League of Oregon Cities approves legislative priorities
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, December 4th, 2024 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
SALEM – The League of Oregon Cities Board of Directors has unanimously adopted nine priorities for the coming 2025 session of the Oregon Legislature. The priorities were adopted after a committee process this spring and a vote by the league’s 241 member cities over the summer.
The LOC was created in 1925. It represents the cities through advocacy, training, and information. Its president is Hermiston Mayor David Drotzmann. Its 16-member board includes Pendleton City Councilwoman McKennon McDonald, who is Pendleton’s mayor-elect; Councilman Roberto Escobedo of Nyssa; and Councilwoman Carol MacInnes of Fossil.
Here are the nine top priorities that received the most votes from the league’s membership for the 2025-2026 biennium:
Community Infrastructure and Housing Development Funding – The LOC will advocate for a comprehensive infrastructure package that supports increased water, sewer, stormwater, and road investments from that state. Without continual infrastructure investments, communities cannot build needed housing; these two priorities are inherently linked. To this end, the LOC will advocate for continued state investments to support the development and preservation of a range of needed housing types and affordability.
2025 Transportation Package – The LOC will support a robust, long-term, multimodal transportation package focused on: stabilizing funding for operations and maintenance for local governments and ODOT; continued investment in transit and bike/ped programs, safety, and congestion management; and completion of projects from HB 2017. This objective includes support for a transition from a gas tax to a road user fee and improved community safety and livability.
Recreational Immunity – The LOC will introduce legislation to protect cities and other landowners who open their property for recreational purposes from tort liability claims.
Behavioral Health Enhancements – The LOC will support legislation to expand access to behavioral health treatment beds and allow courts greater ability to direct persons unable to care for themselves into treatment through the civil commitment process.
Lodging Tax Flexibility – The LOC will advocate for legislation that increases the flexibility to use locally administered and collected lodging tax revenue to support tourism-impacted services. These services include public safety, community infrastructure, and housing-related investments.
Shelter Funding and Homeless Response – The LOC will support a comprehensive homeless response package to fund the needs of homeless shelters, homeless response efforts statewide, and capital projects. Funding will include baseline operational support to continue and strengthen coordinated regional homeless response and include a range of shelter types and services and other related services.
Address Energy Affordability Challenges from Rising Utility Costs – The LOC will support actions to maintain affordable, reliable, and resilient energy resources and invest in programs and new technology that support energy efficiency, renewable energy, battery storage, and resilient communities. These efforts will help address members’ concerns about increased costs associated with energy usage.
Operator-In-Training Apprenticeships – The LOC will advocate for funding apprenticeship training programs and expanding bilingual training opportunities to promote the workforce development of qualified wastewater and drinking water operators.
ORS 195.530 Johnson v. Grants Pass – The LOC will advocate public policy that allows cities to respond to the unique needs of their community’s housed and unhoused members. This advocacy will include adjustments to ORS 195.530 to provide cities with the necessary tools to address unsafe camping conditions, safeguard public spaces, and protect the health, safety, and wellness of all community members. For more information on these priorities, go to www.orcities.org.
Photo of League of Oregon Cities Board President David Drotzmann, mayor of Hermiston
