Bill Hansell and his fellow Republicans may be outnumbered in the Oregon Senate and House, but that hasn’t stopped the state senator from Athena from serving his constituents.
Hansell held a town hall meeting in Hermiston on Saturday and talked about some of the 70 or so bills he’s either sponsored or co-sponsored during the 78th Oregon Legislative session. He also spent some time on what he called “job-killing bills” he and his Republican colleagues hope to kill or modify before the session is over.
Hansell was the chief sponsor of Senate Bill 121, which he says saved the city of Milton-Freewater $12 million in annexation costs by allowing alternatives to annexation in order to clean up contaminated wells.
“Nobody wanted to annex the land,” he said. “This provides more options for the local community.” That bill is expected to be passed out of the Senate Committee on Health Care this week.
Hansell was also the chief sponsor of Senate Bill 122, which would provide some small tax credit for teachers who spend their own money on classroom materials. That bill has been referred to the Committee on Tax Credits.
Another bill introduced by Hansell is Senate Bill 628 which would re-name a portion of Highway 395 as the Don Kendall Memorial Highway. Kendall was a longtime ODOT employee killed on the job last year.
The Athena Republican also passed out a sheet listing 11 bills he called job killers. Among them are bills that would boost Oregon’s minimum wage to $15 by 2018, another that would expand family leave rights to allow employees to take time off to care for siblings, and one that Hansell says would increase worker compensation costs.
“You need to find some moderate Democrats to work behind the scenes,” said Hansell. “We’re working to modify some of these.” Hansell said he’s been told the minimum wage bill isn’t going anywhere this session.
Hansell had some praise for at least one Democrat – Gov. Kate Brown, who took over after John Kitzhaber resigned.
“This was a situation which she had nothing to do with, so she was put in a tough position,” Hansell said. “She hasn’t tried to change anything in the budget and she’s already been out to Eastern Oregon. I think she’s done very well.”
