JANUARY 2008: AROUND THE STATE
Bills get down to business
SALEM
It’s the special legislative session that some are
calling the “Seinfeld session,” a reference to the
television show that was, as its creators famously described,
about nothing.
That’s not entirely fair. While much of what’s on
the Legislature’s plate from Feb. 4-29 is small or highly
specific to individual issues, there’s a little heft as
well — some of it with long-term effects on Oregon
businesses.
By mid-December, many potential bills were still in the draft
stage in specific committees. But the biggest issues were
already apparent, and funding the Big Look Commission —
as the land-use reform task force is known — is at the
top of lawmakers’ and business groups’ agendas.
As Duncan Wyse, president of the Oregon Business Council, puts
it, getting the task force moving is a “big deal”
when it comes to revamping land-use laws — a sentiment
echoed on both sides of the aisle.
“Oregon’s existing land-use laws just don’t
recognize that the world has changed. We’re going to put
our shoulder to the wheel to make [funding] happen,” says
Bill Smith, an Oregon Business Association board member and
president of William Smith Properties in Bend.
Another top priority for the OBA is a tax credit for companies
that exceed environmental emissions standards. This will be OBA
president Ryan Deckert’s first session outside of the
Legislature; he stepped down as a senator last year to take the
top job at OBA. He describes the credit as a bigger incentive
for companies competing on a global scale to excel
environmentally.
While they might have different solutions to the problems,
both Democrats and Republicans are focused on other
business-related bills. One is legislation aimed at combating
the rising number of predatory foreclosure scams that have
followed on the heels of the national mortgage crisis.
Another joint interest is water. Senate majority leader
Richard Devlin calls it a “hidden topic,” but one
that’s increasingly being seen as crucial to both urban
and rural Oregon. Water storage and aquifer restoration in
Eastern Oregon — a huge issue for farmers, fishermen and
tribes — is the subject of a bill that both the
governor’s office and Sen. David Nelson, R-Pendleton, are
working on.
All in all, more than enough for the Legislature to make
something out of so-called
nothing.
ABRAHAM HYATT
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