A Jan. 12 draft of the wildfire funding proposal, sponsored by Sen Elizabeth Steiner, D-Portland, and a workgroup she convened last fall, no longer includes the prospect of a $10 fee on Oregon鈥檚 2 million property holders. Such a fee would have raised an estimated $20 million a year, about 15% of the projected total cost for wildfire protection in 2024.
The shift came two days after reporting by the Capital Chronicle on the proposal and the first discussions of the plan by lawmakers during pre-session hearings.
The draft proposal still includes cuts to the per-acre fees that timber and ranch landowners pay to the Oregon Department of Forestry for fire protection, potentially saving them up to $12 million per year. The proposal would create a new State Forestry Department Large Wildfire Fund, but does not include details about where money for that would come from, only that it would be appropriated by the Legislature.
A legislative concept, an early version of a legislative bill, was obtained by the Capital Chronicle on Monday after Steiner鈥檚 office and Tess Seger, director of communications for the Oregon Senate Democrats, declined to provide a copy.
鈥淭o avoid any confusion or misconceptions, we鈥檙e going to hold off on sharing the (legislative concept) until it is more finalized,鈥� Seger said in an email.
She declined to confirm whether the draft was the most recent version of Steiner鈥檚 proposal. Steiner will present her wildfire funding proposal to the Legislature during the upcoming short session that begins Feb. 5.
Seger did confirm the $10 fee is no longer part of Steiner鈥檚 proposal.
鈥淚n the past few days it became clear that there wasn鈥檛 going to be time during the 35-day session to pursue that aspect of the proposal,鈥� Seger said in an email.
The Capital Chronicle first generally about Steiner鈥檚 wildfire funding proposal Jan. 3, and on Jan. 10, it published on the plan, including the controversial makeup of the work group. Four of the 11 members are employed by industrial timber companies and an industry group. That industry group and one of the timber companies, Weyerhaeuser, donated to Steiner鈥檚 current campaign for state treasurer while the fire funding work group was meeting.
Steiner had initially sought to create more sustainable wildfire funding streams for the Oregon Department of Forestry, and to cut the per-acre fees east Oregon ranch and small timber landowners pay. Some landowners have seen rates increase 40% following wildfire spending cuts from the Legislature in 2023. But the workgroup she convened appeared to be dominated by members employed by the timber industry.
Critics of Steiner鈥檚 proposal had said charging industrial timber landowners less while asking all Oregon property owners to pay $10 more was regressive, and would shift wildfire protection costs from companies worth billions of dollars on to everyday Oregonians.
鈥淩emoving the inequitable $10 fee is a step in the right direction, but that alone does not 鈥榮ave鈥� the work group鈥檚 proposal,鈥� Jody Wiser, founder of the watchdog group Tax Fairness Oregon, said in an email. 鈥淚t is a $12 million tax break for owners of timber and grazing land.鈥�
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