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'Good things for Oregon' Legislators cite cooperative tone of completed session By JESSICA SMITH By all accounts from local lawmakers, the 2001 Legislature was a success. "Some have characterized it as a 'Kumbayah' session, but it was about people working together and wrestling with important issues," said Sen. Lenn Hannon, R-Ashland, who served in his last legislative session after 26 years of public service. Among the biggest issues was a $5.2 billion budget for K-12 education and a legislative redistricting plan that drew fire from House Democrats, who staged a weeklong walk-out that delayed adjournment and reassigned the districting task to Secretary of State Bill Bradbury. Lawmakers called the session July 7. Apart from partisan bickering over the Republican-backed redistricting plan, however, local lawmakers called the session "constructive" and "productive." "We really did some positive things," said Hannon. "And it wasn't because of one person or two people. It was because of a collection of people on both sides of the aisle." The cooperative tone of the session was set early in the year, when Gov. John Kitzhaber and legislators agreed on a $5.2 billion funding bill for education. With that issue settled, lawmakers worked to secure an additional $45 million for the state's growing community colleges. Finally, legislators approved a higher education budget that includes $15 million for a new library at Southern Oregon University. Budget issues consumed a majority of the session, according to Rep. Rob Patridge, R-Medford. Legislators increased funding for road construction, restored senior programs and established a drug "formulary," a list of preferred medications for Oregon Health Plan patients, that is expected to save the state $7 million in prescription costs in the next two years. "I think we did a lot of good things for Oregon," Patridge said, pointing to a Legislature-approved five-month delay in the implementation of a state law that would deregulate the electricity market. The law, which would allow commercial and industrial consumers to buy power on the open market, was to go into effect Oct. 1. Though Patridge and Rep. Alan Bates, D-Eagle Point, hoped for a longer postponement, both commended their colleagues for slowing deregulation in Oregon following a similar effort in California that was blamed for the state's energy crisis. "It's (the delay) not as much as I'd like, but at least we moved the issue," said Patridge. "At least people are looking at it." Local lawmakers said they were pleased with the progress made on statewide issues, but legislators also took on personal issues this year. Besides his work as co-chairman of the Joint Ways and Means Committee, Hannon said he was especially pleased to see the passage of "Grace's Bill," named after his granddaughter. Hannon and the girl suffer from diabetes. The bill establishes a database to track children who suffer from diabetes to give researchers information that will help them in their studies about the cause of the life-threatening disease. Sen. Jason Atkinson, R-Jacksonville, said the Senate session was "solid." The freshman senator worked for the adoption of a bill to curb identity theft and authored legislation to put Crater Lake on Oregon license plates. In an effort to speed up power generation, Atkinson also said he ushered a bill that streamlines the process to site energy plants. Rep. Patridge worked on some 20 bills this session. Among his favorites: a bill to allow low-income mothers to stay home with infants and waive some public assistance; the creation of "Spread the Word," a program to donate books to needy children; a $1 million funding bill for women's breast and cervical cancer testing for low-income women; and a bill that establishes a statewide task force to look at health care worker shortages. In his first legislative session, Rep. Bates said he worked to quiet a tempest brewing over a surplus in the state's workers compensation fund. Though some wanted to take money from SAIF Corp. and put it in a "rainy day" fund, Bates got agency officials to agree to an independent audit, which the Legislature will review in 2003 to decide how to manage a surplus. "I took it on as a personal problem," Bates said. "It gave me an ulcer before I was through." Rep. Cherryl Walker, R-Murphy, said her priorities were health care and issues for seniors and women. This session, her first, she worked to pass a bill that allows women who are victims of domestic violence to collect unemployment if they are endangered at work. Reach reporter Jessica Smith at 776-4481, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.