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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Over the last two weeks, the House Special Committee on Wildfire Recovery has taken about 13 hours of public testimony to hear from impacted communities about the challenges they are facing months after the fires. My sincere thank you to everyone who took the time to give testimony by phone, video link or through submitting written testimony. KGW covered some of this heartbreaking testimony here.
Oregon legislators are listening and won’t forget you or the catastrophe you’re living through.
People’s stories will be critical to determining next steps for legislation and investments to help the recovery as our work this session moves forward. It’s clear from listening to this testimony there are many technical issues that are making recovery efforts move too slowly. We’ve heard stories about the challenges with emergency alert systems. And it is also clear the extent of the trauma this disaster has caused, such as ongoing nightmares of having to be evacuated and panic attacks after smelling smoke.
On a related note, I was encouraged to see another funding application in Medford for the Project Turnkey program, as the Mail Tribune covered here. The plan is to convert another existing motel property into temporary housing for individuals and families who lost their homes from the wildfires. We will continue doing everything in our power to help communities who are still suffering from this disaster.
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 here.
As many of you might know, I used to work at Oregon Food Bank, and their statewide distribution warehouse is located in my district in NE Portland. The basic need of having enough to eat is near and dear to my heart.
The Oregon Department of Human Services 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, you can go here.
And with regard to the recent winter storm, if you receive benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and lost food due to the power outages, the state has extended the deadline to apply for food replacement to next Friday, March 5. This applies to SNAP recipients who lost power in the following counties: Benton, Clackamas, Hood River, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Yamhill, and Washington.
You can apply by calling 800-699-9075, emailing SSP.StatewideWorkshare@dhsoha.state.or.us or calling your local Self-Sufficiency Programs office, which can be located by calling 2-1-1 or going online here.
Yesterday, state economists released the quarterly economic and revenue forecast, which Oregon Public Broadcasting covered here.
The positive revenue forecast is good news for our budgetary efforts. However, I’m troubled by the disconnect between these numbers and the economic pain on the ground for so many Oregonians.
We have lost 150,000 jobs during this pandemic. Many low-wage workers will need years to recover, and the recession has only worsened existing income inequality. There is still a lot of economic uncertainty going forward, and our recovery will continue to depend on controlling the virus and receiving more help from the federal government.
This crisis demands bolder actions in the areas of housing, wildfire recovery and financial assistance to the hardest-hit households. I look forward to working with my colleagues to reinvest some available dollars in the coming weeks to help Oregonians who need us to step up and help them.
The Oregon Health Authority provided more good news on the pandemic in its latest COVID-19 Weekly Report, which can be read in full here.
- During Monday, February 15, through Sunday, February 21, 2021, OHA recorded 2,260 new cases of COVID-19 infection, a 35% decrease from last week’s total. This is the third consecutive week of falling case counts and the lowest total since the week of September 28–October 4, 2020.
- This occurred in the face of a 31% drop in testing. Test positivity was 3.5%, similar to last week’s 3.4%.
- The number of patients newly hospitalized with COVID-19 fell 42% (from 272 to 159).
- There were 17 Oregonians who died in association with COVID-19, down from 114 the previous week and the lowest death toll since the week of June 29–July 5, 2020.
Oregon also continues to stop the spread at a far better rate than most of the country, ranking 47th among states in total reported cases per 10,000 people and 48th among states in new reported cases per 10,000 people over the last seven days per data compiled by The Washington Post.
While our numbers continue to improve – thanks to so many of you taking the virus seriously – this week marked another tragic milestone in the pandemic: the United States has exceeded 500,000 deaths from COVID-19.
I got emotional on my drive to Salem this week, while listening to radio coverage of reaching 500,000 deaths and reflecting on the lives we’ve lost in the last year. These numbers are not dry statistics. They are our fellow human beings and they left behind families who are still hurting.
Please keep all of them in your hearts and minds as we keep moving forward together.
This week, Governor Brown updated the state’s County Risk Levels. Multnomah County will remain High Risk, while neighboring Washington and Clackamas counties have each improved to Moderate Risk. Overall, 16 counties improved. These risk levels are in effect from Friday, February 26 through Thursday, March 11.
Extreme Risk (5): Benton, Coos, Douglas (moved from High), Jefferson, Josephine
High Risk (11): Columbia, Crook (moved from Extreme), Deschutes, Jackson (moved from Extreme), Klamath, Lane (moved from Extreme), Marion (moved from Extreme), Multnomah, Polk (moved from Extreme), Umatilla (moved from Extreme), Yamhill (moved from Extreme)
Moderate Risk (10): Clackamas (moved from High), Curry (moved from Lower), Harney (moved from Lower), Hood River (moved from High), Lake, Linn (moved from High), Malheur (moved from Extreme), Morrow, Union (moved from Extreme), Washington (moved from High)
Lower Risk (10): Baker, Clatsop (moved from High), Gilliam, Grant, Lincoln (moved from High), Sherman, Tillamook, Wallowa, Wasco (moved from Extreme), Wheeler
Full guidance on restrictions based on county risk level can be found here.
Starting last Monday, vaccine eligibility in the state was expanded to Oregonians who are age 70 and older. This meant that an additional 206,000 individuals could sign up. As was unfortunately predicted, this has led to challenges for a number of individuals who have tried to sign up this week.
This is a frustrating situation. Thank you to those of you who have emailed me about your experiences with the appointment process. I expect there will be additional challenges next week when eligibility expands to Oregonians who are 65 and older, which will add another 258,000 people eligible to sign up. While the state’s supply of vaccines is increasing, and we hopefully will soon start receiving shipments of the recently approved one-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine, the situation requires everyone to continue to be patient and stay persistent in your efforts to get an appointment.
It’s great to know there are so many people who want to get the vaccine. At the start of this week, about 7% of the state population had been fully vaccinated. Oregon Public Broadcasting reported here that the first doses of vaccine have reached almost all Oregonians in long-term care facilities. Tomorrow, Governor Brown will announce the next round of Oregonians to be eligible for the vaccine.
As we wait, it’s still important to continue masking and doing all of the basics that have helped Oregon stop the spread.
This week, I testified in committee in support of several bills that I am sponsoring this session. Here is a rundown:
House Bill 2001 - We know that we have to do better at hiring and retaining an educator workforce that reflects the diversity of Oregon’s student population in order to chip away at historic inequities in our public education system. The critical connection between a student and teacher can dramatically improve the student’s entire educational experience. The goal of the bill is to maintain diversity ratios between teachers and students in the event of school district layoffs.
HB 2001 proposes an alternative consideration to seniority if and when budget cuts affect the diverse teacher ratio in a way that negatively impacts the state’s ongoing commitment to racial equity in our public schools. This bill is one solution, in concert with other efforts, to fulfill our commitment to racial equity.
You can read my full written testimony here, watch the hearing here (starting at the 1:11:30 mark), and read coverage from The Oregonian here.
House Bill 2006 - There are more than 10,000 individuals estimated to be sleeping outside on any given night in Oregon (and this is a pre-pandemic count). The COVID-19 pandemic has only magnified this crisis. I’m hopeful that the eviction moratorium extension we passed last December, coupled with infusions of significant state and federal resources for emergency rent assistance, will go far to keep Oregonians housed during the pandemic and beyond.
But we must maintain a crisis mindset to take on our state’s emergency shelter shortage. We are still months away from a return to normal, and our unsheltered neighbors will continue to face enormous risks from the virus. HB 2006, paired with the funding to be made available through the passage of HB 2004, will allow local communities to cut through existing barriers that prevent developing emergency shelters.
You can read my full written testimony here, watch the hearing here (starting at the 38:05 mark), and read coverage from The Oregonian here.
House Bill 3164 - In August 2020, The Oregonian profiled the use of ORS 162.247, the statute establishing the misdemeanor offense of interfering with a peace officer (IPO), in an article titled “Hundreds of Protesters Have Been Charged with Interfering with a Peace Officer. But Should It Remain a Crime?” The article made the following points clear:
- Black and brown Oregonians have been disproportionately charged with IPO;
- Oregonians experiencing homelessness are disproportionately charged with IPO; and
- IPO charges have continued to grow, even after court rulings have made clear the limitations of that authority.
HB 3164 would reaffirm the original intent of the law, remove any doubt about how the law should be applied, and prevent charge stacking.
You can read my full written testimony here, watch the hearing here (starting at the 5:00 mark), and read coverage from Oregon Public Broadcasting here.
The House and Senate Committees on Redistricting will soon be hosting a series of virtual public meetings to hear from Oregonians about their respective communities in order to inform their work on redrawing legislative districts.
Redistricting is the once-a-decade process of redrawing the United State House of Representatives (Congressional) and Oregon State Senate and State House of Representatives (Legislative) district boundaries to account for changes in population.
Please see the information below on the schedule for these hearings and how to sign up. More information is available on the Legislature’s redistricting website here.
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Oregon Public Broadcasting reported here on how Portland Public Schools and the Beaverton School District are looking at returning students to the classroom.
- Walgreens is now offering COVID-19 vaccines in Oregon, The Oregonian reports here.
- The Oregon Health Authority announced 553 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the statewide total of new and presumptive cases to 154,554. The OHA also reported 10 more deaths, meaning 2,204 Oregonians have died of the coronavirus. As of today, 305,366 Oregonians have been fully vaccinated. There have been 881,204 total doses administered. You can click the images below for links to interactive data tables about coronavirus and vaccines 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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