State legislators on a virtual call with Klamath County officials described a budget environment they said is constrained and likely to produce delayed allocations for some county projects.

A state senator on the call said many policy bills have moved from committee to ways and means and the next steps are budget votes on the floors of the House and Senate. The senator said one recent budget proposal to add several hundred Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) positions drew unified Republican opposition on the floor. "The budget bill that was astonishing to us yesterday on our senate floor was to increase the DEQ personnel by 800 and I think it was, like, 845 people... Every single Republican, we all united in a no vote," the senator said.

Legislators warned counties should expect austere budgets and that the majority intends to hold back a larger ending fund balance this session to retain flexibility for September, December and possible special sessions. One representative summarized the state picture as: "there isn't enough money. And so the only answer is to increase taxes and cut budgets." That representative and others said money may be allocated later when more is known about federal funding and the "big" bill coming from Congress.

Representatives mentioned an active water-rights measure (referred to in the meeting as SB 1153 in discussion) and said it has been the subject of informational hearings and work sessions; they described it as "a big problem in terms of water transfers" for the agricultural community and said some senators are attempting to prevent it from reaching the full floor.

Lawmakers on the call offered to help the county with specific agency contacts. Representative Emily McIntyre and others said they will reach out to the Oregon Health Authority on the county's behalf regarding a held-up juvenile grant and will coordinate with the Oregon Department of Transportation about Highway 97 safety concerns raised by local citizens.

The delegation exchange was framed by lawmakers as a rapidly moving set of budget votes coming out of ways and means and through the rules and floor process; participants noted many bills are expected to move quickly in coming days and that advocacy in the short session or special session could yield funding opportunities.

No formal legislation or binding commitments were made during the briefing; legislators offered to follow up and to accept materials from county staff for outreach to state agencies.