It was a busy week around Salem as legislators gathered for the December Legislative Days . As is the case with all interim legislative committee meetings, they don’t consider any bills but hold “informational hearings” that give a preview of the issues that are likely to be considered in the upcoming session. The December meetings are somewhat unique because many of the committees put forward legislative concepts (LCs) that will be drafted as bills for the Legislative Session that begins in February.
There were several LCs that will be of interest to OFS members:
LC 2959 Establishes a Noxious Weed Task Force
LC 2038 Requires DEQ to regulate “emissions” from dairy CAFOs
LC 2216 Establishes an Independent Science Review Board
LC 2363 Established an extended product stewardship program for household hazardous waste (including pesticides)
LC 1845 Modifies trapping requirements including 24hr trap checks
While it’s difficult to predict how much traction these concepts will get next year, this is our first look into what some of the actual bills will be in 2017.
On Wednesday, the backers of Measure 97 doubled down on their call for increased taxes. Despite the resounding defeat in November, Our Oregon has released a new proposal that looks an awful lot like Measure 97. No legislators have stepped up to champion this new idea yet, but there will surely be pushes for increased taxes next year. This is confirmed by the slew of LCs from the House and Senate Revenue Committees. The Senate Republican Office released this list of potential new bills that were introduced by the committees:
Repeal Ballot Measure 50 – LC 2282
Struggling Business Tax – LC 2324
Vaping Tax – LC 2656
Daycare Tax – LC 2321
Seniors Medical and Dental Tax – LC 2378 & 2387
Homeownership Tax – LC 2378 & 2387
Charity Tax – LC 2378 & 2387
Cow Tax – LC 2378 & 2387
Farmer Tax – LC 2378 & 2387
Conservation Tax – LC 2378 & 2387
Air Pollution Control Facility Tax – LC 2378 & 2387
Forest Tax – LC 2378 & 2387
Victims Tax – LC 2378 & 2387
Buildings and Equipment Tax – LC 2378 & 2387
Struggling Business Tax – LC 2384
S-corp businesses Tax Hike, even if they lose money – LC 2385
C-corp businesses Tax Hike – LC 2380
AirBnb Tax – LC 1049
Changes to the personal income tax kicker – LC 2257
Nonprofit Property Tax Study – LC 2286
Daycare Tax – LC 2369
Tobacco Products Tax – LC 2375
Vaping Tax – LC 2389
Repeal Ballot Measure 50 – LC 2402
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