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Happy Friday!
With deadlines approaching, the buzz and business of the Capitol is growing. Here are some updates from Salem:
TOMORROW, Constituent Coffee
Join me on March 16th for an update on the legislative session
MHCC Maywood Park Campus, Room 305, 10:30am-12pm
10100 NE Prescott St, Portland, OR 97220
RSVP on Facebook and share with your neighbors and friends!
Coffee, tea and activities for kids will be provided
Page Program Invitation
Here’s another reminder that Oregon students ages 12-17 are invited to be an Honorary Page in the House of Representatives during the legislative session. It’s an awesome opportunity to see State Government from the inside -- apply and get more info here at bit.ly/2S3L6rE
Medicaid funding passed the Legislature and was signed by Governor, HB 2010
One in four Oregonians depend on OHP for health care, including 400,000 children across the state. Now, the bill to continue expanding coverage has passed the Senate and was signed by the Governor. I’m proud to support access to healthcare and support work to move to a single-payer system.
Investing in Oregon’s public education -- Joint Committee on Student Success
We are making progress in the Joint Committee on Student Success and are one step closer to investing billions of dollars in Oregon’s schools and students. I’ve said it before and I will say it again: passing this corporate tax reform to fund our schools is my top priority.
The Subcommittees on Early Learning and Accountability and Transparency reported back their recommendations on March 12th, and you can read their reports here. The Revenue subcommittee will still have meetings as we finalize our corporate tax reform proposal, and we will report back in the next few weeks.
Next, the full JCSS committee will consolidate the reports from the subcommittees into a bill proposal, which will go through robust discussion and will be open to a public hearing from Oregonians at a future date.
Interesting bill updates:
HB 3063 is a bill that will require students to be fully vaccinated to attend public school, unless they have a medical exemption. This bill passed out of the House Health Care Committee this week and is going to the Ways and Means Committee, where its costs for education requirements will be addressed. I am very supportive of this measure and am a co-sponsor on the bill.
HB 2589 would remove offensive language offensive in regard to LGBTQ Oregonians from the state’s laws, and also specifies that sexual orientation is not a physical or mental impairment. I was proud to vote “yes” on this bill on the House floor this week, because, as my colleague Rep. Karin Power says, “words matter and HB 2589 is a meaningful step in the right direction of validating the marginalized identities of the LGBTQIA+ and disabled community.”
HB 2625 passed the House this week. It would help investigations into missing or murdered indigenous women. It is horrific that right now the third leading cause of death for Native American women is murder. I voted for this important legislation, which will help to build an accurate picture of missing and murdered indigenous women in Oregon through research and data collection, and works to improve relationships between tribal communities and law enforcement.
Advocacy Visits
 I loved meeting with students from Madison High School and listening to their stories about how student health centers have benefited them. These young people are great examples of the power and importance of youth advocacy.
The Cindy Yuille and Steve Forsythe Act – HB 2505
This bill takes a public health approach to the health crisis of gun violence by requiring safe storage of guns when they are not in use. We are awaiting a public hearing where legislators, advocates, gun-owners, and members of the public will share their take on this important legislation.
Adi’s Act: Suicide Prevention in Oregon Schools – SB 52
I was honored to be on the Senate floor, along with advocates from Basic Rights Oregon, including Adi’s family, when Adi’s Act passed the Senate last week. It will now come to the House, where I will be working to move it quickly through the process and into law.
Clean Energy Jobs – HB 2020
The Clean Energy Jobs Roadshow finished two weeks ago and was reportedly successful and informative. I’m not a member of the Carbon Reduction committee, so I did not attend myself. However, as a member of the Environmental Caucus my staff and I received a briefing from the Co-Chairs of the committee in which they shared that the public hearings were largely supportive, and that the opposition to the bill was largely concentrated in Medford. We also learned that the bill is being amended to include stronger investments for impacted communities, which is a big priority for me. While I am not involved in the committee conversation in depth, I am staying up-to-date by speaking regularly with Senator Dembrow and as a member of the Environmental Caucus.
Please reach out to my office if you have any questions, or I can be of any help to you or your community. Hope to see you tomorrow at the Constituent Coffee!
Sincerely,
 Representative Barbara Smith Warner
House District 45
email: Rep.BarbaraSmithWarner@oregonlegislature.gov I phone: 503-986-1445
address: 900 Court St NE, H-286, Salem, OR 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/smithwarner
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