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April 4, 2020
Dear Neighbors and Friends:
I hope that you and your loved ones are doing well, staying healthy, and looking out for your neighbors and friends.
Representatives Alissa Keny-Guyer and Barbara Smith Warner held our first virtual town hall this morning. We had around 75 people join us, and I’m happy to report that there were no technical glitches! We received a number of questions in advance and tried our best to address them, along with questions that came up during the town hall via the “chat” function. One of the suggestions that came out of the meeting had to do with concern around rent spikes. That’s one of the topics that I cover in the body of the newsletter below. I did have one constituent write in afterwards that she hopes we can continue this after the crisis is over. For her, it’s easier in general to participate in this way. The ability to communicate in this way may be one of the lessons learned to come out of this emergency.
The big news today (it actually came out while we were in the middle of our town hall) was the Governor’s decision to send 140 ventilators to New York, whose hospitals need them so badly. I’m sure you’ve seen the news reports of what a huge disaster they are facing. 26,383 New Yorkers have needed hospitalization from COVID-19, and 3,565 have died so far (more than 40% of all U.S. deaths at this point). If anyone needs help, they do.
The Governor’s decision is great news for two reasons. First, it speaks to the fact that so far here in Oregon, the Stay Home policy seems to be successfully flattening the hospitalization curve, and we are not at risk of a ventilator shortage any time soon. And second, it reflects well on us as a state and our values. It reminds me of some of the actions that we took back in 2001 after 9/11 and all the support that we gave to shattered New Yorkers back then. (I’m thinking specifically of Sho Dozono and the others who organized the Flight for Freedom to New York soon after.) It’s what we like to feel we can expect of one another in the face of catastrophe.
Not surprisingly, I have received pushback from some individuals about the Governor’s decision. They argue that if we can send ventilators to New York, we should be lifting the Stay Home order and allowing Oregonians to go back to schools, restaurants, bars, and other businesses and venues. Well, it’s WAY too early for that. The Stay Home Save Lives effort is keeping infections and hospitalizations from spiking, but as you can see from the numbers below, it’s not stopping them. Sadly, four more Oregonians died just yesterday. Yes, we have a better stockpile of ventilators than many states, enough to cover our needs for the foreseeable future. But believe me, we still have a long, difficult road ahead of us.
That’s why we need to focus on holding together.
TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE
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Positive Cases: OHA has reported that 100 additional Oregonians tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, putting the total at 999.
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Total Tests: Today’s reported testing numbers reflect an increase of 1,491 test results from yesterday, bringing the total test results so far to 18,925.
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Ratio: Though the overall numbers are increasing, our ratio of positive results remains around 5%. That’s much lower than the national average (currently nearly 19%).
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Deaths: I’m sorry to report that four Oregonians died from the disease yesterday, bringing the total number of deaths in Oregon to 26.
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Hospitalized: The number of Oregonians who have been hospitalized with symptoms is now at 204, 239 an increase of 16 from yesterday.
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Other Hospital Information: Unfortunately, the glitch in the hospital bed reporting system hasn’t been resolved yet, and the OHA still doesn’t have confidence in the numbers that they received. So I’ll have to leave these fields blank again today. We’re promised corrected numbers soon, hopefully Monday.
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Today’s National Numbers:
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PPE: The Emergency Coordination Center and the Department of Administrative Services have been working with potential vendors on getting badly-needed Personal Protective Equipment into Oregon. Orders for the following have just been reported:
- 1 million surgical masks
- 1 million N95 masks
- 410,000 gowns
- More than 500,000 face shields
- We’ll be getting another report on PPE early next week.
- Inmate employees at Oregon Corrections Enterprises, which employs adults in custody to do a variety of jobs, are in the process of making 30,000 face masks for use by employees and those in custody statewide. These are not medical-grade masks, and for now at least their use will be voluntary. OCE is also working with the Department of Administrative Services to get the green light on producing medical-grade gowns if they can secure the needed materials for them.
- The Early Learning Division reports that they have received 700 applications from childcare providers who want to become emergency care centers, providing priority placements for the children of essential workers. The 211 system is being used to help match essential workers with these centers, which are located throughout the state.
Yes, the Employment Department Is Hiring!
As I mentioned the other day, the Employment Department is seeking to triple its number of Claims Specialists by the end of this week, which means that the Employment Department itself is hiring. If you’re looking for work, consider putting in an application. Here’s information about the job.
In addition to the Employment Department, there are some companies hiring despite (or in some cases because of) the pandemic. Although most of the action over at the Employment Department is around processing applications for new unemployment claims, their staff is also working on matching up laid-off workers with some of these openings. If you’re looking for work, consider using them. Go to the department’s job search site.
Need Oregon Tax Information?
The Oregon Department of Revenue has created a COVID-19 tax relief options page for people wondering about their options for postponing tax payments and other adjustments being made in the midst of the COVID emergency. It covers a variety of tax information, including a useful FAQ page.
Legislators have been hearing a lot of questions around the new Corporate Activity Tax (0.57% on commercial transactions about $1 million after certain expenses have been subtracted) that the Legislature passed last year in order to fund the Student Success Act and fund a lowering of income taxes. On April 30 companies subject to the CAT are scheduled to make their first quarterly payments on earnings they anticipate making this year. Obviously, at this point it will be difficult for many companies to project how much revenue they’ll be generating this year. Some are currently doing a lot of business, while others are doing next to nothing.
Department of Revenue has indicated that it will be handling these initial payments with some flexibility, as this advisory from the web site indicates:
Initial quarterly payments for the new Corporate Activity Tax (CAT) are due April 30, 2020. The department understands that the pandemic may impact commercial activity, up or down, to an extent that makes it difficult for businesses to estimate their first payment. The department will not assess underpayment penalties to taxpayers making a good faith effort to estimate their first quarter payments.
At this point we have to assume that overall revenues from the CAT are going to be way down this year (as will be the case for all state budget revenues), and that funds for the Student Success Act (due to begin next year) are going to be limited, at least for the first year. As a result, school districts have been advised to stop their hiring and contracting processes for now. This is obviously very disappointing for districts that have been waiting for years to implement these much-needed student supports.
First Confirmed COVID-19 Case of an Adult in Custody
A couple of days ago, we received word of the first Oregon Corrections employee to test positive for the coronavirus. Yesterday, we learned of the first AIC to test positive. He’s housed at the Santiam Correctional Institution, the minimal security prison in Salem. As of yesterday, he was in stable condition and being treated onsite, and was scheduled to be moved to an offsite nursing facility. You can see more details about this case and general information at the Department of Corrections COVID-19 website.
Taking necessary steps to provide the spread of the virus at congregate care settings like prisons, jails, and the Oregon State Hospital is of the utmost urgency. We need to feel confident that all necessary steps are being taken to make sure that residents are as safe as possible. To get a sense of how things are happening on the ground, the Oregon Justice Resource Center has produced a survey form that it hopes adults in custody will fill out and get back to them. As is the case for others who normally provide various services to those housed in our prisons, OJRC staff are currently barred from entering the institutions because of the pandemic, so they are hoping to use these surveys to get a better, more systematic sense of the steps being taken to ward off the virus, and the effectiveness of those steps.
OJRC is also reaching out to family members, attorneys, and others who have relationships with adults in custody (in both county jails and state prisons) to receive input on what they are hearing from their loved ones and/or clients. You can read about and link to their online response forms here. The survey for AICs to complete is here.
Are You Experiencing a Rent Spike?
During our virtual town hall this morning, my colleagues and I heard concern around reports that some landlords are suddenly and unexpected raising their rents out of concern that their needed income is about to decline. If so, that’s just going to make things even more difficult for their tenants. Hopefully, their tenants will not lose their jobs thanks to the new federal Payment Protection Program, or if they do, they will be eligible for the enhanced Pandemic Unemployment Benefits Program. Or, the landlords themselves will access Payment Protection support as a small business to get them through these difficult times. They should not be imposing an unexpected rent increase at this time.
If you’re an SD 23 constituent and you have learned that your rent is about to go up unexpectedly, please contact my office, and we’ll look into it for you. Reps Keny-Guyer and Smith Warner have offered to do the same.
By the way, Attorney-General Rosenblum has made it a priority to go after any reported cases of price gouging occurring during the state of emergency. It’s a crime, and it will be dealt with seriously.
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
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