Exciting Vaccine Developments and more!

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Hello Friends,

Yesterday in the Senate, the Republican Caucus did not show up for their Floor Session. We need to work together and listen to each other. We need to compromise and look for ways to build solid solutions for all communities and individuals. Have a good week-end, enjoy family and friends, and make every day a good day if you can.

It is an Honor to Represent our communities, families and  local businesses in The Oregon Legislature!

3 photos of Rep McLain in black mask with thumbs up, state seal on the ground, and Rep McLain smiling at camera

 

2021 Session 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


Bill Highlights!

Cartoon bill waiving with american flag button

 

1. Thursday morning, our Transportation Accessibility Bill (HB 2985) had its first public hearing and we heard some very powerful testimony! We heard from some concerned constituents whose lives would be positively impacted by this bill. This bill ensures that advisory committees within the Transportation Department reflect the ethnic, racial and ability composition of Oregon. 

Review the agenda and watch the recorded hearing here: Joint Committee On Transportation 02/25/2021 8:00 AM

 

2.  The Veterans Preference Clarity Bill (HB 2903) is designed to further clarify the current veterans' preference law to give local governments and public agencies more guidance on who is eligible for 'veterans preferences' and how to appropriately follow the law.  The current confusion has caused successful lawsuits to be filed against cities and counties for misinterpreting the law and who is eligible.  This law would requires veterans to provide documentation of veteran status upfront when applying to civil service jobs for which veterans' preference is given.  It also requires public employers to interview veteran applicants for civil service positions.  If employer fails to do so, a written explanation must be produced within 14 days and provided to the applicant. 

 

3. The Emergency Management Reform Bill (HB 2927) has several different elements to it, all designed to ensure Oregon is ready when the next emergency hits. It establishes the Oregon Department of Emergency Management as an independent state agency and vests in the department emergency authority regarding public health emergencies, emergency quarantines and conflagrations.  It also requires the State Fire Marshal to establish guidelines for wildfire buffer zones that produce defensible spaces around lands in forestland-urban interface.  And it establishes the Emergency Preparedness Advisory Council.


Special Shoutouts!

blonde woman in black blazer smiling at camera

Hillsboro and Beaverton Chambers join forces!

A big congratulations and warm welcome to Deanna Palm, the new President and Chief Executive Officer of the Beaverton Area Chamber of Commerce. Deanna is the longtime head of the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce that serves the city right next door. The Beaverton Chamber will share leadership with the Hillsboro Chamber, with Palm assuming a dual role that will keep her in the position she's held with the Hillsboro Chamber for nearly two decades while also taking the reins at the Beaverton Chamber. Thank you for serving our Hillsboro and Beaverton communities, Deanna! 

Read more about this exciting new development here: Beaverton and Hillsboro chambers will share leadership


man with glasses, facial hair and a blue collared shirt standing in front of construction

Thank you, Ryan Wells!

Special shoutout, farewell and congratulations to Ryan Wells, one of the most hardworking city officials in Cornelius who’s been with the city for the last five years. Ryan will be moving on to a new job as planning and development director in Fate, Texas. Rob Drake, our Cornelius City Manager, said Ryan "is a very quick learner, works exceedingly smart and hard, and has shown great care in working with the business community." Ryan, thank you for all the tremendous work you’ve done on developing a rapidly evolving city. You will be missed, but we know you’ll do great things in Texas!

Read more about Ryan’s accomplishments and future endeavors in the following Pamplin Media article: Cornelius development director Ryan Wells to leave city


Statewide Updates

governor brown in glasses and brown blazer in front of oregon flags speaking on zoom

Governor Kate Brown Extends COVID-19 State of Emergency for 60 Days

* This announcement comes from Governor Kate Brown’s Press Release . Click the link above to read more

  • Governor Kate Brown yesterday extended her declaration of a state of emergency for COVID-19 for 60 days, until May 2.
    •  The declaration is the legal underpinning for the Governor’s COVID-19 executive orders and the Oregon Health Authority’s health and safety guidance. Extending the state of emergency also helps ensure Oregon is able to fully utilize available federal COVID-19 relief and assistance, including assistance with vaccine distribution.
  • The Governor reviews and reevaluates each of her emergency orders every 60 days, to determine whether those orders should be continued, modified, or rescinded. The findings of this review process are listed in the executive order.

Governor Kate Brown Statement on February Revenue Forecast

* This announcement comes from Governor Kate Brown’s Press Release . Click the link above to read more

  • Governor Kate Brown on Wednesday issued the following statement about the state’s February revenue forecast:
    • "Today’s revenue forecast brings some welcome news, as we see that state revenues are on the rise, making it clearer that the impact of the latest recession on income tax revenue is significantly smaller than we had estimated it to be last spring,” said Governor Brown. "Even with this good news, it is important to move forward cautiously, as the road ahead remains unpredictable. We also know that many Oregonians are still struggling with job losses, underemployment, and making ends meet.
    • “Our May revenue forecast should give us a clearer picture of the state’s overall budget outlook for the next biennium. In addition, there is an incredibly important effort on the horizon: President Biden’s pending $1.9 trillion federal coronavirus relief package that Congress is currently debating. If passed, this bill would provide another round of much needed aid for states and direct benefits for Oregonians in the form of essential services such as unemployment assistance, nutrition assistance, housing aid, and tax credits for families and workers.
    • “As we wait for greater clarity on our budget climate, I remain committed to making prudent financial decisions and to position our state to manage unforeseen economic challenges that may come our way."

Man in distance walking dog through dry forest area on dirt trail leading to grassy area

State parks expand window for reserving campsites, yurts, cabins

* This article comes from Hillsboro News-Times . Click the link above to read more

  • Earning reservations at Oregon's state parks, including L.L. "Stub" Stewart State Park in western Washington County, became a little easier after a change in direction initiated Jan. 14.
  • According to a release from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, the state is now accepting new reservations from one day to six months prior.
  • The change, according to the release, began coming to fruition last summer as the reservation booking window expanded from one day to two weeks, then to 30 days, while the department slowly began reopening camping after a two-month closure.
  • Flagging revenue was another reason for the change in direction. State parks are funded by revenue from visitors as well as a share of Oregon Lottery proceeds and a portion of state recreational vehicle registrations.
  • The process by which people can book reservations has undergone a change as well. All new campsite, yurt and cabin openings can be booked starting at 6 a.m. instead of midnight.

To reserve a state park campsite, yurt or cabin, visit the Oregon State Parks website or call 1-800-452-5687 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.


Vaccine Updates

cartoon woman on computer

COVID-19 vaccine website outage is resolved

* This article comes from the Oregon Health Authority Press Release. Click the link above to read more

  • We experienced a brief outage with our COVID-19 vaccination website earlier this morning. This was a technical issue and not related to the volume of visitors on the site. This issue is now resolved. Thank you for your patience.
  • Here is a reminder of where to find information about the COVID-19 vaccines:
    • 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 Tool 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 Tool. The friendly Vaccine Information Tool is an orange box that appears when you open the covidvaccine.oregon.gov website. 
    • 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 call volumes.

OHA publishes new web tool listing vaccine providers

* This article comes from the Oregon Health Authority Press Release. Click the link above to read more

  • OHA has added a new dashboard tool showing sites verified by the Oregon Immunization Program to receive and administer COVID-19 vaccines.
  • Being displayed on this dashboard does not mean sites have received COVID-19 vaccine doses, are administering COVID-19 vaccines onsite or have COVID-19 vaccines in their inventory. The new dashboard tool shows progress in enrolling potential COVID-19 vaccine providers across the state.
  • The tool is not meant to be used for scheduling. Go to the COVID-19 vaccine webpage to learn more about vaccinations, to sign up for eligibility notifications and to find vaccination providers in your county.

cartoon people wearing masks

What the COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna can do for you

* This article comes from the Oregon Health Authority Press Release. Click the link above to read more

  • We want to make sure that you are informed about what the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are — and aren’t — capable of.
  • What exactly is an mRNA vaccine and what sort of effects does it produce in a vaccine recipient?
    • For starters, these vaccines teach our immune systems how to make a harmless protein that is unique to the virus and provides our bodies with the means to fight the virus that causes COVID-19.
    • The large-scale clinical trials revealed that the vaccine prevents serious COVID-19 illness about 95% of the time. Every day, we are learning more about whether the vaccines will prevent infection or transmission. As we all know by now, it is going to take some time for everyone to get vaccinated. We don’t yet know when we’ll be able to stop wearing masks and maintaining physical distance, but OHA will continue to watch the spread of the disease in Oregon. When the spread of the disease is low enough, we’ll see some changes to these protective measures.
  • To learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine situation in Oregon, visit our webpage (English and Spanish), which has a breakdown of distribution and other useful information.

elderly woman with sleeve rolled up, wearing blue mask and receiving vaccine from masked nurse

COVID-19 good news: 1st doses of vaccine have reached almost all Oregonians in long-term care

By Amelia Templeton

* This article comes from OPB News. Click the link above to read more

  • Oregon quietly reached a monumental milestone last week in the fight against COVID-19.

  • First doses of the vaccine for COVID-19 have reached almost every nursing home, assisted living and memory care facility in the state, according to the pharmacies distributing it.

  • Oregon was one of the last states in the nation to open up vaccinations to the general population of seniors. But it was one of the first to start vaccinating in nursing homes, and it’s kept up the pace.

  • Last week, in data they publish online, CVS and Walgreens reported reaching every facility that was enrolled in Oregon with first doses of the vaccine.


COVID-19 Updates

National Numbers: 

    • Confirmed Cases: 28,212,548
    • Deaths: 506,834
    • These national numbers come from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  You can view their national and state by state data here.

Cases by Age
Deaths by Age

Oregon Status Report: 

  • Oregon now has 154,554 total cases (confirmed and presumptive) of COVID-19. 
    • Today we have 553 new confirmed and presumptive cases, and 10 new deaths. 
    • A total of 2,204 Oregonians have died from COVID-19.

         (previous daily case updates from OHA here)

  • Washington County still has one of the highest case counts at 21,061 confirmed cases, including 213 deaths.  You can review on-going updates from OHA by clicking on the table below. 
  • 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

Deaths in Oregon from COVID

16 Oregon counties improve in risk level; changes take effect Friday

* This article comes from the Oregon Health Authority Press Release. Click the link above to read more

  • Governor Kate Brown announced on Tuesday that 16 counties improved in risk level, with 10 of those improving from Extreme Risk.

  • Effective today, Feb. 26 through Mar. 11, five counties will be in the Extreme Risk level, 11 in High Risk, 10 in Moderate Risk and 10 in Lower Risk. A complete list is available here.

  • OHA examines and publishes county data weekly. County risk levels are reassigned every two weeks. The first week's data provides a "warning week" to prepare counties for potential risk level changes. The next assignment of risk levels will be announced March 9 and take effect March 12. 

Updates to Warning Week data and county risk levels are posted to coronavirus.oregon.gov.


A young girl with a patterned mask hugging her mother, wearing a red mask

A guide to child care in the pandemic

* This article comes from the Oregon Health Authority Press Release. Click the link above to read more

  • Do you have children in an early learning program or child care? The Early Learning Division of the Oregon Department of Education recently published What Families Need to Know About Child Care During COVID-19. The guide is available in multiple languages and includes tips for how best to prepare your family for child care in the pandemic.  

You’ll find information on: 

  • Measures providers are taking to reduce the spread of COVID-19 

  • Plans for responding to a confirmed case 

  • Changes to activities -- think health checks, meals served individually, small groups that stay together all day 

The guide also discusses how to prepare your child for changes in routine, including these tips: 

Be clear with your child about what to expect when they arrive and why these new steps are in place. Consider the following explanations:  

  • They will check for fever by asking questions or taking your temperature. They do this to keep everyone safe and healthy.  

  • I’ll say goodbye outside when I drop you off, and you can go inside with your friends.  

  • When I pick you up, I’ll be outside waiting for you.  

If children ask about people wearing face coverings, you can explain:  

  • Sometimes people wear face coverings to stay safe.  

  • Sometimes people wear face coverings to be a germ buster.  

  • Sometimes people wear face coverings when they are sick.  

  • We wear face coverings to keep our friends safe. Germs are invisible! 


Two kids on stairs putting their masks on at the same time

Helping kids get comfortable with masks

* This article comes from the Oregon Health Authority Press Release. Click the link above to read more

  • There is a lot of uncertainty about school right now. Many students are in virtual school. But in January, some students began returning to the classroom, and more will as we move into spring. One thing is clear: Kids will be wearing masks at school.
  • Oregon pediatricians at the Oregon Pediatric Society offer advice for parents on helping kids with mask wearing. Here are five tips that may help accustom toddlers and children to masking up:
    • Start early: If you can, introduce masks well ahead of when you think your child will be required to wear them. Consider starting by simply having masks around the home and pointing out their presence. Next steps can be encouraging children to touch, explore and play with the masks.
    • Make it familiar: Parents and older siblings can wear masks around the house or put them on stuffed animals and dolls to make them more familiar.
    • Make it fun: Provide masks with fun patterns or pictures and let your child choose the mask they wear before going out.
    • Be honest: Even for young children you can say something like “OK, time to put our mask on to make sure we all stay safe.”
    • Be consistent: Once a child is comfortable wearing a mask, it is important to be consistent with where and when masks are worn. Consistency is the key to habit forming behaviors. One easy place to start is everywhere outside the home (“Whenever we go somewhere that is not our home, we wear a mask”).

Around the Region

Blonde woman in glasses and grey blazer next to dark haired man in blue blazer and pink shirt. Both speaking into microphones

Tri-county agency head to discuss Metro's expanding role

  • Metro Council President Lynn Peterson will discuss the efforts and future of the unusual regional tri-county government agency she heads today.
  • The online virtual discussion, which runs from noon to 1 p.m on Friday, February 26th, will discuss the agency's expanding role in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties, whether it is sufficiently accountable to the public, and what the future holds, according to the City Club of Portland, which is hosting the online event.

Group of women sitting on chairs in a circle and discussing

Adelante Mujeres is taking trauma seriously

By Wade Evanson

* This article comes from Forest Grove News-Times . Click the link above to read more

  • Hernandez oversees "Beyond Trauma," a program of Forest Grove-based nonprofit Adelante Mujeres designed to help people understand and address trauma that may be shaping the way they live their life, and causing them ongoing harm, without them even realizing it.
  • Adelante Mujeres started the Beyond Trauma program in 2009. The goal was to train families to manage conflict with compassion and understanding, help individuals overcome past emotional trauma, and foster healthy, violence-free relationships.
  • The program consists of eight weekly workshops, which run roughly three hours apiece. Class sizes range from 10 to 15 individuals.
  • Beyond Trauma is taught using a methodology called "popular education," which is a concept grounded in notions of class, political struggle and social transformation. It centers people's knowledge and understanding of their own world to generate and legitimize the expertise and strategies within their community.
    • The workshops are strictly educational. They aren't intended to take the place of therapy, which can be vital for trauma survivors as well.
  • Adelante Mujeres' current round of Beyond Trauma workshops ends March 17, but the next round is set to begin in April. For more information, visit adelantemujeres.org.

Wildfire Recovery Updates

debris and wreckage from fire

Oregon lawmakers hear fire survivors personal stories and continued struggles

By Christine Pitawanich

* This article comes from KGW-8 News . Click the link above to read more.

  • People in fire-affected areas of Oregon gave lawmakers a glimpse into their lives now, almost six months after the fires in September.
    • Last week, people in Southern Oregon testified in front of the Legislative House Special Committee on Wildfire Recovery.
    • This week, people in other fire-affected areas like the Santiam Canyon, McKenzie River Valley, Portland metro area and coastal areas, shared their personal stories with Oregon lawmakers.
  • The purpose is for legislators to learn more about the struggles people still face and determine what the state can do to help.
  • Last night at 5:30 p.m., elected officials got a chance to speak to the committee.
  • Lawmakers will work on developing wildfire recovery legislation that’ll hopefully help the people they heard from over the past week.

 

Wildfire Recovery Resources

OEM has put together this list of contacts to help speed up the process of replacing these documents:

  • Green cards: Phone (800)-375-5283; Website: www.uscis.gov
  • Medicare cards: Phone: (800)-772-1213; (TTY) (800)-325-0778 Website: www.medicare.gov
  • Military records Phone: 866-272-6272 Website: www.archives.gov/contact/
  • Passport Phone: 877-487-2778; (TTY) 888-874-7793 Website: travel.state.gov
  • Social Security card Phone: 800-772-1213; (TTY) 800-325-0778 Website: www.ssa.gov
  • U.S. Savings Bonds Phone: 844-284-2676 Website: www.treasurydirect.gov
  • U.S. tax returns Phone: 800-829-1040 Website: www.irs.gov
  • Birth, death, marriage, domestic partnership, divorce certificates Phone: 888-896-4988 Website: www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/Birthdeathcertificates
  • Driver’s license, auto titles and registration, ID cards Phone: 503-945-5000 Website: www.oregon.gov/odot
  • SNAP (Oregon Trail Card) Website: www.oregon.gov/DHS/Assistance/Food-Benefits
  • 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
  • Real estate and property - Contact your county government.
  • Credit cards - Contact your credit card company directly.
  • Credit reports from Equifax, Experian, TransUnion Phone: 877-322-8228 Website: www.annualcreditreport.com
  • Insurance documents - Check with your insurance agent.
  • 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.


Updates from the Employment Dept.

OED Logo

Economic Update

  • We are approaching the one-year mark of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March 2020, the Employment Department has paid $7.7 billion to approximately 558,000 people, covering 11.3 million weeks of benefits. The number of people seeking benefits in Oregon in 2020 far outpaced the number of those who sought benefits for the entirety of the Great Recession—our state’s longest recession since World War II.
  • Even as we see the economy recovering in many areas, we are still in the midst of a recession. OED will continue providing an essential safety net as the state recovers, providing benefits for unemployed workers, tax-relief for hard-hit local businesses, and support for people seeking new jobs and careers.
  • The impact of the pandemic on our economy has been far-reaching, but communities of color, women, and younger Oregonians have felt the brunt of the impact. Our economists are currently preparing a report on the demographics of PUA claimants, and expect to have that finalized in the coming weeks. In the meantime, we wanted to share their initial analysis of the information PUA claimants volunteer when they apply for benefits. Today we’re able to share preliminary numbers on age and gender.
  • For much of 2020, the unemployment rate for women was higher than for men. That gap has since closed, but the unemployment rate only reflects people who remained in the labor force, are able and available to take a job if it's offered to them, and have actively sought a job in the past four weeks.
  • Industries in which women hold more jobs were harder hit during the pandemic recession, and many women have experienced ongoing or increasing caregiving responsibilities. In our initial look at the employment-to-population ratio in Oregon for 2020, a larger share of women either fell out of employment or out of the labor force altogether in 2020.
  • The employment-to-population ratio for women in Oregon declined by 2.9 percentage points to 51.9%. The ratio also fell for men, dropping by 2.3 percentage points to 61.8% in 2020.
  • For more information, and to dig even deeper, you can visit the Employment Department’s research and data site, www.QualityInfo.org. It offers a wealth of information with easy to understand graphics, data by county, industry and workforce trends, wages and income and more. We’ll share the final report analyzing PUA claimant demographics as soon as it’s available.

 

Continued Assistance Act Updates

Switching Benefit Programs

  • Under the Continued Assistance Act, we are required to switch some folks to different benefit programs. We are moving about 16,000 people who have been receiving Regular UI Extended Benefits (EB) to the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) benefit program now that the federal government has told Oregon to stop paying EB. People do not need to do anything to be switched to PEUC and should continue claiming their weekly benefits through the Regular UI portal on our claims system.
  • We are also moving some people who have been receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) to PEUC. These claimants will need to file for their weekly benefits through the Regular UI program, rather than the PUA program. Claimants should check their claim status online (see next section) to confirm their program. If they have ongoing questions, they can reach out to us via the contact form on our website. In the meantime, they should continue claiming their weekly benefits to the best of their ability.
  • In some cases, people may experience a brief delay (a business day or two) in receiving benefits as we switch them to different benefit programs, but we are working to minimize any possible delays or disruptions.

 

Check your Claim Status

  • We encourage people to use the Online Claim System to check the status of their claim. As a claim moves through the process, or from one program to another, the status will be updated on the claimant’s account. See below for the claim status menu that claimants will see on their account.
  • To access the Online Claim System, visit unemployment.oregon.gov and click on “Online Claim System” under the Quick Links column. You can also access our Online Claim System directly at https://secure.emp.state.or.us/ocs4/index.cfm.

 

Fraud

  • We’ve been notified about scams and attempts to steal claimant information through social media accounts falsely claiming to be U.S. Department of Labor or Oregon Employment Department representatives.
  • Criminals are pretending to be government employees and private messaging folks seeking support on government social media pages. Be cautious if someone private messages you on Facebook or other social media and offers to help with your UI claim, or asks for personal information associated with your claim. Know that will never ask for your PIN, nor for money in exchange for your benefits. Also, OED employees do not have the ability to expedite some claims over others.
  • It’s always a good practice to confirm the identity of anyone who contacts you. But be particularly wary if someone says they work for the Employment Department or US Department of Labor. Before you click on a link that purports to provide information about your claim, make sure it has a “.gov” at the end. Government agency emails or websites will always end in “.gov,” such as our websites at https://unemployment.oregon.gov  and oregon.gov/EMPLOY.
  • This morning we identified two potential scams on Facebook. As you can see in the below image, fake Facebook pages were created using the OED logo in order to trick folks seeking support on the department’s page.
  • We have blocked and reported these potential scams. It is a federal crime to impersonate a government agency and is subject to a fine and/or up to three years of imprisonment.
  • If you believe you are a victim of UI fraud, or you hear information about potential UI fraud or scammers, please report it to us as soon as possible. You can find more info, including the fraud reporting form, at https://unemployment.oregon.gov/unemployment-insurance-fraud-id-theft (or by searching for ‘fraud’ on our website). Oregon has a strong dedicated team to fight fraud and we take seriously our responsibility to protect the trust fund.

 

Legislative Update

  • We continue to work with state legislators on several topics. There is potential legislation around unemployment benefits, overpayments, taxes, the workforce system, and the work of our Research Division.
  • One example of such legislation is HB 3178. The bill is the result of our collaboration with BOLI Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle to ensure that SB 1701, which Commissioner Hoyle initiated in the Second Special Session of 2020, effectively supports Oregon’s most vulnerable workers.

 

Helpful Links

Our website is kept up-to-date with information on our programs.

 


Other Assistance Updates

green apple with heart shaped carving in the middle

Deadline extended for SNAP recipients to request food replacement

* This article comes from the Oregon Health Authority Press Release. Click the link above to read more

    • Did you lose food purchased with SNAP benefits due to storms, flooding, power outages or fires? You may be able to replace your SNAP benefits.

  • Deadline to apply: March 5, 2021
  • SNAP recipients living in one of the nine counties below who experienced food loss or had to destroy food due to the recent power outages can apply for replacement food benefits. Replacement benefits are available for regular and emergency SNAP allotments.

Counties with an extended food replacement deadline:

  • Benton
  • Clackamas
  • Hood River
  • Linn
  • Marion
  • Multnomah
  • Polk
  • Yamhill
  • Washington
  • Request replacement by phone at 800-699-9075 or email at SSP.StatewideWorkshare@dhsoha.state.or.us.

DMV Updates

outside of a dmv building

Under bill, new Oregonians could get a driver's license without taking written test

* This article comes from KGW8 News. Click the link above to read more

  • At last check, Oregon was gaining just under 100 new residents a day, and the Oregon DMV processes about 90,000 new license requests a year. Many of them are from valid out-of-state license holders. In short, it's a significant part of DMV business.
    • The three-month pandemic shutdown last year and the slow reopening of in-person services has created a log jam for all customers of the Oregon DMV. 
    • Services that used to take a month now take two or three months, and every in-person service requires an appointment. That service by appointment will remain the case for as long as health officials deem COVID-19 a major public health threat.
  • So, the DMV is looking at every possible way to speed up, streamline and in many cases, eliminate trips to all of the 60 or so DMV offices statewide.
  • House Bill 2137 contains a law change that would eliminate the need for valid out-of-state license holders to take an Oregon road knowledge test ("the written test").
  • Should that pass, Oregon would join at least 24 other states that don't require what some think amounts to a simple formality.
  • Meanwhile, the DMV continues pressing ahead, adding new services to its website.  It now offers 21 services online, compared to just three at this time last year.

Additional Resources

Employers and Employees


Governor

Emergency

Oregon Health Authority

CDC

This was taken during a Lobby Day in Salem in a previous session...this year it is all on Zoom or remote gatherings on-line!

Rep McLain in pink blazer among sea of planned parenthood signs

Representative Susan McLain

 

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