Bill Text: OR HB2004 | 2013 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to low-income electric bill payment assistance; and declaring an emergency.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2013-06-04 - Chapter 254, (2013 Laws): Effective date June 4, 2013. [HB2004 Detail]
Download: Oregon-2013-HB2004-Enrolled.html
77th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2013 Regular Session
Enrolled
House Bill 2004
Sponsored by Representatives KOTEK, MCLANE; Representatives
GREENLICK, WEIDNER
CHAPTER ................
AN ACT
Relating to low-income electric bill payment assistance; creating
new provisions; amending sections 3 and 4, chapter 566, Oregon
Laws 2011; and declaring an emergency.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. Section 3, chapter 566, Oregon Laws 2011, is amended
to read:
{ + Sec. 3. + } { - (1) - } Notwithstanding the $15
million limitation
{ - expressed - } { + described + } in ORS 757.612 (7)(b),
the Public Utility Commission shall direct electric companies or
Oregon Community Power to collect a combined total of an
additional $5 million per 12-month period from residential
electricity consumers for the low-income electric bill payment
assistance provided for in ORS 757.612 (7)(a) if the Housing and
Community Services Department requests an increase { + . + }
{ - due to finding, in consultation with the advisory committee
on energy, that two or more of the following events have
occurred: - }
{ - (a) The unemployment rate in Oregon as determined by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of
Labor has exceeded 10 percent for at least six months of the
previous 12-month period. - }
{ - (b) The poverty rate in Oregon as determined by the
United States Census Bureau has exceeded 12 percent during the
previous 12-month period. - }
{ - (c) The moneys allocated for the year under the federal
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8621 et
seq.) are 75 percent or less of the previous year's
allocation. - }
{ - (d) The number of households in Oregon receiving
supplemental nutrition assistance has exceeded 20 percent during
the previous 12-month period. - }
{ - (2) The additional moneys collected pursuant to this
section may not be collected for more than: - }
{ - (a) Twelve months from the date that the Public Utility
Commission directs the electric companies or Oregon Community
Power to make the collection, without an additional finding by
the Housing and Community Services Department, not less than nine
months after its initial finding under subsection (1) of this
section, that two or more of the events specified in subsection
(1) of this section have occurred; or - }
Enrolled House Bill 2004 (HB 2004-A) Page 1
{ - (b) A total of 24 months. - }
SECTION 2. Section 4, chapter 566, Oregon Laws 2011, is amended
to read:
{ + Sec. 4. + } Section 3 { + , chapter 566, Oregon Laws
2011, + } { - of this 2011 Act - } is repealed on January 2,
{ - 2014 - } { + 2016 + }.
SECTION 3. { + (1) The Director of the Housing and Community
Services Department shall appoint an advisory committee on
low-income electric bill payment assistance funding. Members of
the committee must include:
(a) A representative from each electric company whose
ratepayers contribute funding to the Housing and Community
Services Department Low-Income Electric Bill Payment Assistance
Fund established in ORS 456.587;
(b) A representative of the Citizens' Utility Board established
under ORS chapter 774; and
(c) A representative of Community Action Partnership of Oregon,
as defined in ORS 456.515.
(2) The committee shall study the duties, functions and powers
of the Housing and Community Services Department under ORS
757.612 (7) for the purpose of determining to which agency or
entity those duties, functions and powers should be transferred
during the 2014 regular session of the Seventy-seventh
Legislative Assembly. In making the determination, the committee
shall consider:
(a) How best to minimize costs associated with the
administration of ORS 757.612 (7);
(b) How to provide better service to low-income retail
electricity consumers; and
(c) The circumstances under which funds for low-income electric
bill payment assistance under ORS 757.612 (7) should be
collected.
(3) The committee shall report the results of the study under
subsection (2) of this section, and shall make recommendations
for proposed legislation, to the appropriate interim committees
of the Legislative Assembly, as determined by the committee, no
later than December 1, 2013.
(4) Official action by the committee requires the approval of a
majority of the members of the committee.
(5) The committee shall elect one of its members to serve as
chairperson.
(6) The committee shall meet at times and places specified by
the call of the chairperson or of a majority of the members of
the committee.
(7) If there is a vacancy for any cause, the Director of the
Housing and Community Services Department shall make an
appointment to become immediately effective.
(8) All agencies of state government, as defined in ORS
174.111, are directed to assist the committee in the performance
of its duties and, to the extent permitted by laws relating to
confidentiality, to furnish such information and advice as the
members of the committee consider necessary to perform their
duties. + }
SECTION 4. { + Section 3 of this 2013 Act is repealed on the
date of the convening of the 2014 regular session of the
Legislative Assembly as specified in ORS 171.010. + }
SECTION 5. { + This 2013 Act being necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency
is declared to exist, and this 2013 Act takes effect on its
passage. + }
Enrolled House Bill 2004 (HB 2004-A) Page 2
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Passed by House April 15, 2013
.............................................................
Ramona J. Line, Chief Clerk of House
.............................................................
Tina Kotek, Speaker of House
Passed by Senate May 22, 2013
.............................................................
Peter Courtney, President of Senate
Enrolled House Bill 2004 (HB 2004-A) Page 3
Received by Governor:
......M.,............., 2013
Approved:
......M.,............., 2013
.............................................................
John Kitzhaber, Governor
Filed in Office of Secretary of State:
......M.,............., 2013
.............................................................
Kate Brown, Secretary of State
Enrolled House Bill 2004 (HB 2004-A) Page 4
