Hello Friends,
I am so honored to be the new State Senator for District 15,
serving Hillsboro, Forest Grove, Cornelius, and North Plains. Although the legislative session doesn’t
start until February 2nd, I’ve already been hard at work in Salem. I have introduced two priority bills for this
session, both focused on the health and safety of Oregonians. Once session starts I will be serving on five
committees including serving as Co-Chair of the Joint Ways and Means
Subcommittee on Information Technology.
Additionally, I’ve been working to organize a Small Business Advisory
Council comprised of business owners from Senate District 15. If you would like to meet with me and discuss
issues important to you and our community please plan to attend my first
constituent coffee.
Constituent Coffee
My first constituent coffee will take place on January 31st at 11 a.m. at Manaia
Coffeehouse and Island Grill, located at 203 E Main St.
in Hillsboro. Please join me at this
special joint constituent coffee event with Representatives Susan
McLain (HD 29) and Joe
Gallegos (HD 30) joining us. I
will be holding additional constituent coffees approximately once a month –
stay tuned for times and locations.
Legislation
I am pleased to say that so far I have submitted two bills for
the upcoming session. The first, Senate Bill 545, is a measure that
would strengthen the existing protections for children being exposed to secondhand
smoke in vehicles. In the 2013 session,
Oregon lawmakers took a huge step forward by passing SB 444 (now codified as
ORS 811.193), which prohibits smoking in vehicles with minors under 18 years of
age in the car but only as a secondary offense.
My bill will make smoking in a vehicle with a child present a primary
offense. Under SB 545 a police officer
will no longer have to wait until an additional violation has occurred to take
corrective action. Secondhand smoke is
dangerous enough – we shouldn’t have to wait for an unsafe driving situation to
occur before we act to protect children.
My second bill, Senate Bill 546, is a common sense
regulation designed to make our roads safer.
It’s called the “Wipers on, Lights on” initiative and it takes some of
the guess work out of when you need to have your headlights on. Current Oregon law states that you need to
use your headlights between sunset and sunrise, and when there is less than 1000
feet of visibility. Unfortunately, 1000
feet is hard to estimate, and crashes during inclement weather are all too
common. My bill will make it easy – if
you’re using your windshield wipers you need to use your headlights, too. This is already the law in 19 states, and
it’s time for Oregon to join this national trend. It will improve visibility on the roads
helping to keep Oregon drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians safer.
Committee Assignments
I’m proud to be serving as Co-Chair of the Joint Ways and Means
Subcommittee on Information Technology during the 78th Legislative Session. Additionally, I will be a member of the
Senate Business & Transportation Committee; the Senate Finance &
Revenue Committee; the Joint Tax Credits Committee; and the Joint Audits
Committee. There are a lot of important
bills coming before my committees this session, and I’m excited to get to work
for Senate District 15.
Small Business Advisory Council
As you may have seen on OregonLive, I
am in the process of forming a Small Business Advisory Council – the first of
its kind in District 15. Members of the
Council will meet approximately once a month and discuss issues impacting
businesses. I am eager to hear from a
wide cross-section of business owners about how I can best serve the Oregon
small business community.
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” link at the
right so that you never miss a newsletter.
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.
Thank you, again, for all of your support,
Chuck Riley
Senator, 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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