Eugene staff outline 2025 state legislative priorities, seek clarity on homeless property rules and funding

The City of Eugene Intergovernmental Relations Committee heard a detailed legislative update from Intergovernmental Relations staffer Ethan about the city’s 2025 priorities and several pending state bills affecting homelessness response, local finance and infrastructure.

The update matters because the bills discussed could change how Eugene and other Oregon cities pay for services, handle personal property at public camping sites and recover costs for removing abandoned recreational vehicles, and because the committee asked staff to seek clarifications and letters of support where appropriate.

Ethan told the committee that the city is waiting for several bills to be drafted by legislative counsel before they move into the public hearing process. “Once that bill comes on out, it’ll be put into OLIS … and it’ll be set up for hearing,” he said, explaining that the timing affects when the city can testify or lobby for amendments. He also flagged that the Legislature released a record number of bills this session, increasing workload for legislative counsel and slowing some bill-drafting.

On local finance, staff said they support House Bill 233, a proposed task force to study the impacts of Measures 5 and 50 on local government finance. Ethan said the city provided recent council deliberations and budget data to show local general-fund impacts and to argue for starting the issue at the state level. Councilor Paul Evans, expressing long-standing frustration, said the problem is familiar: “I think we know what the fix is. You know, reverse this stupid thing.”

On homelessness policy, staff described House Bill 2696 as a “tight fix in statute” that would make laws governing storage of personal property for people experiencing homelessness apply to items removed from public campuses. Staff said the change is intended to reconcile inconsistent Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) language about notice periods and how existing versus new campsites are treated. As Ethan explained, “There’s inconsistency in the ORS related to what notice … the amount of notice you give” and the city is seeking statutory clarity so local practice is consistent.

The committee also discussed a vehicle-fee surcharge bill, House Bill 3209, that would create a state fund to reimburse local governments for the cost of cleaning up and disposing of abandoned recreational vehicles (RVs). Ethan described the bill’s goal as a targeted reimbursement mechanism: “If you dispose of a vehicle and you’re seeking reimbursement, there’s gonna be a bond that you can get, compensated for from the state.” Council members asked about disposal logistics and environmental hazards; staff said they would follow up with the city’s parking services manager, Jeff Petrie, and other operations staff on disposal sites and hazardous-material handling.

Ethan reported the city supports Senate Bill 197 to make permanent temporary changes to landowner recreational-immunity laws (often called “rec immunity”), citing the city’s recent reliance on the statute in litigation. He also outlined House Bill 2018, which would reauthorize prior biennium funding through the Oregon Business Development Department and asked staff to seek a project-title change to allow stormwater and transportation work in the Crow Road infrastructure project.

On public-records timelines, Ethan said the city joined a public-agency coalition supporting House Bill 2533, which would set a statutory timeline for attorney-client privilege exemptions after a 2022 Oregon Supreme Court decision. The coalition is proposing a 50‑year cap as a negotiated compromise to avoid indefinite exemption in the public-records process.

Staff updated the committee on other matters the city has supported or planned to testify on, including bills that would create or adjust programs for homeless services and ground emergency medical transportation; staff said some administrative changes may proceed without statutory action but that the city will track any statutory changes.

The committee discussed next steps for outreach and testimony. Ethan said the city will prepare letters of support where requested (for example, for Lane County’s stabilization center reallocation request) and will circulate draft letters to councilors when timing allows.

Ending: The committee postponed election of IGR officers until the March meeting because Councilor Groves was absent and asked staff to return with follow-up materials on RV disposal logistics, Crow Road project title changes, and statutory clarifications on storage and notice for personal property removed from camping sites.