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Friends,
The day has come: the Legislative session has ended, and
I am able to sit down and reflect on what has transpired over the last several
months. It has been a whirlwind of an experience, let me tell you! As I look
back at photos from the day I took my oath in January, it strikes me how long
six months really is, and how much has happened since January 11th.
Today, I want to do two things: I want to take a look
back at the session together and I want to thank you for your words of
encouragement, letters, and engagement over the past several months.
Here is the entire House of Representatives from the 78th Legislative Assembly, taken on opening day, January 12th, 2015.
House Bill 2927 – Equity is and always has been one of
the central issues in our education system. In fact, if I were to use one word
to describe the general themes of the bills we covered In the House Education
Committee this session, it would be equity. One area where this is particularly
true is in school funding. No school- and by extension, no student – should be
affected because they provide the services that special needs students require
and deserve. House Bill 2927 reaffirms this by doubling the funding fo the High
Cost Disabilities Account, a grant program designed to reimburse school
districts for excessive costs related to educating high-needs fragile students.
Forest Grove School District, where my children went to school, has one of the highest spending
levels per student for fragile students, and will benefit greatly from this
increase in funds. The grant money follows the student, meaning that all
districts can benefit if they have high cost students. At least 99 other school
districts statewide will benefit from the relief of additional funding, freeing
up general education dollars to stay in the classroom. It was an honor to carry
this bill.
Senate Bill 411 – I joined the Consumer Protection
Committee a few weeks into session, and as a result I didn’t have the same
sense of the kinds of issues it covered as my colleagues. Senate Bill 411 was a
great issue to work on so soon after joining the committee, because it set the
tone for the other important issues we would tackle later on.
Senate Bill 411 removed a longstanding loophole in Oregon
law that prevents Oregonians from getting what they pay for when it comes to
auto insurance. Through a practice called “stacking,” uninsured and
underinsured motorists coverage is compared among the parties in an accident,
and like coverage- instead of accumulating- cancels each other out. Thousands
of Oregonians have been in a position of financial ruin because their insurance
coverage wasn’t enough to pay for the damage of their healthcare. I believe
this will provided a better choice for people to pay their premium, and
actually get what they are paying for.
House Bill 2002 – With recent attention on racial
profiling by law enforcement across the country, House Bill 2002 ensures that
Oregon’s public safety system is held accountable by directing law enforcement
agencies to adopt written policies and procedures prohibiting profiling. No one
should be criminalized simply because of their race, sexual orientation, or
gender. This bill resonates with me because of an instance of racial profiling
that happened in winter of 2014 to one of my former students. This event shook
our community and greatly affected me. This bill is a step toward the goal of
better treatment for everyone. House Bill 2002 will establish a precedent that
Oregon and its citizens do not support profiling of any kind, This bill will
start to process to allow all community members to feel more secure moving
within their neighborhood without being targeted.
House Bill 2680 and House Bill 2655 – As someone who was in the
classroom for 42 years, I understand the role that standardized tests play in
the classroom, and in identifying student learning gaps. However, I have heard
time and time again from parents and teachers that a one-size-fits-all approach
to testing like the Smarter Balanced test does not provide an accurate
assessment of a child’s achievement, nor does it provide sufficient information
for student teacher or school performance ratings I agree, and I also agree
with the parent advocates who believe they should be able to make the choice
about whether or not their student should take high-stakes standardized tests.
That is why I introduced House Bill 2680 and co-sponsored House Bill 2655, two
great bills relating to standardized testing that passed and became law this
session. I am in favor of assessment that furthers the learning process, skill
development, and growth of the student.
House Bill 2928 – Another issue facing our education
system is growing class sizes. According to the latest available statistics,
Oregon has the 3rd largest class sizes in the nation. Studies have
shown that heaving too many students in a classroom is detrimental to student
learning. The last meaningful review of class size conducted in Oregon was completed
in 2011, and was largely based on older data from other states. If we want to
come close to reaching the 40-40-20 goals by 2025, we need to start addressing
the individual needs of teachers and students in the classroom. Which why I
introduced House Bill 2928, which establishes a Task Force on class sizes. The
Task Force will be directed to conduct both grade-level and classroom-type
specific research to take into account a variety of factors affecting optimal
class size. The Task Force will work alongside the Quality Education Model to
determine the components of a quality education and then estimate the cost of
those components. This bill will provide updated information and look at new
factors that impact classroom learning such as development patterns and the use
of technology in the classroom. The point of this bill is not only to give
power back to the teachers and school administrators to better address the
individual circumstances of their school’s immediate and long term needs, but
to provide them with updated information to back up their decisions.
House Bill 2730 The Breast Cancer License Plate Bill –
There aren’t many people in our state who haven’t been touched in some way by
cancer. The Legislature is no exception. My aunt had breast caner as number of
years ago, and I lost my husband Cliff to cancer in 2009. I was proud to
Co-Chief Sponsor a bill to create a breast cancer license plate with my
colleague, Representative Bill Kennemer, whose first wife passed away from
breast cancer. This bill had an interesting journey, at one point failing to
move forward in committee, and was later amended into a larger bill that will
completely change the license plate program, and create both the breast cancer
license plate and a Trail Blazers license plate for Oregonians to purchase. I
am happy that I was able to work across the aisle with Representative Kennemer
to create a breast cancer awareness plate that will provide much-needed funding
to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) for use for early detection of breast and
cervical cancers. Each year approximately 5,000 low income, uninsured, and
medically underserved individuals receive services through the Breast and
Cervical Cancer Treatment Program the OHA administers, and their services are
critical.
SB 478 Toxic Free Kids Act – No parent or grandparent
should have to worry that the toys they are buying for their children are
harmful to their health. Senate Bill 478 is a commonsense and bipartisan
approach to protecting kid’s health. By establishing a list of chemicals that
pose the biggest threat to children’s health, and requiring manufacturers to
notify the Oregon Health Authority when their products contain these chemicals,
we can reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases and improve the wellbeing of
all Oregonians.
House Bill 3125 – Valued at over $5 billion, Oregon
agriculture is the second largest economic driver in the state. Roughly 1 and 8
jobs is directly or indirectly related to agriculture, and 5 percent of our top
25 exports are agricultural products. Businesses that process the fruit,
vegetables, nuts, legumes, and seafood that come from the agricultural sector
have access to a tax exemption on the newly-purchased machinery and equipment
they use. Since 2005, this exemption has encouraged food processors not only to
improve aging equipment (often times making it more energy efficient in the
process) but also to make significant investments in growing or expanding their
business, thus contributing to growth in the economy.
Extending the tax credit to include diary, eggs, bakery,
and grain processing will provide the economic development tool needed to
continue growing Oregon’s food processing industry and provide more jobs.
Currently, the bakery and dairy sectors combined make up 24% of total food
manufacturing employment in Oregon – roughly 6,300 workers. This tax credit
could help companies make the decision to located food processing facilities
right here in Oregon, and help us compete nationally and worldwide. These
investments could mean an increase of jobs and local tax revenues for rural
counties in need of economic development. I was happy to be a co-sponsor of
this bill.
As the 2015 legislative session winds to a close, a new
analysis shows that the vast majority of bills have passed the House chamber
this session with wide bipartisan support.
 
Don’t forget about the Town Hall!
Join us on Thursday, July 2015 at 6 pm at the Hillsboro
library, 2850 NE Brookwood Parkway, Hillboro, OR, to hear from myself and
Representative Joe Gallegos about the session. We’ll be recapping the 2015
legislative session and taking suggestions about future issues to work on such
as transportation and education.
I look forward to seeing you there!
 Form our office to you, thank you, and we look forward to
working with you in the interim!
I look forward to spending some much-needed time with my
family, and to taking my grandchildren to the beach!
Please stay in touch by emailing us at rep.susanmclain@state.or.us,
calling us at 503-986-1429, or writing us at 900 Court St. NE, H-376, Salem, OR
97301.
Have a great summer!
email: Rep.SusanMcLain@state.or.us I phone: 503-986-1429
address: 900 Court St NE, H-376, Salem, OR 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/mclain
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