Farm groups oppose merging state agencies
SALEM — Legislation that would examine merging natural resource agencies in Oregon is opposed by farm and timber groups as a “solution in search of a problem.”
Under Senate Bill 24, a task force appointed by legislative leaders and the governor would “study the benefits of abolishing or consolidating” 14 state agencies charged with managing natural resources.
Aside from the possibility of saving money, consolidation could improve the state government’s efficiency in analysis and permitting, said Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland.
However, the task force may decide that Oregon is better off with the current structure, Dembrow said during a Fed. 16 hearing of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.
The Oregon Farm Bureau is confident the agencies are already functioning smoothly and doesn’t think it’s necessary to spend time contemplating alternatives, said Katie Fast, the group’s vice president of public policy.
Promoting agriculture is an important part of the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s mission but may get swamped by other priorities if it was merged with other agencies that are solely focused on regulation, she said.
The boards and commissions that oversee state agencies have also developed expertise that’s specific to natural resource industries, Fast said.
These governing bodies are already asked to handle many complex issues, said Heath Curtiss, director of government affairs for the Oregon Forest Industries Council.
If boards or commissions were merged to oversee a broader regulatory sphere, their members would struggle to develop expertise and would have little choice but to defer to agency officials, he said.
It would be possible to merge natural resource agencies without eliminating department directors or commissions, but at that point the added efficiency is questionable and consolidation may just amount to another layer of government, Curtiss said.
A larger bureaucracy is undesirable because it could encumber the resolution of regulatory questions or seek to overrule the decisions of state agencies, said Mike Freese, vice president of Associated Oregon Industries.
The committee also considered two other bills characterized as “agency consolidation light” by Richard Whitman, natural resources policy director for Gov. John Kitzhaber.
Senate Bill 201 would create “natural resources alignment coordinators” to work with regional teams and help agencies make regulatory decisions, while Senate Bill 203 would establish a “natural resources partnership coordinator” to find cooperation opportunities with private interests as well as other government entities.
Sen. Alan Olsen, R-Canby, asked why new positions are necessary since state agencies are already trying to coordinate with each other.
“We are doing it on an ad hoc basis and leaving opportunities on the table that we should be taking advantage of, frankly,” said Whitman.