Benton County outlines five-state legislative priorities including EOC funding and homelessness initiatives

County legislative staff presented a five-part state legislative agenda and asked the Benton County Board of Commissioners to confirm priorities and supply subject-matter experts for advocacy work.

Mr. Frager introduced an illustrative framework that he said totaled roughly $30.5 million in potential state requests but stressed the need for refinement and alignment with the county's contracted lobbyists. He described five priority areas:

- Emergency operations and an emergency operations center (EOC): Frager said the EOC request could be pursued as a standalone state ask and suggested an illustrative $5,000,000 figure while noting it would dovetail with a county bond effort.

- Facilities and capital to address homelessness: Frager emphasized capital needs, potential bond alignment and the requirement that county investments be structured (for example, county-owned land or buildings) to meet bond and tax-exempt borrowing rules.

- Continuing-care operations and system-building: Frager framed this priority as operations funding to build sustainable service capacity rather than one-time capital alone.

- Community safety and infrastructure planning: Proposed planning dollars to assess bridges, water, broadband and other infrastructure tied to safety; Frager used an illustrative $4,000,000 planning estimate and asked staff to refine scope.

- Economic growth projects (fairgrounds/exhibit hall): Frager noted prior market research and earlier state support through Business Oregon and asked the board whether to pursue a targeted fairgrounds request with partner lobbying.

Commissioners discussed alignment with state and federal opportunities, the need to prioritize shovel-ready projects over aspirational asks, and how to tailor requests so they can be advanced by the county's lobbyists. Commissioner Matt Malone said housing and homelessness are recurring legislative themes and urged the county to be ready to pursue opportunities that match state funding streams. Chair Nancy Wise asked staff to confirm whether the list was presented in priority order; Frager said the five items are presented in priority order with flexibility for revision.

Next steps: Frager asked commissioners to identify subject-matter experts who can help produce concise policy one-pagers for each priority. He said staff will complete required forms and coordinate with lobbyists to file requests and seek sponsors.

Quotes

"It would be state legislative request, that would be in concert with our bond," Mr. Frager said of the EOC request. "If the bond didn't pass, we would still be successful with this $5,000,000 and be able to combine other resources that we have in place."