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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Today, the Oregon Legislature returned to the Capitol for a brief floor session and committees started meeting remotely. I’m excited we’re moving forward with the people’s work. We face multiple crises, and our goal is to take actions that will ensure that the state’s recovery reaches all Oregonians. I’ll have more detailed information soon about how the public can participate in the process this session, including how to sign up to submit audio and video testimony for committees.
Also, I’ll be hosting a virtual town hall on Zoom with my local colleagues, Representative Tawna Sanchez and Senator Lew Frederick, at 6 pm next Thursday, January 28, to discuss the 2021 Legislative Session. I hope you can join us.
You can register for the virtual town hall by clicking the image below.
On Tuesday, the country crossed the threshold of 400,000 deaths from COVID0-19, and projections indicate this number could reach half a million in February. Some researchers now believe the latest surge of the virus may have peaked, which is good news. But it’s clear that we still have a ways to go.
Last week, the Oregon Health Authority announced the first confirmed case of a more contagious variant of COVID-19. As The Oregonian noted here, federal officials have said this more transmissible strain will likely make up the bulk of U.S. infections by March. While this mutation of the virus passes more easily from person to person, the good news is there is no evidence it is more deadly.
It’s another reminder of how careful we need to be, even as vaccinations continue and test positivity rates have recently decreased. Please don’t forget the stories of “long-haulers,” individuals who contracted the virus and have shown severe ongoing symptoms for months. I’ve linked to a few articles about long-haulers from the last two months from The Oregonian (here), Oregon Public Broadcasting (here), and KPTV (here).
I was glad to hear we’re soon expecting more than $38 million in federal stimulus vaccine funds, as Oregon Public Broadcasting noted here. It’s essential that we get more federal support, as there was clearly no national vaccine strategy under the prior administration.
Yesterday, a new mass vaccination site opened at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, which KGW covered here. According to the OHA, Oregon is now a week ahead of schedule in vaccinating Phase 1a health care workers, first responders, and people who live or work in nursing homes and other long-term care residences. Last Sunday, the OHA announced we have surpassed 200,000 vaccinations administered.
Nearly two-thirds of people designated to be in Phase 1a are now vaccinated, and the plan is still for child care providers and teachers to start receiving vaccines next week. People 80 and older will be eligible beginning on February 8.
More data on vaccine distribution can be found by clicking the image below.
The Oregon Employment Department has the following updates on benefits connected to the Continued Assistance Act (CAA) that was passed by Congress last month:
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) - If you’re eligible for PEUC, you will receive up to an additional 11 weeks of benefits. The department hopes to be able to start paying these benefits by January 29, 2021. Read the updated FAQs to learn more and find which scenario best fits your claim.
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) - If you have or are about to exhaust (zero balance) your benefits or file a new PUA claim, the department doesn’t have an estimate yet for when you’ll start to receive benefits again. However, your benefits will be paid retroactively so continue filing weekly. I will share that information as soon as we know more.
The U.S. Department of Labor has informed Oregon that the maximum number of PUA weeks available is 50 weeks. PUA is a weeks-based program so you can only receive up to a maximum of 50 weeks of benefits, even if you have funds remaining on your claim.
New PUA Verification Requirements - The CAA requires that you provide additional information to the department to verify your income:
If you filed your PUA claim on or before January 3, 2021, you need to show work between January 1, 2019, and the effective date of your claim, which is the first day you became unemployed
If your claim was filed after January 3, 2021, you would need to show work between January 1, 2020, and the effective date of your claim, which is the first day you became unemployed
Extended Benefits - If you were receiving EB when the CARES Act expired, you will need to use up your EB claim. After that, the department will move you back to PEUC until the PEUC extension ends on March 13, 2021.
The Oregon Employment Department is still receiving rules and instructions (guidance) from the federal government and will update us as they learn more. In the meantime:
Debris cleanup is continuing in Jackson County at Bear Lake Estates Mobile Home Park in Phoenix this weekend, clearing ash and debris from the homes destroyed by the Almeda wildfire.
Crews say they expect swift progress through the park if the weather holds, and they have plans to clean several dozen more sites in the park this week and next. The park has more than 200 sites, total. Cleaned properties will be ready for rebuilding. Bear Lake Estates is one of several areas identified by the Jackson County as a top priority for cleanup. Crews expect to expand operations into a mobile home park in Talent soon.
More wildfire cleanup updates are available here. For more information for property owners, call 503-934-1700.
Also, if you are experiencing food scarcity and in need of emergency food, Oregon Housing & Community Services (OHCS) assists with food programs by supporting a variety of nutritional and educational programs that are operated through Oregon Food Bank's statewide network of 21 regional food banks. For more information, go here.
Help is also available for Oregonians in need of counseling assistance. The Safe+Strong Helpline is available for both children and adults who are struggling with stress, anxiety, or other disaster-related depression-like symptoms. For help, call 800-923-4357 or visit the website here. This is a free service provided by the Oregon Health Authority and the Portland-based nonprofit organization Lines for Life.
Many of us who live in North and Northeast Portland remember the five-alarm fire at NW Metals on March 12, 2018. This fire endangered the Cully neighborhood, destroyed four homes, killed at least 16 pets, and caused more than $2.3 million in economic damages.
This fire brought to light loopholes and lack of oversight for auto dismantlers around the state. This led Senator Lew Frederick and I to co-sponsor Senate Bill 792, which passed during the 2019 Legislative Session. In addition to this legislation, NW Metals was brought under the state’s Cleaner Air Oregon (CAO) program. Their auto dismantler certificate for their Cully location was suspended by the DMV. They are currently appealing that decision. You can find more information on their CAO permit here.
Even with these steps, I was disappointed to learn about more problems with NW Metals since they moved from the Cully neighborhood and relocated to St. Johns, which also has a history of being disproportionately impacted by air pollution. Right now, the state has limited authority to stop NW Metals from operating at full capacity again. Most recently, a Multnomah County judge decided to keep in place an injunction that prohibits NW Metals from operating its shredder until the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issues an air permit. I submitted comments to the court demonstrating concerns I continue to hear from constituents.
NW Metals’ air permit application is currently in the public comment period. DEQ has granted my request to extend the comment period by 30 days for more community input. The deadline is now Monday, February 8. If you would like to get more information about this facility and the public comments for this permit, you can register for a webinar hosted by Neighbors for Clean Air here.
Please keep an eye out for follow up information in future newsletters with additional information as we get closer to the public comment deadline.
- The state’s unemployment rate rose in December, after months of decline since April, as Willamette Week reports here.
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Oregon Public Broadcasting covered a recent spike in positive tests at the University of Oregon here.
- The University of Portland is starting a hybrid semester after the first strain of the new virus variant was diagnosed in a staff member, Oregon Public Broadcasting reports here.
- The Mail Tribune has a story here about how renters can continue to be covered by the state eviction moratorium.
- The Oregon Health Authority yesterday reported 849 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the statewide total of new and presumptive cases to 135,973. The OHA also reported 11 more deaths, meaning 1,843 Oregonians have died of the coronavirus. You can click the images below for links to interactive data tables about coronavirus in Oregon.
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 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
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