Industry testifies for Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission budget; debate focuses on staffing, warehouse and minor-decoy compliance

Co-chair Senator Woods and Co-chair Gomberg opened a public hearing of the Transportation and Economic Development Subcommittee on House Bill 5019, the budget bill for the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC), and heard nine industry witnesses supporting the agency’s spending request.

The testimony concentrated on three recurring themes: support for OLCC staffing for licensing and compliance, completion of a modern OLCC distribution warehouse and upgrades to IT systems that serve alcohol and cannabis licensees. Witnesses also debated recent minor-decoy compliance figures and discussed possible training and technology changes to reduce sales to underage customers.

Annalise Dolph, director of the Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission, told the committee the OLCC plays “very important functions” in the state’s public-health response to substance use disorder and praised the agency as a partner across 14 participating state agencies. Dolph said OLCC enforcement tools — including minor-decoy operations and controls over liquor distribution and over-service — give the state levers it otherwise would not have.

Dan Jarman, representing the Oregon Winegrowers Association, urged lawmakers to fund the agency so it can continue partnering with industry. Jarman described an industry under pressure from falling consumption, rising costs and lost tasting-room traffic, and he cited figures from his testimony that the wine sector produces about $8.1 billion in economic activity, more than 40,000 jobs and…