SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES, AGRICULTURE, SALMON AND WATER

February 16, 2001 Hearing Room B

8:00 am Tapes 33 - 34

MEMBERS PRESENT: Sen. Ken Messerle, Chair

Sen. Frank Shields, Vice-Chair

Sen. Jason Atkinson

Sen. Roger Beyer

Sen. Ginny Burdick

Sen. Ryan Deckert

Sen. Bill Fisher

MEMBER EXCUSED:

STAFF PRESENT: Jennifer Solomon, Committee Administrator

Cheryl Young, Committee Assistant

MEASURE/ISSUES HEARD: SB 314, Public Hearing and Possible Work Session

HB 2160, Public Hearing and Possible Work Session

HB 2177, Public Hearing and Possible Work Session

SB 237, Public Hearing

Work Session, Introduction of Committee Bills

These minutes are in compliance with Senate and House Rules. Only text enclosed in quotation marks reports a speaker’s exact words. For complete contents, please refer to the tapes.

TAPE/#		Speaker	Comments
TAPE 33, A
005		Chair Messerle	Opens meeting at 8:04. Opens Public Hearing SB 314
SB314 PUBLIC HEARING
008		Staff	Summarizes SB 314
018		Chuck Craig	Department of Agriculture. States that the amendments the committee has are largely in response to dialog with Sen. Fisher. They developed these amendments and ran them by him. Clarifies that the department would revoke or suspend Deputy State Veterinarianship based on the status of a veterinarian’s license to practice, then when license was reinstated, they would not refuse to reinstate the license without good cause.
032		Dr. Andrew Clark	State Veterinarian at the Department of Agriculture. States that he thinks this a thoroughly satisfactory amendment.
036		Chair Messerle	.Closes Public Hearing on SB 314. Opens Work Session on SB 314.
039		Sen. R. Beyer	MOTION: Moves SB 314-1 to the floor with a DO PASS AS AMENDED recommendation.
			VOTE: 7-0 AYE: In a roll call vote, all members present vote Aye.
		Chair	The motion CARRIES. SEN. R. BEYER will lead discussion on the floor.
049		Chair Messerle	Closes Work Session on SB 314. Opens Public Hearing on HB 2160.
HB 2160, PUBLIC HEARING
052		Staff	Summarizes HB 2160.
061		Clark Seely	Assistant State Forester for Administrative Services, Department of Forestry. States that the bill was introduced at the request of the governor on behalf of the Oregon Board of Forestry. The bill is the result of work that the department did with the Department of Justice to clarify some language for the Forest Resource Trust Program.
070		Wallace Rutledge	Director, Forestry Assistance, Oregon Department of Forestry. States that the bill clarifies three points of the original statute. Describes changes. Submits written testimony (EXHIBIT A).
093		Chair Messerle	Declares for the record that he is part owner of small timberland company, and that they are in the process of buying property that is involved in this exact thing.
097		Sen. Atkinson	Asks how popular has the program been to date?
098		Rutledge	States that the program has been fairly popular, but have had problems with financing. Expands on explanation..
107		Sen. R. Beyer	Asks, “where in the bill does it say the land will be paid back with interest and not just paid back?”
113		Rutledge	Responds and clarifies.
132		Sen. R. Beyer	So it’s the words of the contract on line 41.
135		Sen. Shields	Asks how large or small is a tract?
136		Rutledge	Responds that the tract has to be 10 acres or larger and forestland ownership can be no larger than 5000 acres to be eligible.
140		Sen. Fisher	Asks if it is on the tract to be developed, (the 5000 acres), or is that the total ownership of a company?
143		Rutledge	Responds that the 5000 acres is the total ownership of forestland.
145		Chair Messerle	States that it is his policy not to move a new bill on the first time out. So this will be held over for another public hearing and work session. Closes Public Hearing on HB 2160. Opens Public Hearing on HB 2177
HB 2177A, PUBLIC HEARING
157	Staff		Summarizes HB 2177
165	Col. Mike Caldwell		Deputy Director of the Oregon Military Department. States that it is their effort to correct and clarify Oregon Revised Statutes on the definition of the Armed Forces of the United States and how it relates to the National Guard and Oregon Law. Continues testimony.
251	Sen. Fisher		Thanks the Colonel for helping him with problems in Roseburg in the past.
264	Sen. Burdick		States that she is confused regarding the people that are recruited from out of state. While they are in training, do they not pay taxes in the state or do they?
267	Caldwell		Responds and clarifies.
287	Sen. Shields		States that it is really unfair the way the Colonel has described it.
290	Caldwell		States that they think it’s unfair as well. Discusses options.
302	Sen. Fisher		States that he is surprised that there is no one from Education to testify.
305	Caldwell		States that they had a lively discussion in the House.
307	Sen. Deckert		Asks how popular would the Colonel predict the program to be, or how many folks would utilize the program?
309	Caldwell		Responds about 15-20 people a year. Expands on answer. Submits written testimony. (EXHIBIT B).
325	Chair Messerle		Will not have a work session today and will try to reschedule it very soon and work the bill through. Closes Public Hearing on HB 2177. Opens Public Hearing on SB 237.
SB 237, PUBLIC HEARING
334	Chair Messerle		States that he almost pulled this bill from the agenda, because as he read through the bill, it appeared to be a placeholder bill, but there are a lot of people who have come to testify today, so we will have the hearing.
343	Staff		Summarizes SB 237
348	Bill Sizemore		Executive Director of Oregon Taxpayers United. Speaks in favor of property rights. Feels that the bill in principle a good idea. Continues with testimony.
Tape 34, A
035	Chair Messerle		States that this is even a stronger statement than Ballot Measure 7. In regards to the comments on the Columbia River Gorge, the Federal Act that established the Columbia Gorge specifically said that those properties shall be compensated. The problem was that the Federal Government never allocated the money to do it. That’s been my bane with the Gorge Commission.
041	Sizemore		Responds.
052	Sen. Burdick		Why from your standpoint, would something like this be necessary now that Ballot Measure 7 has passed?
054	Sizemore		Responds, that if 7 is upheld in the courts, the question arises if it is interpreted honestly and fairly. Expands on comments.
073	Sen. Burdick		Notes that as she reads the bill, it doesn’t apply retroactively either, so how does this address that concern?
076	Sizemore		States that the bill really doesn’t apply anywhere. Expands on answer.
083	Sen. Deckert		States that he thinks this is really interesting and that the issues this bill brings up are quite philosophical. Comments that as Mr. Sizemore was talking about the Columbia River Gorge, he was running some numbers in his head of things in Oregon that make us “Oregon”. For example, the beach bill, the bottle bill, and the Columbia River Gorge have wide spread support, and would probably poll at 90%. He thinks a good point was made in the sense that they have wide spread support, in that we cherish them, but are we willing to pay for them? He thinks it would be just an incredible tax increase that we would have to absorb. Oregon would look dramatically different as a state if we went this path, because he doesn’t think we are willing to pay 70-80% in taxation. Then it gets into the question for future generations of who owns this property and how we steward this property.
105	Sizemore		States that they have done lots of polling, and over the years have learned how to poll in ways that make the results useful. Expands on explanation.
134	Sen. Deckert		States the he thinks morals are great, though used sparingly around here. On this one thing he thinks it is helpful in the sense that historically, the land obviously has been here way before he got here and will be here way in the future. So the question is, how do we trod upon it while we’re here, and what is the impact going to be on future generations?
154	Sizemore		Describes a situation with his father’s property in Indiana.
194	Sen. Deckert		Comments that he thinks the most interesting and valuable land in California are the areas where people went first to develop, along the beach or wherever the most highly valued property was. Gives an example of the increase in property value of his home with the improvements that have been made by the government, and how he is the beneficiary of it. Asks Mr. Sizemore if he had any thoughts on the good things that might come from that.
212	Sizemore		Responds to comments
239	Sen. Fisher		Comments on the Gorge and how it was to drive down it 60 years ago, and how you can’t do anything in the Gorge because it is a ‘pristine area’. Describes his personal property situation and how the land use law changes made it impossible for him to sell parts of his property.
325	Sizemore		Describes a conversation with some people from Des Moines, Iowa discussing the urban growth boundaries.
392	Liz Frenkel		League of Women Voters. States that her organization has some concerns regarding the wording in the bill. Expands on testimony. Submits written testimony. (EXHIBIT C).
468	Sen. Fisher		Asked a question about the great value of the common school fund from the state lands.
476	Frenkel		Responds.
481	Chair Messerle		Asks “then there is a value in the timber that is coming on the market?”
482	Sen. Fisher		There would be a whole lot more if we use it properly.
Tape 33, B
029	Jim Welsh		Representing Oregon Family Farm Association. Notes that this is a great statement for them. Speaks in support of the premise of this bill.

102	Don Schellenberg	Associate Director, Government Affairs, Farm Bureau. Speaks in support of and encourages passage of bill.
140	Glen Stonebrink	Oregon Cattlemen’s Association. Speaks in support of this bill.
230	Bob Rindy	OLCD. Speaks in opposition of SB 237. Submits written testimony. (EXHIBIT D).
324	Larry George	Executive Director of Oregonians in Action. Speaks about drafting this bill originally in 1997 session. Continues with testimony.
423	Sen. Shields	You stated that it isn’t a placeholder for us; that’s true of a lot of bills people bring in good faith. What would you think of this becoming a placeholder for somebody else, who happens to have a committee or an agenda or something like that? Would you be unhappy about that?
432	George	Responds.
453	Sen. Fisher	Asks why he would be worried about it, or would he not want to create something that would encourage litigation?
477	George	Responds.
Tape 34, B
034	Sen. Fisher	States that they don’t take that amount off the tax roles, so they aren’t winding up getting it increased. Discusses his property taxes. Asks why would we worry if this does encourage litigation? I think that’s great.
041	George	Responds.
059	Sen. Fisher	States that he’d like to go on record and say that it doesn’t bother him particularly if an agency gets a little worried.
061	Chair Messerle	Why did you put this in bill form as opposed to a resolution, if you are trying to make a statement of what the state’s goals ought to be?
064	George	Responds.
079	Linda Ludwig	League of Oregon Cities. States that they have some concerns with the practical implementation of the language of this bill. Continues with testimony. Urges the committee to be careful in the consideration of this bill.
099	Fisher	Asks for clarification on Measure 84 and 30.
104	Ludwig	Responds.
109	Sen. Fisher	Asks, “the re-implimentation of Measure 30?”
111	Ludwig	Took away the sunset date, passed in ‘77.
114	Burdick	States that the bills were reversed.
		Written testimony submitted. (EXHIBIT E).

117

Chair Messerle

Close public hearing on SB 237, and adjourns meeting at .9:35 a.m.

Submitted By, Reviewed By,

Cheryl Young, Jennifer Solomon,

Committee Assistant Administrator

EXHIBIT SUMMARY

A – HB 2160, written testimony, Wallace Rutledge, 8pp.

B – HB 2177, written testimony, Col. Mike Caldwell, 2pp.

C – SB 237, written testimony, Liz Frenkel, 1p.

D – SB 237, written testimony, Richard Benner, 1p.

E – SB 237, written testimony, Charles Swindells, 2pp.