{"id":91,"date":"2017-04-10T19:39:02","date_gmt":"2017-04-10T19:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/government\/?p=91"},"modified":"2018-03-13T16:52:15","modified_gmt":"2018-03-13T16:52:15","slug":"april-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/government\/2017\/04\/10\/april-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Legislative Update: Higher Ed., Bills of Note, and OSU Day at the Capitol"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the Oregon legislature nears the halfway point in the 2017 session, the next two weeks will be among its busiest. Friday, April 7th<\/sup> marked the last day for posting committee work sessions for bills in their chambers of origin, meaning that if a House bill hadn\u2019t been listed on a House committee agenda for consideration, that bill can be considered \u201cdead.\u201d Same for Senate bills in Senate committees. Now the committees have until April 18th<\/sup> to actually pass the bills they have posted. So, for the next two weeks committee agendas are packed with bills vying for survival, while advocates of all stripes are working hard to keep them alive or kill them.<\/p>\n

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Bills that do not pass out of committee by April 18th<\/sup> can also be considered dead. Of course, no bill is \u201ctotally dead\u201d until the last gavel falls. Provisions from dead bills can always be stuffed into other bills that are alive and well. (In the Oregon legislature amendments can only be accomplished in committees, not on the chamber floors.)<\/p>\n

A good number of the bills up for consideration over the next two weeks may make it out of their committees, only to find themselves in another committee not subject to legislative deadlines. For example, bills that are a priority\u2014<\/em>but which contain controversial provisions that need more work\u2014<\/em> may end up in the Senate or House Rules Committee. Once there, those bills may sit and wait for consideration as part of the overall legislative log-rolling process. Other bills that have a fiscal impact because they require state funding to be implemented will find themselves in the Joint Ways & Means Committee. That committee will generally not consider individual bills until after it has completed work on agency budgets. In many cases bills can be folded in to agency spending bills. That process will continue for the next several months.<\/p>\n

The legislature has until July 10th<\/sup> to complete its work. And, it will likely not be able to adjourn until it has coordinated and completed work on a patchwork of \u201cmega issues,\u201d including revenue reform; a transportation package; PERS reform; health care reform, including a health provider tax; housing affordability; and a balanced budget that will include a number of cost reductions needed to achieve that budget. Over the last six weeks legislative committees and task forces, some of them in open forums, others in closed-door work groups, have been developing proposals for many of these issues. In the coming months, all of these issues must come together in a manner that will attract the necessary votes to gain passage. For votes involving tax increases, a three-fifths bipartisan supermajority will be needed in each of the chambers.<\/p>\n

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Concessions made in one package may require adjustments in another. The process is one large, simultaneous equation with multiple unsolved variables. In the end, all of the pieces need to fit together. Compounding the mega issues are a number of other discrete policy issues that may increase friction between the two parties as well as between the two chambers. Differences of opinion between chambers can sometimes be as fractious and disruptive as differences between parties.<\/p>\n

The good news so far is that \u201cThe Oregon Way\u201d has not yet involved \u201cnuclear options\u201d or filibusters. But we have miles yet to travel and significant obstacles to overcome before the session is complete.<\/p>\n

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Higher Education<\/strong><\/p>\n

Budget Hearings: <\/strong>This week the Joint Ways & Means Education Subcommittee<\/a> begins to hear directly from universities regarding their operating budgets. For the past several weeks the subcommittee has heard from the Higher Education Coordinating Commission and community colleges. OSU President Ed Ray will lead off the presentations this Wednesday, April 12th<\/sup>, joined by panelists from the other four-year universities. On Thursday, April 13th<\/sup> leaders from the three OSU Statewide Public Service Programs \u2013 Extension, Agricultural Experiment Station, and Forest Research Laboratory will discuss their budgets. Cindy Sagers, OSU vice president for research and OSU Engineering student, Bret Lorimore, will also address the subcommittee on the importance of university research.<\/p>\n

Public Testimony:<\/strong> The subcommittee will take public testimony on university budgets at 8:30\u00a0AM on Monday, April\u00a017th<\/sup>. Individuals interested in participating in the public hearing should contact us as soon as possible:\u00a0 jock.mills@oregonstate.edu<\/a>. Those interested in monitoring any of the hearings can do so via the legislative website: https:\/\/www.oregonlegislature.gov\/citizen_engagement\/Pages\/Legislative-Video.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n

OSU\u2019s focus for testimony before the Ways & Means Education Subcommittee continues to focus on the following priorities:<\/p>\n