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Dear friends,
The next set of "legislative days" for the 2016 interim will be September 21–23. Committees will hold informational hearings and begin to discuss legislative concepts for the 2017 session. You can review committee agendas (once posted) and watch live hearings using the Legislature's online information system.
As Labor Day approaches, I want to take a moment to thank workers for the many contributions they have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. Oregon was the first state to make Labor Day a holiday on February 21, 1887; 129 years later, we continue to lead the nation in supporting workers and their families. Included below in this bulletin is a short synopsis of labor-related bills passed during the 2016 Legislative Session.
The Legislature recently and unexpectedly lost one of its long-serving members, Dr. Alan Bates, a senator from Ashland. Dr. Bates represented Ashland, Medford and other communities in Southern Oregon. He served in the House of Representatives from 2000 to 2004 and in the Senate since 2005. He also served in the U.S. Army from 1965 to 1967 during the Vietnam War. Prior to his service in the state legislature, Doc Bates was instrumental in helping to create the Oregon Health Plan. He will be remembered for his deep commitment to the most vulnerable among us, for his generous spirit, for his dedication to improving the health of our state, and for his commitment to Oregon's rivers. (Doc was a master fly fisherman and he helped restore fisheries in many of Oregon's waterways.) As a friend and colleague, I will miss him greatly.
As we start to transition into September, remember that students will be returning to schools all across the state. Please be extra cautious in and around school zones.
Below you will find information on:
- Labor Day: Recent Legislation
- 2016 Session: Public Safety & Justice
- Oregon Health Policy Board Listening Session: September 26 in Eugene
- Arc of Lane County Community Carnival: September 10
- Living History Day in Oakland: September 17
I hope this information is helpful and informative for you or someone you know. As always, feel free to share your comments, questions or concerns with me by phone, mail or e-mail.
Labor Day: Recent Legislation
I was proud to join my colleagues during the 2016 Legislative Session to pass SB 1532 and increase Oregon's minimum wage. Too many families across the state are working full time but cannot afford to meet basic needs. Saving for a home, college, or retirement is impossible if you're living paycheck to paycheck. As of July 1, 2016 Oregon's statewide minimum wage increased to $9.75. With passage of SB 1532, we are providing a meaningful increase in the minimum wage, helping all Oregonians access a secure future.
Other bills passed in the 2016 Legislative Session that support workers and their families include (listed by Senate/House bill and in numerical order):
Senate Bills
SB 1534 - Unemployment Benefits for School Staff: This legislation makes a simple change to ensure that non-instructional school employees like secretaries, school bus drivers, cafeteria workers, custodians and others may qualify for unemployment benefits during summer and other academic breaks when they’ve left their job for good cause.
SB 1544 - Extending Unemployment Insurance Eligibility for Apprentices: Apprenticeship programs are a key way for many to gain middle-class financial security. For some apprenticeship programs in Oregon, like sheet metal workers, unpaid training programs often last longer than the amount of time an individual is eligible for unemployment insurance. To ensure apprentices across trades are able to receive wages or unemployment benefits for the full duration of their training, this legislation extends the window of eligibility from five to 10 weeks.
SB 1587 - Giving Workers Access to Wage and Pay Information: This legislation ensures all workers have timely and accurate information about their wages and withholdings. SB 1587 requires employers to provide certain information on all pay stubs and timely response to requests for additional records. It also provides additional funding to the Bureau of Labor and Industries for enforcement and investigation.
House Bills
HB 4081 - Preserving Existing Low-Income Housing: This legislation extends the sunset on an existing property tax exemption which allows certain nonprofit providers of affordable housing to continue operating low-income housing properties at a sustainable cost. HB 4081 extends the sunset through 2022 — maintaining the status quo for owners, residents and local jurisdictions — to allow nearly 2,000 low-income housing units to remain affordable while the Legislature determines how best to approach this current exemption.
HB 4086 - Extended Unemployment Support for Workers in a Lockout: This legislation provides an additional 26 weeks of Unemployment Insurance benefits for workers who have been shut out of their jobs as part of an employer lockout. HB 4086 originated from a recent lockout at a steel factory in Albany when workers were shut out of their jobs as part of their employer’s bargaining strategy.
HB 4110 - Making Work Pay for Low-Income Families with Young Children: This legislation expands the Earned Income Tax Credit from 8 to 11 percent for families with a child between the ages of 0 and 3. The EITC helps families work their way out of poverty, and expanding it for those families with the youngest children will have a big impact on helping them afford child care and other rising expenses.
HB 4143 - Predictability and Stability for Oregon Renters: This legislation provides more predictability for Oregon renters with month-to-month tenancies by prohibiting landlords from increasing rent during the first year and requiring a 90-day notification for any rent increases after that. By stabilizing rent within the first year of a tenancy and providing more notice for tenants in month-to-month rental agreements prior to rent increases, HB 4143 will allow individuals and families reasonable time to plan around their housing expenses.
2016 Session: Public Safety & Justice
Continuing with this e-bulletin, I'm providing in-depth summaries of bills passed during the 2016 session by subject area. A comprehensive listing of accomplishments from the 2016 session related to public safety and justice — by Senate/House bill and in numerical order — follows:
Senate Bills
SB 1554 - Guidelines for Managing an Individual's "Digital Assets": In today's day and age, many of us have online lives consisting of electronic information such as photographs, correspondence and important business records or other documents with significant financial value. When an individual dies or becomes disabled, they often leave behind this digital legacy for friends, family members and other designees to manage. This legislation enacts the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, a national policy standard. The Act lays out clear guidelines, responsibilities and directives for account users to make clear their wishes for designees who are acting on the wishes of the person they represent, and for online providers who are often the custodians of these important digital assets.
SB 1567 - Criminal Impersonation: This legislation closes a loophole in existing law by making it clear that it is a crime to impersonate someone with the intent to humiliate, harm or harass a person. It provides an important mechanism to hold offenders, particularly those who use technology for violence or other harm, accountable for these kinds of abusive tactics. SB 1567 builds upon the necessary work the Legislature has undertaken in previous sessions to ensure that victims are protected in a fast-paced digital age.
SB 1571 - Eliminating Oregon's Rape Kit Backlog: This legislation, named "Melissa's Law" in honor of 14-year-old Melissa Bitler, who was raped and murdered in 2001, ensures accountability for the testing of sexual assault forensic evidence kits by tightening timelines and standardizing the handling and retention of kits. It also makes law enforcement agencies more responsive to sexual assault victims by requiring agencies to have clear policies and personnel in place to work with victims.
SB 1600 - Eliminating the Statute of Limitations for First-Degree Sex Crimes with New Evidence: This legislation authorizes the prosecution of first-degree sex crimes at any time after the crime is committed, if the prosecuting attorney obtains additional, corroborating evidence such as non-DNA physical evidence, like a video or audio recording; confession by the defendant to that particular crime; statements by the victim made close in time to the alleged crime; or when multiple victims come forward alleging crimes similar enough to be on the same list of charges. I was proud to convene a work group on this issue that resulted in SB 1600 passing the Senate Judiciary Committee, which I chair.
House Bills
HB 4009 - Honoring an Oregon Hero: This legislation designates March 28 of each year as Minoru Yasui Day, to honor this extraordinary Oregonian. Yasui was a Japanese-American, born in 1916 in Hood River. He was the first Japanese-American to graduate from the University of Oregon School of Law, the first Japanese-American member of the Oregon State Bar and also an officer in the United State Army. During World War II, he challenged a military curfew in Portland and turned himself in to police to test the constitutionality of those regulations. As a result, he was incarcerated for nine months in solitary confinement in the Multnomah County jail. Later, he was transferred to the Minidoka American concentration camp in Idaho. In 2015, Min Yasui was posthumously awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama, the highest civilian award in the country. Yasui is Oregon's only recipient of this high honor. Yasui Day was designated to honor the contributions of Minori Yasui as a lifelong civil rights leader in Oregon and nationwide.
HB 4014 - Reduces Criminal Penalties for Marijuana Offenses and Establishes Youth Prevention Program: Besides updating Oregon’s cannabis laws, this legislation reduces criminal penalties for a range of marijuana offenses. It also creates a Youth Cannabis-use Prevention Pilot Program to prevent children and young adults from using cannabis.
HB 4066 - Regulating Unmanned Aircraft System (Drone) Safety: Since 2013, the Oregon Legislature has advanced legislation to address concerns raised by the emerging technology of "unmanned aircraft systems" (UASs, or "drones") in Oregon. This legislation continues to provide guidance and restrictions on this technology by prohibiting the "weaponizing" of UASs and creating a new violation for interfering with the flight of another aircraft. It also requires public bodies that use UASs to develop policies and procedures for safeguarding the information gathered from UAS operations.
HB 4074 - Protecting Access to Juvenile Court Records: Current Oregon law includes a provision that "any other person allowed by the court" may inspect and/or copy juvenile court files on a case-by-case basis. This legislation addresses concerns that this provision may not provide enough direction as to who should be entitled to access these sensitive records. HB 4074 outlines clear parameters for requesting to access juvenile records and provides guidance to the court in determining when and how access shall be granted, with privacy considerations in mind.
HB 4075 - Statewide Student Safety Tip Line: This legislation allocates $1 million to establish a statewide student safety tip line, operated by the Oregon State Police. The tip line will field confidential reports on threats — which can include harassment, intimidation, bullying, cyberbullying and threats of violence or self-harm — from any student or community member, and the state police will work with behavioral health service providers to determine best practices for responding to these reports.
HB 4093 - Modernizing Courthouse Facilities: Many courthouses throughout Oregon are in dire need of rebuilding or retrofitting to ensure safety and seismic resilience. This legislation allows circuit courts to impose a $5 surcharge on parking and traffic fines to help a county finance courthouse capital construction projects that are partially funded in the state budget.
HB 4094 – Protecting Oregon's Financial Institutions who that Provide Financial Services to the Cannabis Industry from State Criminal Prosecution: This legislation ensures that Oregon financial institutions providing banking and credit services to lawful cannabis businesses will not be subject to state criminal liability based solely on providing those services. Financial institutions have been reluctant to provide banking service to cannabis businesses in Oregon over the concern of criminal prosecution. HB 4094 eliminates that risk at the state level.
HB 4102 - Probate Modernization: Oregon adopted its probate statutes — which serve to guide the legal process after the death of an individual — in 1969, and they have not undergone a thorough review since that time. This legislation updates laws related to intestacy, wills and estate administration to ensure our laws are clear and relevant, especially in light of technological and social changes that have affected the way people handle their property after death.
HB 4142 - Clear Identification for Private Security Professionals: This legislation prohibits private security companies from using a name that implies that the company is affiliated with an existing law enforcement, public safety or Armed Forces agency — an important provision to prevent confusion among consumers or the public at large. The regulation doesn't force existing companies to change their names.
Oregon Health Policy Board Listening Session: September 26 in Eugene
The Oregon Health Policy Board is gathering input from key stakeholders, including consumers, advocates, and providers, about coordinated care in Oregon. This input will be used to help shape recommendations for a report to the legislature and the Oregon Health Authority about the future of Oregon's coordinated care organizations.
A listening session will take place in Eugene on September 26 from noon until 2:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church (1685 West 13th Avenue). Please RSVP by emailing: healthpolicyboard.info@state.or.us.
Arc of Lane County Community Carnival: September 10
On Saturday, September 10, from 1-4 p.m. at 4181 E Street in Springfield, the Arc of Lane County will hold its annual community carnival. Activities will include carnival games, a bounce house, face painting, a fortune teller, BBQ and more! For more information, click here.
Living History Day in Oakland: September 17
Living History Day in Oakland, Oregon, is a "step back in time" to a different era of life. This year's event on Saturday, September 17, will feature Native American displays, mountain men and trappers, miners, a blacksmith, spinners, weavers, quilters, can-can dancers and more. Visitors can enjoy a lesson at the one-room schoolhouse, wash clothes on a washboard, play fun old-time games, or make crafts. The evening will be topped off by a community dance. For more information, click here.
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