Congress has finally passed the bipartisan spending so Oregon can build capacity for rural broadband, invest in mass transit and make needed improvements in roads, rail and smaller airports.”

Merkley is the only Oregon member of Congress from either chamber since Senator Mark Hatfield to serve on the Appropriations Committee, considered to be one of the most powerful on Capitol Hill. He joined the committee in 2013 so that Oregon would have a strong voice in decisions about the investments our nation should be making.

The 2019 spending bill includes an additional projected $41 million in transportation grants for Oregon across the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration.

Other key transportation appropriations that will impact Oregon include:

Rural Broadband: The program received an additional $550 million investment for 2019. This investment builds on the previous fiscal year’s investment of $600 million. Together, Congress has provided $1.15 billion in budget authority for grants and loans to expand broadband in rural areas without sufficient access or service. It is anticipated that the funding level in the spending bill will leverage billions more in grants and loans.

Rural Water and Waste Disposal Systems: The subsidies and grants program received an additional $548.7 million in budget authority for 2019, building on last fiscal year’s investment of $600 million. The program has also received approximately $1.45 billion in additional budget authority to support loans for clean water and sanitary waste disposal systems in rural communities. Nearly $2 billion in loans and grants are provided, which will assist over 4.2 million rural residents.

Capital Investment Grant Programs: The program received more t han $2.5 billion for grants that fund major transit capital investments, including heavy rail, commuter rail, light rail, streetcars, and bus rapid transit, such as the Emerald Express line in Eugene and the Milwaukie light rail in Portland.

Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act: The program, which Merkley created, received $68 million. That investment can be leveraged as loans into another $7 billion to accelerate investment in the nation’s water infrastructure by providing long-term, low-cost supplemental loans for significant projects.

BUILD Grants: The popular program, formerly known as TIGER grants and widely used by Oregon cities and counties, received $900 million. Half of that finding is dedicated to projects in rural areas. Almost $2 billion in new infrastructure grants have been added over the last two years, providing investments in roa ds, railways, transit systems, airports, and ports to improve the transportation infrastructure and economy of the United States.

Essential Air Service and Contract Towers: The Essential Air Service program received more than $300 million to guarantee that small communities can be served by commercial air services, such as the airport in Pendleton. Additionally, the bill funds FAA Contract Towers a t $168 million. There are six contract towers throughout Oregon, and the funding ensures their continued operation in the coming year.

Transit Improvement Grants: The program rec eived $9.93 billio n, including a $350 million increase for Bus and Bus Facilities Grants to help transit agencies purchase new buses and replace aging fleets, in particular transitioning to new low- or no-emission vehicles. Transit agencies in Oregon cities, including Eugene, Salem and Portland, are leading on this transition.

FAST Act: The bill funds key rail programs authorized under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, including $780 million over the last two fiscal years for Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement grants, and $400 million for Partnership for State of Good Repair, which support s capital investment and maintenance projects for Amtrak routes.