Unfortunately, I wish had better news: This week the House Committee On Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water had a work session and voted to move HB4153 forward out of committee, despite the fact that 70% of the testimony they received was in opposition to the bill.
(An amazing sidenote here: over 30% of that opposition came from the Southcoast! Of the 1,113 testimonies in opposition to the bill, 344 came from all of YOU here in our rural corner of the state. Opponents of the bill are hoping you will take urgent action again, so please read on….)
Surprisingly (and unfortunately), the bill was moved directly to the Joint Ways and Means Committee, strategically bypassing the Senate Natural Resource and Environment Committee where it would have faced pushback. If it passes Ways and Means it will move directly to the House and the Senate for a floor vote, which could happen quickly. Currently, the Governor supports this bill - because she’s mostly heard from supporters – so now’s the time to share our concerns and convince her not to sign it into law.
Right now we need as many people as possible to reach out directly to members of the Joint Ways and Means Committee, as well as the Governor’s office, and to do so ASAP.
There are multiple effective ways to get your message through to them. If you don’t have much time, do option #1 below. If you have a little more time, consider option #2 & #3 as well.
Option #1: Copy and paste the list of email addresses below into a bulk email. These are the key legislators we need to reach who sit on the Joint Ways and Means Committee, as well as the Governor’s Chief Advisor of Natural Resources, Geoff Huntington. Sending individual emails is better, but if you don’t have time a bulk email is better than nothing.
Option #2: Call the legislators listed below to ask them to vote NO on HB 4153. The main switchboard number at the Capitol is 1-800-332-2313. Just ask for the legislator by name (their name is the first part of their email handle below) and the switchboard will transfer your call to their office.
Option #3: Call the Governor’s office and ask to speak to Mr. Geoff Huntington to politely voice your opposition to HB 4153: 503-378-4582.
Key Talking Points for the latest version of the bill:
- I oppose HB 4153, please do not support it
- The bill undermines local control over the siting of farmstands
- The bill would allow huge farm stores of up to 10,000 square feet – 4 to 10 times larger than your typical 7-Eleven – with no stipulation about where the farm store could be placed on the farm.
- Small farms don’t have the same access
- Proponents of this bill are trying to push it through hastily during this short session. Some legislators have said they can “fix” any problems with the bill next session if it has negative unintended consequences. But it’s highly unlikely that they would make any “fixes” because it would trigger Measure 56 notice, an extremely expensive process that can cost upwards of $1.5 million per bill. That’s a big waste of public resources.
- Legislators in Salem need to slow down and either do a major overhaul of this bill or scrap it altogether. No bill is better than a bad bill.
Thanks so much for jumping back into the ring. You’ve gotten Salem’s attention once already on HB 4153, let’s do it again!
Sen.KateLieber@oregonlegislature.gov
Rep.TawnaSanchez@oregonlegislature.gov
Rep.DavidGomberg@oregonlegislature.gov
Sen.WlnsveyCampos@oregonlegislature.gov
Sen.LewFrederick@oregonlegislature.gov
Sen.JamesManning@oregonlegislature.gov
Sen.CourtneyNeronMisslin@oregonlegislature.gov
Sen.DavidBrockSmith@oregonlegislature.gov
Rep.BenBowman@oregonlegislature.gov
Rep.PaulEvans@oregonlegislature.gov
Rep.EmersonLevy@oregonlegislature.gov
Rep.RobNosse@oregonlegislature.gov
Rep.RickiRuiz@oregonlegislature.gov
