June 28, 2007
Ready for change? Legislature thinks so
The 2007 session will influence everything from gay rights to bottled water
MICHELLE COLE
SALEM -- Smokers won't be allowed to light up in bars. Gays will have legal protections from discrimination. Plastic water bottles will require a deposit. And schools will have to watch the junk food.
Oregon will be different as a result of the 2007 Legislature, which leaders expect to end today.
In 172 days -- the shortest session since 1995 -- lawmakers will have drafted nearly 3,000 bills and passed about 1,000. Democrats controlled both the House and Senate for the first time in 16 years, allowing them to advance many bills that died in the past. Whether the changes are good for Oregon depends, of course, on your politics and perspective.
Thanks to this Legislature, Senate Minority Leader Ted Ferrioli, a Republican from John Day, has started calling Oregon "the nanny state."
Laws that tell people where they can smoke, require businesses to register with the secretary of state before they have a going-out-of-business sale and order farmers to free pregnant pigs create a government that intrudes too much, he said.
Across the aisle, Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown argues that the 2007 Legislature has helped Oregon reclaim its progressive roots.
"Oregon is seen as a forward-thinking, visionary place to be," said Brown, a Portland Democrat. "The reality of the last decade is, we have not been moving forward."
In addition to banning discrimination based on sexual orientation, Oregon will become one of eight states to allow same-sex couples to enter a domestic partnership or civil union.
Oregon also will join a handful of states with an electronics recycling law, banning computers and televisions from landfills after Jan. 1, 2010. Though Republicans had been blamed for blocking similar measures in previous years, the "e-waste" bill unanimously passed the House and Senate this spring.
In the 1970s, Oregon passed the nation's first bottle bill, pioneered land-use planning and protected its public beaches. But it has done little lately to polish its green reputation, said Rep. Jackie Dingfelder, D-Portland and chairwoman of the House Energy and Environment Committee.
In the near future, Oregonians could very well see more wind farms on the horizon and solar panels on their neighborhood roofs as a result of a package of new renewable energy tax credits, incentives and mandates.
Citing the e-waste bill, renewable energy, biofuels legislation and the first major update of the 1971 bottle bill, Dingfelder said the 2007 session "reinstates our position as a national leader in environmental sustainability."
Some reputations aren't worth having. And Oregon may be able to shake one of them as a result of a generous new budget.
Four years ago, the "Doonesbury" comic strip lampooned the state for closing schools early. A turnaround in the economy helped legislators pump a record $6 billion over the next two years into schools.
Seeking to avoid a repeat of school closures and service cuts, lawmakers established the first comprehensive savings account in state history.
Rep. Dennis Richards, R-Central Point, warns that the $300 million-plus rainy day fund won't be enough if the economy sours again. He and other Republicans opposed tax increases, arguing that the state cannot sustain the kind of increases in spending that Democrats approved.
Even colleges and universities -- traditionally low on the spending list -- fared well.
Low- and middle-income students will get more than $100 million to help them pay for college. Campuses will get $275 million for repairs and new buildings.
The Capitol, which is showing its age, also will get a $35 million face-lift.
Oregon won't change some things -- despite lawmakers' efforts.
Democrats, many Republicans and even some business leaders agreed that Oregon's $10 minimum tax on corporations is too low. But lawmakers couldn't agree on what the tax should be. Unchanged since 1931, the corporate tax will remain the lowest in the nation.
They also couldn't find a reliable source of money to ensure that Oregon's roads and highways are patrolled round-the-clock by Oregon State Police. Talk of raising the beer tax to pay for police went nowhere.
Drivers should beware, however: The state police received enough money to hire 100 more troopers.
Legislators started the session hoping to sort out the thorny land use questions presented by Measure 37, and the governor sorely wanted to increase the tobacco tax to pay for children's health care. But the session ends with both issues left to the voters to decide in November's election. Voters will see several other measures in November 2008.
As the session drew to a close, Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, wasn't ready to say how the 2007 Legislature had made Oregon different. Time will sort it out, he said.
Pressed, Courtney said he'd love to think that lawmakers have helped restore some of Oregon's pride in state and in its Legislature.
"Maybe we didn't hurt it," he said. "We'll see."
Michelle Cole: 503-294-5143; michellecole@news.oregonian.com
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