LOC News
Transportation Bills Receive Hearings – City Support Needed
For the last two sessions, the LOC has tried to advance legislation that would bring a valuable public safety tool to other cities. Since 2015, the city of Portland has had the authority to place fixed radar sites in high-crash corridors as part of a pilot program.
This year, expansion of fixed photo radar remains important, and the vehicle is HB 2530. The legislation extends the authority to all cities with a population greater than 50,000 and repeals a sunset date, making this permanent authority. The population floor was selected because previous Joint Transportation Committee (JTC) members wanted a more measured roll out.
There is a -2 amendment for this bill, which would extend the authority to all cities that are in a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) boundary. There are 10 MPOs in Oregon, and this amendment would add an additional 30 cities. The reasoning behind the amendment is to avoid excluding cities in urban areas that typically share the same transportation corridor, and therefore would benefit from the same authority as the larger city. Those MPOs include: Metro, Longview – Kelso – Rainier, Walla Walla Valley MPO, Salem – Keizer, Albany Area MPO, Corvallis Area MPO, Central Lane MPO, Bend MPO, Middle Rogue MPO, and the Rogue Valley MPO. LOC is supportive of this amendment moving as well.
HB 2019: High Crash Corridor for City of Unity – LOC Supports
Representative Owens and Senator Findley provided compelling information as to why the citizens of Unity would benefit from locating a fixed photo radar site. The city has no local law enforcement, and no ability to regulate the public safety needs of their residents when traffic is effectively maintaining highway speeds on U.S. 26 through the middle of town. It seems logical for authority provided currently to the city of Portland would undoubtedly have value for the city of Unity.
HB 3357: Use of Non-Sworn Officers – LOC Supports
The LOC believes this is good legislation that makes sense. We see no reason why a training standard cannot be developed to allow for a non-sworn officer to review photos for issuing tickets. Given the limitations faced by local police agencies, it only makes sense to provide this flexibility.
LOC member comments of support for each of these items will be helpful for pushing this policy forward. A hearing was held on March 18 so the LOC is requesting that cities provide comments to their own legislators in the House and Senate. In addition, we ask that cities contact the JTC members with their support, especially if a committee member represents their city. View the LOC’s comments here.
Contact: Jim McCauley, Legislative Director - jmccauley@orcities.org
Last Updated 3/19/21