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2 days ago
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Oregon Sen. Lisa Reynolds mulls conflict of interest declaration after ethics report
Sen. Lisa Reynolds sought clarity from the state's top ethics watchdog over whether a health care bill she authored would pose a substantial conflict of interest. (Rian Dundon/Oregon Capital Chronicle) Oregon's statewide ethics watchdog on Thursday referred a Portland-area lawmaker to the Legislature for clarity over whether a bill she authored that could benefit her medical practice raises a substantial conflict of interest. The Oregon Government Ethics Commission said Sen. Lisa Reynolds' decisions regarding votes and bill introductions were within the purview of the Legislature and its legal counsel, according to a Thursday letter written by Susan Myers, the commission's executive director. Introduced in January, Senate Bill 28 would mandate commercial insurers reimburse independent primary care clinics at rates equal to those of clinics owned by hospital systems. In the letter, Myers said that Reynolds, D-Portland, 'would be met with a conflict of interest' unless she is able to receive a class exception. The rule is traditionally adjudicated by the commission, determining whether an official action by a public official would impact all members of a 'class,' such as business owners or members of a particular industry, equally. But it's up to the Legislature, not the Commission, to decide whether the exception applies because the matter 'relates to the performance of legislative functions,' Myers wrote. Lawmakers are allowed to cast votes and perform legislative tasks under Oregon's 'speech and debate' rules for public officials even when they do declare conflicts of interest. Reynolds told the Capital Chronicle she hasn't decided whether she will seek further advice. She said that she will consult with her staff and tends 'to err on the side of caution.' 'I'll see going forward,' she said. 'It would be interesting to note the votes I've taken. For example, the provider tax which funds Medicaid — do I have to say that's a conflict of interest because my clinic takes Medicaid? I don't think so.' The advice follows a request from the commission in a May 6 letter written by her chief of staff, Christopher McMorran, a day before the Oregon Journalism Project ran a story in which Reynolds said she was open to seeking the ethics' commissions advice and declaring a conflict of interest. McMorran sought information about potential conflicts of interest because of Reynolds' job as a primary care provider at The Children's Clinic, an independent clinic in the Portland region. 'SB 28 would likely result in a financial gain for her clinic, along with all other independent primary care clinics in the state,' he wrote to the commission. 'We are curious if her introducing, sponsoring and supporting this bill qualifies as a conflict of interest or if she would be considered a member of a class and be exempt from conflict of interest laws.' Reynolds said the advice was 'reassuring' and that she believes she would likely qualify for a class exemption. 'I'm a citizen legislator. My day job is that of a pediatrician. In fact, I was in the clinic all last weekend,' she said. 'I still see patients and I actually ran as Dr. Lisa Reynolds. I ran for office leaning into the fact that I am a physician and it informs all that I do in the Legislature.' Her legislation is currently sitting in the Joint Ways and Means Committee. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
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3 days ago
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Republicans intensify opposition to capping bills per session in Oregon
From left to right, House Speaker Julie Fahey, former Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp, and Sen. Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro, speak in support of House Bill 2006, which would cap the number of bills a lawmaker could request be drafted for consideration in the Oregon Legislature. (Shaanth Nanguneri/Oregon Capital Chronicle) Despite bipartisan support for an Oregon bill limiting the amount of legislation a lawmaker can introduce every session, the measure has angered some prominent Republican lawmakers, who called it a partisan power grab during its first committee hearing. Three of the bill's leading supporters — Sen. Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro, former Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp, and House Speaker Julie Fahey — argued in front of the House Committee on Rules on Thursday that the number of bills the Legislature has had to consider in the past session has been overwhelming. They described the onslaught of reviews staff and legislative analysts must conduct to draft legislation as swamping the public with excessive bureaucracy that impedes good governance. 'Each bill takes staff time, legal review, printing, scheduling,' said Fahey, D-Eugene. 'Thousands of taxpayer dollars go into processing bills that don't become law or even get here. What we're talking about today — being more focused and deliberative in how we introduce legislation — isn't about stifling good ideas. It's about improving the system.' House Bill 2006, introduced in mid-April by six Democrats and five Republicans, would cap individual lawmakers to requesting 25 drafts during the 160-day long sessions in odd years. Lawmakers have historically limited bills in the 35-day short sessions in even years — in 2024, for instance, lawmakers could introduce two bills apiece. The number of bills lawmakers have been considering in the past years has increased steadily, particularly during odd years. This session, legislators have introduced more than 3,400 pieces of legislation since February. Republicans on the committee, however, said further limits on the legislative process would continue to shut them out of opportunities to pass legislation in the minority. The new bill revives another limitation effort that popped up after the last time the Oregon Legislature saw a record number of bills introduced — nearly 3,300 in 2001. At that time, lawmakers considered similar restrictions that eventually failed in the Senate, which was controlled by Republicans at the time. 'I routinely propose bills that are similar to other bills in the building and the only reason for that is because my district wants me to have that voice,' said House Republican leader Rep. Christine Drazan, R-Canby. 'And what ends up moving is the Democrat bill time and again.' Other provisions of the legislation include allowing 400 bills for state agencies and the governor to introduce, 15 bills for each legislative committee, 25 apiece for the secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer and commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries, and 100 for the Judicial Department. The Joint Ways and Means Committee is excluded from the bill. The bill wouldn't preclude sponsors from introducing more than 25 pieces of legislation if, for instance, another sponsor requested the drafting from legislative counsel. Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis, R-Albany, said the idea of bill limits 'is great,' but that the bill is 'extremely problematic.' She noted that the legislation would allow for the Senate president and speaker of the House to authorize additional measures for members or committees. Combined with the 400 measures the governor and state agencies could introduce, 'that's a problem,' she said. 'You have the majority party being able to authorize,' she said. 'There's no limit on that.' The opposition to the bill doesn't fall squarely along partisan lines, however. One Democrat has called the bill 'capricious' and warned of unintended consequences for lawmakers. 'The meager number of vehicles would more than likely accomplish the following: increased authority for the Speaker, the Majority Leader, and most policy committee chairs,' wrote Rep. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth, in a Wednesday letter to the committee. He has filed the most bills this session as a single lawmaker — over 300. 'This will exacerbate the power differential between leadership, policy, and budget specialists.' During the hearing, however, Fahey said she agreed that 400 bills for state agencies and the governor was an excessive estimate, though it was not clear how far she'd be willing to lower the limit. Another Representative, Jason Kropf, D-Bend, said that even 300 bills would be going too far. 'We use the exact same limits and language in the bill, with two exceptions, increasing the baseline number of bills from legislators to 20 to 25 and the number of committee bills from 10 to 15,' Fahey told the committee. 'This drafted bill will go into effect in the 2027 session. Back in 2001, that bill had bipartisan support and bipartisan opposition, and I fully expect that this bill will have the same.' Passing the legislation would make Oregon the 14th state in the nation to put explicit laws on the books that restrict the amount of bills a legislator can introduce. The bill would essentially make the maximum number of bills per session on an odd-year at least 2,850, if each lawmaker, committee, agency, state official and the governor introduced the maximum number of bills they are allowed under the legislation. Because the Joint Committee on Ways and Means is excluded from the legislation, that number is likely an undercount. Another piece of legislation, Senate Bill 1006 by Sen. Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer, would limit introductions of bills to committees and legislators, preventing agencies from introducing legislation. It has been parked in the Senate Committee on Rules since March. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
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4 days ago
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Oregon hatred and beyond
A Pride flag, Oregon flag and U.S. flag rest on a desk in the Oregon Capitol. (Ron Cooper/Oregon Capital Chronicle) The 2000 report on hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center showed five hate groups active in Oregon. Its 2024 counterpart report just released this month found 24. The difference is a matter of apples and oranges between these reports, which reflects a changing landscape in the area of extremism and hate groups. The SPLC's traditional focus on hate groups — it started as an anti-racist tracker and researcher, after all — has been expanded to include groups more devoted to relatively extreme positions on various cultural and political issues. Inclusion of anti-government groups, as distinct from groups more specifically focused on race, religion or other identifiers, has changed and even muddied the picture. Oregon's experience — as the new report shows — suggests how. Hate groups have been a factor in Oregon for a long time. The state's early founders included many sympathizers with the Confederacy, and a century ago, Oregon was the number two state in the nation for Ku Klux Klan activity. It has been more notable in recent decades for pushback against bigotry, but hatred has not disappeared. The SPLC long has been a national touchstone for tracking angry extremist groups. It said its current report 'documented 1,371 hate and anti-government extremist groups across the United States. These groups use political, communication, violent, and online tactics to build strategies and training infrastructure to divide the country, demoralize people, and dismantle democracy.' They're not all exactly 'hate groups,' however. A minority of the groups were labeled as anti-immigrant (Oregonians for Immigration Reform), anti-LGBTQ (Pacific Justice Institute), 'general hate' (Proud Boys and Rense Radio Network), Neo-Völkisch (Asatru Folk Assembly), and white nationalist (Active Club, Occidental Observer, Patriot Front). The Asatru Folk Assembly formerly was called the Viking Brotherhood. But the real growth has been in the anti-government category. The SPLC categorizes more than half of those listed in Oregon as anti-government (American Patriot Party, ASN Study Guide & University, American State Nationals, Constitution Party, Embassy of Heaven, Moms for Liberty Deschutes and Douglas, Oregon Parents Involved in Education, Oregon Statewide Jural Assembly, Parents Rights in Education Oregon, People's Rights, State of Jefferson, American State Assembly, Timber Unity). In 2000, of the five extremist groups listed for Oregon, three were neo-Nazi and two were racist-skinhead. In 2012, the nine groups cited for Oregon included white nationalist, Christian identity, Black separatist, neo-Nazi, racist skinhead and general hate, but none described as principally anti-government. Even as those groups steadily expanded over successive years, to 15 in 2021, no anti-government groups were listed. Since 2021, the number of groups other than 'anti-government' has diminished or stabilized. The makeup of the list changed dramatically in 2022, and has remained so. The previous roster of hate groups remained similar but diminished slightly, while in 2022 a large group of anti-government groups were added. You can find similar trends in other states. SPLC said of that, 'For the last several years, the conspiracy theories and claims made by anti-government groups have penetrated the mainstream, making extremism and fascism central to discourse and politics in the country. In 2021, the conspiratorial and dubious view of government was pervasive, as evidenced by the movement's popular rhetoric on such issues as COVID-19 regulations, local school curriculum, the 'Big Lie' of voter fraud, and border security. These views largely continued in 2024, but with a marked and troubling rise in anti-government activity against inclusive public schools and the continued incorporation of white Christian nationalist ideas. The Jan. 6 insurrection was the most public moment for the movement since the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.' Many Oregonians will point out that however extreme some positions taken by some of these groups may be, many are largely political actors, such as Moms for Liberty, Timber Unity and the State of Jefferson. The Constitution Party is a political organization in Oregon and many other states, fields candidates and argues for policies recognizably within our political system. One of those listed for Oregon in recent years is not an organization but rather a podcast, or bundle of podcasts, based at Ashland, called the Rense Radio Network. There's a clear argument for tracking extremist groups, which can in some cases make cause with hate groups. But they still aren't quite the same thing. So what should count as a hate group? When does a political stance — albeit a harder-edged and more extreme one — slide over into something that fits more neatly with hatred and bigotry? And should the two be meshed together with only categorical distinctions? Maybe the SPLC will come up with some new thoughts by the time its 2025 report comes out. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
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6 days ago
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After reaching historic lows, hydropower generation in the Northwest expected to rise in 2025
Water flows out of the Bonneville Dam along the Columbia River between Multnomah County, Oregon and Skamania County, Washington. on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (Jordan Gale/Oregon Capital Chronicle) After dropping to historic levels last year due to ongoing drought and high temperatures, hydropower generated in the Northwest is expected to rise slightly this year from much needed precipitation. Hydropower in the region is expected to increase about 17% compared to last year, a welcome boost to growing energy demand, but will still be below the 10-year average, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Officials at the Energy Information Administration published their 2025 forecast on May 19, as well as annual expectations for water supplies in key river basins generating the hydroelectricity. Overall hydropower generation in the U.S. is expected to rise 7.5% in 2025, which will also still keep overall hydropower generation below the 10-year average. Hydropower represents about 6% of the country's electricity. The increase in hydropower expected in 2025 is due in large part to above average precipitation in northern California, Oregon and eastern Washington during the past winter and this spring. Parts of southeast Oregon received record rainfall this spring, causing Gov. Tina Kotek in March to declare a state of emergency. Despite the increased precipitation in some parts of the state, the Upper Columbia River Basin near Grand Coulee Dam in Washington will have a below-normal water supply this year when compared to the past 30 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Northwest River Forecast Center. Water supply will be about normal or above normal in the southern portion of the Columbia River, which includes the Snake River Basin. Eleven Western states produce up to 60% of the country's hydroelectricity. Washington, California and Oregon are the three largest contributors, with dams in Oregon and Washington producing more than one-third of all U.S. hydropower. About 40% of the electricity used in Oregon comes from the region's hydroelectric dams. But ongoing drought, periods of low precipitation and rising summer temperatures that melt mountain snowpack too quickly have led to lower-than-usual power generating capacity at dams in the West. Both Oregon and Washington generated 20% less hydropower in 2023 than they did in 2021, and hydropower generation in the Northwest dropped to a historic 22-year low between Oct. 2022 and Sept. 2023. Hydropower generated in 2024 was the lowest it's been since 2010, according to the federal Energy Information Administration. The loss in generating capacity has cost the hydropower industry billions in revenue in recent years, according to researchers from the University of Alabama. The sector lost about 300 million megawatt hours of power generation between 2003 and 2020 due to drought and low water compared with the long-term average, equating to about $28 billion in lost revenue. Half of the drop in power generation was due to drought in Oregon, Washington and California. In Oregon, the hydroelectricity sector is estimated to have lost more than $1.5 billion in revenue over those 18 years. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
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6 days ago
- Business
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State Rep. Bobby Levy weighs in on bills close to family business while lawmakers weigh regulations
Rep. Bobby Levy, R-Echo, works on the House floor at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023. (Amanda Loman/Oregon Capital Chronicle) On Feb. 5, state Rep. Bobby Levy, R-Echo, urged legislators at a hearing in the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Wildfire to oppose a bill that would have required large farm owners to report their fertilizer use to the Oregon Department of Agriculture. The goal of the bill, which died in the committee after the hearing, was to help curb groundwater pollution that's become a growing issue in Levy's district in northeast Oregon. 'Making the suggestion that over application (of fertilizer) is widespread is both inaccurate and unfair,' she told the senators. A month later, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality identified 'the Levy farm' in a citation as having over-applied fertilizer on corn fields owned by the family's business throughout 2023, causing pollution to waters of the state, in an already contaminated aquifer. Levy's opposition to the fertilizer reporting bill — Senate Bill 747 — did not include any mention of her own farmland holdings or the income she gets from her family business, Windy River, proprietor of those fields of corn. 'Workers and families with polluted drinking water need good representation on this issue and aren't getting it,' Kaleb Lay, policy director at Oregon Rural Action, said via text. 'We're going to need leadership from the legislature to hold polluters accountable in the Lower Umatilla Basin.' Although Levy has named seven businesses in the statement of economic interest she submits annually to the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, Levy isn't barred from sponsoring, testifying on or voting on bills that would directly benefit the family businesses that she receives income from. In fact, by Oregon law, she said she and other legislators are required to vote on bills even when they've declared a conflict of interest. 'As a member of the House of Representatives, it is my honor and obligation to comply with the rules of the House, state law and the Oregon Constitution,' Levy said in an email. 'House rules require me to attend all committee meetings unless I am excused. House rules require me to vote and prohibit me from abstaining from voting. If I am faced with an actual or potential conflict of interest, House rules require me to announce the nature of the conflict prior to voting on the issue that is creating the conflict.' Kate Titus, executive director of Common Cause Oregon, a nonpartisan, nonprofit group focused on public policy in the state, said many other states have laws that recommend or require lawmakers to abstain from voting on bills where they've declared a financial conflict of interest. 'Oregon is behind on these ethics laws,' Titus said. Two bills currently being considered by legislators would change that and offer more transparency. Senate Joint Resolution 9, sponsored by state Sen. Fred Girod, R-Stayton, would refer a ballot measure to Oregon voters in November to decide whether to amend the state constitution to prohibit legislators from voting on bills when they've declared a conflict of interest. Little action has been taken on the proposal, which has been sitting in the Senate Rules Committee since January. Another proposal, made at the request of Gov. Tina Kotek for the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, would expand Oregon's conflict of interest laws to apply to other members of a public figure's household. This means officials would need to declare conflicts of interest not only if they or their business would materially benefit or suffer from a bill, but if it would benefit or damage a relative or a member of the official's household, or any businesses associated with relatives or members of the household. The proposal — House Bill 2930 — unanimously passed the House in April and is awaiting a final vote in the Senate. The interests of Levy's family businesses also hew closely to a bill she's sponsoring and another she's opposed, related to power and data centers. Levy is sponsoring a bill that would exempt Umatilla County from Oregon's 45-year-old statewide nuclear ban — an exemption that would favor tech companies already investing billions in small nuclear reactors in the region to power their growing number of energy-hungry data centers and AI processing servers. She also opposed a bill that would create a separate rate class for data centers to ensure costs of grid and infrastructure expansion needed to power them aren't passed onto utilities' residential customers. Demand for power from the Umatilla Electric Cooperative, which supplies electricity to much of Levy's district, has grown 556% in the last decade, according to recent analysis by the nonprofit research organization Sightline Institute. Nearly all of that is from Amazon data centers in the county. Levy did not disclose while she lobbied for and against these bills that the family business Windy River has made deals with Amazon, including selling the company more than 100 acres of its land in 2021 for nearly $3.7 million, to build a new data center that is nearing completion. Windy River still holds the water rights to that land. Levy also did not share that Windy River's farm acres get wastewater to use for irrigation from another Amazon data center, according to the Port of Morrow's most recent wastewater permit. Oregon law does require disclosures of donations to public officials' campaigns, which show Levy accepted a $2,000 donation from Amazon in November. The company gave similarly sized donations to a number of lawmakers from both parties in 2024. Levy contends she did not need to declare a conflict of interest related to the Senate bill that would have required fertilizer reporting because it never went to a vote. The only reason the environmental quality department knows about the overfertilized fields at the Levy farm is because the farm gets wastewater from J.R. Simplot Company and the Hermiston Power Plant. J.R. Simplot has a state-regulated wastewater permit that allows it to supply the Levy farm with wastewater, and in return Simplot is required to report how much fertilizer farmers are laying down on those wastewater-irrigated fields, and to allow DEQ to test wells nearby the farm fields for contaminants. Windy River, the Levy family's company, is now trying to stop receiving water from Simplot, meaning their fields would no longer be monitored under Simplot's state-regulated wastewater permit, and DEQ would no longer be able to monitor Windy River's fertilizer use. Levy said the other bills currently being considered do not require disclosures because they do not and will not directly financially benefit her or her family's businesses, and that she is following all of Oregon's ethics laws. 'The founders of this great state had the wisdom to enshrine in our constitution protections to ensure that legislators have the freedom to engage in robust debate in determining what laws to enact, without fear of being questioned by others outside of the legislature about what is said in that debate,' she said. 'This protection enables me to advocate for the interests of my constituents to the best of my abilities, without fear of malicious prosecution by those who do not hold my constituents' best interests to heart.' Titus said regardless of Oregon's ethics laws being behind the times, public officials should strive for a high degree of transparency and disclosure. 'At some level, you can't fault legislators for playing by the rules, but it's important that elected officials uphold the highest standards of transparency,' she said. 'We elect legislators because they have expertise that represents our community, or certain experiences in our communities. We don't want to prevent them from voting on things that broadly affect them, too. But at some point, when it's related to a very specific private, economic interest, they should need to recuse themselves.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
