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Dear friends,
With 2019 soon to be in the rear-view mirror, many of us are taking a moment to reflect on the past year's accomplishments and thinking of the challenges and opportunities ahead. The same is true in the Legislature; I find myself reflecting on achievements and missed opportunities from the 2019 legislative session. At the same time, I look forward to the upcoming "short" February session that begins February 3 and is limited to 35 days (unless extended by a two-thirds vote in each chamber). An extension is limited to five days. Since the Legislature began meeting annually in 2011, there has not been any extension of a session.
On December 2, I had the pleasure of visiting Magnolia Gardens Assisted Living in Cottage Grove. I enjoyed discussing a range of issues with socially engaged residents! Special thanks to Linda LaZar, Community Relations Director, for coordinating the visit and snapping this photo:
Below you will find information on:
- Upcoming Town Halls in Eugene and Veneta
- New Laws to Take Effect January 1
- McKenzie River Clinic
- Oregon Historic Theater Grant
- Materials Management Grant Awarded to Roseburg Organization
I hope this information is helpful and informative for you or someone you know. As always, feel free to share your comments, questions or concerns with me by phone, mail or e-mail. Here's to Oregon and a great 2020!
Upcoming Town Halls in Eugene and Veneta
Next week, Representative Paul Holvey and I will be holding two town halls, one in Eugene on Tuesday, January 7, and one in Veneta on Wednesday, January 8, to review the 2019 legislative session and look forward to the 2020 short session. Details on these community conversations are as follows:
What: Eugene Town Hall
When: Tuesday, January 7, starting at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Washington Park Community Center (2025 Washington St., Eugene)
What: Veneta Town Hall
When: Wednesday, January 8, starting at 6:30 p.m.
Where: City Hall Council Chambers (88184 8th St, Veneta)
We hope you'll join us!
New Laws to Take Effect January 1
Here is a listing of laws passed during the 2019 legislative session that will take effect on January 1, 2020 — by Senate/House bill and in numerical order:
Senate Bills
SB 1 - Statewide System of Care: This legislation is a product of the Children and Youth with Specialized Needs work group formed in January 2018 by the Governor, President of the Senate, and Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. The work group reviewed the unique challenges faced by children with distinctive mental, or behavioral health needs who come to the attention of different state systems of support. SB 1 establishes a System of Care Advisory Council to improve the effectiveness and efficacy of state and local systems of care that provide services to youth.
SB 2 - Creating Employment Opportunities in Eastern Oregon: Comprehensive land use plans are required for cities and counties and include statements of issues and problems to be addressed, various inventories and other technical information, the goals and policies for addressing the issues and problems, and implementation measures. This legislation authorizes certain counties in eastern Oregon that have adopted an economic opportunity analysis as part of a comprehensive plan to designate not more than 10 sites to total not more than 50 acres outside an urban growth boundary as potential sites for industrial or other employment uses.
SB 3 - Community College Four-Year Degrees: This legislation expands opportunities for Oregon students by allowing community colleges to offer applied bachelor's degree programs. Those programs will have to be approved by the Higher Education Coordinating Commission. SB 3 allows students in Oregon's 17 community colleges — many of which operate in some of the most rural reaches of the state — to obtain bachelor's degrees.
SB 69 - Broadband Equity Planning: This legislation requires the Public Utility Commission (PUC) to establish a plan to provide low-income Oregonians assistance for accessing broadband internet services. Under SB 69, the PUC will include broadband internet in the mix of services for which it must establish a low-income assistance plan. To qualify, a family must demonstrate its income or participate in government assistance programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
SB 256 - Repeals Sunset on Moratorium on Oil, Gas and Sulfur Leasing in Territorial Sea: The "territorial sea" is defined in statute as the waters and seabed extending three geographical miles seaward from the coastline in conformance with federal law. Since 2007, Oregon has maintained a moratorium on the production of oil, gas or sulfur in the territorial sea. This legislation removes the sunset on this moratorium.
SB 278 Foster Youth Housing Stability: This legislation extends eligibility to the Oregon Housing and Community Services Rent Guarantee Program to individuals between the ages of 16 and 27 who were wards of the juvenile court within the past 10 years. The program provides comprehensive tenant education to get individuals prepared to be successful as renters, as well as incentives for landlords who rent to program participants. It guarantees payments to landlords for unpaid rent in the case of eviction, as well as property damage costs, within the first 12 months of the rental or lease agreement.
SB 420 - Setting Aside Cannabis Convictions: This legislation allows a person to apply to set aside convictions for marijuana possession, delivery and manufacture if conduct upon which conviction was based is no longer a crime. It also exempts the individual from applicable fees and provides notice to the district attorney to contest. Finally, SB 420 requires court to seal these records when a conviction is set aside and notify the Department of Corrections.
SB 484 - Single Applicant Screening Charge Per Landlord: It is common practice for landlords to ask potential renters to pay the cost of processing and screening their applications. For tenants who apply for multiple locations, these fees add up quickly. This legislation requires that only one fee be assessed when an application is made to rent one of multiple units owned or managed by the same landlord within a 60-day period.
SB 485 - Support Responding to Youth Suicide: According to the 2017 Oregon Healthy Teens Survey, suicide is the second leading cause of death among Oregonians ages 10 to 24. The Oregon Health Authority found that youth suicides in Oregon have been increasing since 2011, with 107 recorded deaths in 2017. This legislation requires the Oregon Health Authority to collaborate with multiple education entities on a communication plan for responding to suspected suicides of those 24 years or younger.
SB 495 - Prohibits Use of Canines to Remove Individuals in Custody from Cells: While the Department of Corrections does not use canines to extract individuals in custody from their cells, news reports indicated that one Oregon county jail used canines to extract individuals as recently as last year. This legislation prohibits correctional facilities from using canines to extract a person in custody from a cell.
SB 579 - Death with Dignity 15-Day Waiver: This legislation waives the 15-day waiting period between Death With Dignity Act oral requests when the attending physician determines, with reasonable medical judgement, that the person will die within 15 days of making the initial oral request. It also requires a medically confirmed certificate regarding the patient’s probability of imminent death to be contained in the medical record.
SB 664 Holocaust/Genocide Education: This legislation requires school districts to provide instruction about the Holocaust and genocide. It also directs the Oregon Department of Education to provide technical assistance to school districts on implementing the curriculum. These new instruction requirements will apply beginning in the 2020-2021 school year.
SB 665 - Helping School Districts Respond to Opioid Overdose: Naloxone is a medication designed to rapidly reverse opioid overdose. It can very quickly restore normal respiration to a person whose breathing has slowed or stopped as a result of heroin or prescription opioid overdose. In 2016, there were 312 opioid-related overdose deaths in Oregon. This legislation permits school districts to adopt rules to allow trained school personnel to administer naloxone and similar medications if a student or other individual overdoses on opioids at school, on school property, or at a school-sponsored activity.
SB 761 - Increasing Standards for Electronic Signature Sheets: This legislation requires a voter to personally print or ask another person to print an electronic signature sheet for an initiative, referendum or recall petition. The Secretary of State will create electronic signature sheet templates that have the text of the measure as well as a signature line for a voter to assent to the petition and another signature line for the voter to attest that the voter has complied with the proper procedure for submitting the e-sheet.
SB 1008 - Juvenile Justice Reform: This legislation returns the decision of whether a youth age 15-17 should be tried as an adult to a judge, instead of being based on the charges filed by a district attorney's office. The bill provides overdue reforms to the juvenile justice system in Oregon and contains several elements that will help juveniles who have committed offenses to get rehabilitated and a second chance at a productive life. Those include the following:
- Eliminating mandatory adult prosecution for juveniles who commit certain crimes. (Returns the decision as to whether 15-, 16-, or 17-year-old offenders should be tried as adults to the judge, not the prosecutor.)
- Placing those who commit crimes before the age of 18 in Oregon Youth Authority custody rather than sending them to adult prisons, even if the sentencing occurs after the defendant has reached 18.
- Holding court hearings to determine if juvenile offenders sentenced as adults who have less than 24 months to serve on their sentence should be transferred from Oregon Youth Authority custody to the Department of Corrections when they reach 25 years old to serve the remainder of their sentence, or be conditionally released and placed under community-based supervision.
- Creating a process where all youth who were convicted as adults have access to "Second Look" court hearings halfway through their sentences. At those hearings, judges can determine whether the juvenile offenders have taken responsibility for their crimes and have been rehabilitated. When that is the case, the rest of the sentence would be served under community-based supervision, rather than additional incarceration.
- Banning life sentences without possibility of parole for juvenile offenders.
House Bills
HB 3216 - Creates Civil Remedy for Unlawfully Summoning Police: This legislation creates a civil cause of action against an individual who knowingly summons a police officer with the intent to infringe on a person’s constitutional rights or discriminate against another person.
HB 3224 - Requires District Attorneys to Publicly Disclose Policies: Currently, there is no requirement that District Attorneys (DA) establish, maintain, or make public any formal or informal policies within their offices relating to prosecutorial decision making. There is wide variation county-to-county relating to charging policies or procedures and their availability to the public. This legislation requires all DAs to develop and maintain written policies about the core functions of their office, such as discovery of evidence, charging decisions, and sentencing and program recommendations. The law also requires that those policies be posted on the DA's website.
HB 3249 - Protects Defendants’ Right to Confidentiality while in Custody: Current statute protects a client's privilege to refuse to disclose and to prevent any other person from disclosing confidential communications made for the purpose of facilitating the rendition of professional legal services to the client between the client's lawyer or a representative of the lawyer. This legislation extends the privilege to specifically include visitations between an inmate and their lawyer or a lawyer's representative while in custody at a correctional facility.
HB 3415 - College Harassment and Sexual Violence Policies: Nationally, one in five women, one in 14 men, and one in four transgender students experience sexual assault while in college. This legislation requires institutions of higher education to adopt written policies on sexual harassment and assault to adhere to those policies. It also requires staff to receive evidence-informed annual training. These new requirements will apply beginning in the 2020-2021 school year.
McKenzie River Clinic
On December 17, I enjoyed attending a gathering to celebrate a new chapter for McKenzie River Clinic. Orchid Health, which already operates a clinic in Oakridge, is the clinic's new owner. The clinic's mission is to contribute to the health of residents in the Upper McKenzie River Valley by providing high-quality primary care. The dedicated staff offer residents education, prevention, diagnosis, and primary treatment services at reasonable costs and in a professional and friendly manner. Clinic services are accessible and provided by well-trained staff in a well-equipped facility. Services are provided without discrimination based on race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identification, or national origin.
I've had the pleasure of working with Orchid Health on legislation to help make quality healthcare accessible to rural Oregon residents. To learn more, visit: https://www.mckenzieclinic.org/home.html.
Oregon Historic Theater Grant
The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD), which includes the Oregon Main Street Network and the State Historic Preservation Office, was awarded $665,000 in federal grant funding to implement a grant program for the preservation of historic theaters. The grant was one of nine awarded nationally through the National Park Service Historic Revitalization Subgrant Program.
Applications for the Oregon Historic Theater Grant will open later this winter with a deadline in spring 2020. This is a matching grant program for amounts between $15,000 - $100,000. Key requirements include:
- The property is listed in the National Register of Historic Places or is eligible and becomes listed during the grant period;
- The project meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Historic Preservation; and
- The theater is in a community with a population of 30,000 or less.
Applicants can be private property owners, local governments, state agencies, and nonprofits. The theater owner does not have to be the applicant; however, the owner must provide a letter in support of the work.
Restore Oregon, OPRD's nonprofit partner, is happy to help with advance grant preparation. For assistance from Restore Oregon, contact Katelyn Weber at katelyn@restoreoregon.org. For questions about the grant, contact Kuri Gill at: kuri.gill@oregon.gov or visit www.oregonheritage.org.
Materials Management Grant Awarded to Roseburg Organization
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Materials Management program recently awarded nearly $600,000 in grant funding to 17 local governments, schools and non-profit organizations during the 2019 grant cycle. The grants program funds activities that support Materials Management in Oregon: 2050 Vision and Framework for Action, to guide a more holistic approach toward reducing the environmental and public health impacts from materials. This approach considers the impacts that occur across the full life cycle of materials — from extraction of resources through production, use and waste recovery or disposal — and suggests actions to reduce the most significant of those impacts.
DEQ prioritized projects that foster new partnerships between community-based organizations and environmental organizations in Oregon. One of those projects is Source One Serenity in Roseburg, which empowers veterans to reclaim their sense of purpose through conservation work. With this grant, Source One Serenity will develop a site for a worm farm, contract with a local welder to fabricate a worm digester, and promote it for use in the Douglas County community. Benefits of the awarded projects include job-creation, feeding at-risk populations, reducing the impacts of food waste and building materials, and many other benefits consistent with reducing, reusing and recycling materials.
Congratulations to Source One Serenity! DEQ's website lists all the awards at https://www.oregon.gov/deq/mm/pages/grants.aspx. The Materials Management program is funded by tipping fees assessed per ton of solid waste disposed in Oregon.
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