The Oregon Legislative House is rapidly fueling the fire brewing in the Senate. House Speaker Dan Rayfield (D-Corvallis) referred his one paragraph bill, HB 3409, to Ways and Means with the intent to amend it in a joint committee. It short cuts the process with only one public hearing, then goes straight to the House floor then Senate floor for a vote.

The public had one day to be aware of a hearing on the one paragraph bill, not realizing a 112-page amendment would be posted less than two hours before the hearing by Speaker Rayfield. A bicameral legislative workgroup recommended changes and their supporters had inside information to submit testimony in support of their work. But the general public remained in the dark.

April McDonald, Legislative Fiscal Office, writes, “The measure includes provisions from 14 bills which were introduced to address climate issues through an equitable, community-focused approach, while maximizing Oregon’s federal funding opportunities. The programs supported by HB 3409 cover a wide breadth of climate-related initiatives.”

The amended bill includes approximately $45 million General Funds plus $15 million Other Funds and $0.1 million Federal Funds. The bill provides for grants for emergency hubs and green infrastructure projects; a study on pathways for low-carbon fuels derived from woody biomass; incentives for electric vehicle purchases; incentives for natural climate solutions; provide staff for environmental justice coordination; and develop strategy to address pollution and harmful algal blooms.

Representative Vikki Breese-Iverson (R-Prineville) with Oregon Business and Industry and 30 businesses issued a letter in opposition to HB 3409 objecting to the short time frame for public response. They state that many of the provisions are highly controversial in nature presenting a myriad of potential consequences. They sited regulations on residential and commercial building codes opposed by union trade organizations, housing providers, and the building industry. “The bill also contains language updating Oregon’s greenhouse gas reduction goals, among other related changes that have significant public policy implications.” They generally object to combining provisions that would be better handled as stand-alone policy bills.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Taxpayers Association of Oregon (TAO) stated in their analysis of the amended bill, “The bill gives power to several agencies to enact rules requiring home/commercial construction/transportation projects and heat pumps to follow in order to meet certain arbitrary government benchmarks. We fear that this would give power to un-elected State Agencies the power to force rules on taxpayers without public hearings and a vote by the elected Legislature… allows the Environmental Quality Commission to create their own fee… gives more power to the Governor by allowing her agency and agency representatives to direct tens of millions of tax dollars to special environmental funds for what appears no oversight or consent from the people’s elected lawmakers.”

TAO contends, “This bill could increase the cost of housing and construction at a time of an affordable housing crisis. This bill could increase transportation costs when Oregon is among the highest gas tax and auto fee states in America. This bill could increase energy costs during a near-historic high in inflation.”

As Oregon pushes forward on policies to reduce emissions, Britain is turning back to burning coal to generate electricity after a heatwave made solar panels too hot to work efficiently reducing the amount of energy generated. China is building a large number of coal-fired power plants to drive its economy despite their claim to decarbonize. But is reducing emissions the real agenda?


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2023-06-14 22:49:43

Last Update: 2023-06-14 23:10:25