Greetings:

I hope you all enjoyed a safe holiday season with your loved ones. The start of the 2021  Legislative Session is fast approaching, and I am ready to get to work. I have appreciated your advocacy and input on the important issues we are facing, and I look forward to continue working with you to continue to move Oregon forward. Although this session will look different from years past, there will in fact be more opportunities than ever before for public input and feedback. 

Upcoming Community Town Hall

Please join me, Rep-Elect Khanh Pham, Sen. Michael Dembrow, and Rep. Alissa Keny-Guyer for a virtual Zoom town hall on opening day: January 11, 2021, at 5 PM, to discuss our priorities for the 2021 Legislative Session, with plenty of time for Q&A. As always, please contact my office with any questions you might have, or if you need assistance registering at rep.barbarasmithwarner@oregonlegislature.gov.

Please register in advance to gain access to the event:  https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJErc-GqqDwiH9UybwomItjbfSF0Uf9hFYpf 

Oregon Health Authority Update

The Oregon Health Authority reports up-to-date public health information regarding COVID-19 response efforts on their website. Here are some recent developments from OHA below:

New COVID-19 Model
The Oregon Health Authority released its latest COVID-19 model. At the current level of transmission, the projected average of new daily cases will be 1,780 between Jan. 13 and Jan. 26, with 85 additional daily hospitalizations. If transmission mirrors the levels from the late November to mid-December model, daily cases will number about 1,400 and hospitalizations would be at about 55 per day.

Vaccinations in Oregon
Yesterday, OHA recorded 7,994 doses of vaccine administered — including 578 second doses — raising the state's total number of doses administered to 74,914. OHA's dashboards provide more updated vaccination data and information about Oregon’s vaccine distribution plan. All vaccinations occurred at Oregon hospitals, long-term care facilities, emergency medical service (EMS) agencies, urgent care facilities and Local Public Health Authorities (LPHAs). To date, 252,350 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon.

COVID-19 Hospitalizations
The most recent number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 451. There are 88 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds. More information about hospital capacity can be found here.

Employment Department Update

The Oregon Employment Department recently provided more insight about benefit programs passed under the Continued Assistance Act. This is federal legislation that ensures claimants do not lose out on a week of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), or Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) benefits. Here is a quick update about those programs: 

FPUC Benefits
The department has begun paying the extra weekly $300 in FPUC benefits. Most of those who faced a benefits cliff with the expiration of the CARES Act are receiving their PUA and PEUC benefits without interruption. As long as you receive at least $1 in weekly benefits, you will get the additional $300 benefit each week.

PUA and PEUC Benefits
Of the 72,000 Oregonians receiving PUA and PEUC who faced a benefits cliff at the expiration of the CARES Act: 27,000 PUA claimants and 32,000 PEUC claimants received benefits for the week ending January 2, 2021, without interruption. The department hopes to issue payments for those who have experienced a brief interruption in payments next week.

Extended Benefits
The department has also been working with the Governor’s Office to identify new opportunities created by the Continued Assistance Act to suspend the requirement to wait 13 weeks to turn Extended Benefits (EB) back on, after a period when a falling unemployment rate turns EB off. You can learn more about Extended Benefits here. 

Please reach out to my office if you have any additional questions, or if there’s anything you think I could help with. 

Sincerely, 

Representative Barbara Smith Warner
House District 45

email: Rep.BarbaraSmithWarner@oregonlegislature.gov I phone: 503-986-1445
address: 900 Court St NE, H-295, Salem, OR 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/smithwarner