Committee advances bill to fund Oregon-made food and beverage program, orders study

The House Committee on Economic Development, Small Business, and Trade voted to advance House Bill 2689, sending the measure to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means with a “do pass” recommendation.

House Bill 2689 would direct the Oregon Department of Agriculture to establish and implement a program to promote Oregon-made food and beverage products, carry out a study on food and beverage processing, and produce a report with recommendations for the industry. The bill declares an emergency and appropriates $3,000,000 from the general fund to the Oregon Department of Agriculture for the promotion program and $75,750,000 for the study and report. The summary presented at the work session noted a fiscal impact and no revenue impact.

Committee members made no extended public record debate on the bill during the work session before the motion to move the bill to the floor. A motion to advance the bill was made on the record and a roll call was held.

Votes at the roll call recorded in the committee transcript show Representatives Dobson, Lyden, Osborne, Scarlatos, Watanabe and Juncker voting “Aye.” The motion passed and the bill will be referred to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means by prior reference for further fiscal analysis.

Because the bill includes a declaration of emergency, any final enactment would take effect immediately upon passage. The committee did not record additional amendments or guardrails in the work session record.

If referred and funded as written, the appropriation would be used to stand up the promotional program at the Oregon Department of Agriculture and to finance a large, statewide study and report on the food and beverage processing sector.