[5]By Oregonians for Food and Shelter [6],
The Oregon Legislature met virtually for its first “Legislative Days” of 2022. OFS tracked several committees with hearings of interest to our members.
In the Senate Energy & Environment Committee [7], DEQ provided a handful of updates – most critical to OFS’s policy agenda was the update on implementing the Recycling Modernization Act passed last year. OFS continues to engage with the state and other stakeholders regarding the concerns for fertilizer and pesticide packaging. The program, which still requires significant rulemaking [8], won’t be fully operational until July, 2025.
The Senate Natural Resources and Wildfire Recovery Committee [9] spent substantial time hearing updates on wildfire program implementation, with additional time on CAFO permitting and poultry. On the House side, the Agriculture, Water and Land Use Committee [10] received a strong presentation on the current impact of market conditions on Oregon farmers, as well as updates on drought and the CAFO permitting program. The recent legislative focus on CAFO permitting seems to have stemmed from several community members objecting to a newly permitted CAFO facility near Scio [11]. We will likely see more on this in future Legislative Days and the 2023 session.
The Joint Emergency Board, the Legislature’s interim budget committee, allocated nearly 70 requests totaling well over $100 million. Most notably, nearly $1.2 million went to Oregon Department of Agriculture to suppress grasshopper and cricket outbreaks.
A few updates on the political front: Nelson research released the first public polling of the Governor’s race [12], and OPB noted that former Speaker Kotek still has some unresolved workplace complaints [13]lingering.