Washington County staff brief commissioners on final-state legislative session: transportation package, housing preservation and budget impacts

Erin Dwyer, Washington County senior government relations manager, told the Board of Commissioners during a work session that the Oregon Legislature is in a late-session “sprint” and that staff would provide a rapid overview of policy and budget developments.

Dwyer said a transportation package (referred to in the presentation as House Bill 2025) moved quickly through hearings and is expected to come to committee and floor votes this week. She said the Legislative Revenue Office projects the package would generate about $1,800,000,000 per year beginning in 2029 and about $2,000,000,000 annually in a later year referenced in the presentation (date in the transcript was garbled and not specified). “We know we need money,” Dwyer said, noting the county testified in committee and Commissioner Fey provided in-person testimony using the board-approved talking points.

Dwyer also reported progress on the county’s housing-preservation priorities. Two bills that were part of the county’s preservation package were described as signed into law in the presentation. One measure (identified in the presentation as “Senate Bill 973”) was described as extending notice requirements for tenants when a property’s affordability contract ends, to give tenants more lead time before units shift to market-rate rents. Another measure (referred to in the presentation as “Senate Bill 32”) requires the Oregon Housing and Community Services Department to maintain an up-to-date public dashboard of regulated affordable housing units statewide, which county staff said will improve visibility of preservation needs.

Dwyer summarized a revenue-and-assessment bill discussed in the presentation (referred to as House Bill 35518). That bill, as described, would (1) change one of the mechanisms counties use to fund assessment-and-taxation work from a flat delinquent-tax-interest stream to allowing a county to hold back 0.3% of revenues (an indexed share tied to property-tax base growth), (2) increase and index the document-recording fee and shift more of that fee toward assessment-and-taxation (the presentation said the fee portion would move from $10 to $19, with an amendment possibly reducing that to $15), and (3) include a proposed direct state appropriation of $10,000,000. Dwyer said the measure was opposed by some special districts and school districts and was stalled in the House Revenue Committee at the time of the briefing.

On transient lodging tax (TLT) changes, Dwyer reported a proposal moving through the Legislature that would shift how the tax split between tourism promotion and local services is calculated. The presentation said the current split (70% tourism / 30% services) would be reversed under the proposed amendment to 40% tourism / 60% county services, and would broaden the definition of “services” to include a wider set of general fund–type services rather than only emergency and public-safety services. A board member asked whether existing contractual commitments tied to current TLT allocations would be affected; Dwyer said she would consult the county’s general counsel because contracts could limit changes.

Dwyer outlined budget impacts for county priorities. She said the county expected a projected loss of $2,400,000 per year for the biennium relative to the governor’s recommended budget, and that Washington County’s courthouse planning line was omitted from the state budget this cycle. An independent funding bill for courthouse planning (identified as House Bill 3180 in the presentation) was described as stuck in Ways and Means and not in a subcommittee, making its passage uncertain. Dwyer said staff remain hopeful that an end-of-session omnibus budget could include some funding for courthouse planning.

Behavioral health and related funding were also covered. The presentation said the Legislature set aside $440,000,000 for county and tribal deflection programs, with a minimum guaranteed floor of $300,000 per participating county or tribe and the remainder allocated through a formula that the Criminal Justice Commission (CJC) will create. Dwyer cautioned that the county does not yet know how the formula will apportion funds and described county work to influence that formula through the Behavioral Health staff and CJC.

On workforce and treatment funding, Dwyer said one budget bill (referred to as House Bill 2059 in the presentation) allocates $65,000,000 for residential behavioral-health beds; however, she said behavioral-health workforce money in the session was limited to $5,000,000 and that counties continue to flag workforce shortages as a constraint on using additional bed capacity. She also noted an increase above current service levels for aid-and-assist spending, described in the presentation as an additional $10,000,000 above the base amount.

Tracy Rainey, government relations manager for Clean Water Services, briefed the board separately on two Clean Water Services priorities that have advanced: the reuse-investment measure (referred to as House Bill 2169 in the presentation) and a PFAS/biosolids study (referred to as House Bill 2947). Rainey said both bills passed out of the Ways and Means Committee, passed the House floor, and were expected to be considered on the Senate floor later in the week. “We do believe that both those bills will get through this session before they adjourn,” Rainey said.

Dwyer told commissioners the Legislature’s constitutional adjournment deadline was approaching and that staff would return with a fuller wrap-up after session concludes. She thanked the board for participating in testimony, letters, and outreach during the session.

Ending: County staff told commissioners they will return with written answers to questions raised in the briefing, including the legal implications of TLT contract commitments and the specific project list for behavioral-health bed funding, and will provide a more detailed wrap-up after the Legislature completes its work.