Rep. Lynn Findley attended the regular meeting of the Harney County Court on Jan. 2 to discuss the upcoming legislative session.

“It looks like we’re going to have a long and robust session,” Findley said, reporting that his colleagues introduced 45 committee bills for consideration, and they all pertain to revenue generation.

Findley said the corporate tax structure will be looked at significantly, and revenue-generation measures will be examined, “even though the secretary of state produced a report two weeks ago that says the state could’ve saved $1 billion if it had coordinated procurement practices.”

Findley also reported that a joint carbon committee has been meeting for the last year, adding that the carbon bill is coming, and Eastern Oregon needs to determine how to lessen the impact.

He said, “The time to sit back, cross our arms, and give them a dirty look, and yell at them is over. We just need to figure out how we can work with them and make them accommodate our needs. I’ve been assured by a lot of people on those committees that certain things will be exempt that affect us, but I don’t think that it’s umbrella enough of an exemption. We will be affected by the carbon bill.”

Findley noted that the committee is still working on the bill, and it’s still fairly early in the process.

“When we get more details that I can share with you, I absolutely will, but it’s still really a dynamic work in progress,” he said.

There will also be bills regarding housing and tax credits for biomass.

Findley drafted legislation to address 911 funding.

“There’s small counties in Eastern Oregon [that] do not have enough money to keep a center functioning,” he explained. “The general fund in all budgets is adversely affected to try and make [the centers] work. So I’m working to put some equity in that and increase funding for small counties. I have some support from some of my colleagues across the aisle, so we’ll see where that goes. Hopefully, we’ll be able to provide a better, stable funding base for 911 centers.”

Harney County Judge Pete Runnels noted that about $75,000 from the county’s general fund goes into the local 911center. He added that Harney County has a lot of public lands, and compensation from local agencies has decreased tremendously.

Findley also stated that he supports establishing an office for rural broadband in Oregon.

“All of Eastern Oregon needs to have better broadband services,” he said. “There’s large swaths of Eastern Oregon with zero broadband.”

Findley said he read an article in the Burns Times-Herald about people doing electrical, plumbing, and other work without the proper licenses or permits, and he “will continue to drill into those issues.”

“If it’s a legislative fix, I will drop a priority bill on that,” he said.

He added, “If there’s pending issues that we’ve not addressed, please let me know, and I will get them addressed. I can drop bills at any time. Each member is alloted five priority bills. I have not filed any priority bills yet. I’m saving those as emerging issues come through.”

Findley will serve as vice chair of the Revenue Committee and vice chair of the Joint Taxation Committee during the upcoming legislative session. He’ll also serve on the Energy and Environment Committee, Veterans and Preparedness Committee, and Joint Transportation Committee.

Findley and the court also discussed funding for predator control, ramping up services and programs for veterans, increasing state funding for the local fair, the Eastern Oregon land use bill, and work-search requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients who are able-bodied and without dependents.

Findley encouraged the court to “stand by to stay engaged,” explaining that in-person testimony from “real people” has a significant impact.

“We’ll be there,” Runnels replied.

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Greg Smith and Denise Rose of Harney County Economic Development (HCED) attended the meeting to provide an update.

Smith said that, due to the holidays, economic development tends to slow down from about Nov. 20 until Jan. 2, but activity spikes between Jan. 2 and April 15.

“We’re going to be gearing up for that and recognizing that there’s going to be a lot of new opportunities that are going to be coming forward here in the next couple of months,” Smith said.

He added that priorities for the coming year include implementing the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats analysis; providing training opportunities for people who want to start a new business or expand an existing business; providing training opportunities for Rose; and continuing to assist small businesses.

Smith also recommended that the county sit down with Treasure Valley Community College to determine the college’s role in small-business development.

He added that HCED could collaborate with Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative’s comprehensive economic marketing website.

“It is phenomenal what they’re going to do,” Smith said. “Let’s say a company out of Boise, Idaho has an interest here in Burns. We would be able to send them a set of 3-D goggles they’d be able to put on. They’d put [them] on, and they’d be able to [virtually] look through the entire community, walk up and down the streets, go out to our industrial lands, go to our water/sewer infrastructure, all of it.”

He added that the company would also get a 3-D view of Harney County’s social activities such as rodeos, sporting events, and parades.

Smith said, “It’s a new way of marketing the economic-development opportunities within your county.”

He and the court also discussed financing challenges for entrepreneurs, real estate prices, and broadband.

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In other business, the court:

• discussed Public Notices of Water Use Requests.

Owens said he reviewed them and saw nothing out of the ordinary. He also followed up on the requests that were discussed during the previous meeting (Dec. 19, 2018) and said they seemed appropriate;

• approved a court order in the matter of appointing Runnels as the official budget officer for Harney County for fiscal year 2019-2020;

• approved a court order in the matter of designating the Burns Times-Herald as the official newspaper for publication of county matters for 2019;

• received correspondence from Dennis C. Teitzel, manager of the Prineville Bureau of Land Management District Office, thanking Runnels for his support of the Bonneville Power’s Glass Buttes Right-of-Way Project;

• noted that High Country Health and Wellness Center, which is located in the same building as the Harney County Health Department, can now accept Veterans Choice Program patients. The Choice program allows veterans to receive care from providers outside of a Veterans Affairs (VA) clinic. However, patients must get prior approval from the VA;

• discussed the presentations that local dispatchers provided to elementary school students in Burns and Fields regarding 911. Students got to make a mock call and learn what constitutes an emergency.

Runnels said he thought the presentations were great, and he hopes they will be offered at other schools;

• will schedule rural outreach during the next county court meeting.

The next meeting of the Harney County Court will be held Wednesday, Jan. 16, at 10 a.m. in Runnels’ office at the courthouse.