Friends and neighbors, here are some highlights from last month and helpful community information for you!
– Shelly
EPA’s Overstep Threatens Local Agriculture
In response to a lawsuit from environmental activists claiming they were not properly protecting endangered species by allowing farmers to use pesticides, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a work plan to curtail pesticide use throughout the nation.
The EPA has identified the Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly as a species of concern in the Willamette Valley under the Endangered Species Act. As part of their plan, pesticide use, critical to the growing of crops, would be totally banned on close to 1 million acres in the Willamette Valley, severely limiting farmer’s ability to make a living.
The butterfly’s habitat is currently estimated to be under 20 acres, far smaller than the proposed pesticide ban area of 1 million acres. Even more shocking, the recovery plan for the butterfly issued by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in 2022 identified habitat loss, not pesticides, as the primary factor in declining butterfly populations.
This overstep by the EPA would devastate local nurseries and nearly a quarter of grass seed farming operations in the Willamette Valley, rendering large portions of the Willamette Valley’s farm ground unproductive.
While there is no action item for this situation at the moment, I thought it was important for you to understand this potential threat to our local economy.
Multiple agricultural organizations are involved in finding solutions. Please contact my office for more information.
A Special Committee to Solve Our Drug Problems?
Last week, the Senate President and House Speaker created a new committee that will focus on the drug crisis on our streets, the same week it was reported that Oregon had THE LARGEST increase in fentanyl deaths in the nation.
Unfortunately, the Joint Committee On Addiction and Community Safety Response is made up of the same Democratic leaders who have blocked Measure 110 reforms for the last year. Republicans introduced several measures to repeal or reform Measure 110 last session but never got a hearing. We don’t need a special committee to tell us what we need to do on the drug crisis. It’s simple: we start by completely repealing Measure 110, and dedicate funding to effective treatment.
Much like this committee, the Governor has put together a task force to solve Portland’s problems. While their meetings are behind closed doors, they are accepting comments online. Take a moment to give the task force your thoughts on what is needed to make Portland livable.
Trucks Are Overpaying for Our Transportation System
The Joint Transportation Committee finally got a formal presentation of the Highway Cost Allocation Study (HCAS).
Oregon’s transportation system is primarily funded through gas taxes (paid for by passenger vehicles) and weight mile taxes (paid for by freight trucks).
The system is based on the principle of ‘cost responsibility,’ meaning that passenger vehicles and freight trucks should pay their fair share of the costs of transportation projects. For example, if ODOT is planning to build another weigh station, freight trucks (through the weight mile tax) would bear the primary cost of that project. For a project that primarily benefits passenger vehicle, cars would bear the primary cost. For most projects, it is a combination of both classes of vehicles paying for a percentage of the cost determined by a very long calculation of “cost responsibility.”
Why do we do it this way? The Constitution requires it. Oregon voters ratified the principle of cost responsibility in November 1999 by voting to add the following language to Article IX, Section 3a (3) of the Oregon Constitution: “Revenues … that are generated by taxes or excises imposed by the state shall be generated in a manner that ensures that the share of revenues paid for the use of light vehicles, including cars, and the share of revenues paid for the use of heavy vehicles, including trucks, is fair and proportionate to the costs incurred for the highway system because of each class of vehicle. The Legislative Assembly shall provide for a biennial review and, if necessary, adjustment, of revenue sources to ensure fairness and proportionality.”
As you can probably tell, the process of determining cost responsibility is very complicated. That’s why every two years, the State Economist prepares the HCAS to give the Legislature the information to fulfill their Constitutional responsibility of adjusting tax rates, if necessary, to ensure “fairness and proportionality.”
So what did this year’s study tell us? Freight trucks are substantially overpaying their fair share of the transportation system and have been for the last several years. Part of the reason for this is that fuel-efficient vehicles, like hybrids and electric cars, are not paying as much (or any) gas tax as other cars. As more of those vehicles are coming onto the roads, the less and less gas tax the state is collecting in order to pay for infrastructure projects. One other big reason that freight trucks are overpaying their fare share is that ODOT projects have been more geared towards “bike/ped” and car-specific construction projects instead of adding capacity to our road system that would benefit freight trucks. This has resulted in more projects geared towards “light vehicles” instead of “freight trucks.”
What do we do about it? The Constitution requires the Legislature to maintain a fair and proportional system. This study calls the Legislature to action to rebalance the system to ensure trucks stop overpaying, while still maintaining a way to pay for the roads and projects needed to ensure a safe and efficient road system. If we do not do that, it opens the Legislature up to lawsuits from truckers who are tired of overpaying. As they should be. I hope we will be able to bring the system into balance, and start treating trucks fairly and with more respect, before that happens.
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