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Friends and Neighbors,
Happy Spring! I hope you have been able to enjoy the longer daylight hours and the beautiful sunshine we have seen. Here in Salem, we have made it nearly half-way through the legislative session. Our office is busy with many bills being scheduled for committee hearings and floor votes before our House deadline and I am honored to be here as your State Representative doing my part to keep Oregon growing and thriving.
 One of my high school interns, Danny Adzima, is a frequent outdoor school counselor. Sixth graders, from across Oregon, attend an outdoor nature camp for a few days to a week at a time. When I was a sixth grader at Gales Creek Elementary, I attended Camp Westwind and had the most amazing time and formed life-long friendships. As a high school student at Forest Grove High School, I also experienced being an outdoor school counselor and LOVED it! Here is an update from Danny's most recent experience at Outdoor School and how Measure 99 dollars have been used to keep this program going. The following is an excerpt from Danny's fantastic essay. Follow the link to read her entire account.
https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/sollman/Documents/ODS-Article.pdf
"Where ODS was created to help sixth graders get better ideas about nature and natural sciences the younger children aren't the only ones that this program can touch in meaningful ways. Another group can be vastly and vitally changed are the high school and college student volunteers that help make the program tick.
I know personally that Outdoor school has increased my confidence and sense of self ten-fold. It has allowed me to grow as both a leader and a person in so many surprising ways; ODS has also gifted me some of the best friends that I have ever had. The Outdoor school program has brought me so much joy and turned me into the person that I am today.
This excellent program would however not be possible if it weren't for Measure 99 that the Oregon State Legislature passed in November of 2016. Measure 99 directed $44 million in lottery dollars per biennium, and this investment was made to allow all sixth and fifth graders in Oregon to attend outdoor school. The investment allowed and enabled 14,482 additional students to attend Ods in 2017. Where only a small number were able to participate in a full week, the investment still allowed many students to experience outdoor education. The program still needs the total funding to make sure that every student no matter what school they go to, how much their family earns, or where they live can attend a full week of outdoor school and get the whole experience."
Spring Break Visitors
 Spring Break was a fun opportunity to have student visitors from the district join us in Salem. They were able to act as interns for the day. They helped with projects, sat in on committee hearings and met with legislators to advocate for the Sustainable Shopping Initiative. Members of the Hillsboro Youth Advisory Council went around to meet with legislators in the building to lend their support and expertise to HB 2509 concerning the use of single use plastic bags. Thank you to Olivia Vargas, Moaaz Elbarby, Ryan Smith and Kelly Xu for taking time out of your Spring Break to help out in the Capitol! Kelly has been an intern with my office since 2017 and it has been exciting to have her as part of the team.
Bill Updates
HB 2563: I am honored to co-chief sponsor HB 2563, which could expand upon an already existing newborn screening process in Oregon by establishing the Newborn Bloodspot Screening Advisory Board within the Oregon Health Authority. Many diseases are treatable or even curable if they are caught early enough. However, there are several diseases that Oregon could be screening for, but currently do not. These diseases include Krabbe, which can be devasting for children and their families. They often don’t show symptoms for months if not years, making early detection and treatment that much more critical. The importance of this work really hit home for me when I met beautiful Emmett. Emmett’s family, specifically his parents Joe and Nicki, have been strong advocates and driving force for this bill. They urged us to look at Tennessee’s screening practices, the highest in the nation, and see how that can become a reality in Oregon. Early detection saves lives and provides parents and children with the security of knowing what is ahead and the opportunity to put a treatment plan in place for action. HB 2563 has passed the House and is now moving to the Senate.
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HB 2524: I was happy to sign on as a co-sponsor of HB 2524 which requires long term care facilities, residential facilities and adult foster homes to provide residents with information developed by Long Term Care Ombudsman describing availability and services of Long Term Care Ombudsman. Learn more about the work that the Long Term Care Ombudsman perform here in Oregon.
HB 2074: This session I was happy to introduce HB 2074, which would restore a process that was created in the 2000’s to create a current service level budget for education. This process brought together all the vested interests to discuss and determine a “no-cuts budget” for school districts. This process was revised in 2014, resulting in three biennia of disagreement between the state and education community. I am hopeful that this bill will restore much of this process and place it in statute so that it is no longer up to executive preference. We’ve seen a how a better way has worked in the past, and now is the time to return to that collaborative and informed approach.
Out and About in March
Get Involved
- LatinX Town Hall with Representatives Sollman,McLain and Neron and Senator Riley. Friday, April 5th, 6-8pm at Brown Middle School, 1505 SE Cornelius Pass Rd, Hillsboro, OR 97123.
- North Plains Listen and Learn. Thursday, April 18th, 6-7:30pm at Jessie Mays Community Center, 30975 NW Hillcrest St, North Plains, OR 97133.
- Meals on Wheels "Stride for Seniors." Saturday, April 20th, 9:30-1:00 at Portland International Raceway, 1940 N. Victory Blvd., Portland, OR 97217.
Onward and 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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