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Supervisors briefed on state bills affecting county programs, including proposals on DEI and property tax rules
Summary
County policy staff reviewed multiple state bills at the March 6 meeting, including a proposal to prohibit local government DEI programs (Senate file 507), a bill to require full funding for EMA budgets (SF 596), and a pending 52-page proposal with property-tax and revenue-growth limits.
Darren Gage, director of policy administration, briefed the Linn County Board of Supervisors on March 6 about several state legislative proposals that could affect county operations.
The nut graf: staff summarized active bills at the statehouse and said the county has placed registrations on multiple measures and will continue to update the board at weekly legislative updates; supervisors were invited to change registration positions in upcoming meetings.
Darren listed key measures under watch: Senate File 507 (previously SSB 115), which would prohibit county and city DEI programs and has passed committee; the county is registered as undecided. Senate File 596 (previously SF 26) would require a board of supervisors to fully fund an EMA budget as submitted; the county is registered against that bill. Senate File 493 would bar local governments from using public money to hire lobbyists and has passed committee; the county is monitoring it. A newly released 52-page Senate study bill (referred to in the briefing) would phase out the residential rollback over five years, impose revenue-growth restrictions on counties and propose changes affecting farm and homestead credits and agricultural assessment; staff said a full analysis was pending.
Darren also flagged bills concerning special elections to fill board vacancies (Senate file 75), local authority on accessory dwelling units (House study bill 162), and construction-related eminent-domain limits for pipelines (House file 287). He said the county’s registration on bills can be amended at the board’s regular Monday and Wednesday updates.
Ending: supervisors asked for further review on selected bills and directed staff to bring bills of interest to the next legislative update so supervisors could consider registration changes.
