By SAM STITES/Oregon Capital Bureau
Following a feeble end to the short 2020 legislative session, members of the emergency board convened Monday to allocate money for emergencies throughout the state.
With Republicans away from the Capitol in a boycott over a bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lawmakers were unable to pass critical spending bills to address flooding in the Umatilla Basin, as well as the state’s response to the continued outbreak of Covid-19.
The board — which has about $75 million at its discretion — approved emergency allocations, including $11.5 million for flood relief in the Pendleton area, $5 million for COVID-19 efforts, and $2.7 million for the Office of Emergency Management to implement new preparedness programs.
The absence of Republican legislators in the days before Sunday’s adjournment prevented any votes on funding needs or other legislation. But all seven Republicans on the board attended Monday’s meeting.
The $11.5 million for flood relief includes $2 million for new affordable housing units for Umatilla County flood victims and $1.5 million for rapid rehousing and rental assistance to flood victims. Another $4 million would be used for replacing damaged housing and infrastructure. The Oregon Business Development Department will receive $3.2 million for business cleanup and to help Pendleton repairs its levee.
The committee approved the COVID-19 funding without specifying how it would be used.
Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale, pointed out that Washington state had requested an estimated $100 million to bolster its response to the virus. He also said he spoke with several county health officials in his district covering much of eastern Oregon and they asked him whether there would be any assistance for them.
“They’re on the front lines, and they need some help,” Findley said.
Sen. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward said that one advantage of Gov. Kate Brown’s emergency declaration over the weekend was that it allows the state to mobilize emergency physician corps, particularly in rural counties, who are able to help local health departments.
“I’ve had extensive conversations with the Health Authority over the weekend and the reason we’re able to unschedule some of this money for the moment is that they do feel comfortable with the amount,” Steiner Hayward said.
Senate President Peter Courtney added that the Emergency Board could definitely be back again to allocate more money.
The Emergency Board also approved by 12-8 vote — with all Democrats except Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, voting yes — to give $5 million to the Department of Environmental Quality to establish 10 new positions to start drafting rules to implement Brown’s expected executive order aimed at reducing Oregon’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Senate Republican Leader Herman Baertschiger, Jr., said he opposed the allocation because he feels the move by the governor opens up the state to costly lawsuits.
“Where I’m probably most concerned is not so much with the issue, but the process,” Baertschiger said.
DEQ director Richard Whitman said that the direction given to DEQ is to complete initial rule making for a greenhouse gas reduction program by 2022. That is roughly the same schedule laid out within Senate Bill 1530 — the climate change legislation that effectively killed the legislative session. To meet that 2022 deadline, Whitman said, work should have begun already.