Capitol Insider

2017 Legislative Session Begins

The 2017 legislative session began on February 1, 2017. While it began only two weeks ago, Bar sections and committees are already hard at work, identifying and tracking proposed legislation. If you are a section chair or legislative liaison, you should have received a list of bills for your section to review. Below is a list of some of the bills and a brief description that Bar sections and committees are currently tracking.

HB 2166 —Requires debt buyer to give notice to debtor if debt buyer brings legal action to collect debt and to submit certain filings to court.

HB 2217 —Prohibits guardian or conservator from restricting protected person’s right of communication, visitation, or interaction with other persons unless authorized by court order.

HB 2329 —Permits State Board of Psychologist Examiners to assess disciplinary costs against disciplined person.

HB 2352 —Authorizes Secretary of State to investigate alleged or potential violations of business entity statutes, to require business entity to provide list of shareholders, directors, members, and other persons, and to respond to interrogatories in course of investigation or in response to request from law enforcement agency.

HB 2356 —Establishes requirements under which debt buyer may bring legal action to collect debt. Specifies notice that debt buyer must give to debtor. Makes violation of requirements unlawful collection practice.

HB 2605 —Increases number of circuit court judges in certain judicial districts.

HB 2636 —Modifies annual salaries of judges of Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Oregon Tax Court and circuit court.

HB 2713 —Provides that evidence obtained during or as result of defendant’s unlawful detention by peace officer is inadmissible in criminal proceeding against defendant.

If you have any questions or additions to your section’s bill list, please contact [email protected].

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President Levelle Testifies in Support of Bar Priorities, Law Improvement Legislation

On February 7, the Senate and House Judiciary Committees invited the Oregon State Bar to the legislature for a day of presentations and meetings. Bar President Michael D. Levelle traveled to Salem and spent the day testifying in front of the two committees and meeting with legislators. Joined by president-elect Vanessa Nordyke for the hearing, President Levelle spent the day discussing the Bar’s priorities and law improvement bills with legislators.

In addition, four of the bills in the Bar’s law improvement package received their first public hearings and work sessions and were voted out of committee. The four bills were:

SB 490 —Changes method for distributing ballots for voting by Bar members, eliminates position of vice president of Board of Governors, allows Board of Governors to assess late payment penalty, and changes title of executive director of Oregon State Bar to chief executive officer of Oregon State Bar.

SB 491 —Makes changes to Oregon State Bar’s disciplinary system.

HB 2608 —Modifies applicability of previous amendments to Oregon Uniform Trust Code.

HB 2610 —Specifies methods by which persons may sign and transfer corporation’s documents in electronic form. Specifies circumstances, dates, and times under which corporation’s documents are delivered and effective.

HB 2608 and HB 2610 were voted out of the House on February 14th. SB 490 and SB 491 are scheduled for a vote on February 21st in the Senate.

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Ways and Means Roadshow

Every two years, the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, the legislature’s budget writing committee, schedules visits in communities all over the state. A bicameral, bipartisan group of lawmakers travels throughout the state to hear about the funding priorities of Oregonians. This year, the committee is off to an early start, with the first public hearing on Friday, February 10, in Salem and the second hearing on Saturday, February 11, in Portland. Vanessa Nordyke, president-elect of the Oregon State Bar, submitted testimony on behalf of the Bar.
The schedule for the remaining public hearings is posted below. If you are available to attend a hearing on behalf of the bar, please contact the Public Affairs Department at [email protected].

Friday, February 17 – UMATILLA / HERMISTON
Hermiston High School
5–7 p.m.

Saturday, February 18 – MADRAS
Performing Arts Center, Madras High School
1–3 p.m.

Friday, February 24 – ASHLAND
Rogue River Room, Southern Oregon University
5–7 p.m.

Saturday, February 25 – EUGENE
Lane Community College
1–3 p.m.

Friday, March 3 – TILLAMOOK
Officer’s Mess, Port of Tillamook
6–8 p.m.

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OSB President’s Reception

On February 9, Marion County Bar members, legislators, and members of the judiciary joined Michael D. Levelle, President of the Oregon State Bar, for the President’s Reception in Salem. The event, held every year in Salem during the legislative session, provides lawyers, judges, legislators, and Bar leadership with the opportunity to discuss many of the issues that are affecting the practice of law and the judiciary. Thank you to the legislators, Bar members, and judges who came out to support the Bar.

Rep. Jodi Hack, OSB Public Affairs Director Susan Grabe and OSB President Michael D. Levelle

Rep. Bill Post, BOG member Vanessa Nordyke, Rep. Ron Noble, Rep. Rich Vial and OSB CEO/Executive Director Helen Hierschbiel

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Committee assignments announced for the 2017 Legislative Session.

In late December 2016, the Senate President and the Speaker of House released committee assignments for the 2017 Legislative Session. A full list of committee assignments can be found here.

Many of the bills that the Bar tracks are assigned to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees and the Public Affairs Subcommittee of the Joint Ways and Means Committee. For this session, the House Judiciary Committee will be chaired by Representative Jeff Barker (D – Aloha) and co-chaired by Representative Jennifer Williamson (D – Portland) and Representative Andy Olsen (R – Albany). Returning members are Representative Mitch Greenlick (D – Portland), Representative Ann Lininger (D – Lake Oswego), Representative Bill Post (R – Keizer), and Representative Sherrie Sprenger (R – Scio). In addition, there are a number of new committee members, including Representative Chris Gorsek (D – Troutdale), Representative Tawna Sanchez (D – Portland), Representative Duane Stark (R – Grants Pass), and Representative Richard Vial (R – Scholls). Representatives Williamson, Lininger, and Vial are all legally trained legislators.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will be chaired by Senator Floyd Prozanski (D – Eugene), and vice-chaired by Senator Kim Thatcher (R – Keizer). Senator Michael Dembrow (D – Portland) is returning to the committee after a break and will be joined by the following new members: Senator Dennis Linthicum (R – Klamath Falls) and Senator James Manning (D – Eugene). Senator Prozanski is a legally trained legislator.

The Public Affairs Subcommittee of the Joint Ways and Means Committee reviews agency budgets as well as any proposed legislation affecting the budgets of Oregon’s public-safety system. The House co-chair will be Representative Duane Stark (R – Grants Pass), and the Senate co-chair will be Senator Jackie Winters (R – Salem). The remaining members are Senator Lew Fredrick (D – Portland), Senator Elizabeth Steiner Hayward (D – Portland), Representative Jeff Barker (D – Aloha), Representative Jeff Huffman (R – The Dalles), Representative Carla Piluso (D – Gresham), and Representative Tawna Sanchez (D – Portland).

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Bill-tracking system available for sections and committees

The Public Affairs Department is available to assist all Oregon State Bar sections and committees track proposed legislation. If a section or committee has already identified specific bills to follow, please contact Kellie Bagnani in The Public Affairs Department at [email protected], to ensure that legislation is included in the section’s bill-tracking list.

As bills are introduced, the Public Affairs Department will review all 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 the Public Affairs Department 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.

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How to take a position as a Bar section or committee

Sections and committees have a number of ways to provide feedback on proposed legislation. Bar members may formally support or oppose proposed legislation and provide technical feedback through a section or committee.

When a section or committee wishes to provide input or feedback on a legislative issue, it should notify the Bar’s Public Affairs Department. This is particularly important if a section or committee wants to take a position for or against a bill, but the rule also applies to taking positions on broader issues. If your group is interested in particular issues, please let the Public Affairs Department know. Click here for a brochure describing the Bar’s Public Affairs Program and Article 12 of the OSB Bylaws (regarding legislation and public policy).

If a section or committee would like to take a position, it will need approval from the Public Affairs Committee before taking any action. The section’s or committee’s executive committee should vote to take a position and submit a written request to the Public Affairs Committee. The request should set forth the section’s or committee’s position and describe how it is appropriate under the legislative policies established by the Board of Governors. Please find the request form on the Oregon State Bar’s Legislative webpage.
Once approved, the section or committee is responsible for presenting its position or testimony on that issue. The Public Affairs Department is a legislative resource for the Bar’s sections and committees. If you have questions about the process, please contact Amy Zubko at (503) 431-6317 or [email protected] or Matt Shields at (503) 431-6358 or [email protected].

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Proposed changes to PERS

Once again, it appears that PERS will be a topic of discussion and debate for the Oregon Legislature. With a substantial funding hole made up of an approximate $22 billion unfunded actuarial liability, and a corresponding increase in employer contributions, a number of legislators are considering ways to modify the current PERS system. For this session, a variety of bills have already been presession filed by legislators from both chambers. Legislative changes to the PERS system range from proposed changes to the use of an individual account program (or “IAP”) (SB 560) and changes to the final average salary calculation (SB 559), to a study on the feasibility of offering PERS benefits to volunteer firefighters (SB 459) and a limitation on postdoctoral scholars receiving PERS benefits (SB 214).

Additional bills may be introduced in the coming weeks. If a section or committee is interested in a particular PERS bill, please let the Public Affairs Department know.

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