Coronavirus Update: Guidelines on Face Coverings in Public, Reflections on Juneteenth

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House Speaker Tina Kotek

Coronavirus Update: Guidelines on Face Coverings, Reflections on Juneteenth

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Today, Governor Brown issued further guidance for the use of face coverings in indoor public spaces. As a reminder, this guidance is not technically in place until next Wednesday, June 24, and will apply in the following seven counties: Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, Hood River, Marion, Polk and Lincoln.

With that said, today is the day Multnomah County moves into Phase 1 Reopening and Marion, Polk and Hood River counties are moving to Phase 2. And, also today, we saw a daily case count over 200 for the second time in a week, and daily case counts have exceeded 100 for nine days in a row. Our test positivity rate is still in good shape compared to many other states in the country, and our hospitals are still on track to have necessary capacity, but we need to do all we can to reverse some of the troubling trends we’ve been seeing as of late.

Even if the face covering requirement is not in effect for a few more days, I’d recommend starting now if you haven’t already. It’s important to model best behavior and do all we can to stop the spread. A recent study estimates as many as 230,000 to 450,000 cases were averted in the 15 states and Washington, D.C., where face covering requirements were put in place. Face coverings alone won’t get us past this pandemic, but it will make a significant difference.

Below are select portions of the face covering guidelines, but there are more details, including term definitions, which are available here.

A business is required to:

  • Require employees, contractors, volunteers, customers and visitors to wear a mask, face shield, or face covering, unless an accommodation or exemption is required by law or one of the following exemptions applies.
    • Employees, contractors and volunteers: Masks, face coverings or face shields are not required when eating/drinking or when at or in a location where the employee is not interacting with the public and six (6) or more feet of distance can be maintained between other employees.
    • Customers and visitors:
      • Masks, face shields or face coverings are not required in restaurants, bars, breweries, brewpubs, wineries, tasting rooms and distilleries while eating or drinking.
      • Masks, face shields or face coverings are not required when at a business and engaged in an activity that makes wearing a mask, face shield or face covering not feasible, such as strenuous physical exercise, singing or playing an instrument if at least six (6) feet of distance is maintained from others.
      • Provide masks, face shields, or face coverings for employees.
      • Provide for accommodations and exemptions from the mask, face shield, or face covering requirement for employees, contractors, customers and visitors if such accommodations or exemptions are required by:
    • State and federal disabilities laws if applicable, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which protects people with disabilities from discrimination in employment and requires employers to engage in the interactive process for accommodations.
    • State or federal labor laws.
    • State and federal public accommodations laws that provide all persons with full and equal access to services, transportation, and facilities open to the public.
    • OHA public health guidance if applicable.
  • Post clear signs about the mask, face shield, or face covering requirements.

Customers and visitors of businesses are required to: 

  • Wear a mask, face shield, or face covering when at a business unless the individual:
    • Is under 12 years of age.
    • Has a medical condition that makes it hard to breathe when wearing a mask, face shield, or face covering.
    • Has a disability that prevents the individual from wearing a mask, face shield, or face covering.

Customers and visitors of businesses between the ages of 0 and 12 years old:

  • Children under the age of two 2 may not wear a mask, face shield, or face covering.
  • It is strongly recommended that children between 2 and 12 years of age, wear a mask, face shield, or face covering at all times in settings like grocery stores or pharmacies, where it is likely that physical distancing of at least 6 feet from other individuals outside their household unit cannot be maintained, and vulnerable people must go.
  • Because children between the ages of 2 and 12 years of age can have challenges wearing a mask, face shield, or face covering properly (e.g., excessively touching the face covering, not changing the face covering if visibly soiled, risk of strangulation or suffocation, etc.) we urge that if masks, face shields or face coverings are worn by this age group, that they be worn with the assistance and close supervision of an adult. Masks, face shields, or face coverings should never be worn by children when sleeping.

How to Wear a Mask 6-19-2020

Unemployment Update

The Oregon Employment Department (OED) has updated its frequently asked questions with more information on the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program. The most recent updates are quite long, so my staff pulled together the questions and answers based on some of the things constituents have reached out about.

A note of caution – if you are looking for help with your unemployment claim, here are things to remember to avoid identity theft or scams. First, neither OED nor legislative offices will ever ask for money. If you get an email with that ask, someone is trying to take advantage of you. Also, please do not send your social security number to legislative staff. Under some circumstances, my office may ask for more information if it’s needed, but that may just be the last four digits of your social security number – never the entire number.

Ok, onto the Q&A.

Why is it taking so long to get a PUA claim into the system so I can get my money?
All PUA claims must be entered into the system manually. PUA is not automated right now. OED has had to create an entirely different claims process outside their normal system.

How many PUA claims have been filed so far? How many have been processed?
OED has received 97,000 applications for PUA, this means 97,000 Oregonians have applied. Of those, they have determined that about 24,000 of those people are eligible for PUA benefits and they have paid just around 17,000 of those people about $90 million in benefits. OED has about 70,000 PUA claims left to enter into the new system for processing. This number may be less, but they still have to determine if these people are eligible for regular UI claims before they can pay PUA benefits.

What is being done to address this backlog of unpaid PUA claims?
OED is redeploying efforts to concentrate on Focus PUA, which centers around three key elements:

  1. Improving the speed at which they can process claims over time;
  2. Improving the technology used to receive and process claims; and
  3. Increasing proactive communications to claimants.

OED has assigned more people to do this work, and they are gaining experience each day. There was a pent up need for these benefits even before PUA became law. Demand for these benefits kept growing, and OED was hiring, training, and adjusting the program from the onset to meet federal guidelines and to ensure they were prepared to respond. The steep part of the learning curve has passed and they are getting faster at processing PUA claims. Last week, OED added 138 additional phone lines and is working on adding another 150 lines in the next couple of weeks.

Why am I being asked to report my gross income, not net income for my filing? In many cases the net may only be $25-50 on a gross $200 transaction. Does OED have to calculate by gross vs. net?
Federal law requires that self-employed people applying for PUA have to use net income from 2019 to compute what their weekly benefit amount can be, but then they have to use their gross income during a week to see whether that reduces, or in some cases, eliminates the amount of benefits they can receive in that particular week. OED understands that the net income in many cases is just a small fraction of the gross earnings, but that is what they are required to do.
The PUA program must follow the laws regarding the Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) program, except where PUA explicitly overrides the DUA laws. 20 CFR 625.6(f)(2) provides in part that:

“The weekly amount of DUA payable to an unemployed self-employed individual for a week of unemployment shall be the weekly amount determined under paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d) of this section, as the case may be, reduced (but not below zero) by the full amount of any income received during the week for the performance of services in self-employment, regardless of whether or not any services were performed during the week, by applying the earnings allowance as set forth in paragraph (f)(1) of this section. Notwithstanding the definition of “wages” for a self-employed individual under § 625.2(u), the term “any income” for purposes of this paragraph (f)(2) means gross income.” (Emphasis added)

I have received partial payment (or even full payment). Now I’m waiting for my weekly payments. Has there been any information regarding this?
OED is working to minimize the number of claims that are ‘paused.’ For PUA specifically, this is sometimes due to the weekly claims needing to be manually keyed into their system by employees. PUA is a manual process.

What happens with people that have both 1099 and W-2 income? For example, if an independent contractor has more than $1,000 in W-2 income, only the W-2 income is used to calculate the PUA benefit and the 1099 income isn’t considered. In other words, someone who earns $50,000 in 1099 income and $3,000 in W2 income would only have the PUA benefit calculated from the $3,000 not $53,000.
There are several issues here. The first is whether the person had enough traditional employment income to be eligible for regular UI benefits. Some people get earnings reported to them on a 1099 form, but it is still considered employment covered by Oregon’s UI system. OED is required to pay someone under the regular UI system if they are eligible for any regular UI benefits (in Oregon or any other state). In this situation, it is only their earnings that were subject to the UI system that are used to determine their UI benefit amount (again, regardless of what tax form the earnings were reported on). If someone is not eligible for regular UI, but has both non-UI covered income (as an independent contractor) and covered UI income (from traditional employment, for example), OED does use both their gross income from covered UI employment and their net income from self-employment.

Why aren’t PUA weekly certifications getting any confirmation that uploads are actually received?
OED is continuing to work to improve the PUA weekly certification process. OED did not want to wait to start processing PUA claims, so some initial certifications did not receive confirmation numbers. That technical enhancement has now been connected to the system, and OED recently started providing confirmation numbers when weekly certifications are uploaded, as well as email confirmations.

OED stated that any PUA claim from an Uber or Lyft driver goes straight to the tax department. How long does it take to clear the tax department? Why does it need to go to the tax department? And will they not be able to approve my claim until Uber agrees that drivers are "employees" and agrees to pay the UI insurance for us?
OED cannot disclose information about individual employers or businesses. OED is required to determine if someone was an employee or independent contractor under state law. OED does not have to wait for a business, or worker, to agree on their status. Lack of agreement does not prevent OED from paying benefits, however the nature of this work takes time.

Why have some PUA claims been neglected completely and have stopped being paid?
This could be caused by several issues. Each weekly PUA claim does require OED staff interaction for benefits to pay out, and this is one area where OED is continuing to struggle to process all of the work as quickly as they would like. When questions or discrepancies are flagged on these weekly claims, this pauses the claim processing until clarification is received. OED is working as quickly as they can to collect this information when these pauses occur.

Why am I getting the minimum weekly PUA benefit amount ($205), when I have submitted documentation to support them getting a higher amount?
OED has two priorities: (1) getting initial payments out to the PUA eligible; and (2) reviewing earnings to determine if they can retroactively pay at the highest rate allowed by law. PUA claimants are paid only when earnings are less than the benefit amount. OED prioritized getting at least some payments to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. They are reviewing documentation to retroactively increase people’s benefits, but that process does take more time, and they did not want that to delay their ability to get some benefits to more people.
The lowest Weekly Benefit Amount (WBA) someone can have on PUA is $205, and the maximum amount is $648. If you earned more than $16,480 in 2019 and provide proof (1099 Sch. C or Profit and Loss Statement) of your income, OED can increase your WBA accordingly. If you earned over the minimum amount, please provide proof so you can get the maximum amount you are eligible to receive, especially if you are self-employed and still performing some work while impacted by COVID-19. Anyone who already filed a valid regular UI claim but are not otherwise eligible may receive PUA benefits at the same WBA.


Reflections on Juneteenth

Today is Juneteenth, the celebration that memorializes June 19, 1865, the day when all slaves in the United States were declared free. This came about two-and-a-half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and more than two months after the end of the Civil War.

Racism and the oppression of Black Americans did not end with the abolition of slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation was followed by the failure of Reconstruction, Jim Crow laws in the South, redlining, police brutality, voter suppression, and countless other examples of systemic racism that has caused widespread pain throughout our nation, with recent examples including the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Rayshard Brooks.

While this is a day of celebration, it’s also a reminder that we must continue to push for equality and “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” for everyone in our society. This sentence in an opinion piece today in The New Yorker from author Jelani Cobb puts it nicely:

“Juneteenth exists as a counterpoint to the Fourth of July; the latter heralds the arrival of American ideals, the former stresses just how hard it has been to live up to them.”

As we enter a special session next week to take up specific reforms relating to police accountability, I wanted to share this video KGW posted yesterday with State Senator Lew Frederick. Senator Frederick recounts his experiences with racism growing up and since moving to Oregon and talks about the importance of taking on these issues.


Lew Frederick KGW 6-19-2020

The Latest News

  • The Oregon Health Authority reported 206 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 6,344. There are 6,572 new and presumptive cases. Sadly, one more person has died, meaning 188 Oregonians have now died of the coronavirus.

OHA COVID-19 Update 6-19-2020

OHA Hospital Capacity Update 6-19-2020

OHA Weekly Testing Summary 6-19-2020

To read past newsletters, you can go to this link. For up to date information, please check this link to the Oregon Health Authority where regular updates are posted: https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ERD/Pages/News-Releases.aspx

Please email me at Rep.TinaKotek@oregonlegislature.gov if you have specific concerns that have not been addressed by the OHA. Our office will do all we can to help and protect all Oregonians.

Thank you for reading! We will get through this together.

Best,

Tina

Tina Kotek

State Representative
House District 44
Speaker of the House

email: Rep.TinaKotek@oregonlegislature.gov I phone: 503-986-1200
address: 900 Court St NE, H-269, Salem, OR 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/kotek