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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 3F: Ratification of IGR Committee Actions ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Ratification of Intergovernmental Relations Committee Actions of February 5, 2008, and February 13, 2008 Meeting Date: April 14, 2008 Agenda Item Number: 3F Department: City Manager’s Office Staff Contact: Brenda Wilson www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 682-8441 ISSUE STATEMENT This is an action item to ratify the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) Committee meetings of February 5, and February 13, 2008. BACKGROUND As a matter of procedure, the City Council is routinely asked to ratify the actions taken by the IGR Committee. This is done by submitting the minutes of each committee meeting to the council. Actions on which the committee is not unanimous are brought before the full City Council for consideration. These bills must be addressed by the full council in order to provide direction to staff in Salem. RELATED CITY POLICIES Ratification of IGR Committee actions is the making or affirming of the City of Eugene’s policy with respect to Federal and State legislative issues or such other matters as may come to the council from the committee. COUNCIL OPTIONS The council may ratify or decline to ratify the IGR Committee’s actions as set forth in the minutes of the committee's meeting. CITY MANAGER’S RECOMMENDATION The City Manager recommends ratification of the IGR Committee's actions as set forth in the minutes of the committee's meeting. SUGGESTED MOTION Move to ratify the IGR Committee's actions as set forth in the minutes of the February 5 and February 13, 2008, IGR meetings. L:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M080414\S0804143F.doc ATTACHMENTS A. IGR Committee Minutes of February 5, 2008 B. IGR Committee Minutes of February 13, 2008 FOR MORE INFORMATION Staff Contact: Brenda Wilson Telephone: 682-8441 Staff E-Mail: brenda.s.wilson@ci.eugene.or.us L:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M080414\S0804143F.doc ATTACHMENT A M I N U T E S Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations McNutt Room—Eugene City Hall 777 Pearl Street, Eugene, Oregon February 13, 2008 10:30 a.m. PRESENT: Betty Taylor, Chair; George Poling, Andrea Ortiz, members; Mayor Kitty Piercy; Brenda Wilson, Jessica Mumme, Mary Walston, City Manager's Office. Call to Order and Review Agenda Ms. Taylor called the meeting of the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (CCIGR) to order and reviewed the agenda. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW)/Delta Ponds Grant Application Committee members unanimously approved submission of a grant application to ODFW for funding to continue natural resource enhancements to the Delta Ponds system. My Hometown Helper Grant Application Ms. Wilson explained that the application would be for $3,000 to fund completion of 10 Fire Safety Traveling Trunks as part of a public education program. She noted that no local matching funds were required. Committee members unanimously approved submission of the grant application to the My Hometown Helper program. Discuss Pending Legislation Mr. Poling said that there were occasionally bills that did not directly affect the City, but which he would like to see the City support. He hoped to find a way for the City to voice that support without diverting Ms. Wilson's time and attention from more pressing issues. He gave HB 3619 and HB 3627 as examples of bills that were currently recommended for neutral or drop priority, but for which he wanted to demonstrate support without requiring Ms. Wilson to action. Ms. Wilson said the status could be changed to support level 3, as that would not present a problem during the special session in which the number of bills was very limited. Ms. Ortiz arrived at 10:40 a.m. MINUTES—Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations February 13, 2008 Page 1 Mr. Poling, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to support HB 3619 at level 3. The mo- tion passed unanimously. Regarding HB 3627, Ms. Wilson said the bill had been amended to establish the requirement for a needs assessment. Ms. Walston explained that she had recommended dropping the bill because Ms. Wilson's time was a limited resource and the bill did not directly impact the City. Mr. Poling, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to support HB 3627 at level 3. The mo- tion passed unanimously. Ms. Taylor thought that SB 1085 relating to urban renewal should be opposed because of its reference to noncontiguous lands. Ms. Taylor, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to oppose SB 1085. Ms. Wilson said she did not have specific information on the bill and would have Sue Cutsogeorge email information to the committee. Ms. Ortiz agreed that she would like more information on how the legislation might affect the Bethel School District. Committee members agreed to leave SB 1085 as neutral until its impact was better understood. Ms. Wilson said she would continue to watch the bill. In response to a question from Mr. Poling, Ms. Wilson explained that the Eugene Police Department recommended dropping SB 1095, relating to methamphetamine, because it had no direct impact on the City. Ms. Taylor determined that committee members did not object to Senate Concurrent Resolution 22. Ms. Wilson drew the committee's attention to a memorandum from Richie Weinman, Urban Services Manager, regarding two low-income housing bills. She said that SB 1073 requested $2 million to establish a revolving loan fund to preserve privately owned low-income housing projects that were in danger of becoming market rate housing. She noted that a list of projects in Lane County was included. She said the second bill had not yet been introduced and she was not certain if there was support for increase the cap on the Affordable Housing Tax Credit. She said that passage of SB 1073 was uncertain because the financial forecast was worse than the projected budget. Mr. Poling, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to support SB 1073. The motion passed unanimously. Ms. Piercy commented that when the program was originally established it was with the expectation that the projects would become market rate housing at a certain point. Ms. Wilson agreed and noted that the bill would not ask the current owner to maintain the property as low-income housing; it would establish a program that would allow a non-profit agency to purchase the property from the owner. MINUTES—Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations February 13, 2008 Page 2 Ms. Wilson remarked that the second bill had not been introduced, but the concept could appear in a Ways and Means bill. She asked for direction from the committee should the concept emerge. Ms. Ortiz, seconded by Mr. Poling, moved to support the concept of raising the Af- fordable House Tax Credit cap. The motion passed unanimously. Ms. Wilson explained that HB 3607 would establish an Oregon Declared Emergency Recovery Fund with General Fund and lottery moneys to provide small, low interest loans in the case of a disaster. She recommended supporting the bill at level 3. Ms. Ortiz, seconded by Mr. Poling, moved to support HB 3607 at level 3. The mo- tion passed unanimously. Ms. Wilson said that SB 1094 would require police officers to affix a "zebra" sticker on the license plate of someone who was stopped and was driving without a license or registration. The sticker would then provide probable cause for any public safety officer to pull that vehicle over. She said the American Civil Liberties Union had concerns with the legislation and the Eugene Police Department and Municipal Court recom- mended opposing at level 1 unless amended. She said police were opposed to the bill at this point because of safety concerns in situations where an officer was alone and the language requiring that an officer "shall" affix a sticker to the license plate. She said the court was concerned that the bill would remove the judge's discretion in sentencing. She expected the bill to be amended to address some of those concerns. Ms. Ortiz, seconded by Ms. Poling, moved to support the staff recommendation to oppose SB 1094 unless amended. The motion passed unanimously. Items from Members and Staff Ms. Wilson said the deadline for introduction of bills during the special session had passed, although she had seen instances where a bill had been "gutted and stuffed," leaving the bill number but completely changing the bill. She would bring those bills back to the committee via email. She did not see the need for another meeting during the session. Ms. Ortiz asked to have copies of the United Front book distributed to council members. She asked if the issue of a "quiet zone" would be added. Ms. Wilson said it was too late to include as part of the United Front effort and the timeline for requesting federal funds would expire in 48 hours. Ms. Ortiz observed that a quiet zone was a community impact issue and the City should be in involved in the effort, either through the United Front or another avenue. Ms. Piercy said funding for a quiet zone could be included in the "sidebar" discussions with congressional delegation representatives that members of the United Front group had when they were in Washington D.C. She said the possibility of funding for a quiet zone could be explored independently during those discussions. Ms. Wilson said the City could also explore grant funding for a quiet zone. She asked for all available information on the project to prepare for discussions of possible funding sources. Ms. Ortiz said she would be in Washington D.C. just after the United Front delegation and could follow-up on any sidebar discussions regarding the quiet zone. MINUTES—Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations February 13, 2008 Page 3 Ms. Wilson said there was no need for the committee to meet again during the special session; a meeting would be scheduled in late April to begin updating the legislative policy book. Ms. Piercy asked about the status of a State level solution to the program of transportation system funding. Ms. Wilson said the League of Oregon Cities was planning a public education campaign that would eventually come to Lane County. She said that any transportation funding package that emerged from the next session would require the public support and it was important to begin that education process now. The next meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, April 23, following the council's work session. The meeting adjourned at 11:27 p.m. (Recorded by Lynn Taylor) MINUTES—Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations February 13, 2008 Page 4 ATTACHMENT B M I N U T E S Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations McNutt Room—Eugene City Hall 777 Pearl Street, Eugene, Oregon February 5, 2008 Noon PRESENT: Betty Taylor, Chair; George Poling, Andrea Ortiz, members; Kitty Piercy, Mayor; Brenda Wilson, Jessica Mumme, Mary Walston, City Manager's Office; Chief Robert Lehner, El- wood Cushman, Eugene Police Department; Francisca Johnson, Human Rights Program. Call to Order and Review Agenda Ms. Taylor called the meeting of the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (CCIGR) to order. She determined there were no changes to the agenda. Legislative Concept 32 Discussion Ms. Wilson stated that staff had pulled Legislative Concept (LC) 32 for discussion. She said that typically the committee would receive a report with recommendations and comments from staff on bills that had been introduced, but bills for the supplemental session had only been released yesterday afternoon. She said LC 32 was an important discussion item because it would likely be the most controversial bill in the session. She said the concept was released as Senate Bill (SB) 1082 and House Bill (HB) 3624 and hearings had been scheduled and she anticipated that the Senate version would be sent to the floor with a do pass recommendation and move to the House for discussion. Ms. Wilson provided an overview of the legislation. She said the governor had signed an executive order in 2007 directing the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to adopt rules requiring specific documentation in order to obtain an Oregon driver's license or identification card and those rules went into effect February 4, 2008. She explained that the rules required documentation of proof that a person was in the country legally and proof of a Social Security card to obtain or renew a license or identification card. She said documenta- tion included a certified birth certificate or passport as well as any documents reflecting a name change due to divorce, marriage or adoption and this had implications for everyone, not just those who were in the country illegally. She said the governor indicated a desire for a two-step approach: 1) allow driver's licenses for purposes of driving and 2) allow identification for the purposes of the federal requirement; however, there did not appear to be any legislative support for the second step. Chief Lehner said the genesis of the legislation was federal standards that required a higher level of proof of identity, which could affect people's ability to fly on airplanes and travel to Canada and Mexico. He said state identification cards had to comply with federal requirements in order to be usable for boarding an aircraft; if Oregon did not comply residents could not use their driver's license to board an aircraft, regardless of the destination. He appreciated the governor's efforts to find a solution and regretted there was no legislative support. He was concerned with people driving cars without valid licenses, being tested for MINUTES—Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations February 5, 2008 Page 1 ability or having identification for contacting next of kin if there was an accident, we expressed that a greater concern was that in order to obtain either a license or identification card, people would be encour- aged to seek false documentation. He recommended opposing the legislation unless it was amended to permit "driving only" licenses. Mr. Poling arrived at 12:10 p.m. Ms. Wilson stated that 17 states had notified the federal government they would not comply with the federal requirements. Ms. Ortiz hoped that a two-tiered system could be implemented and agreed with Chief Lehner's concerns about driving illegally and false documentation. She questioned why insurance companies had not raised concerns about the legislation. Ms. Wilson said there could be testimony from insurance companies at the hearings. In response to Ms. Piercy's concerns that people would be targeted if they did not have proper documenta- tion, Chief Lehner said that many people who were legal residents chose not to obtain a passport because of the additional documentation burden and placing the same documentation requirements on a driver's license raised concerns because of that issue, not someone's immigration status. Ms. Wilson reiterated that someone would need to show either a birth certificate or a passport, plus proof of a Social Security number. Chief Lehner added that someone would need to show proof of a Social Security number or proof they were not eligible for one. He said each barrier to obtaining a license to properly and legally operate a motor vehicle was another step toward insuring there would be people driving illegally. Ms. Taylor said it could be difficult for women to provide documentation of a name change. Ms. Ortiz, seconded by Mr. Poling, moved to work for an amendment to the legisla- tion to permit a two-tiered system similar to that proposed by Governor Kulon- goski. The motion passed unanimously. Discuss Legislative Concepts and Additional Bills Ms. Wilson reviewed LC 103, introduced as HB 3635, and LC 67, which had not yet been introduced. She said LC 67 dealt with medical marijuana and HB 3635 dealt with legal medications in the workplace; HB 3635 listed various hazardous duties and provided that an employer did not have to accommodate the use of certain types of medications in those types of duties. She said the bill did not require employers to conduct drug testing. She said there did not appear to be any support for the bills during this session, but the committee might wish to provide direction in the event there was some movement. She said staff recom- mended support with an amendment to include driving a commercial vehicle in the list of hazardous duties. Ms. Ortiz observed that there were many more prescription drugs that could affect performance to a greater extent than those listed in the bill and people using them were allowed to work. Mr. Poling said the significant aspect of the bill was the identification of hazardous duties. He would support the bill and was in favor of the staff recommendation to amend the definition of hazardous duties. He would also like to see the list of medications increased. Ms. Wilson replied that it would be very difficult MINUTES—Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations February 5, 2008 Page 2 to increase the list of medications without specific information about how a particular drug might affect job performance. Ms. Piercy was reluctant to support the legislation because hazardous duties were not well enough defined and the list of medications and their effects had not been thoroughly examined. Ms. Taylor indicated she would not support the legislation. She asked Ms. Wilson to monitor the bills and notify the committee if there was any activity. Ms. Wilson announced that approximately 90 bills had been introduced yesterday and would be moving very quickly. She said those with a direct impact or of interest to the City had been referred to staff. She said there were several bills addressing the mortgage industry and regulation of lending, as well as health care. Ms. Piercy asked that the committee be made aware of bills from the local legislative delegation and said they should be supported if possible. Ms. Wilson said she would assign bills and resolutions from the legislative delegation to staff. Ms. Wilson reviewed SB 1073, which would allocate $2 million to a loan fund for low-income housing. She said staff was recommending support for a $2 million appropriation from the General Fund. She said there was a competing bill requesting $4 million for 1,400 low-income housing units across the State that were on the verge of converting to market rate housing. Ms. Piercy asked about the status of Senator Prozanski's proposal to head off the property crime initiative and provide legislation with less severe repercussions. Ms. Wilson said there were discussions in progress about the constitutionality of withdrawing the Kevin Mannix petition if a compromise could be reached. Mr. Poling asked how the $2 million low-income housing requested appropriation would be spent compared to the $4 million request, including location of the 1,400 housing units and how a revolving loan program would function. Ms. Wilson said she would ask staff to provide that information. Ms. Wilson reiterated that bills would be moving very quickly during the session, which would conclude at the end of February. She said she would use the legislative policy document for direction if there was no specific direction from the committee. She said an updated report would be provided at the committee's next meeting. Approval of Minutes Ms. Ortiz, seconded by Mr. Poling, moved to approve the January 3, 2008, minutes as submitted. The motion passed unanimously, 3:0. Future Meeting Dates February 13, 2008 - 10:30 a.m. February 20, 2008 - 1:30 p.m. February 27, 2008 - 1:30 p.m. MINUTES—Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations February 5, 2008 Page 3 Items from Members and Staff Members or staff raised no items. The meeting adjourned at 12:55 p.m. (Recorded by Lynn Taylor) MINUTES—Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations February 5, 2008 Page 4