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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
This week we stop to remember the more than 500,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19. It is a stark reminder that we must all do our part to prevent the spread. I am proud of how Oregonians have come together during these challenging times but there is much more work to be done. The Legislature will be working hard this session to provide the resources and support that Oregonians need right now.
Committee Assignments
Joint Committee On Ways and Means
Joint Committee On Transportation - Co-Chair
House Committee On Agriculture and Natural Resources
Joint Committee On the Interstate 5 Bridge - Co-Chair
Joint Committee On Ways and Means Subcommittee On Education - Co-Chair
2019-2020 Joint Emergency Board
Watch all Oregon State Legislature Live-Streams and Meetings HERE
Track all 2021 Session Bills HERE
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Instructions for testifying:
English instructions here
Aquí están las instrucciones
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VIRTUAL TOWN HALL
Please join us at our Virtual Town Hall Meeting on Thursday, February 25th at 6pm to hear about some Session updates and upcoming legislation! The floor will be open to any questions and concerns.
Click the following link to register for our zoom town hall: REGISTER HERE
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This Session is all masks and Zoom!
Transportation Accessibility Bill - HB 2985
Getting around your community when you have mobility issues can be a challenge. This bill directs the Oregon Department of Transportation to require that all committees and boards advising ODOT or relating to physical mobility, have a member with a disability. In order for all Oregonians to have meaningful access to mobility opportunities that are vital to health, prosperity and well-being, we need our policies to be informed by all groups of Oregonians. The lack of representation from people with mobility issues has had real effects on the health and well-being of people in that community. Increasing representation on advisory groups will help ODOT and other agencies live up to their goals and values.
Chief Sponsor: Representative McLain, Senator Gelser
Hearing: 2/25/21 @8am.
Agricultural Channel Maintenance bill - HB 3185
When the Agricultural Channel Maintenance program was created in 2019, there was concerned expressed by some environmental groups that the bill could allow the placement of materials from the cleaning into undisturbed wetlands, which are our state’s native wetlands that we all want to protect. While the bill contained safeguards to ensure that would not happen, we received a request to make those safeguards more explicit. HB 3185 would clarify that dredge spoil materials may not be placed in undisturbed wetlands, ensuring that the intent of the program is clear that placement of dredge spoils is limited to areas that are part of the farms and ranches that will be using this program.
Chief Sponsor: Representative McLain
Hearing: not scheduled yet
Rental Assistance Fund Bill - HB 2163
The last year as shown just how quickly circumstances can change, and how important it is to have fully-funded services in place to benefit Oregonians in need. This bill establishes a long term rental assistance program in the Housing and Community Services Department. It also requires the department to report on the program to the Oregon Housing Stability Council by December 31 of even years. The bill also establishes a Rental Assistance Fund to fund the program.
Chief Sponsor: At the request of the Governor.
Hearing: Held on 2/23/21
Flags lowered to half-staff in memory of more than 500,000 Americans lost to COVID-19
Governor Kate Brown today ordered all flags at Oregon public institutions to be flown at half-staff until sunset, Feb. 26 in memory of the more than 500,000 Americans who have lost their lives due to COVID-19. This includes 2,155 Oregonians.
“Every life lost to COVID-19 is a tragedy,” said Governor Brown. “With more than 500,000 Americans who have died from this virus, there are infinitely more people who are now without a friend, family member, or other loved one. My thoughts are with all those who have lost someone to this disease and, to all Oregonians, I want you to know I remain committed to ensuring that we do everything we can to stop the spread and save lives. I hope that, as we remember all those we have lost, we collectively continue to help protect each other from this disease.”
The full Presidential Proclamation is available on the White House's website.
Adults 70 and older are eligible for vaccination starting today
Starting today, people in Oregon who are 70 years of age or older become eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations.
Adults who are eligible can use the following resources to get linked to vaccine information in their communities. Tools that allow scheduling will be available with new appointment slots at 9 a.m. on Mondays and Thursdays:
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Get Vaccinated Oregon: Find answers to basic questions to learn if you are eligible and get linked to information about vaccinations in your county. You can also sign up for alerts to get notified about upcoming vaccination events or find out when you may become eligible. Find this tool at covidvaccine.oregon.gov or getvaccinated.oregon.gov.
- Vaccine Information chat bot on the covidvaccine.oregon.gov website is available to find out if you’re eligible for a vaccine in Oregon or to get answers to other questions about vaccines. If you live in Clackamas, Columbia, Marion, Multnomah or Washington counties you can schedule vaccine appointments by using the Vaccine Information chat bot. The friendly Vaccine Information chat bot tool is an orange box that appears when you open the covidvaccine.oregon.gov website.
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211: Text ORCOVID to 898211 to get text/SMS updates about vaccination clinics in English or Spanish or email ORCOVID@211info.org. If you can’t get your COVID-19 vaccine question answered on the website, by text or by email, you can call 211 or 1-866-698-6155, open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, including holidays. Please be aware that wait times may be long due to high call volumes.
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OHA en Español hosts Facebook Live about COVID-19 vaccines on Feb. 24
OHA en Español will host a Spanish language Facebook Live event on Wednesday, February 24, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. about the COVID-19 vaccine. We’ll share vaccine updates, hear from people who have received the vaccine and have a Q&A exchange. OHA Senior Health Advisor Dr. Emilio DeBess and Director of Sabiduría: Latina/o Psychology Emphasis, Dr. Ruth Zúñiga, PhD will lead our discussion.
You can participate in the Facebook Live event at www.facebook.com/ohaespanol. If you can’t make it to the live event, you’ll find a recording of it on that same page following the live session.
State leaders provide update on vaccination progress
*OHA update published on 2/19/21.
Governor Kate Brown was joined by Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen, State Epidemiologist Dr. Dean Sidelinger and other partners today to give an update on Oregon’s vaccination rollout.
“Oregonians continue to make smart choices, and the numbers speak for themselves,” said Governor Brown. “As of yesterday, Oregon had the third lowest infection rate in the nation. And while this is great news, we must remain vigilant in the face of challenges ahead with the new variants. We advise Oregonians to continue to follow safety measures and choose your activities wisely so that you are minimizing risk as best you can.”
Here are some more highlights:
Oregon is making progress on vaccination:
- Even though winter storms affected vaccine shipments and clinics, Oregon averaged more than 14,000 vaccinations per day (14,645) over the past week.
- Oregon remains on schedule to open vaccinations to people 70 and older on Monday, Feb. 22.
- OHA is committed to interrupting the widening racial, ethnic and other inequities we see in vaccinations and throughout the pandemic.
“At OHA, we’re working to build bridges with communities our health care system has failed to serve well, improve access to vaccines and other health care, eliminate health inequity and enable more people to live a healthier life,” said Director Allen. “Working with Federally Qualified Health Centers is at the core of our effort to eliminate COVID-19 health inequities.”
Director Allen pointed out that Oregon’s vaccination program is not on track regarding racial and ethnic inequity in responding to the pandemic or in vaccination rates. Latinx communities in Oregon have seen the most pronounced inequities when compared to whites.
- People who identify as white represent 75% of people in Oregon however, while they only comprise about half (48%) of COVID-19 cases, they account for 74% of vaccinations.
- People who identify as Latino or Hispanic represent 13% of people in Oregon but comprise 26% of COVID-19 cases – twice their proportion of the population.
- Only 5% of the vaccinations administered to date have been administered to the Latinx community.
- People who identify as Black or African American are 2% of the state population and they represent 2.4% of COVID-19 cases. They represent under 2% of COVID-19 vaccinations.
- Native Americans comprise close to 2% of people in Oregon and account for close to 2% of COVID-19 cases and 2% of COVID-19 vaccinations.
You can watch the news conference here. More information on vaccines is available at covidvaccine.oregon.gov and at vacunacovid.oregon.gov.
National Numbers:
- Confirmed Cases: 27,993,504 (up 55,419 from yesterday)
- Deaths: 498,993 (up 1,578 from yesterday)
- These national numbers come from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. You can view their national and state by state data here.
Oregon Status Report:
- Oregon now has 153,134 total cases (confirmed and presumptive) of COVID-19.
- Today we have 321 new confirmed and presumptive cases, and 7 new deaths.
- A total of 2,166 Oregonians have died from COVID-19.
(previous daily case updates from OHA here)
- Washington County still has one of the highest case counts at 20,898 confirmed cases, including 209 deaths. You can review on-going updates from OHA by clicking on the table below.
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The Oregon Health Authority recently provided a Public Health Indicators Dashboard to enable communities across Oregon to monitor COVID-19 in the state.The dashboard, which will be updated weekly on Thursdays, provides a transparent report that presents complex epidemiological data in an interactive, easy-to-understand way on a state and county level.
TONIGHT: Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center to hold listening session
Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center is joining with organizations from around the community to host an online community listening session. It’s an opportunity to share your thoughts, concerns and questions. The upcoming session is offered in English. Information on joining is available on this webpage.
Washington County Board of Commissioners to host virtual Town Hall on March 6
Washington County Board of Commissioners invite the public to participate in a virtual Town Hall on Saturday, March 6 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Board members will provide updates on their 2021 priorities and then take questions from community members. All are welcome.
The Town Hall will be hosted on the County’s Zoom platform. To RSVP and obtain meeting access information, please visit the Eventbrite Registration Page. The Town Hall will also be live-streamed on the County’s YouTube channel with no pre-registration required.
Simultaneous Spanish interpretation will be provided for this event. To request a language other than Spanish or English, please indicate your language preference with the RSVP or contact the County Administrative Office via email at CAO@co.washington.or.us or by phone at 503-846-8685, no later than March 1.
Junta de Comisionados realizará una asamblea pública virtual el 6 de marzo
La Junta de Comisionados del Condado Washington invita al público a participar en una asamblea pública virtual el sábado 6 de marzo de 11 am a 12:30 pm. Los miembros de la junta proveerán actualizaciones sobre las prioridades del año 2021 y después tomarán preguntas de los miembros de la comunidad. Todas las personas son bienvenidas.
La asamblea pública se realizará en la plataforma de Zoom del condado. Para confirmar su asistencia y obtener la información de acceso, por favor visite https://www.eventbrite.com/e/washington-county-board-of-commissioners-spring-town-hall-registration-141868469411. La asamblea pública también se transmitirá en vivo en el canal de YouTube del condado y no se requiere registrarse previamente.
Una interpretación simultánea en español será proporcionada en este evento. Para solicitar un idioma diferente al español o inglés, por favor indique su idioma de preferencia con la confirmación de su asistencia o contacte a la Oficina Administrativa por correo electrónico en CAO@co.washington.or.us o por teléfono al 503-846-8685, a más tardar el 1º de marzo.
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Meal Distribution Changes - Hillsboro School District
As buses prepare to transport more students for instruction, Hillsboro School District will begin using vans and other designated vehicles for meal delivery in the month of March. These alternate vehicles will have signage indicating they are distributing school meals.
The goal is to facilitate transportation for attending students while continuing to provide access to meals during this transition.
Here are two key dates:
- Monday, Mar. 1 - All walk zone* meal deliveries will be made by vans or other designated vehicles, not school buses. (*Walk zone is within one mile of elementary schools.) School buses will continue to deliver meals outside of walk zones, similar to the method used in the spring of 2020. Please review the walk zone and bus delivery stop lists to see if the delivery location and/or time is changing for your area.
- Monday, Mar. 29 - For students attending classes via CDL only, weekly meals will be available for pick-up once per week at your child’s school of attendance. Delivery will be available on a limited basis. Additional details regarding meal access will be provided prior to Spring Break.For students participating in the hybrid model, breakfast and lunch will be available at no charge while on campus. Additional options will be available for take-home meals to cover days that students are not attending in person.
For more information about school meals, please visit www.hsd.k12.or.us/nutrition.
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My daughter and me in blue at the Capitol. Nice memories!
*Article from the Forest Grove News-Times on February 19 2021
The community college's free classes through the Willow Creek Center provide skills training for community members.
Portland Community College is continuing its effort to aid the community — and like the rest of the community, it's continuing to navigate the difficulties created by the ongoing pandemic.
The local area community college is again offering On-Ramp classes at no cost to participants, in an effort to provide opportunities to explore new careers and get support with on-boarding to PCC programs and services.
As part of the On-Ramp program, PCC's Willow Creek Center is offering services that connect Washington County residents to education and employment; help them explore in-demand careers, build skills, and identify transferable skills; and offer courses in Advanced Manufacturing, Healthcare, Construction/Trades, and more.
Upcoming two-week classes include:
- On-Ramp to Manufacturing: Starting February 22. Explore educational programs and opportunities in Advanced Manufacturing.
- On-Ramp to Healthcare: Starts February 22. Explore educational programs and opportunities in the Healthcare industry.
- On-Ramp to Essentials: Starts March 9. Learn six essential skills to prepare for the next step in your healthcare career.
Wildfire Recovery Resources:
OEM has put together this list of contacts to help speed up the process of replacing these documents:
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Green cards: Phone (800)-375-5283; Website: www.uscis.gov
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Medicare cards: Phone: (800)-772-1213; (TTY) (800)-325-0778 Website: www.medicare.gov
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Military records Phone: 866-272-6272 Website: www.archives.gov/contact/
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Passport Phone: 877-487-2778; (TTY) 888-874-7793 Website: travel.state.gov
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Social Security card Phone: 800-772-1213; (TTY) 800-325-0778 Website: www.ssa.gov
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U.S. Savings Bonds Phone: 844-284-2676 Website: www.treasurydirect.gov
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U.S. tax returns Phone: 800-829-1040 Website: www.irs.gov
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Birth, death, marriage, domestic partnership, divorce certificates Phone: 888-896-4988 Website: www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/Birthdeathcertificates
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Driver’s license, auto titles and registration, ID cards Phone: 503-945-5000 Website: www.oregon.gov/odot
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SNAP (Oregon Trail Card) Website: www.oregon.gov/DHS/Assistance/Food-Benefits
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State taxes (Oregon Dept. of Revenue) Phone: 503-378-4988 or 800-356-4222 TTY: All relay calls are accepted. Website: www.oregon.gov/dor
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Real estate and property - Contact your county government.
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Credit cards - Contact your credit card company directly.
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Credit reports from Equifax, Experian, TransUnion Phone: 877-322-8228 Website: www.annualcreditreport.com
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Insurance documents - Check with your insurance agent.
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Medical records - Call your doctor or your medical insurance company; medical and prescription records are tracked electronically.
The Governor’s office has put together a Wildfire Resources page that you can access from the Governor’s home page. It has links to many of the most important updates about the status of fires and resources for evacuees. This website will be updated regularly.
Legal Resources: Oregon State Bar’s Lawyer Referral Program, Oregon lawyers, through the Oregon State Bar, are partnering with FEMA and the American Red Cross to provide legal assistance on FEMA claims, contract claims, insurance claims, landlord-tenant matters and more.
The Department of Forestry’s Wildfire Response and Recovery Overview has ongoing updates about firefighting efforts, damage reports, and more.
FEMA Updates: FEMA has provided several different Fact Sheets and resources for accessing benefits, determining eligibility and avoiding scams.
Employers and Employees
Education Links
Hillsboro School District (en inglés y español)
Forest Grove School District (en inglés y español)
Oregon Department of Education
COVID-19 Resources for Oregon Higher Education Partners
Local Government
City of Hillsboro (en inglés, español y más idiomas)
City of Cornelius (en inglés, español y más idiomas)
City of Forest Grove (Personal que habla español disponible en este número: (503) 992-3221)
Washington County
Utilities Assistance
Portland General Electric (en inglés y español)
NW Natural
City of Hillsboro Utility Billing
Comcast
CenturyLink
AT&T
City of Forest Grove
Food and Housing Assistance
Community Action.org
Oregon Food Bank
Meals on Wheels
Wish it was a normal year and Session. I miss my staff and visiting with citizens in my office!
Yours truly,
 Representative Susan McLain
House District 29
email: Rep.SusanMcLain@oregonlegislature.gov I phone: 503-986-1429
address: 900 Court St NE, H-376, Salem, OR 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/mclain
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