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Constituents, Advocates, and Readers:
We just passed another major deadline on April 9th, when bills either passed out of policy committees or met their fate for this year. It’s good news in my office, as all of my top priority bills are advancing, and many of the bills I co-sponsored are as well, although some in different forms that originally proposed.
CONSTITUENT INFORMATION
Upcoming Town Hall NEXT WEEK with Senator Dembrow and Rep. Keny Guyer
SAVE THE DATE:
Saturday April 20, 1-2:30PM
PCC Southeast Community Hall
2305 SE 82nd Ave, Portland, OR 97216
CAPITOL UPDATES
Advocacy Visits/Rallies
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A highlight of every day here in the capitol is meeting with constituents and advocates. Luckily, my staff agrees, and gets to both join me in meetings and have many of their own. Thank you to the advocates from Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice for coming down to Salem to talk about Equal Access to the Roads Act, HB 2015 and the Welcoming Refugee Act, HB 2508/SB 877. I am proud to support both of those bills. |
So great to join a room full of school administrators of color on COSA’s Equity Day. Thank you for your leadership and role modeling for our kids, and for supporting our work to invest in our schools.
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Portland Thorns fans take the Capitol!
Come join us at the Capitol on May 2nd to watch the vote in the House on my resolution to honor the Thorns! We are expecting some special guests, speeches in support of the team, and an all-around fun morning. Kids are welcome.
We’ll gather at 10:30 AM, watch the House convene at 11:00 AM, and the vote should be finished by 11:30 AM. Wear your best Thorns gear!
You can read the full text of the measure here, and RSVP on Facebook.
 Interesting bill updates:
HB 3409 recently passed in the House with bipartisan support. HB 3409 will require any interscholastic activity organization to have policies that demand civil behavior by all participants, a transparent complaint process for when those requirements are violated, and sanctions against participants, whether they are schools, spectators, coaches or players, that violate them. This bill, introduced by Rep. Bynum, Speaker Kotek, and myself, stems from some racist behavior directed at the Parkrose women’s basketball team during a recent game. These incidents have gone on for far too long, and the time to take action is now.
HB 2213 and HB 2571 passed in the House this week and are both important steps in addressing affordability in higher education. HB 2213, which passed unanimously, introduces transparency to the costs of textbooks while allowing for more affordable options. HB 2571, which I cosponsored, provides tuition waivers for undergraduate current or former foster youths age 25 and younger. Foster children face many obstacles in life early on and receiving a college education shouldn’t be one of them.
MY PRIORITIES
Student Success Act of 2019 – HB 2019
It’s been a big few weeks for the Joint Committee for Student Success: we released the first version of the Student Success Act and held our first big public hearing. HB 2019 creates a dedicated, sustainable investment that ties funding to outcomes, requires ongoing accountability and closes the opportunity gaps for historically underserved students. The public hearing featured a huge turnout with almost unanimous support for the bill, as well as some suggested tweaks and recommendations. There will be additional public hearings and opportunities to provide testimony in the next few weeks, so please subscribe to the committee’s emails if you would like to track our progress over the next few weeks.
 Safe Storage for Firearms – SB 978
Great news on the gun violence prevention front: Senate Bill 978, the omnibus gun safety bill, includes the safe storage language from HB2505, and moved out of its Senate committee this week. It covers a wide range of issues, from allowing localities to decide where people have firearms in public buildings to addressing 3D printed guns. I testified on the safe storage sections (4-10), as did many other doctors, parents and students. Thank you to all of the activists and advocates who came out to support SB 978 - please continue to monitor and support it!.
 Adi’s Act: Suicide Prevention in Oregon Schools – SB 52
This bill requiring school districts to create suicide prevention has a public hearing scheduled in the House Committee on Education on April 17th. I look forward to testifying on this important bill, and encourage you to submit testimony if you are also passionate on this issue. Also, there has been some recent news coverage on the bill.
Veterans Private Education Protection Act - HB 2976
My bill to protect veterans from aggressive targeting by the for-profit, private colleges passed out of the House Education Committee to the Ways and Means Committee. HB 2976 would close a loophole that counts GI Bill and other veterans benefits funds as “private money,” allowing these for-profit institutions to incorrectly categorize -- and take advantage of -- these taxpayer-funded veterans benefits. We look forward to working more on this issue, and welcome your questions and involvement.
Oil Trains - HB 2209
The 2019 oil train safety bill passed out of its first committee unanimously! The emergency planning and additional information-sharing that this bill provides, as well as the funding for these programs, will help keep railroads in check and keep our communities safer. Stay tuned!
Clean Energy Jobs – HB 2020
I am 110% behind Clean Energy Jobs and I look forward to voting for it on the floor of the House in the coming weeks. The data shows that we don’t have to choose between our environment and our economy: we can have both. If you support clean energy jobs and work in a business, I would love to hear from you and help amplify your voice.
As always, please reach out to my office if you have any questions, or I can be of any help to you or your community.
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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