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Hello Friends and Neighbors,
This is a strange and frustrating time for all of us. Everyone I hear from is doing their best to protect and support our community. Our front-line workers in grocery stores, delivery services, trucking, sanitation, and of course, healthcare workers, are putting themselves in harms way and working long, hard hours and they deserve our thanks now more than ever. Our public workers processing unemployment claims, providing resources, and supporting our response are doing their best to get resources to our communities and are scaling up their capacity at unprecedented rates. Long waits and technical difficulties are still occurring, and are still frustrating, but we are hearing you and doing everything we can to make the response meet the demand.
We are all eager for Stay Home, Save Lives to end, but we are weeks away from having the data and resources we need to start opening our economies and circles back up. We have to accept that this will be a long process and our state will likely not be able to open up all at once, nor will “open” look and feel like our pre-virus normal. We have to be patient and continue supporting each other and listening to experts so we don’t see a second surge in cases. We will be taking a health first and fact driven approach for re-opening and we are going to do everything we can to ensure that our recovery leaves no one behind, especially not those that have been on the front-lines or hit hardest by this crisis.
Thank you all for Staying Home and Saving Lives. We are in this together and we will get through it together.
Rep McLain with Speech Students and Youth Advisory Councils
Missing my time with my Speech and Debate Students and local Youth Advisory Councils! They are amazing students and advocates!
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Unemployment Update: I recently received a status report from the Employment Department on what’s happening regarding the volume of claims, the error messages from last weekend and the effort to correct them, increasing claim staff, reprogramming the computer system to process the new $600 payments and the new categories of workers who can now access benefits, and successive projects for computer reprogramming. You can read the full update here. Phone lines remain overcrowded, with wait times averaging 2 hours. Try using these websites and emails to file claims and ask questions. Employment department staff should get back to you by phone or email in about a week. Remember, many Oregonians do not have reliable access to internet or internet capable devices, please be mindful of this, and use web based platforms where possible to preserve phone capacity for others.
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Paycheck Protection Program Lenders-Update: Senator Merkley has updated his running list of banks and credit unions accepting Paycheck Protection Program applications. View the updated list here, and find more “Operation: Main Street” resources from Senator Merkley here.
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Stimulus checks are on their way: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said over the weekend that it has started direct depositing money for individual Americans as part of the $2 trillion federal CARES Act. Any adult in the United States who is earning up to $75,000 in adjusted gross income and has a valid Social Security number will receive a $1,200 payment. The amount of the payment declines for individuals making more than that, and parents will receive $500 payments for each eligible child.
- This does not mean that everyone who will get a relief payment has received their money yet. Paper checks will begin to be issued later in the month, and lower-income individuals are supposed to get their payments first.
- The IRS has more information here, including for non-filers.
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Lookout for scams! Remember, the IRS will never call, text, email or contact anyone on social media about their personal identification or bank account information. If you get contacted in this way, please ignore it for your own security.
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Tenant Rights: Governor Brown has issued a couple different executive orders relating to residential and commercial eviction moratoriums over the past month. I know there is a lot for everyone to keep track of, so below is a helpful guide to understand your rights as long as those orders are in place. You can find more resources online at OregonRentersRights.org and at OregonLawHelp.org
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Tenant Rights Graphic and resources, link to more information
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No May Legislative Days: The legislature was scheduled to have “Legislative Days” in May. This is normally a time when interim committees meet to get updates on work being done by the agencies, start to hear from various work groups, explore topics that will require legislation, and for senators to confirm executive appointments. The legislature does not currently have capacity to have several committees meeting remotely at one time, so only the House and Senate Revenue Committees will be meeting jointly (remotely) on May 20th to receive the quarterly revenue forecast. This will be an important meeting where we will learn a lot about the revenue impacts that COVID-19 will have on our state. Legislators will begin discussing ways in which individual committees can meet remotely at staggered times over the next couple of months.
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Status Report: Oregon now has 1,663 test confirmed cases of COVID-19, 33 new confirmed cases since yesterday, and 364 confirmed cases in Washington County. Click on the image below to view more information and updates from Oregon Health Authority.
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Table with data on number of tests, confirmed cases, demographic information, and risk factors. Link to Oregon Health Authority Page.
Senior isolation, depression and anxiety is very real and heightened in times of crisis. I have been checking in on the seniors at my church, neighbors, and my family in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. If you have an older family member or an older neighbor, please check in on them. Drop them a note in the mail. There are resources out there to help Washington County seniors. We are all in this together and we will get through this together.
Oregon Senior Peer Outreach Line: 1-833-736-4676
Weekly phone-based support and connection with Community Support Solutions. This free service is available to Washington County older adults (55+) experiencing loneliness and isolation. Participants are matched with a trained Peer Support Specialist and receive scheduled weekly phone calls. Se habla espanol.
Oregon Senior Loneliness Line: 503-200-1633
Volunteer warm line available 24/7 with Lines for Life. Trained volunteers offer support and connection at any time for older adults experiencing loneliness and isolation. Available in multiple languages.
Suicide risk increases with age. Older adults with depression visit the doctor and emergency room more often, incur higher outpatient charges and stay longer in the hospital. Depression is treatable.
Are you lonely? Take this quiz to find out if you or someone you know may be feeling lonely or isolated, Connect2Affect Quiz.
Graphic on Loneliness and Risk Factors
The City of Hillsboro launched a Food 2 You program in partnership with St. Vincent de Paul and Salvation Army of Hillsboro. The Food 2 You program will deliver essential food to Hillsboro community members who need it most during the COVID-19 pandemic, when getting to a food pantry may be difficult or dangerous to their health. This program is intended to serve those who are medically fragile, or older individuals who are unable to leave their homes due to the current crisis. Requests are accepted by phone at 503-681-5090 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, from noon to 4 pm. Orders are filled and delivered the following day. Phones will close once order limits for that day have been met.
Forest Grove Foursquare Church
1719 Cedar St
Forest Grove, OR 97116
(503)357-4400
Areas Served: Forest Grove, Dilley, Cornelius, Gales Crk, Gaston. Thurs 10:40 am-1 pm MUST bring your own boxes/bags to carry food as the pantry does not have enough, if any.
*They are also in need of further space and refrigeration capacity to deal with the increased demand and the need for social distancing for volunteers and clients. Please contact their number or my office if you have information or ideas on available space or refrigeration.
Centro Cultural Free Food Market
(Partnership with Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Clinic)
1110 N Adair Street
Cornelius, OR 97113
(503)707-0859
Areas Served: West of Hillsboro. Every Tuesday at 2:30PM offered at Centro Cultural’s parking lot in Cornelius. Please bring your own bags/boxes. No income verification required.
Washington County Non-Emergency Dispatch Line
Covers all of Washington County, no eligibility guidelines, anyone in need can access, no limits on how often they can access. They often have more food boxes than they can distribute before food expires.
Call 503-629-0111 for more info.
Employers and Employees
The following list of resources is from Oregon’s Secretary of State’s Office. The fastest way to get in touch with the SOS team is by emailing business.sos@oregon.gov, using the “Need Help?” button found on most state agency websites or visiting www.oregon.gov/smallbusiness.
Education Links
Local Government
Utilities Assistance
Food and Housing Assistance
View Past Updates, Share and Subscribe:
If there was COVID-related information in a past newsletter that you want to go back to, but find you’ve deleted it, you can always go to my legislative website (http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/mclain), click on “News and Information,” and you’ll find them all there. You can also share this site with your friends and loved ones, so they can view past newsletters, and subscribe to future updates.
Yours truly,
 Representative Susan McLain
House District 29
email: Rep.SusanMcLain@oregonlegislature.gov I phone: 503-986-1429
address: 900 Court St NE, H-376, Salem, OR 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/mclain
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