Updated at 4:29 pm

BY SARAH ROSS

SALEM- The Legislature will convene this week in their committees to discuss future legislation and get updates on state programs and agencies.

The meetings are generally informative in nature and don’t involve much decision making. Rather, they offer information on policies and problems to decide on during regular and special sessions.

“In previous years interim committees met in a inconsistent fashion that was costly in terms of travel and use of resources,” said Geoff Sugerman, Communications Director for Speaker Hunt. “By bringing all the committees together over 3 days we find less Cost, better efficiency and better communication between house and senate committees.”

These Interim committee hearings will begin Tuesday morning and end Thursday afternoon. There will be no votes during the three-day gathering of legislators, except the Senate which will confirm executive appointments. This is normal, as the Legislature only takes votes on legislation during the regular session or when called into a special session, such as the one held in February.

On the agenda for the week will be topics including job growth and employment issues, online learning, an update on the Business Energy Tax Credit reforms, the Oregon Health Authority, economic impact from early closure of the PGE Power Plant in Boardman, redistricting, and Interstate Highway Speed Limits, among other things.

Thursday also will include a meeting of the body’s Emergency Board, which is tasked with distributing emergency funds to state agencies in need, as they did in June and August.