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Hello
Friends and Neighbors,
What a beautiful week of
sunshine we will have! With the difficult work we face in the capitol, the
warmth of the sun can go a long way. We are working hard to take important
steps to address our $1.4 billion shortfall, we’ve passed important pieces of
legislation regarding education and workforce development, and I have promoted
pathways for constituents in the district to have their voice be heard by their
leaders, here in Salem, on important issues.
I continue to work diligently on HB 3430
which would allocate funds held in the unclaimed property account for longer
than 25 years to the Common School Fund to be distributed to all 197 school
districts in Oregon in January of 2018. This allocation would mean roughly $26
million for Oregon’s K-12 education. My co-chief sponsors, Rep. David Brock
Smith and Rep. Rich Vial, both attended the hearing with me and gave testimony on
the importance of this piece of legislation. I am hopeful that this bill will
have a work session soon and will be voted to the floor so that it can continue
its path to the Senate side of the building. This bill would provide a much-needed
investment of dollars for our K-12 education system.
One of the most exciting
parts of being a State Representative is when the opportunity arises to give someone
a platform to have their voice be heard on a topic they are passionate about
here in Salem. Over the last couple of months, I have worked with community
member, Carl Calkins, on ways to protect our 362 miles of Oregon public beaches
for future generations. Carl is a lifelong beach enthusiast and avid treasure
hunter. Out on the coast with his trusty Made in Oregon metal detector in hand,
he searches Oregon beaches looking for treasure and helping people recover lost
articles in the sandy trenches. However, what concerns Carl the most is the
hazardous buried glass and metal he finds. As we approach the 50th anniversary
of the Oregon Beach Bill in July, Carl wanted to look for ways to preserve
Governor McCall’s vision of pristine public beaches. I joined Carl as he
testified at an informational meeting of the House Agriculture and Natural
Resources Committee regarding beach safety. I was happy to support Carl as he
brought to light an important issue, beginning what will hopefully be a strong
dialogue on mitigating hazardous materials, specifically glass, on our Oregon
public beaches.
I am honored to serve folks like Carl and
will be a representative who strives to ensure our government process is
accessible and open to all and remains the people’s government. You can watch
Carl’s testimony by clicking here!
On May 17, Governor Kate
Brown signed into law HB 2216, the Foster Children’s Sibling Bill of Rights that
I was a co-sponsor on. This was an exciting moment not just for the children who
are living the experience of foster care every day, but to those of us who are
allies to the youth in foster care. I want to share with you the passionate
words of my intern Trina Bell regarding her experience in the foster care
system and the importance of this legislation:
On
March 16, the Oregon Foster Children's Sibling Bill of Rights passed on the
House floor and on my 20th adoption anniversary, no less. The passing of the
bill on the House floor, in my household, was received well and with
celebration and praise. My three biological sisters and I know firsthand the
hardships that youth face in the foster care system, especially in relation to
communication between siblings. We were fortunate to be kept together, for the
most part, in our involvement in foster care. Additionally, after some
pushback, we were then adopted by the same forever family. My sisters and I
were fortunate to be adopted together, because we did not know where we would
end up and how our future as siblings would develop. Many siblings in foster
care are not as fortunate and there is no guarantee that they will be placed
and/or adopted together. Communication between siblings that are separated,
therefore, is important for the overall well-being of the children. Often the
only people who can truly understand your past and present struggles are the
siblings that faced the same difficult circumstances.
I want to share a particularly important
piece of legislation for Oregon community college educators, SB 206. This bill
would allow faculty members to receive compensation from private or public
resources including consulting, appearances, speeches and intellectual
property. The decision to accept this policy would still fall to the board of
these colleges to allow them the space to adhere to the mission or policy of
these institutions. I believe this to be important because the work that these faculty
members are conducting for our students is just as important as the work
conducted by our university professors, who can already accept official
compensation in these areas related to intellectual property. Honoring our
educators is an important part of honoring our education system.
This month has been filled with some exciting meetings in spaces
open to everyone from our district. On May 6, I had the wonderful opportunity to
host my sixth listening session in House District 30, this time at the
Hillsboro Public Library on Brookwood. We covered a variety of topics and had
many engaged community members bringing up topics important to them. I can’t
help but feel energized by that!
Later that day I had the honor to emcee
Senator Ron Wyden’s town hall at Liberty High School where the Senator spoke
about the importance of opposing the American Health Care Act (ACHA), investing
in ways to support our aging population, and promoting a national vote by mail
system and a national popular vote. I’m excited to see how our community can
help Senator Wyden succeed in these goals! At the town hall, Senator Wyden
introduced a special guest and a constituent in HD 30, Alter Wiener, a
holocaust survivor, inspirational speaker, and author of the autobiography,
“64735: From a Name to a Number.” What an honor it was for us all to hear from
this special man.
Get Involved
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Without bold action now, Oregon is facing years of painful cuts to K-12 classrooms, higher education, and many other services. The Oregon Education Investment Initiative is the step that will allow us to make strategic new investments in our schools and create better opportunities for Oregon’s students and our future workforce. Learn more about the proposal here: http://bit.ly/2qwG658
- Honor Veterans on Memorial Day at the Annual Memorial Day Event. There will be speakers, music, a POW/MIA Ceremony and more. This will take place at the Veterans Memorial Park in Beaverton beginning at 11am on Monday, the 29th of May.
 Upcoming Events
It is such an honor to represent our community here in the capitol. Thank you all for continuing to follow along with me on this journey. Knowing that with each busy day in Salem, we are continuing the fight for an inclusive, safe, and supportive Oregon makes every day an important step towards a better future for all Oregonians.
Onward& Upward,
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 Capitol Phone: 503-986-1430
Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, H-487, Salem, Oregon 97301
Email: Rep.JaneenSollman@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/sollman
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaneenSollmanforHD30/
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