Coronavirus and Wildfire Update: Vaccine Arrives, Special Session Called

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House Speaker Tina Kotek

Coronavirus and Wildfire Update: Vaccine Arrives, Special Session Called

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

This has been a pivotal week of hope in the long-term fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Following authorization by the Food and Drug Administration late Friday night, vaccine doses began to arrive in Oregon yesterday.

The Oregonian reports here that nearly 2,000 doses arrived at two Portland-area hospitals early Monday morning. Health care workers will start receiving vaccinations tomorrow, and a livestream with more information from Governor Brown and public health officials will be available for the public here at 11 am tomorrow morning. Oregon Public Broadcasting has more details here on other medical centers throughout the state that have started receiving shipments of Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine.

In addition to federal authorization, the four-state panel known as the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup has determined the vaccine to be safe and effective. The governors of California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington appointed the workgroup to independently review and assess data made available by manufacturers of candidate COVID-19 vaccines.

Though amazing and something to celebrate, this is the first step in a long process. Our health care workers, essential workers, and our elders and at-risk populations will come first for vaccinations. I look forward to getting the vaccine when it becomes available for low-risk people like me, but that will be a while.

These developments are coming at a critical moment in the pandemic. Today, we shattered our daily record for deaths in a day with 54 fatalities, well over the previous high of 36 we recorded last week.

The hospital capacity in some regions is nearing 90% full, which Oregon Public Broadcasting reports here, noting that hospitals in Portland and Southern Oregon are still making day-to-day decisions to delay scheduled and elective surgeries. The spread of COVID-19 isn’t only about the virus. It impairs the ability of doctors and nurses to perform other critical care functions. Please continue to do all you can to prevent the spread!


Special Session Next Monday

This morning, Governor Brown announced she is calling a special session of the Legislature for next Monday, December 21. My House Democratic colleagues and I have been pushing hard over the last few weeks to have another special session before the end of the year because several important issues need to be addressed as soon as possible. The most urgent matter is the expiration of the eviction moratorium.

The items to be considered in the session are a rental housing stabilization proposal, a restaurant relief package, school liability protections, and an additional allocation to the state's Emergency Fund. The funding is needed to continue existing pandemic-related programs that are funded by federal dollars that run out at the end of the year and to address wildfire recovery needs.

The rental housing stabilization proposal is especially critical to complete before the end of the year. At least 20,000 Oregonians could lose their homes if the eviction moratorium isn’t extended by December 31, and small landlords are struggling to cover overhead costs because tenants are unable to pay rent. The legislation will help on both fronts, providing $50 million for rental assistance to tenants for the months ahead and $150 million to small landlords for previously unpaid rent.

This will be an in-person special session in Salem. While I would have preferred to conduct our business remotely, I’m confident that there will be appropriate safety protocols in place for the authorized staff who will be in the Capitol to conduct their work as safely as possible.


Updated List of Counties by Risk Level

Here is the newest listing of counties by COVID Risk Levels, with restrictions effective on Friday, December 18 through Thursday, December 31. Please note there are no counties currently in the High Risk category, which falls between Moderate Risk and Extreme Risk.

Lower Risk (6): Gilliam, Grant (moved from Extreme), Harney (moved from Moderate), Sherman, Wallowa and Wheeler

Moderate Risk (1): Lake (moved from Extreme)

Extreme Risk (29): Baker, Benton (moved from High), Clackamas, Clatsop (moved from High), Columbia, Coos (moved from High), Crook, Curry (moved from High), Deschutes, Douglas, Hood River, Jackson, Jefferson, Josephine, Klamath, Lane, Lincoln (moved from High), Linn, Malheur, Marion, Morrow, Multnomah, Polk, Tillamook (moved from Moderate), Umatilla, Union, Wasco, Washington and Yamhill

To see the status of different activities in your county, click the image below.


County Activity Status.png

House Committees Meeting Virtually for Legislative Days

The policy committees of the Oregon House are meeting virtually this week to receive updates from state agencies and preview bills that will come up during the 2021 session. You can view the schedules for each committee here (click on Committees in top right corner).

Each committee is meeting twice this week for two hours at each meeting. The Education, Water, Housing, Natural Resources, Health Care and Economic Development committees each met today and will do so again on Thursday. The Energy and Environment, Rules, Human Services, Business and Labor, Veterans and Emergency Preparedness, Revenue, Agriculture and Land Use, and Behavioral Health committees will each meet on Wednesday and Friday.

Today, I testified in the House Committee on Housing about my emergency shelter siting bill, which was House Bill 4001 during the 2020 session. The goal of this bill is to make sure communities can move quickly to establish additional shelters to serve unsheltered Oregonians. You can read my testimony on the concept here.


Drug Price Transparency Public Hearing

Tomorrow, Wednesday, December 16, from 10:00 am to 12 pm, the Department of Consumer and Business Services will host its second annual public hearing on prescription drug prices. You can join the public hearing on Zoom by visiting http://dcbspage.org/RXDRUGPRICEHEARING2020.

The hearing will cover several topics, such as an overview of the Drug Price Transparency Program, and will include time for the public to provide comments on prescription drug prices. Oregonians can submit questions about prescription drug prices and share stories on how these costs have affected themselves and their families by going to http://dcbspage.org/Rxstories.

Information provided by the public will be used to help analyze the data reported by health insurers and prescription drug manufacturers for the annual report to the Oregon State Legislature on prescription drug prices.

For more information about the public hearing or the Drug Price Transparency Program, visit dfr.oregon.gov/drugtransparency.


Drug Price Transparency

The Latest News

  • Last Friday, the Legislative Emergency Board virtually convened to approve more funding for the state’s emergency food box system and other ongoing issues related to the pandemic and Labor Day wildfires, as the Portland Tribune reports here.
  • Willamette Week reports here that Multnomah County libraries are again allowing curbside pickup.
  • The Oregon Cares Fund for Black Relief and Resiliency is temporarily stopping funding allocations due to another legal challenge in federal court, as The Oregonian reports here.
  • Governor Brown will commute the prison sentences of approximately 130 Oregon adults in custody this week due to their high risk for COVID-19 and the challenges of physical distancing in prison, as Oregon Public Broadcasting reports here.
  • Governor Brown announced new measures to eliminate penalties and interest on 2019 income taxes due from Oregon businesses who are struggling to pay tax bills amid COVID-19 restrictions. You can read her full release here.
  • The Oregon unemployment rate has dropped to 6% and a number of federal benefits are about to expire, as The Oregonian reports here.
  • The Oregon Health Authority reported 1,129 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the statewide total of new and presumptive cases to 96,092. The OHA also reported 54 more deaths, meaning 1,214 Oregonians have died of the coronavirus. You can click the images below for links to interactive data tables about coronavirus in Oregon.

OHA COVID-19 Update 121520.JPG

OHA COVID-19 Epi Curve 121520.JPG

OHA COVID-19 Hospital Capacity 121520.JPG

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