May was a very busy month here in Salem, and June is shaping
up to be even busier. As we approach the end of the legislative session, there
are several key legislative deadlines that determine which bills will move
forward and which ones will “die.” May 22nd was the “post-work
session” deadline. That means all bills
need to have been scheduled for a work session by that date or they will not be
moving forward. And, June 5th
is the “2nd chamber” deadline, which means that bills need to have
moved through both chambers by Friday. There are a few committees - Joint Ways &
Means, Finance & Revenue, etc. - that are not subject to these deadlines,
but bills in those committees are still subject to sine die and have limited
time remaining to go through the legislative process.
Legislative
Highlights
The
May Budget Forecast came out last month and showed that the Oregon economy
is continuing to grow and recover. As a
result of that forecast and the K-12 budget bill that we passed in March, an
additional $105 million was automatically added to the education budget. It’s
also important to keep in mind that the Legislative Fiscal Office is currently
predicting a kicker rebate for Oregon taxpayers. The next economic forecast is
due to be released in late August.
I was proud to join my colleagues from both sides of the
aisle in passing HB 2307,
which protects Oregon children from conversion therapy. This is a great step forward to protect LGBTQ
youth from this outdated and harmful practice.
On May 18th Governor Brown officially signed the bill into
law.
With nearly unanimous support in both chambers, the
Oregon Legislature has now passed HB 3433
which requires that insurers cover the cost of 12-months of hormonal birth
control at a time. Oregon will be the
first state in the country to ensure that women have reliable and steady access
to a full year of oral contraceptives. Passing
this bill will help countless women by making it easier for them to get their
dosage on time and, thus, help reduce unintended pregnancies. I was proud to support this victory for
reproductive health!
Snapshots
I
was happy to attend Project Access Now’s celebration honoring Representative
Mitch Greenlick for his lifetime commitment to increasing healthcare access for
all Oregonians.
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SB
941 is a good bill that will help prevent people who are not supposed to have
guns from getting access to firearms. I was proud to join my colleagues in
watching Governor Brown sign this important piece of legislation into law.
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It was an honor to meet with former
Congresswoman Gabby Giffords during her visit to Oregon to
promote gun safety. Thank you Gabby, Mark, and the whole Americans for Responsible Solutions team
for visiting the Oregon state capitol! |
I had a great time at the TEAM UP for students 5K walk/run
at Echo Shaw Elementary School. Representative Gallegos participated in the 5K,
and Representative McLain, my wife Katie, and I helped cheer on finishers.
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On
May 14th we had representatives from all 9 of Oregon’s federally
recognized tribes here in the capitol to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the
Legislative Commission on Indian Services and to kick off American Indian Week
in Oregon (May 16-23). I was proud to have my grandson, Foxx, who is an
enrolled member of the Siletz tribe, join me as my guest on the Senate floor.
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Community
Announcements
Washington County is the place for job growth, and I am
excited about these local business announcements from the past month:
Chaucer - the international freeze dried food company - officially
opened its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Forest Grove! This facility has created 73 new, family-wage
jobs in Forest Grove so far, and they have tentative plans to expand in the
area soon.
Microsoft
has begun construction on a new undersea cable that will connect Hillsboro
to Japan, South Korea, China, and Taiwan. The project, called the New Cross Pacific Cable Network, will
speed up data connections and help Microsoft manage cloud costs. This is a great opportunity to bring even more
high-tech jobs to Hillsboro!
Speaking of high-tech,
Intel recently announced that it was purchasing the
chip making company Altera for nearly $17 billion. This
acquisition will allow Intel to compete better in the growing data center arena
by adding Altera’s FPGA technology to Intel chips, which will allow for more
customizable products. Congratulations
to Intel on their biggest acquisition ever!
And, if you’re looking for something fun to do, you’ll have
a new option starting next spring: Top
Golf is coming to Hillsboro. Top
Golf is a golf game that uses microchipped golf balls and a range of targets in
the outfield that players try to hit. They
have locations around the country and in the UK, but this will be Top Golf’s
first location in the Pacific Northwest.
Upcoming Events
Washington County libraries have lots of upcoming summer activities
for youth, teens, and adults. Check out
this master calendar,
pick your local branch, and see what they are offering this summer.
Saturday, June 13th is Compartir Cornelius,
a Community Resource Fair and Swap Meet. It will take place at Centro Cultural from 10
a.m. to 3 p.m.
Also on June 13th is the 49th
Annual Gales Creek Strawberry Festival in Forest Grove. There will be homemade strawberry shortcake,
live music, vendors, and alpacas!
On June 21st you can go to the “Pig
Roast & Pinot” celebration at Plum Hill Vineyards - $15 gets you your
portion of pig roast with all the trimmings and wine tasting.
The Hillsboro Main Library will be hosting Border
Collie International on June 24th at 10:15 a.m. Come out to watch rescued border collies play
football, basketball, baseball, soccer, perform skits and show off their world
class Frisbee skills!
On June 27th Love
Rocks Run is having a 5K run/walk and Kids 1K in Forest Grove in memory of
Abby and Anna. You can read more about
Abby, Anna, and the Love Rocks story on their website Love Drenched Life.
If you have a fun community event you’d like
highlighted in a future newsletter, please email my office with your
suggestions.
Stay in Touch!
We want to stay in contact with you! If you are not already subscribed, please
visit my legislative website and enter your email address into the
“e-Subscribe” box at the right so that you never miss a newsletter. If you are having difficulty with the gov delivery system you can always email me directly and I can add or remove you from my mailing list. You will also find me on Facebook, or you can follow me on Twitter to stay up to date with what my office is up
to. Or, you can always check the events calendar on my legislative website!
As always, I am here to serve you.
If there is something I can do to assist you, please don’t hesitate to
reach out to my office.
Sincerely,
Senator Chuck Riley
Senate District 15
email: Sen.ChuckRiley@state.or.us I phone: 503-986-1715 address: 900 Court St NE, S-303, Salem, OR, 97301 website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/riley
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