TO: Mayor and City Council
THROUGH: Steve Powers, City Manager
FROM: Legislative Committee
SUBJECT:
title
Priority bills for 2019 Legislative Session
Ward(s): All Wards
Councilor(s): All Councilors
Neighborhood(s): All Neighborhoods
Result Area(s): Result Areas - Good Governance; Natural Environment Stewardship; Safe Community; Safe, Reliable and Efficient Infrastructure; Strong and Diverse Economy; Welcoming and Livable Community.
end
ISSUE:
Shall the City Council approve the City of Salem’s positions on legislative bills active in the 2019 Oregon Legislative Session?
RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
Approve the City of Salem’s positions on the attached legislative bills active in the 2019 Oregon Legislative Session.
body
SUMMARY:
During the regular session, when the subject of proposed legislation is outside the scope of the policy statements, the City's legislative bill review process includes three primary steps: (1) the City's position on individual bills of interest is proposed by staff; (2) the proposed position is reviewed and deliberated by the Council Legislative Committee, and (3) recommended to the City Council for ratification at the next City Council meeting. Staff bring updates to the Council throughout the 2019 Legislative Session and provide a summary report at the Session's end.
FACTS AND FINDINGS:
Bills reviewed by the Legislative Committee on February 22, 2019 and recommended to the City Council are attached (Attachment 1). As positions are developed for individual bills, staff continue the use of the numbering and lettering system adopted during previous sessions: 0 for oppose; S for support.
Prioritization of the bill is based on level of impact and engagement of the City of Salem:
1. Very High Priority - Major fiscal or policy impact. Mayor, councilors, and/or staff should work to support or oppose the bill.
2. High Priority - Moderate Impact. Staff should be involved in supporting or opposing the bill.
Those bills of lower to no priority are watched for changes during the session and brought forward to the Legislative Committee and City Council, as needed, should amendments change their anticipated impact to the City of Salem.
To continue a coordinated and unified response during the upcoming session, the Mayor and Councilor are asked to communicate the nature of their legislative contacts to staff via an email to Courtney Knox Busch (cbusch@cityofsalem.net). The email should identify the date of the legislative contact, the legislator(s) with whom contact was made, bill(s) discussed, and a summary of the position(s) and comments shared. Staff will forward the communication to the City’s lobbyist, the Legislative Committee, and City Council as appropriate.
BACKGROUND:
The Oregon State Legislature convened in January 2019. Before any official representing the City of Salem can attempt to influence legislation on a particular matter, during the interim or a legislative session, the City Council must adopt an official position related to that matter. To make the best use of Council and staff resources, and position the City to respond more expeditiously to moving legislation, the Council approves policy statements which are intended to guide public officials and the City's contracted lobbyist in responding to and formulating positions on issues expected to come before the Oregon Legislature.
On July 23, 2018, the City Council approved Legislative priorities to guide interim and 2019 legislative activities, following review of the Council’s Legislative Committee. The Legislative Committee is comprised of Mayor Bennett and Councilors Andersen, Hoy, and Nanke with Councilor Kaser serving as alternate.
The 2019 Session has begun and the Legislative Committee has approved the following policy priorities from which staff or Salem’s lobbyist may advocate including the following:
• Drinking water protections
o Emergency preparedness and resiliency funding
o Additional funding support for Oregon Health Authority’s drinking water program
• Municipal broadband
o Protecting City right to manage rights of way
o Preserving right to develop municipal broadband
• Funding for affordable housing
• Legislative fix following court ruling regarding stolen vehicles
• Increasing revenue options for local government: 9-1-1 and property tax reform
• Preservation of Urban Renewal authorities
The legislative policy statements (Attachment 2) address broad topics of economic development, financing and revenue, human resources, telecommunications, public safety and land use. Adoption of the attached policy statements provides the overarching framework for public officials and contracted lobbyists to officially represent the City on bills in the absence of a specific recommendation on a particular legislative bill.
Courtney Knox Busch
Strategic Initiatives Manager
Attachments:
1. Attachment 1 - Bills Reviewed by Legislative Committee - February 22, 2019
2. Attachment 2 - 2018-19 Legislative Policy Statements