By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
Jurisdictions along the Oregon coast could see an influx of up to $20 million to help with infrastructure projects under a unique and unusual plan shaping up in the current short session of the Oregon Legislature.
It all started last week when new House Speaker Dan Rayfield, D-Corvallis, alerted Republican legislators – and lone Democrat Rep. David Gomberg of Otis – that they could decide among themselves how to divvy up $100 million for rural infrastructure projects.
As Oregon lawmakers begin the final two weeks of this year’s legislative session, they are deciding how to spend more than $2.5 billion in surging revenue unplanned for when they passed the state budget last year. Those projects involve hundreds of millions for housing, climate change, mental health, job training and other pressing needs.
But Democrats are also rolling the dice on an eye-popping olive branch — they are letting Gomberg and minority Republicans decide how to spent $100 million as they see fit in their rural Oregon districts.
“Rural Oregon was an area that we looked at and said this is an area that we wanted to target investment in terms of infrastructure and economic development,” Rayfield said during an online news conference Monday.
Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner told Oregon Public Broadcasting that initially, there was a “perception that this was some sort of buy off.”
“After initial conversations and once folks had a chance to better understand what this approach was about, I think more folks came along,” Smith told OPB.
Seeking, sorting projects
In the days since, Gomberg, Smith and two other Republicans – Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane, and Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp, R-Bend — have whittled down a list of projects.
Gomberg told YachatsNews the group divided rural Oregon into six geographic regions.
Gomberg said he notified the county, cities, ports, fire and water districts in his legislative district to submit requests for infrastructure projects. It was similar to the process he used in 2021 when he and Sen. Dick Anderson, R-Lincoln City, had $6 million to allocate to projects in their House and Senate districts. That was part of the more than $50 million the 2021 Legislature sent to projects in Lincoln County to help pay for 15 infrastructure projects or disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Gomberg said initial statewide requests this time around were much more than the $100 million available to the group, so they whittled the list and removed some that were already on capital construction budgets under consideration in other parts of the state budget.
There is also the somewhat pleasant complication that later this year the federal government plans to release billions across the county and hundreds of millions of dollars in Oregon for water projects.
The issue, Gomberg told YachatsNews is “do you spend state money on water projects now or wait until the next round of federal funding?”
Gomberg said he met with the six other members of the Oregon Coastal Caucus last week “and asked them for priorities up and down the coast.”
Then, he and the four Republicans tasked with identifying projects for the $100 million got together “and worked for what we thought would make the biggest difference for most of Oregon.”
“The coast did well,” Gomberg told YachatsNews. “There will be help for projects ranging from courthouses, to airports to water systems to parks.”
Gomberg said legislators will announce the funded projects “within the next 10 days.” The 35-day legislative session must end no later than March 7.
“Last year was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and this year we’re again having a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said.
Some projects requested by south Lincoln County jurisdictions included:
- Port of Alsea: $20,200 for cameras and lights for the boat launch and marina areas and $19,800 to provide water and electricity at the marina for maintenance and for the moorage slip used by Central Oregon Coast Fire & Rescue;
- City of Waldport: $1.4 million for a state-required improvement to its wastewater treatment system;
- Southwest Lincoln County Water PUD: $4.5 million for a 500,000 gallon water tank and related infrastructure to meet fire flow requirements at the north end of its district inside the south city limits of Waldport near the industrial park off Crestline Drive;
- Central Oregon Coast Fire & Rescue District: An unspecified amount of help with funding a replacement for its main station in downtown Waldport, which is estimated to cost $12 million;
- Lincoln County: $1 million to help construct a new animal shelter complex on property at the Newport airport;
- City of Newport: A long list of projects ranging from road and pedestrian enhancements, recreational improvements, economic development, bridges, water, wastewater and storm water projects totaling $14.75 million.
“These will be transformational investments to improve rural communities for generations and create hundreds of good paying jobs,” Gomberg said in a news release by the House Speaker’s office. “As our infrastructure ages, small town are looking at big price tags to replace or repair water and sewer systems, bridges, and public buildings. Now with the state’s help and federal dollars on the way, we can bring lasting change to rural communities across our state.”
“No strings attached”
The Democratic majority essentially gave Republicans budget-writing authority to decide how to spend the money. That move marks an apparent smoothing of the often divisive relations among the two parties.
But Rayfield said it was not an olive branch but rather a practical move because Republicans represent many of the rural areas of the state. He said Democrats don’t expect anything in return.
“There (are) absolutely no strings attached,” Rayfield said. “This is about making meaningful change in communities across the state.”
The Republican-led plan would be part of the legislative appropriation for several hundred million dollars in unexpected tax revenue.
Rayfield said other spending packages were also worked out with Republicans.
Legislative leaders planned to release details on $100 million in climate-related spending and will follow up with more announcements, including $100 million on public safety. One bill that’s now before Ways and Means would spend about $200 million on behavioral health facilities to help them hire and recruit staff.
Money will also be spent on helping victims and on community organizations working to prevent violence.
Housing is among the Democratic priorities, Rayfield said. So is workplace training. Gov. Kate Brown proposed spending $200 million on training to prepare people for careers in construction, health care and manufacturing.
Although atypical, the approach by Rayfield isn’t entirely novel. Flush with federal relief money during last year’s session, legislative leaders made the decision — controversial in some circles — to grant each lawmaker millions of dollars to spend in their district as they saw fit.
Lawmakers contacted by OPB all made the case that the new package is a sensible investment to help small communities that often lack the resources to tackle big-ticket infrastructure projects.
“This was a unique opportunity for members to collaborate in order to bring lasting change to the very heart and soul of our state,” Gomberg and Knopp wrote last week in a letter addressed to Rayfield and Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, according to OPB.
- Lynne Terry of Oregon Capital Chronicle contributed to this report
I was wondering if the Yachats Rural Fire Protection District has requested any of this new money, that the State of Oregon has? Or are they still hell-bent on trying to increase our Property Taxes?