In a sudden-death stealth move Washington state’s Republican Representative Doc Hastings has introduced a radically different proposal for replacing the county payments program. The program which provides millions of federal dollars to desperate rural counties in Oregon and beyond. Republicans do not notice that this amounts to welfare for the communities who by this time should have figured out how to do without all the Frenchie Socialista money and subsidies for the timber industry… which is accustomed to helping itself to what’s left of our forests anyway.
With lightening speed - as in Today - a House committee in DCV is considering legislation to replace the current - and politically unpopular - system for keeping local governments afloat.
The bill carries none of the elements - or focus - that Oregon Reps. Greg Walden, Peter DeFazio and Kurt Schrader have been quietly assembling for months with the aim of selling as the best replacement for county payments.
The emergence of Hastings' bill and the unusually rapid arrival to the committee could complicate efforts by the Oregon lawmakers to win support for their idea, which would transform 2.4 million acres of O&C land controlled by the Bureau of Land Management property into two trusts, one managed for conservation and the other for commercial use to generate revenue for cash-starved rural counties.
The quick progression of Hastings' bill, which caught outside observers by surprise, will take place in the House Natural Resources Committee Thursday less than two days after the legislation was formally introduced.
So how did this happen so fast? Has Doc been dipping into Human Growth Hormones?
Was the bill a fait accompli kept under wraps?
Deus ex machine?
Or do I detect the shadowy hand of ALEC?
Let's take a look-see!
In Oregon, fourteen state legislators are ALEC members. The ALEC state chair, C. Gene Whisnant (R-53), is so prized by ALEC that he was named the 2010 National Associate of the Year. Other ALEC legislators/associates in Oregon include John Huffman (R-59), Matt Wingard (R-26), Tim Freeman (R-2), Katerina E. Brewer (R-29), Shawn Lindsay (R-30), Michael R. McLane (R-55), Jason Conger (R-54), Matthew Wand (R-49), Wally Hicks (R-3), Sal Esquivel (R-6), Bill Kennemer (R-39), Bruce Hanna (R-7), and Rep. Kim Thatcher (R-25).
The Koch brothers are also well represented by the Koch Companies Public Sector, LLC which dropped $40,000 dollars in Oregon last year to protect their corporate rights. Lobbyists working for Koch include Diane Schmidt, Calli Daly, Erica Hagedorn, Mark W Nelson, and David Reinhard.
- KBOO