Legislative update, Week 13

Middling weather at the
Legislature

Not much to report here.

New milestones and movements are highlighted in green. (As usual, see more relevant bills or movement? Drop a note in the comments.)

Specific bike things:

• SB 533 making it legal for two-wheelers to go on red when you've waited one complete cycle and the light or controller is broken. In the House and scheduled for a vote this week.
• HB 3255 Originally requiring additional reflective clothing at night, but now with two sets of proposed amendments for a rear light instead of just a reflector at night. In Senate committee, maybe stalled. BikePortland has a detailed critique of the current version of the bill from bike law expert Ray Thomas.

Other Bike-relevant and transportation bills:

• A pod of bills about speed bumps: HB 2283 HB 2730, HB 2736 (these speed bump bills remain nulls, ready for gut-n-stuff action; see below for three that are getting stuffed)
• HB 2552 fees for studded tires (public hearing held, but no work session - it's looking pretty dead)
• HB 2620 would require ODOT to inventory ODOT land and determine if it is really needed transportation (public hearing held, but no work session - also looks dead)
• HB 2621 for expanded photo speed enforcement pilot project in Portland. It got a systematic set of amendments to shift from "photo radar unit" to "fixed photo radar system." Looks technical rather than substantive. Still in committee, maybe languishing.
• HB 2819 to require drivers over the age of 75 to take annual license exams (public hearing held, but no work session - looking very dormant)

Funding:

• HB 2281, HB 2282 - Former speed bump bills. 2281 on road usage charges passed the House and is in the Senate, and had a hearing last week. 2282 on electronic signatures passed the House and referred to Senate committee.
• HB 2274 Changes name of "Connect Oregon Fund"; also HB 2275. Both are in a holding pattern, looking inactive right now.
• HB 5040 ODOT Biennial Budget. Lots of hearings, but no recent action.
• SJR 16 broadens the list of projects eligible for the gas tax, "for infrastructure that reduces traffic burden of, or pollution from, motor vehicles on public roads." Looking dead. No recent action.
  

A few land use things of note (all of these have had hearings and look too be live bills and active, at least for the moment):

• SB 565 - Tax credit for rehab of historic properties. Shoot, this looks stuck in committee, all too dormant!
• HB 2293, formerly one of the speed bump bills, has been gutted and stuffed: now it would "expand scope of long-range transportation plan. Requires [Oregon Transportation] commission to review and update plan at least once every six years."
• HB 2564 on inclusionary zoning. Passed the House, Senate committee Public Hearing next week. BikePortland has more on it.
• HB 2633 on improving planning for disasters. Looks like it got a major watering down in amendments, from "adopting administrative rules" to "providing guidance." It's in committee now.
• SB 5502 concerning North State Hospital Campus  (Still lots of hearings)
• SB 120 as introduced expanded the definition of ways to meet "mobility standards" and included "reducing congestion in other modes of travel" - which seems ambiguous, but could as the language was adjusted have meant something like "reduce auto congestion by means of improvements in bike lanes and transit (etc)." The relevant language has been deleted in the first round of amendments, and now it looks like it maintains the usual "highway mobility targets established for a highway corridor by the Department of Transportation’s Oregon Highway Plan" and calls for a new study on the possibility of change. Passed Senate and House committee work session this week.

Carbon taxes had looked like they were going nowhere, but three of them were scheduled and kept alive in April. The first two look dormant now, though, but the third has action.

• HB 3250: Requires Environmental Quality Commission to adopt carbon cap-and-dividend program.
• HB 3252: Imposes tax on each fuel supplier and utility based on amount of carbon in carbon-based fuel that is sold by fuel supplier to consumers in this state or that is used to produce carbon-generated electricity supplied by utility to consumers in this state.
• HB 3470: Requires Environmental Quality Commission to adopt by rule statewide greenhouse gas emissions limits for years 2020 and 2050 and to adopt interim statewide greenhouse gas emissions limits consistent with 2050 limit every five years.​ This was amended and referred to committee for more work. (Interestingly, the google doesn't quickly turn up good analysis of the bill or commentary on its amendments - maybe you know more about it?)

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For all notes on the 2015 session, see here.