Last week, ODF and OSFM made presentations to the Joint Subcommittee on Public Safety and the Joint Subcommittee on Natural Resources to go over the findings of the Wildfire Funding Workgroup. There were strong contingents in uniform from both the structural fire service, as well as ODF, to show appreciation of the work on the topic and the attention being given by the legislature. Several funding options were discussed and a bill will be forthcoming.

Tandem to this, is work surrounding forestland classification. These conversations have progressed into a few solid, specific ideas that could help fund some of our rural fire protection districts. The topics of wildfire funding and forestland classification are gathering momentum and attention. There will be a lot more coming of this in the coming week(s).

We submitted neutral testimony on SB 788, which is really structured to allow for people in Eastern Oregon to be able to use their barns as wedding venues. You can read our submitted testimony here. 

Last Friday, HB 5550, the early session bill that includes $6 million in upstaffing grants, made it through its joint subcommittee and is continuing to the full Joint Committee on Ways and Means on Friday. By moving quickly, OSFM will have time to offer this grant for this upcoming summer. We are appreciative of our State Fire Marshal and all the players who helped ensure this got done - it was a priority issue for our group. Our testimony in support can be found here.

Another bill that had a hearing last week and invited us to a separate meeting to talk about is HB 366. This would create a wildfire safety certification for public utilities. We have not taken a position on this bill, but have been monitoring and invited to discussions on the topic.

This week, we had some concerns over SB 49, which is a housing bill. The issue was not about the overall intent (that part is beyond our scope) but rather that the language proposed changing the makeup of the Building Codes Structures Board. The new language would allow a representative of a fire protection agency OR fire protection engineer to serve. Thanks to strong lobbying efforts, the Committee Chair is bringing an amendment that will add a fire protection engineer IN ADDITION to the fire agency representative, not as an either/or so the Oregon fire service will retain a seat at the table.

On Tuesday, HCR 2 had its hearing on the Senate side. This is the turnout PFAS bill. This bill has no immediate impact but declares a commitment to transition to PFAS free turnout gear once it is on the market. Our testimony can be found here. 

HB 3219 that funds the Oregon Hazards Lab has a work session on the 13th. Among other services, this program has wildfire detection cameras and they offer live feeds to fire agencies. Some of our Chiefs find this very useful, so we have submitted testimony specifically referencing this portion of the program. The testimony can be found here.

The last bill to specifically mention is HB 3505. This was one of the instances where our alliance between OFCA and SDAO (which has water district members) was in some conflict. It has to do with fire sprinklers and charges for meters for sprinkler systems. After an amendment, SDAO is comfortable staying neutral on the bill and OFCA is supporting.

There continue to be lots of moving parts. Members of our group are having daily (actually, mostly hourly) conversations as things evolve. Thanks for your support.