Rep. Lucetta Elmer

Expands the rural health care income tax credit to include pharmacist services performed in rural communities. Directs the Office of Rural Health to establish criteria for certifying pharmacists as eligible for the credit. Applies to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026. Takes effect on the 91st day following adjournment sine die.

Maddy summaryHB 3241 allows counties in Oregon to permit certain events on land zoned exclusively for farming, directly affecting farm property owners and county governments. The bill sets specific rules: events must be outdoors or in existing farm buildings, host no more than 250 people, follow parking/traffic plans to protect farming operations, be managed by the landowner, occur no more than 30 times yearly, and comply with health/safety regulations. It does not allow new construction and explicitly permits counties to authorize such events under existing agri-tourism or commercial event provisions. This changes how counties regulate non-farming activities on designated farmland.

] Requires that qualified nonprofit agencies for individuals with disabilities employ individuals with disabilities for not less than 50 percent of the work hours of direct labor required for manufacturing or providing products or services. Requires that a service provider that enters into a contract with a public agency to provide goods or services after the public agency terminated or declined to renew a previous contract with a different service provider must reimburse individuals with disabilities who were employed under the previous contract for amounts the individuals with disabilities paid for continuation coverage and must in the new contract provide health benefits that are as favorable as, or more favorable than, the health benefits available under the previous contract. [ Permits the successor service provider to provide health benefits through enrollment in a health plan that a labor organization maintains or to provide health benefits that are as favorable as, or more favorable than, the benefits available under the Oregon Health Plan. ] Requires the new contract to provide the health benefits at the first opportunity in which employee enrollment in the new employer's benefit plan becomes available, but not later than one year after the effective date of the new contract. Requires the Oregon Department of Administrative Services to confirm that a public agency or qualified nonprofit agency for individuals with disabilities has included the provisions required in the Act in any new contract with a successor service provider. Permits the department to require amendment of the new contract to incorporate the required provisions and to impose a civil penalty of not more than $500 for each day in which the parties to the new contract fail to incorporate the required provisions.

Provides that an operator may require a person who engages in a sport, fitness or recreational activity in various ways to release the operator from claims for ordinary negligence. Directs the Oregon Business Development Department, with the assistance of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, to study issues facing the recreation industry and report to a committee of the Legislative Assembly related to the environment no later than September 15, 2026. Appropriates moneys for study. Declares an emergency, effective on passage.

Establishes an income tax credit for volunteer firefighters. Applies to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2032. Takes effect on the 91st day following adjournment sine die.

Modifies the authority of the Department of Environmental Quality to enter into agreements with regulated entities to expedite or enhance a regulatory process. Directs the Environmental Quality Commission to establish standards to guide the department in the exercise of the department's authority. Takes effect on the 91st day following adjournment sine die.

] Establishes a beginning farmer and rancher incentive program in the State Department of Agriculture. Requires the department to establish types of incentives to provide to beginning farmers and ranchers. Establishes the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Incentive Fund. Continuously appropriates moneys in the fund to the department for purposes of the incentive program. Appropriates moneys for deposit into the fund. Declares an emergency, effective on passage.

Appropriates moneys from the General Fund to the Oregon Business Development Department for distribution to local governments and other entities for purposes related to public safety. Declares an emergency, effective July 1, 2025.

] [ Requires an appropriation to ] Declares that it is the goal of the Legislative Assembly to fund the Department of Veterans' Affairs [ from the General Fund to be ] in an amount that is not less than $10,000,000 , from the General Fund, in 2015 dollars, adjusted for inflation. Requires the Director of Veterans' Affairs to add additional full-time positions within the department. Creates in the department the position of Veterans Employment Coordinator. [ Allows the director to appoint a deputy director, subject to approval by the Governor. ] Requires the director [ and deputy director ] to be a veteran who has received a discharge or release under other than dishonorable conditions. Allows the director to appoint a deputy director, subject to approval by the Governor. Directs the department to develop and implement one or more pilot programs for suicide prevention and workforce training and preparation. Allows moneys in the Veterans' Services Fund to be used for the pilot programs. [ Requires the Department of Transportation to accept, for issuing a driver license, an identification card issued by the United States Department of Defense or the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. ] Directs the director to distribute moneys appropriated for county veterans' service officer programs on a quarterly basis. Directs the department to provide a report on the quarterly distribution process. Changes who is allowed to request county veteran discharge records. Increases from $5,000 to $10,000, the cap on the individual grant amount that is allowed under the Veteran Educational Bridge Grant Program. Directs the Department of Veterans' Affairs to work with the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission and the Judicial Department to develop a plan for establishing and maintaining a veterans' court in each county or judicial district. Declares an emergency, effective July 1, 2025.

[ Appropriates moneys from the General Fund ] Establishes a quarterly allocation of lottery moneys to the Housing and Community Services Department for the individual development account program. Declares an emergency, effective July 1, 2025.