Thank You; Business and Industry Leaders Letter to Governor Brown; Today is the day to Register

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

First, a huge thanks to our First Responders and essential workers!  Thank for your sacrifice in doing the difficult job of putting your lives on the line to protect Oregonians. You deserve our support and deep gratitude for the actions you are taking to protect yourselves and our community.

Oregonians are also working hard to do their part to limit the spread of COVID-19 and flatten the curve. This work has helped our state make certain we are within our medical supply capacity, and it has saved lives

Thank you for doing your part. We are all in this together.

Coronavirus Prevention

In the one month since Governor Brown’s Stay Home, Save Lives order, researchers have estimated that Oregonians have prevented as many as 70,000 cases of coronavirus and 1,500 hospitalizations. Thank you for all you are doing to help flatten the curve and same lives.

The generosity of Oregonians across the state has also been heartening. The graphic above shows the numbers of PPE which have been donated to protect our frontline workers, if you want to contribute, please visit http://oregonrecovers.communityos.org or call the Volunteers & Donations Call Center at 503-378-4479.

Updates and Resources

• The Governor announced that Colorado and Nevada are joining the Western States Pact.
• Business and industry leaders sent a letter to Governors Brown, Inslee and Newsome in support of the Western States Pact and offering recommendations and resources from industry to guide reopening.
• This run down from the Oregonian has information on budget impacts, the Mayor of Oregon City discussing violating EOs and opening businesses, the Employment Department and more.
• The Willamette Week wrote about the AG’s letter to the OC Mayor.
• TriMet is creating a temporary bus line to help resident get to a bottle return. The closure of bottle returns at grocery stores has been challenging for many who rely on those funds.
• A coalition of real estate industry representatives pushing for relief on mortgage payments.
• The wheat industry and Oregon mills are seeing an increase in business as many are baking during quarantine.
• Wilsonville and West Linn High Schools’ robotics teams have been making face shields.
• Keep Oregon Green is kicking off their wildfire awareness campaign.
• Anis Mojgani was named Oregon’s poet laureate today
• Tomorrow, Senator Prozanski will be on the Jefferson Exchange discussing the non-unanimous jury ruling.
• The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Moda Health today.
• The AP wrote about growing national support for Vote By Mail.

Primary Election If you want to participate in the upcoming Primary Election, you must be registered to vote by April 28th. Be sure to check your registration status. If you are not registered to vote, register here. Please share with your friends and family and make certain they know about the registration deadline. Oregon has been a leader when it comes to voter access. In 1988, Oregon became a vote-by-mail state. This has served to boost voter participation and it is also the reason why Oregon elections can proceed while we continue to follow critical safety measures to help slow the spread of COVID-19. In 2015, Oregon passed the New Motor Voter Law helping voters to automatically register to vote. Then, in 2019 Oregon approved paid postage for ballot-return envelopes, no need to have your own stamps. I am grateful Oregonians can easily participate in this election while staying safely at home. Elections matter, and your vote counts. Please take the time to make certain your voice heard this May.

Announcing the first Coastal Corral – Legislative Meet Up for the Entire Coast

The Florence Area Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with coastal chambers including Seaside, Astoria-Warrington, Lincoln City, Depoe Bay, Newport, Waldport, Reedsport-Winchester Bay, Bay Area, Bandon, and Brookings, is excited to bring to the coast its first “Coastal Corral”, Friday May 1^st at 10:00am PDT.

Coastal Chambers are convening U.S. and State legislators to update and share information with the business communities along the coast. This FREE online panel conversation will be available on ZOOM and Facebook Live. It will also be recorded for those unable to attend “live”. Quick links to attend the event will be available at FlorenceChamber.com under the events tab the morning of the panel.

As we “Coasties” know, coastal communities face different challenges than other rural areas and vastly different challenges than larger metro areas. Many coastal communities rely heavily on tourism as their primary industry. With social distancing, what does it look like to re-open for business? Restaurants, retail, casinos and transportation sectors all face unknown restrictions and logistics for success. All non-essential businesses that are reopening are looking for additional resources and support.

Join us to hear from our hard-working legislators about what they are doing to support truly “miniature” businesses, along with small and larger employers—and all with a focus on the coast. We are thrilled to announce that U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, along with State Senators Betsy Johnson and Arnie Roblan and State Representatives David Gomberg and Tiffiny Mitchell will be seated in this “Corral” to share knowledge and resources. This dynamic panel will be moderated by Lane Community College’s Florence Campus Dean, Dr. Russ Pierson.

We want to hear from you. Please submit your questions or comments for the panel as soon as possible to bettina@florencechamber.com.

email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@oregonlegislature.gov I phone: 503-986-1705
address: 900 Court St NE, S-417, Salem, OR, 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/roblan