1st Special Session, 2nd Special Session, COVID, Saturday Chat

Hello friends,

In this newsletter, we'll cover the ongoings of the first special session which wrapped up at the end of June, the second special session which will likely occur later this summer, and some updates around the state's COVID response.

Also, as we've done for the last few months now, our chat this Saturday will again be held via Facebook live video. The live stream will begin at 9am this Saturday the 11th with our usual schedule. At that time and technical difficulties notwithstanding, if you go to my Facebook page, facebook.com/SenLewFrederick, you will be able to see the video live. I will share my thoughts and you will be able to ask your questions by typing in the comment box. This newsletter is going to be a preview of the topics we'll cover then.

Before diving in, I want to take a moment to plug the newsletter of my friend, colleague and district neighbor Senator Michael Dembrow.

The daily newsletter he and his staff put out is the best in our legislature and, truly, one of the best resources for information about our situation in the state. You can find it on his legislative page here and can subscribe to it there as well (on the sidebar under e-Subscribe).

Special Session

Part 1 - June 24-26

On June 17, the Governor signed a proclamation calling the legislature into special session on June 24 at 8 A.M. While the Constitution does not permit the Governor to limit the duration or scope of a special session, she requested the legislature act expeditiously to address the COVID-19 public health crisis and the ongoing struggle for police accountability. On June 22, the Joint Committee on The First Special Session of 2020 met for the first time and I was pleased to serve as one of its members. We had multi-hour marathon meetings for the two days preceding the session and the first two days of the session.

On Friday, the Senate convened at 10am and we worked until 6:22pm to pass a total of 22 bills in a true marathon session. These bills largely saw overwhelming bipartisan support in both chambers. Courtesy of Speaker Kotek's press release, this is a long but not exhaustive list of the important legislation we passed. Among the bills we passed were:

Police Accountability
I, alongside my colleagues in the legislature's People of Color Caucus, worked hard on these six bills. I want to be clear: they in no way represent a fix to all the issues we are seeing with policing in our state and we still have much work to do. However, they are an important and significant step in the right direction.

• SB 1604: Under current processes, when an internal investigation finds misconduct of a police officer, the Chief of Police would apply a discipline guide that has been agreed to by the public employer and the collective bargaining unit. In response, the officer has the option to grieve the decision to arbitration. The arbitrator has the power to either disagree with the finding, agree with the finding and uphold the discipline, or agree with the decision but substitute a different discipline. This bill requires an arbitrator to uphold a discipline decision should they agree that misconduct occurred, as long as the discipline lines up with the discipline guide. The disciplinary guide or matrix would be a mandatory subject of collective bargaining.
• HB 4201: Establishes a Joint Committee on Transparent Policing and Use of Force Reform to continue making progress on police reform. The committee is directed to examine policies to improve transparency in investigations and complaints regarding use of force by police officers; increase transparency in police protocols and process to build public trust; examine policies that reduce the prevalence of serious physical injury or death caused by use of force, the authorization of use of force under state law, and the disparate impact on communities of color; determine most appropriate policy for independent review of deadly force; and make recommendations to the Judiciary committees by December 31, 2020.
• HB 4203: Declares that a peace officer is not justified or reasonable in any circumstance to use physical force that impedes “the normal breathing or circulation of the blood of another person by applying pressure on the throat or neck of the other person” unless it is a circumstance in which an officer may use deadly force as provided by ORS 161.239. Rules will be adopted prohibiting the training of this force, except as a defensive maneuver.
• HB 4205: Requires police and reserve officers to intervene to prevent or stop another officer from engaging in an act they know, or should reasonably know is misconduct. Misconduct is defined as “unjustified or excessive force that is objectively unreasonable under the circumstances or in violation of the law enforcement agency's use of force policy; sexual harassment or sexual misconduct; discrimination against a person based on protected class; committing a crime; or violation of the minimum standards for fitness for public safety personnel.” The bill requires the officer to report the misconduct as soon as possible, but no later than 72 hours after the misconduct; failure to report is grounds for discipline. DPSST will provide an annual report to the legislature on the rule adopted for implementation.
• HB 4207: Requires the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) to establish a statewide online public database of records for officers whose certification has been revoked or suspended and specifies the information to be provided as well a timeline for posting. The bill brings current grounds for revocation or suspension of certification by DPSST from rules into statute. Law enforcement agencies are required to request and review applicant's personnel files from current or prior employing law enforcement agencies and liability protection is provided for requesting and supplying agencies. Clarification is given that both violation and criminal convictions for marijuana possession are not grounds for mandatory suspension or revocation of certification.
• HB 4208: Prohibits law enforcement agencies from using tear gas for crowd control, except for circumstances that meet the definition of a riot in ORS 166.015. Before using tear gas in the event of a riot, law enforcement must 1) announce their intent to use tear gas; 2) allow sufficient time for individuals to evacuate the area; 3) announce for a second time that they intend to use tear gas.

COVID-19 Response
The omnibus House Bill 4212 covers a variety of areas to support public health, individuals, local governments, courts and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic:

• Emergency shelter siting – Temporarily waives all siting, design, and zoning regulations for local governments to develop low-barrier shelters and navigation centers to provide support for Oregonians experiencing unsheltered homelessness, who are at high risk of virus transmission. Siting provisions are limited to 90 days.
• Remote notary provisions – Authorizes a pilot program to allow notaries to perform work using electronic technology to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and protect public health.
• Enterprise zone deadline extension – Delays the expiration date of enterprise zones in the state by six months, preventing a June 30 expiration.
• Individual development account funds for pandemic relief – Provides flexibility for individual development accounts to be used for emergency expenses.
• COVID-19 race and ethnicity data – Requires health care providers to collect data on race, ethnicity, preferred spoken and written languages, English proficiency, interpreter needs and disability status (REALD) during the provision of health services related to COVID-19. Directs OHA to adopt rules requiring providers to collect and report data, specifies timelines for data collection, and allows OHA to provide incentives to healthcare providers to comply with requirements. Data is confidential and used for public health purposes.
• Safe public meetings – Allows local governments and other public bodies to hold virtual meetings so they can continue to provide essential services and make decisions in a public and transparent manner while preventing the spread of COVID-19 and protecting public health. The language specifies notice, quorum, social distancing, and recording requirements.
• CARES Act payment protection – Protects vulnerable Oregonians who receive CARES Act Recovery Rebate payments having portions of those payments withheld, so all relief money can be used to pay for essential needs like housing, food and medical needs. Payments are protected from any garnishment actions initiated before September 30, 2020.
• Safe court proceedings – Gives the Chief Justice the authority in certain circumstances to extend statutory deadlines for court appearances if the COVID-19 pandemic results in the delay of court processes. Allows for up to a 60-day extension of the time to conduct a trial of a defendant accused of a person crime, beyond the current 180-day limit, only if the court finds 1) circumstances caused by the pandemic establish a good-cause delay of the trial; 2) clear and convincing evidence of the substantial and specific danger of physical injury or sexual victimization to the victim or members of the public should release occur; and 3) no release conditions could sufficiently mitigate that danger.
• Temporary Physician Assistant Authorization – Physician Assistants (PA) are given flexibility during the emergency period to practice at the top of their scope to aid in emergency response.

Residential and Commercial Rent, Eviction, and Foreclosure Protections

• HB 4204: Directs lenders to defer both residential and commercial mortgage payments during the pandemic emergency period until September 30, 2020 if a borrower is unable to pay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Deferred payments would be due at the end of the loan unless the borrower and lenders determine alternate, agreeable terms.
• HB 4213: Extends the moratorium on both commercial and residential no-cause evictions through September 30, 2020 and creates a six-month repayment grace period after the moratorium ends for tenants to repay their back rent accrued during the moratorium. During the repayment period, tenants may not be evicted for failure to repay their back rent, but they must keep paying their ongoing monthly rent. Negative credit reporting for non-payment of rent during the moratorium is prohibited, as is assessing late fees or other penalties for nonpayment during the moratorium period.

Other Urgent Needs

• SB 1601: Prevents citations from being issued for expired driver licenses, permits, and vehicle registrations and further directs courts to dismiss any citation for specified offenses between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020. SB 1601 also provides flexibility for transit providers by allowing Oregon’s Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund (STIF) to be used to maintain existing service. Previously, the STIF was reserved for transit expansion or improvement. Additionally, SB 1601A merges the Elderly and Disabled Transportation Fund with the STIF and requires the Oregon Transportation Commission to dedicate a portion of the fund to transit for older adults and individuals with disabilities.
• HB 4210: Removes authority of courts to impose driving privilege suspensions for failure to pay traffic-related fines or comply with requirements ordered in lieu of fines.
• HB 4214: Modifies Oregon's dependency code to align with the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and requires the Oregon Department of Human Services to provide biennial reports about American Indian and Alaska Native children in the child welfare system.
• SB 1603: Establishes the Broadband Fund to support projects for planning or developing broadband service infrastructure, and for the administration of the Oregon Broadband Office. Subjects sale of all retail telecommunications services, retail commercial mobile radio services, and retail interconnected voice over Internet protocol services to the universal service fund surcharge to support the Broadband Fund.
• HB 4202: Makes technical changes and clarifications to the commercial activity tax that the legislature approved in 2019. These changes include technical clarifications and exempting six small, Oregon dairies.
• SB 1606: Prohibits hospital from conditioning admission or treatment, or suggesting that treatment is conditioned, on a patient having POLST or executing advance directive or other instruction regarding administration, withholding or withdrawing of life-sustaining procedures or artificially administered nutrition and hydration. Requires hospitals to permit the presence of a support person for a person with disability in the emergency department and during hospital stay under specified conditions. Allows hospitals to impose conditions to ensure the safety of patient, support person and staff. Requires notification to Department of Human Services case manager, if any, before withholding or withdrawing from person with intellectual or developmental disability life-sustaining procedures.

Part 2 - TBD

Despite the truly incredible work your state legislature accomplished during the first special session, we still have much to do in many pressing areas. In particular, I anticipate a second special session will address budget matters and further work on police reform.

The Joint Committee on Policing (noted above, established by HB 4201) has already started meeting and has several more meetings planned before the month ends. My friends and colleagues Senator James Manning (D-Eugene) and Representative Janelle Bynum (D-Clackamas) serve as the committee's co-chairs and I cannot think of two better legislators for the job. I am proud to serve alongside them as a member of the committee and look forward to the hard but meaningful work of real reform.

COVID Updates, Response

As Oregon's infection rate rises, it is more important than ever that Oregonians take care to protect their friends, neighbors and communities from the virus. There are two simple steps that we can all take to do this: wear a face covering and social distance. Protecting the health of our communities shouldn't be a political issue; these are simple precautions each of us can take to help us on the long road to fighting this global pandemic.

Among the work done during the special session was the passage of two bills, HB 4204 and 4213, which alleviate the burden on owners and renters of residential and commercial property. I encourage you to read more about it above if you haven't already.

Unemployment

Every single day, I receive a disheartening number of emails from constituents pleading for assistance with their unemployment insurance claims. My Chief of Staff Nathan Soltz personally handles every claim and sends weekly reports to the Employment Department with constituent cases. While his work on these cases is significant, meaningful and laudable, this is not a sustainable solution.

The Employment Department (OED) is still working through a record number of unemployment claims and the process is taking much longer than anyone would like. Call volumes are incredibly high, and they don’t expect them to decrease any time soon. In February, about 47,000 calls were made to the Unemployment Insurance hotline; in April, it was over 20 million.

Later this week, OED will be launching a new public-facing website designed to support Oregonians in navigating the claims process. The goal is to provide clear information so Oregonians can submit their claims and avoid unnecessary delays, and so that more individuals can get their questions answered without having to call the hotline. Additionally, OED is planning to launch a new, more automated PUA application by mid-July. These two developments should help improve the pace at which PUA claims are received, processed, and paid out.

The Employment Department is working on innovating its case management technology to better serve Oregonians in this crucial time of need. While I recognize the hard work being done by the Department, the handling of these cases has been insufficient.

As the economy reopens, people are again finding work but are still in financial hardships after exhausting their savings and not getting the assistance from the state that they were promised, depended on and need. While I cannot make any promises about a swift or miraculous solution, I can promise this: my colleagues, my staff and I are dedicated to serving you during this difficult time. Alongside our daily work with constituents, state departments, legislative liaisons, community leaders, etc., we have regular weekly check-ins with the Governor's office and state agency heads about their response to the crisis and we push them for solutions and answers. This isn't enough to get Oregonians the solutions they need, but we are working hard to serve you.

As always, please feel free to contact my office. As you can imagine, we are keeping very busy during this time so please be patient as we get back to you. We see every email that comes to our inbox but must prioritize constituent casework, so if you do not get a response to your comment, please know that your message was seen and recorded. We are not currently in the office so email is the best way to contact us; voicemails are checked infrequently so phone calls are not the best way to reach us, especially for timely matters.

Again, your patience and understanding are greatly appreciated and I wish the very best of health to you and your family. By staying home, you are saving lives. Please, wear a mask when you go out and don't forget to wash your hands.

I look forward to speaking with you further this Saturday, July 11 at 9am at facebook.com/SenLewFrederick.

Yours truly,

Senator Lew Frederick
Senate District 22

email: Sen.LewFrederick@oregonlegislature.gov I phone: 503-986-1722
address: 900 Court St NE, S-419, Salem, OR 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/frederick