The 2022 Legislative Session – Bills to watch:

As the 2022 “short session” kicks off, there are several bills OHA is engaging on and many others we are monitoring for any cross-section with our interests.  This legislative session is a sprint, roughly 35 days from start to finish, requiring OHA lobbyists and policy staff to watch bills closely and be ready to engage on a moment’s notice.

Bills OHA is actively engaging on:

HB 4130  – Wildlife corridor funding. This bill is the result of a long workgroup process, led by Rep. Helm, which OHA has been a part of and is supported by numerous conservation groups.  In fact, there has not been one testimony submitted in opposition of this general fund appropriations request to complete ongoing corridor and crossings projects.  OHA Conservation Coordinator, Tyler Dungannon, provided testimony on behalf of OHA and several other conservation groups;  view his testimony HERE.

SB 1546 – Establishes the Elliott State Research Forest. OHA board member, Ken McCall, has been involved in the conversations around the Elliott State Forest for years and has serving on the Elliott Advisory Committee. Though the history of the Elliott has been disjointed, OHA supports the development of the research forest and testified as such; view his testimony HERE.

HB 4127 – Requests a general fund appropriation to the Wolf Management Compensation and Proactive Trust Fund.  OHA supports increased wolf management in Oregon and this fund is just one of many tools needed in the toolbox of management. Accurate population modeling, development of management zones, research regarding the effects of the increasing wolf population on ungulate populations, and the evaluation and implementation of controlled take, per the wolf plan’s metrics, must be added to that toolbox.  OHA will testify in support of this bill on February 7.

HB 4141 – Phase out of petroleum-based diesel for highway use. As it is currently written, this is a bad bill.  Amendments are expected to change this bill from a plan to restrict the ability to purchase and sell petroleum-based diesel fuel for road use by 2029 in favor of renewable diesel to a study or workgroup process to study the availability and costs of renewable diesel.  OHA is prepared to testify against this bill, if no suitable amendment is made, on February 10.

HB 4080 – Renewal of the predator control district program.  This bill was unfortunately killed in the 2021 session and is back again to attempt to re-establish the predator control district program. OHA will be monitoring the progress of this bill and will testify as needed in support.

Other bills of note:

SB 1502/SB 1502/HB4055 – These three forestry bills are a result of the Private Forest Accord, brokered in the last year by several large forestland owners, a small woodlands representative, and numerous environmental organizations.  While OHA is not opposing these bills, we are watching them carefully, particularly due to the inclusion of beaver trapping restrictions that were included in the negotiations at the last minute.

 

To find out more about these bills, and others introduced into the session, go to the Oregon State Legislature page.

 

Initiative Petitions on the Horizon:

IP17 & IP18: Gun Control Initiatives 

Two gun control initiatives aimed for the November 2022 ballot have been filed with the Oregon Attorney General:

  • IP17: Imposes a new, additional permit system in order to purchase a firearm, and prohibits possession or use of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.
  • IP18: Prohibits manufacturing, possessing and transferring many semiautomatic firearms.

OHA submitted a letter about IP17 to the Attorney General stating that the petition violates the constitutional provision that initiatives only address one subject.

OHA also sent a letter to the Attorney General on IP18 that in part stated:

“IP18 also purports to prohibit the use of covered firearms for practice and target shooting expressly permitted under federal law on federal public lands such as the national forests and BLM lands, which comprise almost 50 percent of Oregon’s land. The Draft Ballot Title does not inform voters of this radical, indeed unprecedented effect of IP18.”

OHA is working closely with gun advocate groups to stop these two petitions.

IP13/IP3: Attempt to criminalize hunting, fishing, and trapping – see side bar information and full information page HERE

 

To learn more about these bills, visit 

www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws

Initiative Petition 13/Initiative Petition 3:

Access the IP13/IP3 Information & Updates page HERE

 

Looking for bills?  Try these links:

This one takes you to the main Bills page, where you can search by bill number:

https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws

This page allows you to subscribe for bill updates and alerts:

https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/citizen_engagement/Pages/e-Subscribe.aspx

You’ll see a “sign up” box towards bottom of page, which allows you to sign up and customize the bills you want to get updates on.

Sign up for OHA updates and alerts at:

https://oregonhunters.org/sign-up/