Author: saradoherty

Oregon State Bar Hosts President’s Reception in Salem

After a two-year hiatus, the Oregon State Bar (OSB) Board of Governors (BOG) returned to Salem to hold its February board meeting this year. In conjunction with the legislative session, the BOG hosted the 2023 President’s Reception at the Salem Convention Center. The reception provides an opportunity for practitioners, judges, legislators, and bar leadership to discuss many of the issues that are affecting the practice of law and the judiciary. During the reception, Lee Ann Donaldson, 2023 OSB President, spoke about the important role the bar plays in public protection, access to justice, and supporting the judiciary and highlighted the bar’s legislative priorities: adequate funding for the courts, civil legal aid, and indigent defense.

Justice Adrienne Nelson (left) and OSB President Lee Ann Donaldson (right)

Chief Justice Meagan Flynn (center), Rep. Lily Morgan (left) and guest (right)

Rep. Kevin Mannix (center) talking with Phil Lemman (left) and Nancy Cozine (right)

Rep. Paul Evans (right) talking to guest (left)

Valerie Colas (left) Chief Justice Meagan Flynn (center) and Nancy Cozine (right)

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Bills of Interest

This legislative session, over 2,800 bills have been introduced so far, and more are possible. Below are a few bills that may be of interest to practitioners.

HB 2001 – Establishes Oregon Housing Needs Analysis in Oregon Department of Administrative Services.

HB 2008 – Specifies property and funds of judgment debtor that are exempt from execution or garnishment.

HB 2950 – Bars creditors’ claims against decedents’ estates if no petition for appointment of personal representative or small estate affidavit is filed within 18 months following decedent’s date of death.

HB 3242– Provides insured with cause of action for insurer’s unfair claim settlement practices.

HB 3243– Includes insurance in definition of real estate, goods and services that are subject to penalties for unlawful trade practices.

HB 5019 A– Appropriates moneys from General Fund to specified state agencies for certain purposes related to housing.

HCR 18 – Recognizes importance of civic education and commends Classroom Law Project for 40 years of service in providing interactive civic education programs.

SB 619 – Permits consumers to obtain from a controller that processes consumer personal data confirmation as to whether controller is processing consumer’s personal data and categories of personal data controller is processing, list of specific third parties to which controller has disclosed consumer’s personal data and copy of all of consumer’s personal data that controller has processed or is processing.

For a comprehensive list of introduced bills, go to the Oregon Legislative Information System (OLIS). For a list of bills by practice area, go to the Oregon State Bar’s Public Affairs page.

Thank you to the OSB Section and BOG volunteers for traveling to Salem to testify on proposed legislation.

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Legislative Deadlines, Important Dates, and What to Watch For

To keep the legislative process moving and ensure that the legislature completes its responsibilities before the end of the legislative session, the House and Senate have established internal deadlines for moving bills through the legislative process.

This year, the deadline for scheduling a bill for a work session in its chamber of origin was March 17, 2023, and the deadline for voting a bill out of committee in its chamber of origin is April 4, 2023. Those bills, with a few exceptions identified below, that have not been scheduled by March 17 and moved out of committee by April 4 are no longer active and may not be voted into law by the legislature under that bill number.

There are a few exceptions to this rule. For example, the deadlines do not apply to bills that are in the House or Senate Rules Committees, the House or Senate Revenue Committees, or the Ways and Means Committees or subcommittees. Further, bills in the Joint Committee on Transportation and the Joint Committee on Semiconductors are on their own unique schedule.

For those tracking legislation, the period before a legislative deadline can be complex. The weeks before the deadline often result in a fair amount of juggling and amending bills. For example, a legislative concept in one bill may be amended into another bill with a better chance of passage. Another option is for a legislator to move a bill to either the Senate or House Rules Committees to keep it alive after the deadline. Finally, if neither option seems feasible during the legislative session, a concept may be sent to an interim work group to be discussed and finalized for the next legislative session.

Upcoming Deadlines

• • March 17, 2023 – Posting Deadline in First Chamber
  • April 4, 2023 – First Chamber Deadline
  • May 17, 2023 – Revenue Forecast
  • May 19, 2023 – Second Chamber Deadline

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Oregon Judicial Department Presents 2023 – 2025 Proposed Budget

Last week, the Oregon Judicial Department (OJD) presented its 2023–2025 proposed budget to the Ways and Means Public Safety Subcommittee for consideration. The presentation, which lasted four days, touched on pretrial release, judicial compensation, updating or replacing courthouses, and increasing the number of judges, to mention just a few priorities.

Last fall, the OSB House of Delegates and the OSB Board of Governors voted to make funding the OJD a legislative priority, along with adequate funding for public defense and civil and immigration legal services.

In addition to the bar’s support, this year the Oregon Campaign for Court Funding (OCCF), led by Ed Harnden, Peter Bragdon, and Graciela Gomez Cowger, submitted testimony  in support of the OJD budget. Similar to years past, the OCCF focused on the need for funding to maintain adequate staffing in Oregon’s courts to support an open and accessible court system.

As part of the bar’s support of civil and immigration legal services, and with the support of the OJD, the bar and the Oregon Law Center also shared their support for Policy Option Package (POP) 118 in the OJD budget. POP 118 would increase funding for both civil and immigration legal services in the next biennium.

The budget hearing for the Public Defense Services Commission is expected to be scheduled later this month. Final decisions on the state budget will be made before the end of June.

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Ways and Means Roadshows to be Hosted Across Oregon 

Every two years, the Oregon Legislature’s Ways and Means Committee hosts community meetings throughout Oregon. The goal is to provide Oregonians who cannot make it to Salem the opportunity to provide feedback on the state’s budget. The community meetings will be held in April and early May. Stay tuned for date, time and location.

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Law Improvement Bills Move Through First Chamber

This session the Oregon State Bar submitted eight bills for consideration to the Oregon Legislature.  The bills, split equally between the House and Senate, each received a public hearing and work session in the respective Judiciary Committees. As of February 21, 2023, all eight bar bills have passed out of the first chamber.

The four House bills:

• • House Bill 2324 comes from the Appellate Practice Section. The bill passed the House 57-0-2 and is expected to be scheduled for a Public Hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
  • House Bill 2325 comes from the Oregon State Bar Board of Governors. The bill passed the House 49-8-2 and is currently scheduled for a Work Session in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
  • House Bill 2329 comes from the Elder Law Section. The bill passed the House 57-0-2 and has a work session scheduled in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
  • House Bill 2330 comes from the Debtor-Creditor Section. The bill passed the House 56-1-2 and is expected to be scheduled for a Public Hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The four Senate bills:

• • Senate Bill 306 A comes from the Oregon State Bar Board of Governors. The bill, as amended, passed the Senate 27-3 and is awaiting assignment to committee in the House.
  • Senate Bill 307 comes from the Consumer Law Section. The bill passed the Senate 25-3-2 and is current assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.
  • Senate Bill 308 A comes from the Estate Planning and Administration Section. The bill passed the Senate 30-0.
  • Senate Bill 309 comes from the Estate Planning and Administration Section. The bill passed the Senate 26-2-2.

Thank you to the OSB Section and BOG volunteers for traveling to Salem to testify in support of the bar’s Law Improvement Bills!

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Oregon Judicial Department Submits Five Bills for Consideration

The Oregon Judicial Department (OJD), as the third branch of government, has the opportunity to submit five bills each biennium to the Oregon Legislature. This year OJD’s bills address a variety of concepts, from judicial compensation, to collection of demographic data.

• • Senate Bill 233 – Salaries to attract and retain highly-qualified judges. Currently assigned to the Senate Rules Committee.
  • Senate Bill 234 – Collect demographic data to identify disparate justice outcomes. Passed out of the Senate on a 20-10 vote and is scheduled for a First Reading in the House.
  • Senate Bill 235 – Add judicial positions to provide timely access to justice. Passed out of Senate Judiciary and is currently assigned to the Joint Ways and Means Committee.
  • House Bill 2224 – Pay jurors more than $10 per day to keep democracy strong. A public hearing was held in the House Judiciary Committee on February 8, 2023.
  • House Bill 2225 – Court efficiencies and housekeeping changes. A Public Hearing and Work Session was held in the House Judiciary Committee.  The bill moved out of committee on a 9-0-1 vote.

In addition, the Oregon Judicial Department has also submitted a budget bill, Senate Bill 5512. SB 5512 is expected to receive a public hearing in March.

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Senate and House Judiciary Committee Membership

House Judiciary Committee

• • Representative Jason Kropf – Chair
  • Representative Tom Andersen – Vice Chair
  • Representative Kim Wallan – Vice Chair
  • Representative Janelle Bynum
  • Representative Farrah Chaichi
  • Representative Charlie Conrad
  • Representative Rick Lewis
  • Representative Lily Morgan
  • Representative Lisa Reynolds
  • Representative Thuy Tran

Senate Judiciary Committee

• • Senator Floyd Prozanski – Chair
  • Senator Kim Thatcher – Vice Chair
  • Senator Sara Gelser Blouin
  • Senator Dennis Linthicum
  • Senator James Manning Jr.

Joint Ways and Means Committee, Public Safety Subcommittee

• • Senator Janeen Sollman – Co-Chair
  • Representative Paul Evans – Co-Chair
  • Senator Chris Gorsek
  • Senator David Brock Smith
  • Representative Dacia Grayber
  • Representative Jeffrey Helfrich
  • Representative Rick Lewis
  • Representative Daniel Nguyen

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2023 Legislative Session Measure Introduction Deadline

With a few exceptions, February 21, 2023 is the measure introduction deadline for legislators to submit new legislative concepts for consideration. While bills may be amended to add, subtract, or modify language after the twenty-first, for the most part, the bills that are posted in the Oregon Legislative Information System (OLIS) are the bills that will be considered this session.

This session, similar to years past, proposed legislation runs the gamut of topics.  A few of the bills that may be of particular interest to bar members are listed below.

• • House Bill 2578 – Directs Department of Human Services to establish, by rule, continuing education requirements for mandatory abuse reporters.
  • Senate Bill 619 – Permits consumers to obtain from a controller that processes consumer personal data confirmation as to whether controller is processing consumer’s personal data and categories of personal data controller is processing, list of specific third parties to which controller has disclosed consumer’s personal data and copy of all of consumer’s personal data that controller has processed or is processing.

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Oregon State Bar and the Legislative Process 

Oregon State Bar Public Affairs is available to assist Oregon State Bar sections and committees track proposed legislation. If a section or committee identifies specific bills to follow, please contact Sara Doherty in Public Affairs at [email protected], to ensure that legislation is included in a section’s bill-tracking list.

As bills are introduced, Public Affairs reviews the proposed legislation and refer specific bills to groups that may be interested in the subject. Throughout the session, a section or committee’s legislative contact will likely receive periodic emails from Public Affairs notifying him or her of bills that might interest the group.

Once a section or committee has identified bills to follow, those bills will be input into the group’s bill-tracking page. Each group has its own page on the Public Affairs Department’s webpage. This will enable each group to receive updates and to review changes to any legislation that a group has expressed an interest in following.

If you have any questions about proposed legislation, do not hesitate to reach out to Public Affairs.

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Senate and House Interim Judiciary Committees Meet during Legislative Days

For the first time since February 2020, the Senate and House Judiciary Committees met in person to receive updates and review legislative concepts for the upcoming legislative session.

Senate Interim Judiciary and Ballot Measure 110 Committee
In the Senate Judiciary Committee, the invited testimony ranged over a variety of topics including consumer data privacy, the Public Defense Services Commission, juvenile expunction, and aid-and-assist efforts. Of particular interest was an update on the Oregon State Bar and the Oregon State Board of Bar Examiners (BBX). Kamron Graham, OSB President, and Joanna Perini-Abbot from the BBX shared updates on the work the bar is doing to expand access to the courts and protect the public. Topics of discussion included bar admissions, licensed paraprofessionals, as well as the recently implemented comity rule. To view the draft legislative concepts introduced through the committee, visit the committee’s Meeting Materials page.

House Interim Judiciary Committee
In the House Interim Judiciary Committee, the invited testimony included many of the topics discussed in the Senate with the addition of a presentation on the legislative proposals from the Oregon District Attorneys Association and the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers.  In addition, committee members and other House members spoke about draft legislation they may introduce during the 2023 legislative session.  To view the draft legislative concepts introduced through the committee, visit the committee’s Meeting Materials page.

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Construction Continues at the State Capitol

This year the December Legislative Days were held from December 7 to 9, 2022, and, for the first time since February 2020, legislators held committee meetings in person at the State Capitol. Unlike years past, however, extensive yet necessary construction limited access to certain parts of the building.

During the 2022 Legislative Session, the legislature voted in support of a third round of building renovations with a focus on seismic rehabilitation. This phase of the renovations, referred to as CAMS III, began in July 2022 and is expected to wrap up by January 2025. The original building, built in 1938, needed updates to its mechanical and electrical elements; fixes for life-safety issues; and restoration of historic elements.

Currently legislator offices, housed in the Capitol wings, are open as well as committee hearing rooms A through F along the south side of the building. Members of the public may access the building through the State Street entrance. Due to the limited space and the amount of construction, there may be a wait time to enter the building. This level of access is expected to last through the 2023 Legislative Session.

For more information on public access to the Capitol, please visit the Oregon Legislature’s website.

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Legislature Begins Bill Filing Process for 2023 Legislative Session

During Legislative Days, committees have the opportunity to vote to file legislative concepts with the Secretary of the Senate or the Chief Clerk of the House for pre-session filing before the beginning of a legislative session. This year a number of committees have submitted draft legislative concepts for consideration. While many of the concepts are “placeholder” bills that are expected to be amended once the legislative session begins, there are a number of more substantive bills as well.

Unlike during the legislative session when bills may be reviewed through the Oregon Legislature Information System (OLIS), pre-session filed legislative concepts are viewed through a committee’s meeting materials. For example, to see a list of concepts that the Senate Interim Judiciary Committee has submitted, visit https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2021I1/Committees/SJD110/2022-12-07-08-30/MeetingMaterials, which includes a list of the pre-session filed bills in that committee. It should be noted that additional legislative concepts may have been added after the list was published; however the text of each concept is posted in its entirety in the meeting materials. The majority of committees will have a similar list posted on their “Meeting Materials” page.

Once the legislative session begins, each legislative concept that was pre-session filed will receive a First Read in either the Senate or the House and will be searchable on OLIS. When the database is populated with 2023 session bills, there will be a follow-up article on the legislative process.

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Oregon State Bar Adopts Legislative Priorities and Session Guidelines

The Oregon State Bar’s Board of Governors (BOG) met from November 17 to 19 for its annual retreat and board meeting. On the agenda of both the Public Affairs Committee and the BOG were proposed 2023 Legislative Priorities and Legislative Session Guidelines. Both the Public Affairs Committee and the BOG adopted the Legislative Priorities and Guidelines for the upcoming 2023 Legislative Session.

2023 Legislative Priorities

1. 1. 1. Support Court Funding. Continued support for stable funding for Oregon’s courts.
         • • Advocate that the Legislative Assembly improve funding to provide needed court services, support suitable and sufficient court facilities, work to attract and retain high quality judges, and support the goals of the Judicial Department Strategic Campaign.
           • Oregon Campaign for Court Funding. Support the statewide coalition of citizens, business, nonprofit, and community groups formed to ensure adequate and stable court funding.
      2. Support legal services for low-income Oregonians.
         • • Civil Legal Services. Legal assistance and representation for financially qualified individuals in Oregon’s civil justice system.
             • • Request that Congress and the President of the United States make a genuine commitment to equal justice by adequately funding the Legal Services Corporation, which provides federal support for statewide integrated civil legal aid;
               • Work with Oregon’s legal aid programs, the Campaign for Equal Justice, and immigration legal service providers to preserve and increase state funding for legal aid and to explore other sources of new funding.
           • Indigent Defense. Constitutionally and statutorily required representation of financially qualified individuals in Oregon’s criminal and juvenile justice systems:
             • • Partner with stakeholders in support of a healthy and functioning justice system for all Oregonians, including a robust public defense system.
      3. Support the OSB 2023 Law Improvement Package, and track and engage on legislation per 2023 Oregon State Bar Legislative Session Guidelines.

2023 Legislative Session Guidelines

Mission Statement: The Oregon State Bar Board of Governors must at all times direct its power to serve the public interest by (a) regulating the legal profession and improving the quality of legal services; (b) supporting the judiciary and improving the administration of justice; and (c) advancing a fair, inclusive, and accessible justice system.
To that end, the OSB Public Affairs Committee supports the following legislative goals:

1. Protect the public, the administration of justice, and the rule of law.

2. Create meaningful access to justice, and provide information about the law, legal issues, and the civil and criminal justice system.

3. Make Oregon laws more consistent and more uniform.

4. Improve the ability of attorneys to competently serve the interests of Oregonians.

5. Ensure efficient, competent, and ethical delivery of legal services.

6. Foster diversity, equity, and inclusion among legal service providers and in the justice system.

7. Support a fair and effective criminal justice system.

8. Promote the protection of privileged and confidential information while promoting access and education regarding public records.

9. Provide appropriate information and assistance regarding ethical issues to legislators, especially legally trained legislators.

10. Improve the juvenile justice system and encourage better coordination between the different components of the system.

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Legally Trained Candidates Elected in 2022

Last month’s election brought changes to the legislature and the Governor’s office, including new and returning legally trained elected officials. The newly elected officials will be sworn in on January 9, 2023. Please note that because of the 2021 redistricting process completed during the 2021 First Special Session, a number of sitting legislators have moved into new districts.

Labor Commissioner

Christina Stephenson

Legally trained members of the State House of Representatives

Kim Wallan*	District 6 (Medford)
Dan Rayfield*	District 16 (Corvallis), Speaker of the House
Kevin Mannix	District 21 (Salem)
Nathan Sosa*	District 30 (Hillsboro)
Ken Helm (formerly District 27)*	District 34 (Washington County)
Emerson Levy	District 53 (Redmond)
Jason Kropf*	District 54 (Bend)

Legally trained members of the State Senate

Floyd Prozanski*

District 4 (parts of Douglas and Lane Counties)

*Incumbent

For a complete list of elected officials, follow the link on the Secretary of State’s candidate search page.

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