Legislative leaders look to cap emissions in 2019

(Update: Legislative leaders say carbon emissions cap top priority in 2019)

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – With the short 2018 legislative session behind them, Oregon politicians are already looking forward to pushing a cap on greenhouse gas emissions during next year’s longer session.

Senate President Peter Courtney, a Salem Democrat, said at a news conference late Saturday with Senate Majority Leader Ginny Burdick, a Democrat from Portland, that capping carbon emissions will be a priority for the long 2019 legislative session.

Courtney told reporters: “I’ve told everybody, we’re going to do this in ’19 or don’t bother coming.”

Governor Kate Brown expressed confidence legislation to cap carbon emissions and create clean-energy jobs would be realized in 2019.

Saturday brought the close of an almost month-long session that saw additional gun controls, an attempt to curb opioid abuse and a remedy to prevent losses to state coffers from the federal tax overhaul.

However, a cap on greenhouse gas emissions was among measures that failed.

The legislative session, which during even-numbered years can last a maximum of 35 days, started Feb. 5 and ended Saturday.

The emissions cap and a bid to create a ballot measure that would enshrine health care as a constitutional right were among measures that failed during the short session that ended a week early after only four weeks.

Among items of note on Saturday:

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News release from Oregon House Republicans:

Lawmakers vote to extend tuition benefits to Oregon National Guard members

Oregon is only state in the nation that does not provide tuition assistance to Guard members

Salem, Ore. – The Oregon House today unanimously approved legislation extending tuition benefits to Oregon National Guard members. Chief sponsored by House Republican Leader Mike McLane (R-Powell Butte) and Representative Gene Whisnant (R-Sunriver), HB 4035 would align Oregon with the 49 other states that already provide some form of tuition assistance to Guard members.

“Members of our National Guard represent the best of us,” said Rep. McLane. “They protect our communities from wildfires, they are there when floodwaters are threatening homes and businesses, they stand ready to protect us in emergency situations and they always stand ready to defend our country overseas.

“Unfortunately, with a declining unemployment rate, a decline in eligible population and a benefits package that is not competitive with service programs in other states, enrollment in the Oregon National Guard has declined significantly in recent years. Extending tuition benefits to new recruits will help bolster enrollment and, in turn, strengthen our National Guard. Our service members deserve our support, and Oregon needs a healthy National Guard.”

According to testimony presented by the Oregon Military Department, Oregon is the only state in the nation that does not provide some form of tuition assistance to Guard members. The Military Department also presented statistics which show Oregon’s Army National Guard Strength Ranking has slipped from a high of #15 in the nation to #50 in 2018. The decline can be attributed in part to a decline in enrollment by new Guard members.

The Oregon Military Department also wrote, “New recruits from the Army National Guard and Army Reserve are enlisting in the Military to better their future prospects and to seek opportunities that will help them work toward their future goals. Most new recruits are joining to pay for education and to gain experience/work skills…”

“Passing this bill is the right thing to do for our Guard Members and for ensuring that Oregonians have a a world class military that is ready to support and defend them when disaster strikes or when called upon to serve overseas,” said Rep. Whisnant. “I am pleased to see this bill moving forward before the end of this session.”

HB 4035 passed the House unanimously. The legislation now heads to the Senate for further consideration.

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Sen. Dembrow releases statement on Clean Energy Jobs

SALEM – Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, released the following statement today on the progress of Clean Energy Jobs legislation:

“The 2018 Legislative Session generated the kind of grassroots support we’ve been dreaming of for years. We had another incredible round of hearings early in the session with an enormous amount of outside advocacy, including more than 500 Oregonians from all over the state descending on the Capitol for a lobby day on February 12. Oregon’s tribes voted to support the legislation and came to the Capitol to show support. Nike formally joined the business organizations supporting the legislation, as have many other Oregon businesses and farms. Scores of high school students and even younger children have been roaming the halls calling on us as adults to take action to secure a better future for them and their peers.

“Nevertheless, we weren’t able to find the final few votes needed to pass the bill and implement the program during this session. Why the delay? Several legislators who otherwise supported the bill continued to believe that a program this important and controversial should not be implemented in a short session, irrespective of how much work has gone into it and how fully-baked it is. However, a majority of members in both chambers have pledged their support for the legislation in 2019, including the Speaker of the House and the Senate President.

“A number of actions are being taken in the final days of the 2018 Session to support that commitment and keep us on track for a 2021 start date for Oregon’s cap-and-invest program. The Speaker and the President are creating a new Joint Committee on Carbon Reduction, which they will co-chair themselves. (We’ll of course remain very involved in the specific policy decisions.) The program laid out in SB 1507A and HB 4001 will be refined further to make subsequent rule-making easier, and state agencies will begin the technical analyses necessary to begin the program. Several stakeholder groups will be convened in order to further enhance the benefits of the program and minimize any potential impacts on low-income Oregonians. Dollars have been put into the final budget bill to allow this work to move forward.

“So we leave this session feeling reassured and optimistic that a year from now legislation will be passed that will create a climate-action program to cap emissions, price carbon, and begin to make serious investments in a cleaner economy. Also, we both believe that Washington will be seeing similar success, either by legislation or by ballot measure. Within the next few years the entire West Coast of this country (not to mention Canada) will have sent a clear message to Washington, D.C., and the world that the time for strong action on climate change is now.”

House Bill 5201 is available online at https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2018R1/Downloads/MeasureAnalysisDocument/41860