|
March 17, 2020
Dear Neighbors and Friends:
Hope you’re doing well and staying safe. I just got off the daily 1 pm legislative briefing/update on Coronavirus here in Oregon, and want to share the latest information and advice with you, along with some other items that I prepared this morning.
Again, the overall message is a request that you minimize the amount of time that you spend, either at work or in your other daily activities, that brings you into contact with people outside of your immediate household. That includes children’s play-dates, group dinners, meetings, and other group activities. The more we can slow down the spread of the virus in Oregon, the more likely it will be that we won’t run out of the hospital beds, medical equipment, and personal protective equipment (PPEs) that we’ll need when the wave really hits in mid-April.
The potential lack of personal protective equipment (gowns, gloves, masks, etc.) is shaping up to be a real problem in this state and elsewhere. Most PPEs are manufactured in China, and the normal distribution chains have been severely disrupted. It’s one of the reasons that hospital systems and medical providers have been asked to cancel all non-essential surgeries, dental procedures, and in-person hospital visits. By limiting the number of those visits, we’ll be able to reduce the need to use up PPEs before we really need them.
The State currently has about two weeks’ worth of PPEs in stock, with priority distribution going to facilities in confined care with vulnerable populations. Governor Brown has requested access to PPEs in the federal Health and Human Services stores to help meet our projected need, but so far we have only received 10% of the request, with the promise of an additional 15% coming at some point. This is very frustrating. In addition, OHA is looking into getting PPEs from hi-tech manufacturers in the state (similar equipment is used by those working in hi-tech clean rooms), but the likelihood of success there is uncertain.
OK, here are some bullet points with the latest from today’s briefing, followed by some other items. Again, please use me and our office as a resource for your questions, your suggestions, and your reactions to the state’s COVID-19 response.
The Latest News
- There are 18 new cases for total now of 65 for Oregon.
- The totals will now change hour by hour as commercial labs are increasingly capable of testing and reporting.
- Clark County in Washington just announced its second death.
- About a third of those who have tested positive have been hospitalized. That is a high number, likely higher than it will be once more tests are available. For the most part, people are still only being tested if they show serious symptoms or have had contact with those who have.
- Lack of tests remains a national problem. Washington and California have apparently been able to create more tests than elsewhere thanks to their university research centers.
- Where available, testing remains cost-free, not subject to insurance co-pays.
- Governor Brown announced today that we are taking the next step on limiting visitation access to those vulnerable populations living in congregant care settings (e.g., nursing homes, care facilities, group homes). Only facility staff and critical medical providers will be able to enter those facilities for now. Family members and those providing emotional support will no longer be allowed in. The only exception will be for family members visiting a loved one at end of life (i.e., in their last couple of days). This new policy is designed to limit the risk of exposure and to limit the need for personal protective equipment.
- The Governor’s economic advisory committee had its first meeting today. They will be forwarding suggestions to the Governor and the Legislature regarding ways to minimize the financial hit to Oregon workers and businesses.
- 150 of the state’s 197 school districts, in virtually every corner of the state, are providing meals to kids. Ideally, these should be food pick-ups, not on-site dining, again in an effort to minimize contact.
- There will be more information about increased access to child care over the next couple of days. The focus for now will be on increasing access to care for the children of health care providers, first responders, and other essential personnel who don’t have other options.
- The work on coordinating care among hospital systems that was announced yesterday is continuing to move forward. Inventories of available beds, equipment, and personnel are being developed.
- Some counties are taking more aggressive action than others with respect to moratoria on evictions and outreach to the homeless population. Multnomah County and the City of Portland today announced new actions in this respect. We may need the Governor and the Legislature to act to take these initiatives statewide.
- Offers have been coming in from the faith community to make space available if needed.
- We are still a number of steps from the kind of shelter-in-place order that is happening in the Bay area. The hope is that the current steps and voluntary actions will suffice.
- There is concern that immigrant populations will not come forward to seek care or avoid going to work as a result of fears around the new federal “public charge” rule (which denies residency to legal residents deemed overly dependent on public services). We have received assurances that the public charge rule does not apply to COVID-19, but obviously there remains a lot of fear and uncertainty among workers who are here both legally and in an undocumented status.
- The IRS announced today that taxpayers may delay their filing by three months (for taxes due up to $1 million) without interest or penalty. We’re checking to see what it takes to do something similar for state taxes.
- I’ve heard concern from some constituents who work in the fast-food industry (or whose children do) about establishments remaining open and continuing to provide take-out options. They are concerned that there’s still a lot of potential for transmission of the disease to and from workers and among those waiting in line for service. I passed those concerns on to the OHA. For now, the responsibility is on restaurant management to guarantee proper social distancing and hygiene. If they are not able to do so, the rules could at some point change.
Special Legislative Joint Task Force Meets Tomorrow (Virtually)
As I mentioned in yesterday’s newsletter, the Legislature will be going into a special session sometime in the near future in order to pass funding and policy legislation needed to handle the emergency.
Funding priorities that made sense a couple of weeks ago, when final budget decisions were being made at the end of the (ultimately unsuccessful) session, no longer make sense. We need to prioritize ways to help workers, businesses, families, and our social safety net get through this crisis. Until we know exactly what kinds of supports will be forthcoming from the federal government, it’s hard to know exactly where the funding priorities will need to be. At this point, the smartest thing may be to transfer a large sum of money from our ending fund balance to the Emergency Fund, from which the Interim Emergency Board can make allocations.
It’s not clear yet when exactly the session will be held, but hopefully we’ll know by the end of the week. Given the challenges of holding a session in the midst of a pandemic, we need to keep it very brief. It will be crucial that we have clear agreements ahead of time between House and Senate, Democrats and Republicans, and the Governor. At this point, things are looking good for that. Most everyone seems to understand the severity of the situation we are in.
Legal staff is looking at ways in which we can balance our constitutional need for open and transparent meetings and the requirements of social distancing, quarantines, and limits on mass gatherings. It helps that the Oregon Legislative Information System remains up and running. (Thanks to all the IT folks who are making it possible for us to continue our work!) The proceedings will be able to be live-streamed and testimony can still come in remotely and electronically. I’ll let you know more about the logistics for the session as I know them.
In the meantime, as I mentioned, it will be crucial that we come in with a clear set of agreed-upon measures to adopt. To that end, the Senate President and Speaker of the House have created the Special Joint Task Force on Coronavirus to help prepare the measures that will come before us. The specific charge to the task force is as follows:
- Identify actions to support low-income and vulnerable Oregonians and small businesses as they comply with public health guidance. These actions could include short-term economic relief, protection from housing instability, support for those not eligible for state programs (such as sick leave and unemployment insurance) and more.
- Monitor public health strategies and response for COVID-19 and consider additional statutory changes to assist with the public health emergency.
- Make timely budget and policy recommendations to the Legislature.
The task force will have its first meeting tomorrow morning at 10. It will hear updates from the Governor’s Office and the OHA, as well as testimony from employee and employer groups. You can watch it live (or archived later), submit written testimony until 5 pm., and subscribe to emails and updates from the task force, all via OLIS:
https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2019I1/Committees/JSCVR/Overview
I’m not one of the legislators on the task force, but of course I’m in regular communication with those who are. If you have any suggestions regarding priority actions that the task force should be taking, please let me know.
The Latest from the Department of Corrections
Some of the people most at risk of disease outbreaks are of course those who are living in close confinement in our jails and prisons. This is actually a danger that they need to worry about all the time, and in some ways some of them are better prepared than most of us are.
Yesterday I was able to speak with DOC Director Collette Peters about steps that are being taken to address the pandemic in the state correctional institutions. So far, no Adults In Custody or staff have yet who have tested positive for the coronavirus, but it is likely just a matter of time before they do. And given their confined setting, it is a real danger, particularly given the age of many of Oregon’s adults in custody. (Oregon ranks fourth in the nation for the proportion of AICs who are elderly.)
As you might have heard, all visitations into the institutions have been suspended for now. That of course creates a real problem for AICs and their families. These visits are an essential part of maintaining positive environments in our institutions, and DOC has been taking steps to find ways to cope, including added recreation time and of course an added focus on hygiene and cleaning.
Again, this is not a totally new situation for DOC. Just recently one of the institutions had to be shut down to visitation as a result of an outbreak of the seasonal flu.
One piece of good news is that they have been able to make arrangements with their telephone providers to lower the cost of phone and video calls, so that contact can be more easily maintained between AICs and their families.
Recommendations to Lessen the Economic Impacts of the Pandemic
As legislators consider emergency measures to cope with the economic impacts of the pandemic, we are of course starting to hear from a number of individuals and organizations. Here are two of them.
First is a set of recommendations from the Oregon Center for Public Policy on ways in which the state could improve its Unemployment Insurance policies in order to better meet the needs of unemployed and underemployed workers during a crisis like this.
Second is a set of recommendations from the business perspective coming from Oregon Business and Industries.
If you have thoughts about these or other potential actions the state could take, please send them my way.
Watch Out for Coronavirus Fraud
A crisis like this can bring out the best in people, but it can also bring out the worst. We’re hearing reports of instances of price gouging (where retailers are taking advantage of the crisis in order to ramp up prices for their own added profit) and various internet scams (particularly dangerous since so many people are dependent on the internet for news and advice).
Attorney-General Rosenblum has set up a price-gouging hotline for people to report price gouging when they see it. It is against state law for merchants and wholesalers to increase their prices by more than 15% of what they were prior to a declaration of emergency. Here is the hotline number, a list of exceptions to the prohibition, and other information about the prohibition.
Regarding the kinds of online scams and misinformation that are out there, check out this recent article from Pew’s legislative information center. Pay special attention to the address lines of people organizations that are reaching out to you, and as always be cautious about clicking on links in emails from people you don’t know and trust.
And Finally,
Here again are some resources that you will find useful:
If the above links are not providing you with answers to your questions or directing you to the help that you need, please consider me and my office to be a resource. We’ll do our best to assist you or steer you in the right direction.
Best,
 Senator Michael Dembrow
District 23
email: Sen.MichaelDembrow@oregonlegislature.gov
web: www.senatordembrow.com
phone: 503-986-1723
mail: 900 Court St NE, S-407, Salem, OR, 97301
| 
