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REMOTE WORKER TRAVEL BILL BLOCKED: Senate Bill 853, which would prohibit the state from paying travel expenses for state employees who have relocated to other states, appeared to have a clear path to passage when all 30 senators sponsored it. Then, on Feb. 9, they heard from a powerful voice—Melissa Unger, executive director of Service Employees International Union Local 503, which represents 24,000 state workers. Unger noted that the state developed and implemented the policy covering travel expenses for remote employees, who then made important decisions for their families. “They would have no reason to believe that policy would change,” Unger testified to the Senate Labor and Business Committee. Unger’s objections resonated: Committee chair Kathleen Taylor (D-Portland) said that despite signing on as a sponsor, she could not support the bill as written. Chief sponsor Sen. Tim Knopp (R-Bend) said he would work on amendments to satisfy SEIU’s objections. He’ll first have to prove change is needed. “We’re not really convinced it’s a problem,” Unger told the committee.
INTERSTATE BRIDGE DESIGN COULD CHANGE: At a Feb. 9 community advisory meeting, Greg Johnson, the engineer heading up the $7.5 billion Interstate 5 bridge replacement project, dropped big news: “We are looking at a bridge configuration of a single level,” Johnson told the group. Critics say that marks a major departure from the double-deck stacked “locally preferred alternative,” or preliminary design. That LPA consists of two bridges with vehicular traffic on the top decks and light rail, bicycle and pedestrian capacity on the lower decks. Johnson now says the right solution might be one large single-deck bridge. Critics oppose the double-decked design, which they say is too steep and too expensive. Until now, their pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Portland economist Joe Cortright says he’s both perplexed and pleased by the sudden flexibility. “This latest—and very late—change to the project design is an indication that it’s not too late to fix the fatal flaws in this project,” he says. “Right now, the fatal flaws revolve around its bloated design and price.” Johnson says his group is simply evaluating all possibilities. “The bridge configuration has not yet been determined, and a single-level bridge was never eliminated from consideration,” he says.”We are looking at multiple options for bridge configuration so we can maximize efficiencies by understanding the range of impacts and benefits.”
ROBERT KING MUST NOW WIN HIS FREEDOM IN TWO STATES: Robert King was convicted of murder conspiracies in two states, Washington and Oregon. But Washington paroled him in 1995, and he’s spent the past three decades trying to get the Oregon Board of Parole to do the same. Now he’s back to square one. Last week, Washington’s Indeterminate Sentence Review Board suspended King’s parole, citing “new information” received since December. That reversal follows a January WW cover story outlining King’s crimes—and the stories of people who fear he might kill them too if he’s set free. The Washington board demands King be returned to the state’s custody if the Oregon Board of Parole decides to release him, a decision it is expected to make soon. In recent weeks, the convicted murderer’s family has come out in protest of his plans to move back to Alabama. King’s brother, James, says King sent a man named Richard to kill him and his father in the late 1990s. His other two brothers, Daniel and Thomas, deny promising King an investigator job at the family law firm—a promise made in a 1994 letter bearing their signatures submitted by King in support of his parole. King’s final Oregon hearing, an “exit interview,” is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 16.
WHEELER WARNS OF TIGHT BUDGET: In a series of budget memos to city commissioners over the past two months, Mayor Ted Wheeler gave clear guidance: Submit no new program proposals because the city has little excess general fund revenue this year. “I cannot stress the importance of adhering as closely as possible to a status quo…target framework as we all work towards the transition to the new form of government,” Wheeler wrote Jan. 26. He also asked that each bureau categorize its programs into three buckets: legally required, primary to the bureau’s functions, or “secondary” to the bureau’s mission. Mayoral spokesman Cody Bowman says that request reflects “conversations leading into organizational structure changes that may come due to charter change.” Last year, the city had over $247 million in additional funds from the feds and from one-time funds. Wheeler indicated he’s worried about those pandemic relief dollars drying up. He wrote he will work to “reduce exposure of a financial cliff when the one-time funds eventually expire.” One city project reliant on federal cash: The city’s tiny house villages, of which only two are currently housing people.
HIGH-INCOME TAXPAYERS GET AMNESTY: After an uproar among high-income taxpayers, both Multnomah County and the Metro regional government waived interest and penalties for late payers of two new taxes, one to fund the county’s Preschool for All program and the other to pay for Metro’s supportive housing services measure. County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson announced the county amnesty Tuesday. Any taxpayer who got a notice from the county and paid interest and penalties for 2021 will receive a full refund of both. “We appreciate the community supporting Preschool for All through this tax,” Pederson said. “This is a new tax for our region, and we want to give people room to pay it.” Both taxes went into effect Jan. 1, 2021, after voters approved them. Many taxpayers missed paying the taxes because they weren’t included in popular tax software programs such as TurboTax, the county and Metro said. The Preschool for All and Metro housing taxes are among the reasons that Portland has the second-highest tax burden in the U.S., at 14.69%, exceeded only by New York City at 14.78%, according to a report from Ernst & Young commissioned by lobbying group Oregon Business & Industry.
