Friends & Neighbors,
Happy Independence Day! I
hope that you enjoy this day celebrating the 4th with your family and friends.
Summer is in full swing and that means school is out and more kids
are out and about playing, please be extra careful while on the roads you
travel and be an alert driver. May and June have been busy with
visiting classrooms and talking with students, a Special Session in Salem,
Legislative Days, transportation meetings, my second small business round table
event, two separate Town Halls with Senator Riley and Representative
Susan McLain and a trip to DC to the State-Federal STEM Education Summit.
Enjoying a fun family outing on Father's Day at Top Golf. Tony and I have been married 27 years and love every chance to hang with our boys.
Governor Brown called for a
Special Session on Monday the 23rd. With public hearings being held prior to
the 23rd, the Legislature could move the policy along in just one day. It was a
bill that extended existing tax credits to sole proprietors who were currently
being excluded. Click here for
more info!
Legislative
Days in Salem is a time to come together to meet with colleagues, attend
committee meetings for reports and discussion, research and discuss future
legislative concepts and meet with advocates. May Legislative Days were both
eventful and productive. I am honored to be able to work with Rep Gene Whisnant
and Rep Jeff Reardon on a Task Force on Workforce Development for People with
Disabilities. It is an opportunity to hear from state agencies on the work
being done in Oregon and to hear the challenges and ideas to move the work
forward to support Oregonians with their employment needs.
Top: APANO Town Hall w/ Rep. Susan McLain. Bottom: Children First for Oregon Town Hall w/ Sen. Chuck Riley
Western
Pathways Conference took place in Salt Lake City this year. This was one of
the best conferences I attended in 2017 and was happy that my legislative
assistant, Drew Cummins, was able to attend this year to continue our work
and learn more about the components and implementation of a strong pathways
system within our education system, while building on connections with
businesses. Drew joined a strong team from Oregon that were all there to
learn and share our progress. This conference never ceases to inspire, like
making sure business partners are at the table early-on and looking at the
need to focus our work to skills/certifications rather than specific degrees.
I am so thankful that Oregon is focusing on achieving a strong pathways
system. We need to make sure that we are preparing our students for the
skills they will need for strong living-wage jobs in the future, while
working on ways to reduce their student loan debt. Drew and I look forward to
the work ahead.
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I visited Poynter Middle School before summer and got to speak with three very engaged students about the importance of civic engagement and what they are seeing on an everyday basis in their classrooms.
TriMet held a Future Transit
Improvements Workshop in June so they could hear from the community on what
improvements could be made, including expanded service opportunities. Any
chance that I have, I make sure that TriMet hears that the need for expanded
service to North Hillsboro is critical for education and workforce needs. Did
you know that Liberty High School is the only high school in the Hillsboro
School District (4th largest school district in Oregon) that does not have
regular public transportation service for students, staff and families to get
to school and/or events? We also have a huge need for public transportation
service to help folks get to and from their jobs. Businesses like Amazon,
Reser’s Fine Foods and more have workforce transportation needs that need to be
met. You can count on me to continue to be an advocate for expanded service
opportunities in our district.
Last month, I was joined by Senator Lew Frederick at the Oregon Truck Driving Championships. It was a great opporunity to speak with some people in the profession about what they experience on a day to day basis.
As a member of the Safe &
Effective Schools for All work group, we have had several meetings about
addressing the growing needs of our students and the need for more wrap-around
services in our schools. It has been a great opportunity and honor to lend my
experience as a former school board member, parent in a school district and
active school volunteer to this process. I look forward to seeing what the work
from our many meetings will translate to for action from the Chief Education
Office. Please stay tuned for more details.
My
second, in a series, of small business round table discussions went very
well. Thank you TRV Surveying and Davis Tool Inc. for being a part of the
conversation. We talked about manufacturing needs, workforce training,
implications of legislative actions on Hillsboro Chamber small business owners
and the small business certification process. I sincerely appreciate the
opportunity to speak to business owners in a small setting such as this.
#FamiliesBelongTogether Rally at the Hillsboro Civic Center
Get Involved
Are you looking for ways to contact our Oregon
legislators that represent us in Washingon DC? Do you want to share your
thoughts and ideas on issues they continue to work on for Oregonians?
Upcoming Events
I look forward to the warm
and sunny days ahead. Please watch for upcoming community meetings to share
your hopes, concerns and ideas with me. If you have questions about our
government process or have a policy idea, please reach out and engage in a conversation.
I hope to see you around the table at a coffee shop soon and maybe at our
favorite hometown baseball field as we root for our fantastic Hillsboro Hops.
Thanks again, take care!
Onward & Upward,
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
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