From the President
On the Home Front: Oregon Legislative Session, My Two Cents Worth
Clint Carlson *written mid-February

The CAT tax rules are being written during this short session. There are issues that will affect our local co-ops, private grain companies, and your farm if your revenue is above one million dollars. More importantly, these rules will affect all Oregonians due to the trickle down from the tax.

Cap and Trade is back and has not changed much from the original bill. They are making it a metro issue for the first few years. Then, it will expand to rural Oregon. Just to be clear, OWGL has been working on this bill and the previous one from the beginning. Our work may not be in the newspapers, but our influence is large. We appreciate your support as these are the issues your dues pay for.

Regulations on pesticides and application will have large consequences on our industry. If the lawsuits with Bayer remove Roundup from the market for financial reasons, our customers may see this as an omen that there is something inherently wrong with Roundup. They may demand zero “maximum residue levels”. That would basically end the No-till farming all across the Pacific Northwest. Cortiva is another example. They have been pressured to remove Chlorpyrifos due to lawsuits. There are many crops in Oregon that use this product because there is no alternative, or it is mandated for export reasons.

There are many more issues being discussed but these are huge for our industry. Continue to view Amanda Dalton’s reports on the website. We have the most respected lobbyist in the state capital. Amanda is on top of all these issues and is working to get us the best outcome possible. Oregon Wheat always has a presence in Salem, building relationships with the Legislators and getting the best outcome for the growers.

Below are the specific updates (minus Cap & Trade due to walkouts this week) from our lobbyist, Dalton Advocacy.
Oregon Legislative Updates
HB 4009 – CAT Technical Fix Bill
The agriculture community had a big win this week in the House Revenue Committee! The Committee finally advanced the technical fix bill for the Corporate Activity Tax (CAT) to the House Floor with two amendments, one of which contains specific Ag requests:
  • -25 Amendment: Contains the Ag requests, specifically:
  • Exempts crop insurance policy payments from receipts required to be reported/calculated in your gross receipts;
  • Ag fix to the COGS calculation and certificate options for bulk commodities where in-state and export sales are co-mingled (additional revisions forthcoming on this concept)
  • Exempts certain sales by dairy farmers that are not organized as co-op’s
  • -16 Amendment: This is an omnibus amendment with various technical provisions including:
  • Change 'business revenue' to 'commercial activity'
  • Clarify all tax refunds are not commercial activity
  • Exempt Manufactured dwelling park nonprofit cooperatives
  • Ties unrelated business income to the IRC
  • Exclude entities from a unitary group that have no connection to Oregon Returns and allowances are accounted for in the year they occur
  • Clarifies the 35% subtraction calculation and apportionment factor
  • Penalties are reduced to 5%; adds a safe harbor; and extends 80% threshold one-year
STATUS: Moved out of House Revenue Committee unanimously; Awaiting consideration on House Floor.

HB 4109 – Chlorpyrifos Ban
After over 1.5 hours of debate on Wednesday HB 4109 passed the House Floor 32 – 24 – 4 excused. Three moderate democrats joined Republicans in voting against it: McKeown, McLain & Williams. Republicans attempted to substitute the bill with a minority report  but were unsuccessful – but we did get five democrats to join us in support of the minority report.
 
The bill then moved to the Senate to be first read and was quickly fast tracked for a public hearing and possible work session in Senate Environment and Natural Resources for Friday afternoon. OWGL sent out a call to action, submitted testimony, and attended the hearing. The hearing was well attended by local farmers, outnumbering bill proponents three to one. Members of the committee asked questions to panelist including representatives from ODA and OHA, allowing ODA to speak to the status, process and goals of the current Chlorpyrifos work group – something the House Health Care Committee did not focus on. Due to the aggressive committee agenda the public hearing ran up against the clock limiting testimony from the public. Chair Dembrow announced an additional work session would be scheduled to give everyone who wanted to testify an opportunity.
 
House Floor letters:
·         Oppose 4109 – Rep. Mark Owens OWGL signed on to this letter
·         Minority Report Floor Letter – Rep. Boshart Davis OWGL signed on to this letter
 
STATUS: Passed House Floor 32 – 24. First public hearing held in Senate Environment and Natural Resources on 2/21. 
View all of our legislative reports online !
Republican Walk Out
Senate Republicans
Monday morning’s final committee vote on Cap and Trade (SB 1530) in the Full Ways and Means Committee triggered a Senate Republican walkout after the bill passed 13 - 9 with one moderate Democrat—who also co-chairs the Committee, Sen. Betsy Johnson, joining Republicans in opposition. The Senate President utilized a controversial procedural move and joined the committee in order to vote on the bill and push it across the finish line.
 
Senate Republicans made good on their threat to walk out and immediately left the building, denying quorum in the Senate. Senator Tim Knopp-R, Bend remains on the Floor and in the Capitol building as the sole Republican– but 2 Republicans are required for quorum and for business to proceed.
 
House Republicans
Tuesday morning the House Republican Office announced that they had joined their Senate colleagues in a session walkout in protest of the proposed cap and trade legislation. Late night bill introductions by House Democrats likely contributed to this walk out – the House Rules Committee attempted to introduce 6 new bill concepts that would refer far more aggressive Cap & Trade proposals to the voters, implement Cap & Trade by rule, and remove the constitutional provisions that protect the highway trust – allowing the Legislature to spend 50% however they see fit. Only 1 Republican remains in the building following the walkout, Rep. Cheri Helt-R, Bend. But, similarly to the Senate, 2 are required to be present to allow for a quorum.
 
Bill Deadlines
Bumping up against these walkouts was Tuesday’s bill deadline, where all bills must move out of their 2 nd Chamber Policy Committee. Quorum, or presence by Republicans, is not required for Committees to continue to meet and with Democrat majorities Committees can still move bills out. We saw several bills advance out yesterday. The bills now linger on the Floor 2 nd reading lists. There are 12 days left of Session. Constitutional Sine Die is March 8 th .
 
Where Do We Go From Here
Each Chamber will likely continue to convene on the House and Senate Floor at least daily for a “quorum call” to note whether or not the Republicans have returned. Neither Chamber has issued a “Call of the House/Senate” to-date – this action could send the State Police in search of the Republicans and to-date has been a maneuver the Governor and Democrats have been hesitant to use.
 
A handful of bills remain in the Ways and Means, Fiscal or Rules Committees – where deadlines, other than constitutional Sine Die, don’t apply. Some policy committees may hold informational hearings in the coming days. All Ways and Means Subcommittees, except Capitol Construction, are shut down. The Speaker also announced Tuesday that she is suspending the 24-hour Committee posting notice, which means bills can be scheduled at any time.
 
At this time, it appears both the House and Senate Republicans will run the session clock out if Democrats do not agree to refer cap and trade to the November ballot. Alternatively, the two parties could agree to return to work a short list of approved bills, likely pending budget bills and a handful of policy bills currently in the que – but this would also require the Democrats taking Cap & Trade off the table. This could be done any time between now and March 8 th . The Governor has yet to comment on the need for a Special Session which would occur after the March 8 th Adjournment Date.


Dive into the politics of those seats here
What are Legislators Saying?
  Senate Republican Leader Herman Baertschiger-R:
“Senator Courtney’s actions leave no other option for Senate Republicans but to boycott and deny quorum because cap and trade is on the way to the Senate floor. Democrats refused to work with Republicans and denied every amendment that was presented. Pay attention Oregon – this is a true example of partisan politics. Instead of referring this legislation to let the people decide, the Democrats are willfully ignoring 26 counties and one district, representing nearly 2 million Oregonians that have signed proclamations against cap and trade, to push their agenda.”
 
House Republican Leader Christine Drazan-D:
“From the first day of this short session it has been clear that Governor Brown and the majority party have not had an interest in respecting the legislative process and have repeatedly refused to compromise. Each and every amendment we offered on Cap and Trade in committee has been rejected. I had remained optimistic up until yesterday that a compromise could be reached. Unfortunately, our attempts to achieve a bipartisan consensus that would take into account the views of all Oregonians were denied. Oregon House Republicans are taking a stand, with working families, in opposing Cap and Trade and this rigged process. We will continue to keep all lines of communication open. I call on Governor Brown and the majority party to refer Cap and Trade to the people.”
 
Governor Kate Brown-D:
“I am disappointed that the Republicans have chosen to shut down government. We were elected by the voters to represent our communities and be their voices in our Capitol. It's clear the Republicans who walked out are not against climate policy, but against the democratic process.”
 
Senate Majority Leader Ginny Burdick-D:
“Walking out on the job is a dereliction of duty. Each of us took an oath of office and it is our responsibility to fulfill that oath and represent the voices of our constituents. These Oregon Senate Republicans are denying their constituents the representation they deserve and shutting down our democratic institution. Serving in the Legislature is a great honor. Walking out on the job is dishonorable and disrespectful. I am disappointed in the Senate Republicans for taking this irresponsible action.”
 
Speaker Tina Kotek-D:
“I have routinely reached out to Republicans in a genuine effort to hear their ideas and compromise where we can. My door is always open. For now, they have chosen to walk off the job. We may disagree on policy, but one thing is for sure – we can’t reach consensus if the Republicans don’t show up for work.”
 
House Democrat Leader Rep. Barbara Smith Warner-D:
 “For the last three years, Democrats across the Oregon Capitol have worked in good faith with Republicans to find compromise on carbon legislation. In just the last year alone, we have held more than 35 hours of public hearings, gone on a statewide tour, had countless hours of conversations between stakeholders and made significant changes in response to our Republican colleagues’ concerns. The reality is, in today’s Republican party run by Donald Trump, nothing will ever be enough for them. House Republicans walking out on the people of Oregon in service to oil companies, polluters and other special interests is cowardly. We are here continuing to do our work. Republicans need to come back to work and do the job Oregonians elected them do.”
 

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