Throughout the session, AOC members and staff actively engaged with nearly 130 of the 300 total bills introduced this session for their potential impact to county budgets, services, or governance. In addition, our team analyzed and submitted fiscal impact statements on behalf of counties for nearly 140 bills and amendments, at the request of the Legislative Fiscal Office.
AOC staff, alongside county commissioners statewide, invested countless hours in the Capitol — submitting letters, providing testimony, and meeting with legislators. Their efforts were focused on protecting county budgets and services, maintaining local control, and ensuring the Legislature recognized the essential role counties play in serving all Oregonians.
AOC’s advocacy was critical given the numerous bills introduced that directly impact counties, the efforts to rebalance the state’s general fund balance, and the fast pace of session deadlines.
AOC specifically lobbied legislative budget writers in the months leading up to session, advocating for the preservation of core services by seeking savings through the least disruptive measures and avoiding cuts that reduce funding for mandated state-county shared services or shift cost burdens to county governments. The Legislature ultimately mitigated state general fund budget gaps through state agency vacancy savings and cuts to services and supplies. Consequently, county budgets avoided direct cuts or cost shifts from state agency budget rebalances.
“This session delivered serious wins for counties, a direct result of partnership and relationship-building over the last several years, strategic and thoughtful messaging, the tireless efforts of our dedicated AOC staff, and the steadfast engagement of our commissioners, chairs, and judges,” commented AOC President Erin Skaar.
The following bills passed during the short session will empower local governments to better fund core services, invest in vital infrastructure, and reform behavioral health and veterans services.
Lodging tax reform
The bipartisan passage of House Bill 4148 is a huge win for counties, increasing local control over transient lodging tax (TLT) revenue, which has been restricted since 2003. Local governments can now redirect more of this money to public safety services – law enforcement, fire, and search and rescue – responding to rising demands and impacts from visitors. Local governments can also maintain shared assets like trails, campgrounds, and parks, which report $59 million in deferred maintenance on average. Tourists increasingly stay in short-term rentals outside traditional tourism zones, adding wear on roads, parks, and water systems. Finally, TLT is now eligible to fund critical infrastructure needs, including the transportation deficit of nearly $1.5 billion and over $5 billion in water infrastructure needs faced by cities and counties.
Oregon Government Ethics Commission package
This suite of bills provides much needed updates and clarifications to mitigate risk and confusion for local governments. House Bill 4177 clarifies that information sharing, discussions of procedural matters, and comments to the media and/or constituents are not a violation of law. House Bill 4161 clarifies food and beverage accommodations for public officials. HB 4159 requires that a local government representative is on the Oregon Government Ethics Commission.
Farm stores
Another big win for local control, House Bill 4153 allows counties to approve farm stores instead of farm stands on land zoned for exclusive farm use. Passage of this bill gives counties control over permitting processes and ensures the preservation of working agricultural land. While maintaining consistency in the permitting requirements statewide, this bill gives counties flexibility around siting standards, preserving their ability to meet each community’s unique needs.
Behavioral health care
House Bill 4070A is an important step forward in the ongoing work of eliminating needless administrative burden on Oregon’s public behavioral health system. Decades of accumulated state regulation has led to duplication and confusion of roles and responsibilities for publicly funded behavioral health care, creating costly inefficiencies and distress to community members and the professionals who serve them. We are delighted by the passage of HB 4070A, aligning our behavioral health telehealth regulations with those governing physical health and providing an essential guardrail for quality of care.
Urban growth boundaries
House Bill 4035 expands eligibility for cities to extend their urban growth boundaries. The bill builds on recent reforms designed to enhance local planning flexibility by allowing communities that demonstrate clear housing and land needs to participate in a process that increases the available land for housing development.
Veterans services task force
House Bill 4099 creates a task force on responding to veterans in crisis. As frontline service providers, counties undertake the important task of helping veterans every day. County Veteran Service Officers connect veterans to benefits, and counties serve as the Local Mental Health Authority, overseeing the community mental health programs that operate mobile crisis services. Ensuring that veterans in crisis have access to trained responders to help them through that crisis will result in better outcomes and avoid involvement in the criminal justice system. AOC eagerly awaits the ideas and solutions this task force will identify.
Emergency management
AOC strongly supported House Bill 4121, which passed with bipartisan support, creating authority for statewide emergency management coordination — a function that counties are mandated to provide by statute. This bill takes both a big picture look at the infrastructure needed at the state level and zooms down to the micro level to assist local governments and community organizations as they prepare for the next disaster. There is substantial uncertainty regarding the commitment from our federal partners to state and local governments. Instead of waiting for that uncertainty to be resolved, Oregon is focused on strengthening its own capabilities for disaster preparation, response, and recovery. This bill provides the framework for public and individual assistance grant programs to mirror the FEMA programs, which can help households and local governments recover after disasters, and includes further funding for the CORE3 project in Deschutes County
Contributed by: Mallorie Roberts, Legislative Affairs Director