Hello Friends,
By the time you read this
newsletter, we will have a new Governor for the state of Oregon. It has been a sad time for us here in the
Capitol, indeed for all of us who would not wish this to happen to anyone, much
less a man who has devoted more than 35 years to public service. Having said that, I want you to know that
those of us in the Legislature have been hard at work, dealing with the
business at hand. We are committed to
making this session a success, and I will so everything that I can to encourage
teamwork and consensus on the important issues that lie before us. I know that I can count on your support as we
work through the difficult days ahead.
As I mentioned in my last
newsletter, things have gotten off to a quick start this session. I credit some of this to the prep work that
we have been doing during the interim between sessions. Also, some issues carry over from one session
to the next giving us another opportunity to address what might have been a
shortcoming in a previous bill. One such
bill came up for a vote last week, HB 2700, which deals with the disbursal of funds
awarded as a result of a class action suit.
Many of us have received a card
or letter in the mail informing us that we may be the recipient of some money
because a “class” of people has sued a company for wrongful acts. Most states use an “opt out” method for
determining who shall benefit from the award by the court, but in Oregon, the
“opt in” method is often used, which puts the burden on the individual to let
the court know that they wish to be included. As a result there is often a sizable pot of
money that goes unclaimed.
So what happens to the unclaimed
funds when people fail to respond? In
most cases, it reverts to the company, which seems a bit nonsensical. One of my colleagues used the following
example to illustrate what has been happening:
It’s as if a burglar steals 50 TV sets, and when apprehended, the police
can only identify 30 owners, so the burglar gets to keep the other 20
sets! When a corporation is convicted of
injuring a certain class of people, sometimes thousands of them, there is no
reason to allow them to keep the unclaimed funds. I feel strongly that a monetary fine should
mean something and getting to keep part of it is no punishment at all.
HB 2700 provides that 50% of the
unclaimed moneys be directed to the Oregon State Bar for the sole purpose of
funding the Legal Services Program. The
remaining 50% is distributed to any entity the court determines is directly
related to the class action; for instance if the offense involved an oil spill,
that portion might be directed to the clean-up effort. Oregon now joins 48 other states that, in
some form or another, prevent the return of damages to the offender. The bill now moves on to the Senate for
further consideration.
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Bills of Interest:
HB 2897 Directs the Dept. of Veterans’ Affairs to
develop a program under which the department provides loan guarantees for
qualified veterans for the purpose of refinancing homes used as a principal
residence.
HB 2645 Requires community colleges and public
universities to establish priority enrollment system for qualified students who
are active members of the Armed Forces.
HB 2534 Directs the State Fish and Wildlife
Commission to adopt rules prohibiting use of drones for angling or hunting.
SB 434 Grants higher
property tax exemption on property of veterans with service-connected
disabilities of 100 percent.
Yours truly,
Representative Brad Witt House District 31
Advocates from National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) came to share the experiences of people in Columbia County living with mental illness. They shared a legislative agenda including support for the Governor's budget, increasing housing funds and accessing important medications. They also shared important concerns about service gaps in our community. The NAMI walk is coming up Sunday May 17 this year.
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I learned so much from Maureen Sloan who came for a visit on Interfaith Advocacy Day. She shared unsettling numbers on poverty and spoke about the great work of faith communities addressing human service needs that our state and federal programs are unable to meet.
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The Oregon Student Association public university and community college students from across
the state convened in Salem for a day of lobby visits and a Rally to
Restore Funding to Higher Education.
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email: Rep.BradWitt@state.or.us I phone: 503-986-1431 address: 900 Court St NE, H-374, Salem, OR, 97301 website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/witt
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