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Hello Friends,
April was a productive month for our office at
the capitol. I wanted to be sure to share some highlights!
With the help of Ava Roasteria, we were able to host
another wonderful Constituent Coffee event prior to the Beaverton Saturday Market
on April 15th.
It was great to hear about our community’s legislative priorities, as well as discuss the progress that the Oregon Legislature has already made toward supporting our working families.
The consistent message we heard during our coffee meeting
was that we need to prevent cuts to the vital education and social services
that members of our community depend on. As you may know, the Oregon Legislature
recently convened a special Joint Committee to consider different funding
mechanisms to address the budget shortfall, and we will include updates on
their progress on future newsletters and social media posts. As we continue to
move forward with the budget process, please encourage your friends and family
to reach out to their legislators with their support for increased revenue to
properly fund our schools.
Our next Constituent Coffee details are available below.
Come hear about our progress in Salem and share with me your thoughts and
concerns and enjoy the Beaverton Farmers Market after the coffee.
Saturday May 13th from 8:30am to 9:30am at Ava Roasteria
4770 SW Hall Blvd. Beaverton, Oregon 97005
HB 2645A: The Drug Take Back Program
This last weekend was National Drug Take-Back weekend, and
we joined the good officers down at the Beaverton Police Department while they
helped residents dispose of their surplus medications. It was great to talk
with them about how a statewide program will improve coordination. You can read more
about this program from The Lund Report
This is a very complex
piece of legislative, especially for a freshman legislator. House Bill
2645A is designed to create a statewide return program for unused
pharmaceuticals. This program intends to reduce accidental poisoning among
children, opioid addiction, as well as the chemicals that end up in our
drinking water.
Currently, there is no uniform take-back program in the
state. Only some communities have access to a take-back program. HB 2645 A will
fix this problem. Instead of relying on special events to responsibly dispose
of unused drugs, Oregonians will have the opportunity to dispose of pills as
easily as they can buy them.
In late
April, I had the opportunity to attend the Virginia Garcia Annual Health Care
Symposium. At the center of the conversation for the event was the efforts in
Washington DC to roll back the Affordable Health Care Act (ACA). Many speakers
emphasized the need to be finding ways to increase access for women and children
to get healthcare not roll it back. For the moment, efforts by the current
Congress and Administration seem to be stalled, but those of us working on
healthcare in the states must remain vigilant of the actions of those in DC.
Congresswoman
Suzanne Bonamici spoke about the need for our most vulnerable populations to
keep their coverage through the Oregon Health
Plan. We need to keep pressure on those in DC so that Oregonians do not lose
their healthcare. Here is a link to where you can learn more about all the important work Virginia Garcia does in Washington County.
In
this section, you will learn a little bit about House District 27. Every
newsletter we will try to include something that you might find interesting
about HD 27.
Over the weekend I was proud to receive from Tualatin Hills Parks
& Rec (THPRD) Commissioner John Griffiths, a framed photo of the Fanno
Farmhouse for my Capitol office.
The house is the original home of Augustus Fanno, a
prominent Beaverton settler (think Fanno Creek). His original homestead
consisted of 640 acres of land and they built the house in 1859. Fanno and his
descendants farmed onions on the property from the 1890s to 1940s. They
occupied the house until the 1970s. In the 1980s they donated the property and
it was listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.
Fanno
Farmhouse is located next to Greenway Park near Hall Blvd. and Nimbus Ave. For
a full history of the farmhouse visit THPRD’s website here. We look forward to
sharing a little bit of Beaverton and Washington County history with all the
visitors that come to the Capitol now that this will be hanging in my office.
I hope you have a wonderful May, and I look forward to sharing with you more in our next newsletter.
Best Regards,
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