Oregon Statutes 291.055 – State agency fee approval; exemptions; restoration of temporarily reduced fees
(1) Notwithstanding any other law that grants to a state agency the authority to establish fees, all new state agency fees or fee increases adopted during the period beginning on the date of adjournment sine die of a regular session of the Legislative Assembly and ending on the date of adjournment sine die of the next regular session of the Legislative Assembly:
Terms Used In Oregon Statutes 291.055
- Adjournment sine die: The end of a legislative session "without day." These adjournments are used to indicate the final adjournment of an annual or the two-year session of legislature.
- executive department: means all statewide elected officers other than judges, and all boards, commissions, departments, divisions and other entities, without regard to the designation given to those entities, that are within the executive branch of government as described in Article III, section 1, of the Oregon Constitution, and that are not:
(a) In the judicial department or the legislative department;
(b) Local governments; or
(c) Special government bodies. See Oregon Statutes 174.112
- judicial department: means the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, the Oregon Tax Court, the circuit courts and all administrative divisions of those courts, whether denominated as boards, commissions, committees or departments or by any other designation. See Oregon Statutes 174.113
- legislative department: means the Legislative Assembly, the committees of the Legislative Assembly and all administrative divisions of the Legislative Assembly and its committees, whether denominated as boards, commissions or departments or by any other designation. See Oregon Statutes 174.114
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
(a) Are not effective for agencies in the executive department of government unless approved in writing by the Director of the Oregon Department of Administrative Services;
(b) Are not effective for agencies in the judicial department of government unless approved in writing by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court;
(c) Are not effective for agencies in the legislative department of government unless approved in writing by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
(d) Shall be reported by the state agency to the Oregon Department of Administrative Services within 10 days of their adoption; and
(e) Are rescinded on adjournment sine die of the next regular session of the Legislative Assembly as described in this subsection, unless otherwise authorized by enabling legislation setting forth the approved fees.
(2) This section does not apply to:
(a) Any tuition or fees charged by a public university listed in ORS § 352.002.
(b) Taxes or other payments made or collected from employers for unemployment insurance required by ORS Chapter 657 or premium assessments required by ORS § 656.612 and 656.614 or contributions and assessments calculated by cents per hour for workers’ compensation coverage required by ORS § 656.506.
(c) Fees or payments required for:
(A) Health care services provided by the Oregon Health and Science University, by the Oregon Veterans’ Homes pursuant to ORS § 408.362 and 408.365 to 408.385 and by other state agencies and institutions pursuant to ORS § 179.610 to 179.770.
(B) Copayments and premiums paid to the Oregon medical assistance program.
(C) Assessments paid to the Department of Consumer and Business Services under sections 3 and 5, chapter 538, Oregon Laws 2017.
(d) Fees created or authorized by statute that have no established rate or amount but are calculated for each separate instance for each fee payer and are based on actual cost of services provided.
(e) State agency charges on employees for benefits and services.
(f) Any intergovernmental charges.
(g) Forest protection district assessment rates established by ORS § 477.210 to 477.265 and the Oregon Forest Land Protection Fund fees established by ORS § 477.760.
(h) State Department of Energy assessments required by ORS § 456.595 and 469.421 (8).
(i) Assessments on premiums charged by the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services pursuant to ORS § 731.804 or fees charged by the director to banks, trusts and credit unions pursuant to ORS § 706.530 and 723.114.
(j) Public Utility Commission operating assessments required by ORS § 756.310 or charges paid to the Residential Service Protection Fund required by chapter 290, Oregon Laws 1987.
(k) Fees charged by the Housing and Community Services Department for intellectual property pursuant to ORS § 456.562.
(L) New or increased fees that are anticipated in the legislative budgeting process for an agency, revenues from which are included, explicitly or implicitly, in the legislatively adopted budget or the legislatively approved budget for the agency.
(m) Tolls approved by the Oregon Transportation Commission pursuant to ORS § 383.004.
(n) Portal provider fees as defined in ORS § 276A.270 and established by the State Chief Information Officer under ORS § 276A.276 (3) and recommended by the Electronic Government Portal Advisory Board.
(o) Fees set by the State Parks and Recreation Director and approved by the State Parks and Recreation Commission under ORS § 390.124 (2)(b).
(3)(a) Fees temporarily decreased for competitive or promotional reasons or because of unexpected and temporary revenue surpluses may be increased to not more than their prior level without compliance with subsection (1) of this section if, at the time the fee is decreased, the state agency specifies the following:
(A) The reason for the fee decrease; and
(B) The conditions under which the fee will be increased to not more than its prior level.
(b) Fees that are decreased for reasons other than those described in paragraph (a) of this subsection may not be subsequently increased except as allowed by ORS § 291.050 to 291.060 and 294.160. [1995 c.576 § 2; 1997 c.37 § 1; 1997 c.684 § 3; 2003 c.605 § 3; 2005 c.727 14,15; 2005 c.744 24d,24e; 2005 c.777 § 16; 2007 c.531 14,15; 2007 c.827 2,3; 2009 c.829 § 4; 2009 c.867 § 40; 2011 c.637 § 98; 2011 c.688 § 1; 2013 c.492 § 30; 2013 c.698 9,36; 2013 c.768 § 127; 2015 c.70 19,20; 2015 c.807 44a,44b; 2017 c.17 23,24; 2017 c.385 2,3; 2017 c.444 4,5; 2017 c.538 15,16; 2019 c.224 § 6]
See note under 291.050.