OSWA Legislative Update

Big Initiatives Announced
Last week legislative leaders announced two major initiatives, a $300 million transportation package and a health plan to add 140,000 uninsured to the Oregon Health Plan. The transportation projects will be funded by an increase in fees and a $0.06 gas tax increase. Trucks will pay a corresponding increase in weight-mile taxes. The gas tax increase will wait until Oregon's unemployment rate decreases or 2011 whichever occurs first.

The health plan will be funded by an increase in hospitals' provider tax rate and a new tax on health insurance premiums. The new funds are intended to yield a federal fund match of double the new fees. T

The House Revenue Committee held the first hearing on the new Corporate Minimum Tax that replaces the $10 fee with a minimum of $100 and a gross receipts tax schedule. The committee also heard an increase in the personal income tax rate for individuals making more than $125,000 or households $250,000. The personal income tax increase is intended for wealthy Oregonians, partnerships and LLC's.

Forestry Gets No Respect...or Landowners Pay Bill
The Department of Forestry was handed the largest General Fund decrease of any natural resource agency in the budget released by the Co-Chairs of the Ways & Means Committee. In fact, the average reduction was 15.5%, while the ODF has a 25% cut which is nearly a 50% reduction due to the match timber harvesters pay through the Forest Products Harvest Tax. The private forests division of the ODF will loose 50 FTEs(positions). This follows a similar reduction in the State Forests division last month due to declining timber sale revenues. Meanwhile, the Department of Environmental Quality will actually add positions in the next biennium due to fund shifts and federal funds.

Large and small forest landowners are meeting this week to discuss strategy in response to the budget shortfall in private forests and expected increases in fire assessments due to the proposed cost shifts to forest landowners in the proposed budgets.

The Co-Chairs' budget maintains the ODF's fire program by increasing landowners' cost share to a 55-45% split with the General Fund and adding administrative costs to the total to be split. Landowners have maintained that they provide "in-kind" services to more than compensate for their share of administrative costs.

The 2007 legislature directed the ODF to analyze forest landowner "in-kind" services and report back. The 2007 and 2008 fire seasons were milder than recent years so the data is not representative. The ODF report notes that forest landowners have significant resources available, even during fire seasons when they are not used. The Co-Chairs' budget ignores the report and puts administrative costs into the mix.

As the 2009 legislature nears completion, resolution of the ODF budget will be part of the political picture. Legislators cut the ODF budget with the expectation that forest landowners will decide to increase their own tax rates to maintain Forest Practices Act enforcement by the ODF.

For the report on OSWA legislation, click on:
OSWA Bill Tracker
Login: OSWA; Password: session09

For more legislative information, click on:
Conkling Fiskum & McCormick Insider Online.

Thank you for reading OSWA's Legislative Update. Please pass this email on to others that may be interested in legislative news and information. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Sincerely,

David Ford

Executive Director

Oregon Small Woodlands Association

Ralph Saperstein

OSWA Lobbyist

Conkling Fiskum & McCormick

Back to Archives Page

Back to Home Page