December 26, 2006

Dallum: Agriculture, resources key to district future

By KATHY GRAY
of The Chronicle

     Editor’s note: The Dalles Chronicle concludes a two-part series today on the legislative priorities of Oregon Rep. John Dallum, R-The Dalles, with a look at economic development, the Warm Springs casino issue, and the prospect of annual legislative sessions.

     Rep. John Dallum sees expanded agricultural exports as a key element of economic development in his House District 59.
     “To me, our district, we are natural resources; that’s what we are,” Dallum said in a recent interview.
     Dallum thinks agricultural exports to other states and nations can provide further benefit.
     Cattle exporting is one example of where Dallum would like to see his district improve.
     Dallum would like to see a livestock quarantine facility in his house district.
     He says he would also like to see more wind generation companies take advantage of economic development zones specifically for those facilities
Dallum also expects to see a second Connect Oregon plan to get Oregon products out of the state to ports in other states.
     The Dalles, he notes, may have a prime opportunity in that process.
     “I think we’re ideally situated with the river, the railroad, and the highways to become an exporting center,” Dallum said.
     Wasco County and other areas of District 59 have already experienced economic growth from industrial projects such as Google in Wasco County and other large developments in Madras and John Day made possible by business incubator opportunities and enterprise zones, Dallum noted.
     “I’d like to think I had something to do with that,” he said.
     Wasco County has rebounded from the highest jobless rate in the state two years ago.
     “When you look at two years ago and what it looks like now in The Dalles, it’s fun,” Dallum said. “But we still need jobs for everybody.”

Casino issues
     While issues related to a proposed casino development in the Columbia Gorge are generally considered the province of the governor’s office,
Dallum may have a role to play in coming weeks as the representative whose constituency includes the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs.
     “If they have a treaty right to build on Indian trust land, then the issue is settled,” Dallum said. “If they don’t have a right to build on the land, then I’m not really interested in having them build in the gorge.”
     Dallum taught history and social studies for many years, part of which included a section on the Treaty of 1855, which defines tribal land rights. He says that has given him a stronger awareness of the rights of Native Americans and their treatment over the 151 years since.
     “A promise made is a debt unpaid,” Dallum said.

Annual session prospects
     The Oregon Legislature will come into the 2007 session with a goal of simulating what annual legislative sessions would look like through a process called retiming, Dallum noted.
     The goal will be to complete the session by June 30 and Dallum hopes the plan is an opportunity to better manage the legislative process.
     “Retiming is not about ‘Do we need annual sessions?’” Dallum said. “It is about the experience to see what annual sessions would look like.”
     At present, Dallum said he is uncertain whether the Legislature needs a second session; retiming will help legislators see what the need is.
     Some of the elements of this process would include greater advanced preparation through legislative study, leadership meetings and party caucuses.
The first two months of the session would include time for orientation, training, and development of administrative rules and joint resolutions. Floor sessions would be weekly, rather than daily during this time and most bills would be introduced during this early part of the process, Dallum noted. Legislators have been asked to file all the bills they can before the session begins.
     “Also in the first two months we would do road hearings,” Dallum said, hearings held outside Salem.
     Revenue and Ways and Means committees would be in session throughout the six-month session, but political committees would meet later in the process.
Dallum remains undecided on annual sessions, noting the volume of work required of legislators, but adding that annual sessions will make it more difficult, particularly for rural legislators, to participate.
     “But the Emergency Board acts as the Legislature in the interim and I’m not sure I like that,” Dallum said. “It’s also a chance to clean up budget issues, like the shortfall at the Department of Human Services.”
     Issues relating to the Oregon Constitution remain to be resolved.
     “How will we call ourselves into session?” he asked, noting that current laws allow the governor to call interim sessions only in the event of emergency.