Relating to wildfire; prescribing an effective date; and providing for revenue raising that requires approval by a three-fifths majority.
HB 3940 is a broad wildfire financing and preparedness bill that revises Oregon’s forest-fire funding structure and adds new wildfire-related programs. It creates a new tax on oral nicotine products, directs the revenue to wildfire resilience and community risk reduction funds, and expands the state’s tobacco tax definitions so oral nicotine products are taxed alongside other tobacco products. The bill also increases and restructures several forest-related assessments and taxes, including the forest products harvest tax, minimum forestland assessments, and the surcharge on improved lots or parcels, while repealing older acreage-assessment and zoning provisions tied to forest fire funding.
The bill also reorganizes the state’s wildfire governance and funding mechanisms. It creates a State Forestry Department Large Wildfire Fund, revises the Oregon Forest Land Protection Fund, changes the Emergency Fire Cost Committee’s membership and duties, and authorizes treasury loans to cover noncapital wildfire suppression costs. In addition, it establishes a Wildfire Prepared Structure Program to help retrofit homes for wildfire resistance, and it directs the State Forestry Department to apply an offset to annual fire-protection costs for certain Class 3 forestland within forest protection districts. Several provisions are delayed until 2026, while the bill itself takes effect 91 days after adjournment.
HB 3940 makes extensive amendments across Oregon’s tax, forestry, and wildfire statutes, including ORS chapters 321, 323, 477, 478, 526, 291, and 293. It adds a new excise tax on oral nicotine products, changes how tobacco-product tax revenue is distributed, increases forestland-related assessments and surcharges, repeals several older forest zoning and acreage-assessment provisions, and creates new funds and administrative structures for wildfire mitigation and suppression. The bill also affects who pays for forest fire protection, how those costs are allocated among landowners and districts, and how state wildfire resources are financed and managed.
The bill appears to have received generally favorable but not unanimous support. It advanced through committee and floor votes in both chambers with clear majorities, including 36-8 in the House and 20-8 in the Senate, suggesting broad agreement on the need for wildfire funding and preparedness measures. The committee votes also indicate support for moving the bill forward after amendment, though the presence of several dissenting votes shows that some members had reservations about the package.
The main points of contention likely centered on the bill’s revenue-raising provisions and the redistribution of wildfire costs. The new oral nicotine tax, higher forest harvest tax, increased lot surcharge, and revised assessments shift costs to consumers, timber owners, and forestland owners, which may have drawn opposition from affected industries and property owners. Another likely issue was the restructuring of the Oregon Forest Land Protection Fund and Emergency Fire Cost Committee, including the removal of older reserve-base and automatic adjustment mechanisms, as well as the creation of new funds and treasury-loan authority. The votes suggest that while lawmakers broadly supported wildfire resilience funding, some objected to the scale, structure, or fairness of the financing changes.