Governor Kotek Calls Special Session to Cover Wildfire Season Costs to the Taxpayers
NEWS RELEASE
November 26, 2024
Media Contact:
Roxy Mayer, Press Secretary to Governor Kotek
Roxy.Mayer@Oregon.Gov
Governor Kotek Calls Special Session to Cover Wildfire Season Costs
Governor seeks existing available funds to finish paying bills for historic fire season before the end of the year
Salem, OR — Governor Tina Kotek announced today that she is using her constitutional authority to call a special session of the Oregon Legislature, to begin on Thursday, December 12, for lawmakers to appropriate funds to pay for the historic 2024 wildfire season. A record 1.9 million acres burned this wildfire season, far exceeding the state’s 10-year average of 640,000 acres per season and incurring costs upwards of $350 million. While over half of the costs will eventually be covered by disaster relief funds from the federal government, the state needs to pay its bills as expeditiously as possible.
“The unprecedented 2024 wildfire season required all of us to work together to protect life, land, and property, and that spirit of cooperation must continue in order to meet our fiscal responsibilities,” said Governor Kotek. “I am grateful to legislative leaders for coming to consensus that our best course of action is to ensure the state’s fire season costs are addressed and bills paid by the end of the calendar year.”
The Governor is asking the Legislature to release a combined total of $218 million to the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) and the Oregon Department of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) to address all costs for the season assumed to date. This includes meeting the state’s financial obligations to small, medium, and large contractors who worked tirelessly to protect and support Oregonians for more than five months.
“Fighting wildfires of the magnitude we saw this season required a tremendous level of resources that even wildfire experts couldn’t foresee,” said House Speaker Julie Fahey (D-West Eugene & Veneta). “Now, as we approach the end of the year and the holiday season, we need to make good on our commitments and pay our bills so that the contractors who fought fires in Oregon can be made whole. Convening now will enable us to do so, and to chart a bipartisan path forward to address our state’s most pressing needs.”
Wildfires this season destroyed at least 42 homes and 132 other structures, and caused severe disruptions and damage to transportation facilities, utility infrastructure, and natural resource economies. In July, Governor Kotek declared a State of Emergency in response to the threat of wildfire and invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act a state record 17 times to mobilize structural firefighting resources coordinated by OSFM to local communities and thousands of wildland firefighting personnel and resources coordinated by ODF.
###
Related Posts:
BOEM "Temporarily" Postpones Oregon Offshore Wind Energy Auction — Rob Taylor Report
Union Thug Threatens Curry Board of Commissioners and They Ignore Him — Rob Taylor Report
It's coal to the rescue as wind and solar fail to keep German lights on — Rob Taylor Report
The Rob Taylor Report radio show Permanently Canceled — Rob Taylor Report
The President of OSU Declines Management of The Elliott State Forest — Rob Taylor Report
Three Protests Opposing the Wind Turbines Off the Southern Oregon Coast — Rob Taylor Report
BLM releases Western Oregon Tribal Fairness Act Environmental Assessment — Rob Taylor Report
Interior Announces $28.4 Million In Payments To Western Oregon Counties — Rob Taylor Report
BLM ~ Jordan Cove Energy Project Planning Document Available For Public Review — Rob Taylor Report