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Bill would lift cap on lottery funds for county fair accounts, proponents say it would multiply per-fair funding
Summary
House Bill 2145 (dash 1) would remove the $1,530,000 annual cap on the county fair account and change the statutory lottery allocation; backers say the change would raise per-fair annual checks from about $53,000 to roughly $250,000.
A House committee hearing on Wednesday considered House Bill 2145 with the dash 1 amendment, a measure that would remove an outdated $1,530,000 annual cap on the county fair account and adjust statutory allocations from the Oregon State Lottery.
Representative Anna Scharf, one of the bill’s proponents, told the House Committee on Economic Development, Small Business, and Trade that the county fair account — established in 1969 — currently receives 1% of net lottery proceeds but has been limited by a statutory cap for about 20 years. Scharf said the cap has left the account functionally below 0.2% of lottery proceeds and that removing the cap would restore the original 1% allocation in practical effect, producing materially larger checks for each of Oregon’s 36 county fairgrounds.
Under the dash 1 amendment, the bill changes the percentage language but removes the annual cap; witnesses and sponsors emphasized that removing the cap, not the small change in the stated percentage, is the key policy change. Testimony from JL Wilson of the Oregon Fairs Association said the change would organize capital construction investments by requiring a statewide inventory and master-planning process and would help fairgrounds pay deferred maintenance and prepare for emergency response roles.
Representative Scharf and JL Wilson told the committee the current per-fair payment averages about $53,000 a year; restoring the allocation without a cap would increase that to roughly $250,000 per fair, a nearly fivefold increase in available operating and capital funds. Supporters said those funds could pay for deferred maintenance, safety upgrades and emergency preparedness improvements; JL Wilson also noted the governor had recommended an increase to the allocation in the governor’s budget request.
No formal committee vote was taken at the public hearing. Sponsors said the bill is intended to be narrowly focused on restoring funding to county fairgrounds and to generate a statewide inventory that would guide future capital investments.
