Rep. Hieb: My detailed review of the 2023 Session

By State Representative James Hieb,

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

The 2023 Legislative Session has finally come to an end. We closed out this session at 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 25th, which was 7 hours ahead of the Constitutional Deadline. This session started out Good, then it got Bad, and then it got just plain Ugly. I’m happy we have reached the finish line to “Sine Die” this 2023 Long Session.

The 2023 session started out great. My wife and kids were regulars at our Capitol Office. We were excited to start my first long session at the Oregon Legislature. After being appointed to HD39 and making it through the rest of the 2022 short session, I was anxious and ready to get to work as the newly elected State Representative in the newly redistricted House District 51. I had previously introduced several bills for the long session, was excited, and ready to go! Ultimately, every bill that I had drafted was killed in committee. Luckily though, I was still able to get some of my priorities included in various other pieces of legislation.

The Good.

Funding:

Politics has been coined by academia as “who gets what and how.”

While I’d prefer that more of our tax dollars went back into our pockets, we got the next best thing. I successfully redirected a portion of our tax dollars away from Portland and towards impactful projects right here in House District 51 and the surrounding Clackamas County.

$2.4+ Million for the City of Estacada – wastewater treatment project – This will help to keep rates down for affordable housing.
$850,000 to the Boring Oregon Foundation to purchase property needed to build their new community center.
$1 Million for the Vietnam War Memorial at the State Capitol grounds.
$30 Million for the Clackamas County Courthouse – The new courthouse is already under construction and is located on the Red Soils Campus in Oregon City. Hopefully more funding is on the way!

Here’s a few good things we did get accomplished during this “Trainwreck” of a legislative session.

This session, I was able to contribute to a few pieces of legislation, which I signed onto as a Sponsor or Chief Sponsor. We are including a comprehensive list of bills that made it out of the legislative process, that I signed onto, and were subsequently signed into law by the Governor:

– House Bill 3441/Senate Bill 933 – These stopped tolling of I-205 until at least 2026. These bills were not signed into law because of overwhelming community support that the Governor went forward with them through executive order.
– HB2645 – Makes possession of 1 gram or more of fentanyl, or 5 pills, a Class A misdemeanor.
– House Bill 2395 – Increases the availability of Naloxone, an overdose antidote kit, and protects “Good Samaritans” from prosecution.
– SB957 – Increases the penalties for sexual acts done in the presence of a minor.
– SB974 – Creates the crime of “sexual abuse by fraudulent representation” in order to prosecute predatory doctors and other professionals who use their title to abuse children.
– SB498 – Increases inheritance tax exemption from $1 million to $15 million, protecting family farms.
– HCR13 – Recognizing and honoring Specialist Four Michael Lee Wilkins for sacrificing his life in the service of our Nation.
– SB420 – Directs DHS to provide resources and services to individuals who have a brain injury.
– HB2296 – This bill is a temporary fix to Oregon’s hemorrhaging of Law Enforcement Officers. It allows retired Police Officers to fill some of the vacant positions, without it affecting their retirement funds.
– HB2535 – Provides a doula or midwife services to Mothers who are incarcerated while pregnant.
– HB2594 – Modifies the penalty for littering of burning material, giving Police officers more discretion whether to cite someone as a violation or misdemeanor.
– HB2627 – Modifies the Oregon Medical Board to add an additional Physicians Assistant position to the 14-member committee.
– HB2634 – Modifies the definition of a “Recreational RV Park” to provide a distinction for residential tenancy law.
– HB2676 – Modifies provisions related to compensation for victims of violent crime.
– HB2687 – Authorizes the Department of Agriculture to issue pesticide applicator licenses to Indian Tribe members, for use outside Tribal lands.
– HB2725 – Prohibits pharmacy benefit managers from retroactively denying or reducing payment on claim after a prescription has been dispensed to the patient.
– HB2732 – Allocates funding to qualifying Child Advocacy Centers for survivors of horrific abuse.
– HB2772 – Creates a state level offense of “domestic terrorism” in the first degree or second degree.
– HB2812 – Provides income tax deductions for individuals who lost their homes in the wildfires that were not a part of the federally declared emergency.
– SB853 – This bill was intended to stop travel reimbursement payments for telecommuting State Employees that live out of state.
– SB4 – Allocates funds to incentivize microchip manufacturers to Oregon. This will have a local economic benefit as well as bolstering our national security.
– SB11 – Requires meetings of State entities to be posted online to be viewable by the public with no charge.
– SB70 – Modifies requirements for residential rezoning of lands within Eastern Oregon Border Economic Development Region.
– SB238 – Creates educational program to inform students about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, as well as certain good Samaritan laws that protect people who assist someone experiencing alcohol poisoning or a drug overdose.
– SB450 – Exempts Naloxone and other opioid overdose reversal drugs from certain labeling requirements.
– SB478 – Dedicates a portion of Oregon Highway 82, which shall be known as Deputy Raymond Williams and Deputy Michael Cheney Memorial Highway.
– SB479 – Directs State Department of Agriculture to adopt rules allowing donation of meat to charitable organizations and other organizations that offer food for noncommercial purposes.
– SB482 – Provides that aviation maintenance occurring at an airport in a neighboring state may be included in clock hours of instruction for purposes of Community College Support Fund.
– SB548 – Provides children who are in the foster care system luggage for their clothes, instead of garbage bags, when moving between families.
– SB573 – Allows for an individual to amend their original birth certificate to include their biological father, if both parties agree.
– SB609 – Allows a graduate student’s studies to qualify as “hours worked” as it pertains to snap benefits.
– SB644 – Amends requirements relating to wildfire hazard mitigation for development of accessory dwelling units on lands zoned for rural residential use.
– SB785 – Allows a person to park in a parking spot if the meter is broken, unless otherwise marked.
– SB835 – Directs DEQ to adopt rules allowing for an accessory dwelling unit to be connected to the existing septic system of the main residence, provided they are on the same lot or parcel.
– SB864 – Provides that person who voluntarily fights wildfire on private forestland is not civilly liable for injury to person or property resulting from good faith performance of firefighting efforts.
– SB900 – Provides grant program to provide funds for law enforcement to combat organized theft rings.
– SB931 – Provides rules for when an accessory dwelling unit can be permitted to use a private septic system versus when they will be required to hook up to city utilities.
– SB955 – A grant program to help with the stresses and mental health needs of the agricultural community.
– SB1034 – Directs Department of Education to make biennial transfer to Oregon Military Department from the State School Fund for purpose of paying costs of educational services provided through programs operated by military department for at-risk youth.
– SB1043 – Provides that if someone is being treated for opioid addiction, two doses of naloxone are provided upon discharge.
– SB1052 – Relating to involuntary servitude (slavery) occurring in Oregon’s southern districts and adds penalties for human trafficking.
– SCR2 – Recognizes the Oregon National Guard and their contribution in fighting the 2020 wildfires.
– SCR16 – Brings members of the south Pacific Islanders into the COFA agreement, allowing for federal recognition in order to receive benefits afforded to other people with permanent residency status.
– SCR18 – Adjourns sine die 2023 regular session of Eighty-second Legislative Assembly.

The Bad.

House getting bad

Things started to get Bad when it became apparent that only Majority Party bills were going to move forward. My Republican colleagues and I had diligently drafted and collaborated on several bills, consulting various agencies, entities, advocacy groups, and other stakeholders. Many of these bills had broad bicameral, bipartisan support, but were lacking one crucial thing: They were not introduced by members of the “Correct Party.”

Each of us House Members represent an equal number of voters in their districts. We are supposed to have an equal voice at the table. To my dismay, the Orwellian dystopia has become near prophesy. As was stated in the famous George Orwell novel, Animal Farm:
“We are all equal. Some of us are just more equal than others.”

This session was going downhill fast, then things started to get Ugly.

The Ugly.

Things got ugly for the state when the voices and concerns of Oregonians were disregarded by other Legislators. The promise of bipartisanship was hollow, mere lip service. There was an illusion of cooperation when we did show up. But we were discouraged from asking questions of the experts and prevented from inviting experts of our own to testify. Although I anticipated a little of this, being in the minority party, how were we to represent our constituents when we weren’t even allowed to be part of the discussions?

Then came HB 2002 and HB 2005. These bills were by far, the most controversial bills of this session, which resulted in the longest Walk-Out in Oregon’s history. HB 2002 was being touted by the Left and its bias narrative Complicit Media as a “Women’s Reproductive Rights” bill, knowing abortion is already widely supported in Oregon. What was really happening was that the Majority Party was “Logrolling” bad bills into this bill under the guise of popular policy. This has been deemed unconstitutional by the Oregon Supreme Court.

HB 2005 was being branded as a bill that would ban “Ghost Guns” and quickly became a “Gun Grabber Omnibus Bill,” written entirely by people without firearm knowledge.

Parting Thoughts:

In reflecting upon these past 160 days, I think we did as well as any minority party can hope to do. We forced compromise when the odds were stacked against us.

AND….. I have been asked many times: “What about those Senators who missed more than 10 days? Can they still run for re-election?”

Well….. Section 4 Article 15 of the Oregon Constitution was amended, as you may know. But, to cut to the chase, it says: “Shall disqualify the member from holding office as Senator or Representative for the term following the election after the current term is completed.”

The way many people are interpreting this is that these Senators are possibly allowed one more term. We shall see…..

Semper Fidelis,