The 2022 session of the Oregon state legislature opened on February 1, and will be in full swing until it concludes at the end of March.
Restore Oregon has a short legislative agenda. Our staff, alongside the volunteer experts on our Policy and Advocacy Committee, are focused on two main bills, while we are tracking a few others. Below is an overview.
HB 4054-1 (Special Assessment of Historic Properties)
Oregon has only one state incentive program, Special Assessment of Historic Properties, and it has been in existence since the 1970s. The program is set to expire in June. Introduced and amended by Representatives Bobby Levy and Andrea Valderrama, the public hearing for extending this program for two more years took place on the first day of session. The bill came out of discussions with input from a volunteer committee known as the Working Group of the House Revenue Committee. Restore Oregon provided both live and written testimony in support of HB 4054-1.
A House Revenue Committee work session is scheduled for February 15th, so the fate of this bill’s path is still in progress.
An exciting “larger picture” has grown from the efforts of Representatives Levy and Valderama: the potential for legislative action in 2023 to create or re-envision a new incentive program for historic properties with the values of equity, inclusion, anti-displacement and affordability front and center. The discussions include ideas like a statewide residential grant program or a state tax credit crafted to prioritize these goals. Restore Oregon is in full support of expanding the circle of preservation and creating a modern and innovative incentive program for Oregon.
HB 4040 (Pandemic relief for cultural organizations)
This bill would provide $50M in emergency relief funding to “award grants to Oregon cultural organizations in response to the negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic on organizations' earned revenue.”
As a member of the Cultural Advocacy Coalition of Oregon, Restore Oregon is heartily in support and submitted testimony in support of this bill, alongside many others in the broader arts and culture sector. Because so much of the arts and culture sector that takes place in historic venues and interprets our shared cultural heritage has been curtailed for two years now, we must all continue to work together and support the entire ecosystem of Oregon’s critical arts/culture/heritage economy.
At a work session this morning in the House Committee on Economic Recovery and Prosperity, Chairperson and Representative Lively stated that this bill was not moving forward but would become part of a larger economic development bill that would be taken up by the Ways and Means Committee within the week. So, we will stayed tuned and stay ready to jump into advocacy action with our partners across Oregon.
Bills of Interest/Tracking
We are fortunate to have volunteers and collaborators from other groups skimming through all of the introduced legislation and pointing out bills that may affect historic preservation. A handful will require further investigation, so we have not yet taken any positions of support or opposition. As we all know, bills can often morph with amendments and become better, worse, or all together something “other.”
Restore Oregon remains committed to being both a watchdog and proactive advocate for state policy that can advance equitable and inclusive preservation.