Republicans say Democrats are using the bill as a bargaining chip to get Republicans to vote on redirecting $1 billion of kicker tax to fund wildfire mitigation work

A bill to repeal the state’s unpopular Wildfire Hazard Map passed the Oregon Senate unanimously in April, signaling it would be one of the least controversial and most bipartisan bills to pass this session.

But that momentum hit unexpected headwinds May 22, when the bill — Senate Bill 83 — landed in the Oregon House’s Committee on Climate, Energy, and Environment, where Democrats opted to send it to the House Rules Committee, rather than to the House Floor for a final vote.

The decision to delay a vote on Senate Bill 83 came as a surprise to Republicans on the Committee, who later accused Democrats, House Speaker Julie Fahey, D-Eugene, and Gov. Tina Kotek of using it as a bargaining chip in negotiations over a wildfire funding proposal that would redirect $1 billion from the state’s “kicker” tax return. That proposal would require a two-thirds supermajority vote in each chamber, meaning at least two Senate Republicans and four House Republicans would need to approve along with all legislative Democrats.

“The speaker has been consistent that we cannot responsibly repeal the wildfire risk maps without also having a clear, workable plan for how we manage wildfire risk in the future, including how we fund that work,” Jill Bakken, Fahey’s spokesperson, said in an email.

Anca Matica, a Kotek spokesperson, said in an email that “the legislative branch is the custodian of information regarding bills moving through the legislative process, not the Governor’s Office.”

Oregon Republicans have long insisted that the kicker — returned to Oregon taxpayers when personal income taxes collected by the state end up at least 2% higher than budgeted — is not to be spent by the Legislature.

In a news release May 22, Ashley Kuenzi, communications director for the Oregon House Republicans, said the “spirit of collaboration has seemingly vanished” between Democrats and Republicans on Senate Bill 83. State Sen. David Brock Smith, R-Port Orford, who supported its passage in the Senate, said in the release it was a “stunning reversal” and “clear betrayal.”

“Holding rural Oregonians hostage over votes for future wildfire funding is not only obscene, but disgraceful. Put the damn bill on the floor for a vote!” he said.

On the line

If passed, Senate Bill 83 would repeal the map produced under a multi-year effort by scientists at state agencies and Oregon State University that show where the highest risk of wildfires are throughout the state. The map provoked backlash from homeowners in some high-risk areas worried about wildfire insurance rates and coverage and potentially having to comply with new building requirements.

State Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, who carried Senate Bill 83 in the Senate, has been outspoken that the map should be repealed because of unintended consequences, including widespread misinformation about how the map was intended to be used, creating distrust between some property owners and state agencies.

In a text, Golden said House Democrats’ decision not to move the bill straight to the House floor for a vote is making the repeal of the maps “more complicated than it needed to be.”

“To me, the smartest path from the start was to unite around map repeal and get it to the Governor’s desk to show folks we all put protecting the state ahead of politics,” he said. “That’s what we did in the Senate. Looks like the thinking in the House was different but nobody’s told me what it is.”

Golden is also behind the proposal just now gaining steam to use $1 billion of the state’s anticipated $1.64 billion kicker to fund much needed wildfire prevention and response work throughout the state. Golden proposed the idea months ago to little fanfare, but Gov. Tina Kotek recently signaled her support for the idea in the absence of other options, telling reporters at a news conference May 20 it would be “a beneficial approach.”

Kotek has asked the Legislature for more than a year to come up with a reliable and consistent funding mechanism to support statewide wildfire work and has so far not received any proposals that come close to meeting her desired target of an additional $150 million per year. Putting $1 billion of the kicker into an account that accrues 5% interest each year could provide the state with at least $50 million of that.

“That would be very helpful for the state,” Kotek told reporters.