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Dear friends,
I hope you and your loved ones enjoyed a safe Memorial Day weekend and took time to reflect on the sacrifices of our service men and women who died while serving our country. As we wrap up the tenth week of Oregon's pandemic response –– and the final week of May –– I want to provide another update with information and resources that you may find useful.
As remaining Oregon counties apply for and enter "Phase I" reopening, it's vital that we learn from jurisdictions that moved to reopen commercial and noncommercial venues too quickly. A nearby case in point: Clark County, Washington. After entering Washington's first phase of reopening and applying for the second phase, an outbreak at a fruit-packing plant has stalled the county's progress. This goes to show that as eager as we all may be to return to a degree of normalcy, we must remain hyper-vigilant: maintaining six feet of distance others in public, wearing a cloth mask when out, and isolating at home if you feel sick.
Below you will find information on:
- Latest Oregon COVID-19 Infection Data
- Employment Department Launches "Project Focus 100"
- DMV Offices Reopening
- Guidance on Businesses and Masks
- Legislative Virtual Committee Meetings
- Scam Alert: Your Stimulus Check is Yours Alone
- The Public Utility Commission Wants to Hear From You
- Primary Resource Links
- Reference Articles
Thanks for reading. As always, feel free to share your comments, questions or concerns with me by phone, mail or e-mail.
Latest Oregon COVID-19 Infection Data
As of May 29, 2020, our state has experienced the following number of positive cases and deaths attributable to COVID-19:
- 4,131 cases in Oregon
- 122,579 people tested for COVID-19 in Oregon
- 151 deaths reported in Oregon
Employment Department Launches "Project Focus 100"
As I continue to hear from constituents who are facing challenges or delays in dealing with the unemployment benefit process, I want to share the latest update that the Oregon Employment Department (OED) shared with us:
"OED knows that a record numbers of Oregonians are counting on us to provide the unemployment benefits they need during this crisis. We are strengthening our efforts to reach those who have been waiting the longest for those benefits. Director Kay Erickson announced 'Project Focus 100,' intensifying ongoing efforts to process our backlog of unemployment claims.
"This initiative relies on four key strategies:
- Continuing surge hiring;
- Focusing our most experienced claims processing staff on processing the oldest and most complex claims;
- Intensifying outbound, proactive communication to those waiting for claims to be processed; and
- Using more technology to improve our services.
"From May 29 to June 12, OED will increase outbound calls to resolve claims for those that have been waiting the longest. To do this, our most experienced employees will take time away from answering the phones, and we'll temporarily reassign job center employees to take incoming calls to help resolve questions, in all languages, related to things like re-setting PIN numbers and re-starting claims. In addition, we're now sending e-mail and phone confirmations to people whose PUA claims we've received, and we're working on implementing a customer service chat bot on our site.
DMV Offices Reopening
As Oregon continues its phased reopening, the DMV has shares details of restored in-person services at DMV offices:
- Beginning June 3, 40 (of 60 total) DMV offices will be open across the state by appointment only.
- Beginning June 1, DMV will begin scheduling appointments.
- Call your local DMV office to schedule an appointment.
Until further notice, DMV offices will only process certain priority transactions:
- Commercial Driver License issuance, renewal, and replacement
- Farm endorsements
- Standard/Class C Driver License issuance, renewal, and replacement (beginning July 6 replacements will be available online and will no longer be done in-person)
- ID card issuance, renewal, and replacement (beginning July 6 replacements will be available online and will no longer be done in-person)
- Driver license reinstatements
Transactions that can be done online will not be processed in-person. DMV will not conduct driving tests (skills tests) for new drivers.
For all offices restoring in-person service, DMV is taking steps to ensure health and sanitation for customers and employees:
- Reduced maximum occupancy for each office
- Plexiglass shields at each counter/desk
- "In" and "out" doors to encourage one-way flow, where possible
- Markings and other indicators to ensure social distancing in the lobby
- Hand sanitizer available; increased sanitation/cleaning protocols for all offices
- DMV employees will wear facial coverings; DMV customers will be encouraged to wear facial coverings
Please be aware that as DMW restores in-person services and moves to an appointment-only model, they are balancing a heavy backlog with a new IT system.
Guidance on Businesses and Masks
As businesses adapt to address public health and safety concerns, the Governor has created guidelines to address business policies and practices around wearing masks for employees and customers. Under Phase I reopening, businesses must do the following:
- Require employees, contractors and volunteers to wear a mask, face shield, or face covering, unless an accommodation for people with disabilities or other exemption applies.
- Provide masks, face shields, or face coverings for employees.
- If customers or visitors will be required to wear a face covering, develop a policy and post clear signs about any such requirements and provide exceptions to the policy to accommodate people with certain health conditions, or children under two years of age.
- Take into account that places of public accommodation must make reasonable modifications to their policy to allow people with disabilities to access their services.
You can read the full guidance here.
Legislative Virtual Committee Meetings
As mentioned in my update last week, the Legislature is holding remote committee hearings in lieu of "Legislative Days" that had been scheduled last week. House committees met last week and this week; Senate committees convene next week, including the Senate Judiciary Committee, which I chair. Agendas and links to watch live feeds and/or recordings are available on OLIS under the "Committees" tab. Here's a list (with links) of the Senate committee meetings by day:
Monday, June 1
Senate Labor and Business Committee, 8:00 a.m.
Senate Health Care Committee, noon
Tuesday, June 2
Senate Committee on Mental Health, 8:00 a.m.
Senate Education Committee, noon
Wednesday, June 3
Senate Judiciary Committee, 8:00 a.m.
Senate Human Services Committee, noon
Thursday, June 4
Senate General Government and Emergency Preparedness Committee, 8:00 a.m.
Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee, noon
Friday, June 5
Senate Committee on Wildfire and Recovery, 8:00 a.m.
Senate Housing and Development, noon
Scam Alert: Your Stimulus Check is Yours Alone
Oregon's Attorney General is advising nursing home residents, as well as their family members, that residents who are Medicaid recipients should be vigilant against having their federal stimulus payments improperly taken from them. The state Department of Justice has heard some Oregon nursing homes may have taken or are attempting to take stimulus checks from residents who are Medicaid recipients.
Needless to say, the vast majority of Oregon nursing homes are doing a great job keeping their residents safe and healthy. If you do need to report improper confiscation of a stimulus check, please contact the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at Medicaid.Fraud.Referral@doj.state.or.us.
The Public Utility Commission Wants to Hear From You
The Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC) has launched a survey to learn what Oregon residents think of available telecommunications services. Residential telephone and cellular service customers are encouraged to take this survey to provide input about the quality of service received and whether there is access to appropriate telecommunications services for individuals and communities to thrive.
To take the survey, visit: https://arcg.is/1CHbz.
The survey is intended to provide a voice to Oregon residents using telephone and cell services. The results will help inform a report that is due to the Oregon State Legislature as part of our investigation required by HB 3065, which passed in the 2019 Legislative session. This bill directed the PUC to establish a public process to investigate the continuing relevance of the "carrier of last resort" or COLR obligation on the state's telecommunications providers given the recent changes in technology and policy in the industry. The COLR obligation requires telephone companies to provide access to telephone service in their designated service territory without discrimination.
For additional information on the COLR investigation, visit: https://www.oregon.gov/puc/utilities/Pages/Telecom-Carrier-of-Last-Resort.aspx.
Primary Resource Links
Here's a list of government resources that you may find useful:
Reference Article
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