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Friends and Neighbors,
At the end of a busy, challenging, and often frustrating legislative
session, I remain honored and humbled to have represented the people of
District 45, and to have helped pass some truly groundbreaking policy overall.
In a time of discord and uncertainty at the Federal level, the Oregon State
Legislature continues to lead with our values. Majority Leader Jennifer
Williamson said it best: “…Democrats in the
Oregon House of Representatives have shown the nation how to resist Trump by blocking
his agenda at the state level and passing bills that improve the lives of
everyday people. From protecting and expanding health care to fighting for
education funding to ensuring Equal Pay for equal work, Democrats in the Oregon
House continued working to build a future where everyone has a chance to truly
thrive.”
Here's a good summary from our caucus of what we achieved this session:
Health Care
Even while Trump and Congressional Republicans
are drawing up plans to slash health care to more than 20 million people, House
Democrats passed an innovative plan to lower premiums and preserve health care
for the more than 1 million Oregonians who get their health coverage through
Medicaid.
In contrast to plans by Congressional
Republicans to defund or ban reproductive health access, House Democrats passed
the Reproductive Health Equity Act, preserving and expanding reproductive
health care for all Oregonians. Cover All Kids will provide health care
coverage to all Oregon children, regardless of their citizenship status.
Education
House Democrats worked for months to overhaul
corporate taxes to provide more stable funding for education. While Republicans
refused to come to the table on revenue reform and cost containment, we’re
proud that we were able to fund K-12 schools at $8.2 billion. We’ve laid the
groundwork for the corporate tax reform work we’ll pursue over the next two
years. We made it easier for students to transfer college credits, and boosted
funding for career and technical training to prepare students for the jobs of
the future.
Protecting Working Families
This session, we continued the pioneering work
we’ve done to improve the lives of Oregon workers. We passed HB 2005, creating
the strongest Equal Pay law in the nation. We passed Senate Bill 828, becoming
the first state to pass a Fair Work Week law to give more workers certainty and
predictability in scheduling. And we passed HB 3458 to strengthen overtime laws
for workers in the manufacturing sector.
The transportation funding bill, HB 2017, will
create jobs and economic opportunity in every part of the state while ensuring
accountability in the way taxpayer dollars are spent.
Safeguarding Civil Rights, Inclusivity
With civil right for immigrants, refugees, and
communities of color under direct attack by Republican politicians in D.C. and
in other states, Oregon’s House Democrats led the way in safeguarding civil
rights and creating a state where everyone belongs. House Bill 3464 protects
immigrants’ privacy and gives school districts and agencies more clarity on
what information they can—and cannot—share with federal authorities. We passed
bills that set statewide ethnic studies standards for K-12, establish
curriculum about the Native American experience, and require cultural
competency standards for colleges and universities. And we passed criminal
justice reform and a comprehensive approach to ending racial profiling by
police. Everyone is welcome in Oregon.
Government Accountability
Despite
the dangerous precedent being set by the Trump Administration to ignore ethics
laws, keep the public and press in the dark, and let lobbyists run rampant,
Oregon House Democrats are working to restore the public’s trust in state
government. We passed HB 2577, requiring better disclosure and transparency of
lobbyists, and expanded access to public records through a package of bills
that speeds up responses to public records requests and creates a Sunshine
Committee and a public records advocate. SB 505 reforms a key part of the
justice system by finally requiring electronic recording of grand juries.
So despite my frustration about our inability to reform our revenue
system, I am proud of the things we did accomplish. On my personal bills, it
was a mixed bag. The lack of structural revenue reform meant that our summer
learning pilot was not funded, but we were able to provide resources that will
help more teachers obtain National Board Certification. On the Bottle Bill, we
did not pass my transparency proposal, but I will be joining a work group in
the interim authorized by the House Energy and Environment Committee that will
examine equity and transparency issues around this Oregon icon.
My greatest disappointment of the session was the failure of HB2131, which
would have provided a consistent west
coast approach to planning and safety by requiring railroads that ship oil and
hazardous materials to fully report their plans for safety and spill
mitigation, and allow the state to establish geographic response plans for the
rail lines where these trains travel. As the bill moved through the legislative
process, I realized that the language on confidentiality in the final version
of the bill went too far. My intention was not, as The Oregonian claimed, to
“hide oil train safety plans from the public.” Rather, my goal was to make sure
this legislation would be compliant with federal laws and could be supported by
my colleagues across the aisle, all while protecting communities from possible
oil-train disasters.
I took a risk, and sent this bill back to committee to
remove the errant language. With the limited timeline, funding dependent on
inclusion in other bills, and the complicated nature of railroad laws, seeds of
confusion were easily sown that lead to a loss of support, specifically on the
Senate side and with members who represent the Columbia Gorge, and to this bill
not moving forward this session.
As a legislator, mother, and lover of
Oregon, I’m extremely frustrated, and frankly angry, to leave this session
without making any progress to strengthen Oregon’s regulation of oil trains in
the wake of the Mosier derailment. I stand by my decision to keep fighting for
a better, more transparent version of HB 2131, despite the success of the
railroads and shippers of hazardous materials in killing this bill in the
final days of the session.
Check
out video highlights from the 2017 session on my YouTube channel and subscribe to follow along in the interim.
Like my Facebook page for
articles, updates, and event invitations.
As always, stay in touch! I'm honored to represent House District 45 in Salem and look forward to spending time in the district and seeing all of you.
Sincerely,
 Representative Barbara Smith Warner
House District 45
email: Rep.BarbaraSmithWarner@oregonlegislature.gov I phone: 503-986-1445
address: 900 Court St NE, H-487, Salem, OR 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/smithwarner
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