Lane County Celebrates Statewide Expansion Of Local Community Benefits Program (Photo) - 11/17/21

Lane County Board of Commissioners Chair Joe Berney, joined by County staff and local trade representatives at the 2021 Association of Oregon Counties Annual Conference, provided counties across Oregon with a blueprint for creating their own Community Benefits Bidding Programs. 

Lane County’s Community Benefits Bidding (CBB) Program, which was adopted by commissioners in 2020, requires any County-led capital improvement projects with a budget of $1 million or more to prioritize contractors that provide living wages and significant local economic benefits. To date, three capital improvement projects, the Developmental Disabilities Service building construction, the Parole & Probation building renovation and the Navigation Center renovation have been contracted through the CBB Program. 

The Lane County CBB Program served as the basis for the now-enrolled Senate Bill 420, which expanded the community benefits program that began in Lane County to public bodies statewide. Senator James Manning sponsored the bill at the request of Lane County Board of Commissioners Chair Joe Berney. House Speaker Tina Kotek and Representative Marty Wilde also sponsored the bill.

“With the passage of SB420, the first state legislation I ever put together with help from our local building trades, any public entity in Oregon can now – for the first time – use their building projects to invest locally. These investments can increase jobs in local businesses, increase employer-paid full family health coverage for their residents, pragmatically increase workforce equity and energy efficient buildings,” said Lane County Board of Commissioners Chair Joe Berney. “This approach can potentially impact how over $10 billion in Oregon is spent annually to build more resilient communities and invest in people without raising one dollar of new taxes. It’s a big deal. My kudos and deep appreciation to everyone involved, especially to Senator James Manning who sponsored and championed the legislation for us.”

The statewide bill amends the public contracting code to allow local government contracting agencies to adopt by ordinance the authority to designate a public improvement contract as a "community benefit contract." Community benefit contracts may include terms and conditions that require the contractor to qualify as an apprentice training agent, employ apprentices to perform a specified percentage of work hours in apprentice-able occupations, provide employer-paid family health benefits for each worker, and meet any other requirements established by the contracting agency. 

“We are so appreciative of Board Chair Joe Berney for his tireless efforts in making this happen, as well as the other Lane County commissioners and staff for their huge role in developing this new tool that allows public entities the ability to really focus their capital improvement funding in ways to amplify the positive effects on our communities while not driving up project costs,” said International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) 20’s Kail Zuschlag. “For a long time public entities felt like they had to use the cheapest upfront bid, even when they knew it wasn’t the best choice for the community and would likely be more expensive by the end of a project, but now public entities have the choice of choosing the best value and to prioritize businesses that are the best community partners. This is a huge win for everyone.”

 

Read the bill text at https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2021R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/SB420/B-Engrossed. 

For more information about Lane County’s CBB Program, visit https://www.lanecounty.org/news/archived_news/PR_102020_CBB_Adopted.

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