[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6232079,"mediaKeyId","3426877-9152e6cad95e3b7d03f2cfb662fd108e","parentId",3426877,"title","Subcommittee ratifies maritime pilots operations fee increase; board says change needed to avoid reserve shortfall","audioSeconds",864,"startMs",762410,"endMs",1626705,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3426877-9152e6cad95e3b7d03f2cfb662fd108e&start=762&end=1626","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3426877-9152e6cad95e3b7d03f2cfb662fd108e/thumbnail_762410.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6232079/Oregon/Subcommittee-ratifies-maritime-pilots-operations-fee-increase-board-says-change-needed-to-avoid-reserve-shortfall","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6232079-775a1f2db3e1a5f2d99d68ae2cfd52bf/orig.mp4?Expires=1770950676&Signature=eLtDLlnQXpSZakgNIVfLzmaNRgwcNiOgQgO2TVosGZuI5MgCleZmFiBcq8Sudm2994E7Km4m9CfilGRw1-YKkC8-xFQ1dfB25AI3dhWJd-7OXcIRESq~q54vUn~HwVGAokCsMIglOkrWMw1VKudvJ45obz352IoKRbgEd4YVJrbW19HKrVQ6atJzVOapo-wbluxbdQjlulO9H2SKbc2ofwiwE3Vgoq0psPBT03RduXF4KgJnUbZVR67CDIbOul5iVTbD2sMnEBS-yHnu6no0uMVfuj8fS51FDSUnk6w02EWGlEyb5ECAdwjdvkZImF8mS9RSiJ~ByQAntBjIxSCmVA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Oregon Legislature","date","2025-05-20T00:00:00Z","article","The Joint Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Transportation and Economic Development voted May 20 to adopt the Legislative Fiscal Office's recommendation and a Dash 2 amendment to House Bill 5,042, ratifying an administrative rule that raises the Oregon Board of Maritime Pilots' operations fee from $50 to $70 effective July 15, 2025.

Tom Griffiths, executive director of the Oregon Board of Maritime Pilots, told the subcommittee the board's operating budget is funded primarily by pilot licensing fees and an operations fee charged to ships. \"We need to raise our revenue,\" Griffiths said, explaining that personnel and Department of Justice costs make up the large share of the board's expenses and that the operations fee had not changed since it was authorized in February 2013. Griffiths said the board set the administrative rule in January 2025, there were no public comments during the rulemaking process and the board approved the rule unanimously.

LFO materials presented to the subcommittee state the fee increase is expected to generate a total revenue of $964,639 and to provide the board with a recommended three-month operating reserve. Mr. Ruff of the Legislative Fiscal Office told members the statutory fee cap had originally been $100 and is automatically adjusted by CPI; agency rules currently list a higher figure reflecting CPI adjustments. LFO recommended adoption of the Dash 2 amendment to provide the enabling legislation required by statute for agencies that adopt fees between regular legislative sessions.

Representative Kate asked for clarification on the revenue math and the number of ship transits used to project revenue. The executive director said ship transits vary from year to year and provided approximate historical counts: \"ships per year is about between 2,000, 2 thousand 5 hundred,\" and said the board projects operations-fee revenue in the mid-hundreds of thousands of dollars. Griffiths noted that in AY25 operations-fee revenue collected was about $422,000 and that the operations-fee revenue projection included the effect of the $20 increase; LFO staff confirmed the figure quoted in the work materials was total projected revenue, not an amount in addition to existing revenue.

After brief discussion the subcommittee adopted the Dash 2 amendment without objection and moved House Bill 5,042 to the full Ways and Means Committee with a due-pass recommendation. Co Chair Gomberg said the bill will be carried to the House floor by Representative Watanabe and to the Senate floor by Senator Neron Mislan.

The record shows the board is planning to monitor revenue and ship traffic and to revisit the fee if needed later in the biennium. Griffiths told the committee the board's target operating reserve is in the three- to six-month range and that, based on current projections, the increase should bring them into the recommended reserve range.

","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Joint Committee On Ways and Means Subcommittee On Transportation and Economic Development 05/20/2025 3:00 PM","oneSentenceSummary","The Joint Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Transportation and Economic Development voted May 20 to adopt the Legislative Fiscal Office's recommendation and forward House Bill 5,042 after ratifying an administrative rule that raises the Oregon Board of Maritime Pilots' operations fee from $50 to $70, effective July 15, 2025.","taxTitle","Transportation and Economic Development, Ways and Means, Joint, Committees, Legislative, Oregon","taxId",20197,"location","Oregon","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6232084,"Subcommittee approves LFO-recommended Public Utility Commission budget and forwards bill to full committee",696,40915,737600,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3426877-9152e6cad95e3b7d03f2cfb662fd108e&start=40&end=737","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3426877-9152e6cad95e3b7d03f2cfb662fd108e/thumbnail_40915.jpg","/articles/6232084/Oregon/Subcommittee-approves-LFO-recommended-Public-Utility-Commission-budget-and-forwards-bill-to-full-committee","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6232084-4ff85f9bf0a27b878d2e1265cd231075/orig.mp4?Expires=1770950676&Signature=bNIH76JKj2eTt9PCZJRQccOa6UgLj7OWBAsk96WniZX13DNuXGLwhAsyq-XAStbi~EYbekIKjWZXWkS~GWpxSQec~v5ShkW2OxUwewE1JZ3dRdAT0nYQ-OyCQy67YSClGap2~bpTMQFh4hyYpC1uKrD2~dyg0T1N0wAQLYdp~LnNjSP6ITY18txGEBH628iKzlZ9CMtEINBUn2Ah9E-XmthkSiizJ~ciEd52Pq5drcOwwDLN41weNHm9f1LuZ0Ct-kyyRpEWoyp6RbvE25baCz4n3EUafZVL9O57zb~8nrbcu2M0dM9ffi8fN6l2bynW9QqGIhv1Gt9roXOyK1bQ-Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Co Chair Gomberg and members of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Transportation and Economic Development voted May 20 to adopt the Legislative Fiscal Office's recommendation for House Bill 5,034, the Public Utility Commission (PUC) budget, and moved the bill to the full Ways and Means committee with a due-pass recommendation.

The Legislative Fiscal Office (LFO) told the subcommittee the recommended total funds budget is $130,347,867, representing a 3.3% increase over current service levels, and includes funding to finish a new activity-and-docketing system, replace a 25-year-old Residential Service Protection Fund database, add positions for expanded wildfire mitigation oversight, and create a permanent public affairs specialist position. \"This is a 3.3% increase over the current service level,\" LFO staff member Mr. Ruff said as he summarized the recommendation.

LFO described the largest near-term, one-time items as a $2,100,000 other-funds limitation to complete the new docketing system and another package (listed in the work materials as package 109) increasing other-funds limitation by $1,668,493 to develop a new Residential Service Protection Fund database. To support wildfire mitigation oversight, LFO recommended establishing four permanent positions and $400,000 in professional services for validation, compliance reviews and performance analysis; package 104 (as corrected in the hearing) establishes the permanent analyst positions. Package 106 funds a permanent public affairs specialist position, and package 105 funds one-time professional services. LFO also recommended a $68,811 adjustment for activity-and-docket maintenance (package 102) and a bookkeeping shift of two gas-pipeline-safety positions from other funds to federal funds (package 108).

During discussion Representative Kate asked whether the agency had authority or plans to raise a percentage-based operations fee charged to utilities. Mr. Ruff responded that the specific policy option allowing a percentage fee was not included in the recommended budget and is part of a separate policy bill currently moving through the Legislature. He confirmed: \"That is not included. That particular policy option package did not have an effect on the budget. That is part of a policy bill, that is making its rounds right now, so it was not included.\" Co Chair Meek and members subsequently moved adoption of a Dash 1 amendment that updated the LFO recommendation; the amendment was adopted without objection.

The subcommittee also approved the PUC's 19 key performance measures and targets as recommended by the LFO. After brief procedural motions, the committee carried the amended bill to the full Ways and Means Committee with a due-pass recommendation; the motion carried with no recorded objections. Representative Winn later recorded a yes vote when the committee suspended the rules to allow his participation.

The LFO materials and the PUC presentation placed emphasis on funding to support agency modernization (the docketing system and customer database) and increasing staff capacity for wildfire mitigation oversight and public communications. LFO noted the board-level change to the Oregon Board of Maritime Pilots operating fee in the agency materials but treated that fee change as separate line items in the PUC-related packages.

What the subcommittee did not take final action on in this session: the transcript shows no separate vote on the percentage-based operations fee described by Representative Kate; LFO and the committee said that policy matter is being considered in a separate bill (House Bill 2,370) scheduled for future work sessions.

Looking ahead, committee staff said the subcommittee will meet again Thursday for additional work sessions on related agency and fee matters, including a separate work session on fees imposed by the Public Utility Commission.

","Co Chair Gomberg and members of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Transportation and Economic Development voted May 20 to adopt the Legislative Fiscal Office's recommendation for House Bill 5,034, the Public Utility Commission budget, and moved the bill to the full Ways and Means committee with a due-pass recommendation.","actionData","errors"]

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Subcommittee ratifies maritime pilots operations fee increase; board says change needed to avoid reserve shortfall

Subcommittee approves LFO-recommended Public Utility Commission budget and forwards bill to full committee