It’s been a busy week and there’s lots of news to catch up on – including a plan for this summer for Oregon’s children and youth, more federal relief on its way, and the release of this session’s housing priorities. Read on!
On Monday, Governor Brown, Senate President Courtney and I announced our Summer Learning and Child Care Package for Kids. The plan, which will get a public hearing at 1 pm next Monday in the Joint Subcommittee On Education, would invest as much as $325 million in summer learning and child care programs, which includes $250 million in state funds and another $75 million in federal dollars. The Oregonian covered this announcement here.
With students getting back into the classroom this spring, we have to facilitate a fulfilling summer for kids and their parents. I know many of you are ready for this and will need access to more activities. We are stepping up to encourage schools and community groups to meet the need.
Here are more details on what the investment package includes:
I first want to express gratitude to Congress and President Biden for the passage and signing of the American Rescue Plan. Oregon’s economic recovery depends on controlling the virus and federal support. This $1.9 trillion stimulus plan will help on both fronts. I’m grateful that this much-needed help for our most vulnerable communities is on the way.
It will take state officials some time to unpack all of the details in this monumental relief package and its impact on state finances. But we know this bill will provide rental assistance, funding for vaccine distribution and contact tracing, direct $1,400 payments to individuals earning up to $75,000 and couples earning up to $150,000, extended unemployment benefits and much more. NPR has a helpful summary here of the components of the American Rescue Plan.
This comes as the Biden Administration has ordered 100 million more vaccines from Johnson & Johnson and state public health officials announced Oregon may have enough vaccines for all willing adults by April 21. I know these days are still incredibly challenging. The pandemic isn’t over yet and we still have to keep our guard up. But this has been a very encouraging stretch of news for our public health and economic recovery. We can get through this if we continue to stick together.
Additionally, I hope you saw that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidance for people who have been fully vaccinated, which you can find here.
If you are fully vaccinated:
- You can gather indoors with fully vaccinated people without wearing a mask.
- You can gather indoors with unvaccinated people from one other household (for example, visiting with relatives who all live together) without masks, unless any of those people or anyone they live with has an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
- If you’ve been around someone who has COVID-19, you do not need to stay away from others or get tested unless you have symptoms.
- However, if you live in a group setting (like a correctional or detention facility or group home) and are around someone who has COVID-19, you should still stay away from others for 14 days and get tested, even if you don’t have symptoms.
This week, I joined housing committee chairs Senator Kayse Jama and Representative Julie Fahey in releasing a list of housing priorities for the 2021 Legislative Session, focusing on bills and investments to increase the state’s supply of affordable housing, support communities helping Oregonians who are experiencing homelessness, prevent evictions and foreclosures, and reduce housing disparities for communities of color.
We are requesting $535 million to invest in new and existing housing-related programs. In addition to supporting key policy initiatives, the funding would help support affordable housing construction and preservation, develop low-barrier shelters and navigation centers, increase racial equity in homeownership and more.
Oregon had a housing crisis before the pandemic dramatically worsened income inequality and wildfires devastated the housing supply in vulnerable communities. The legislature has worked hard in recent sessions to turn the tide, and this moment demands that we keep pushing forward to make sure more Oregonians have a safe place to call home.
You can read our full press release here and our full priority list here.
This week, I testified in committee in support of two bills that I am sponsoring this session. Here is a rundown:
House Bill 2008 - This bill came about from my interactions with faith leaders who are dedicated to utilizing their properties to provide affordable housing. In North Portland, the faith community of Portsmouth Union started their journey in 2016 to develop their property to address the community’s need for affordable housing. They just broke ground this past January, more than five years after they committed to being part of the solution to our housing crisis. This bill is about making this process quicker for other similar organizations around the state.
The goal of the bill is to clear the path for religious organizations – many of whom own acres of land in residential areas that can be converted to housing – to help provide more affordable housing in communities across the state. The state’s lack of affordable housing is a crisis, and we must push ourselves to do everything we can to increase our housing supply. A crisis demands creativity and a little bit of risk taking. Faith communities across our state are willing to be creative and take risks, and we should help them out.
You can read my full written testimony here and watch the hearing here (starting at the 48:56 mark).
House Bill 3115 - In 2019, the federal court ruling in the case of Martin v. City of Boise required local governments to reconsider how they treat people who are experiencing homelessness. This bill will affirm the principles of that landmark decision at the local level, ensuring that individuals experiencing homelessness are protected from fines or arrest for sleeping or camping on public property when there are no other options. Without adequate alternatives like housing, shelter, and safe camping spaces, individuals are left with no option but to sleep outside in public spaces – in a park, under an overpass, or wherever they can find shelter and safety.
If local communities already have laws on the books that are in compliance with the Boise decision, they will not have to update their ordinances. My hope is that local governments that have not yet reckoned with the Boise decision will take the opportunity to engage in a transparent, public process to update their ordinances, find ways to expand their shelter capacity, and make the rules clear for all.
You can read my full written testimony here, watch the hearing here (starting at the 4:27 mark), and read coverage from The Oregonian here.
Last Friday, Governor Brown announced she would be directing all Oregon public schools to offer universal access to in-person instruction on or before the weeks of March 29 for K-5 students and April 19 for students in grades 6-12.
After the weeks of March 29 and April 19, all public schools in Oregon will operate either fully on-site or via a hybrid instructional model when counties meet or exceed Oregon’s advisory COVID-19 metrics. Oregon Public Broadcasting has details here on how Portland Public Schools is responding to this announcement.
The Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Department of Education have an active dashboard tracking the status of school reopenings in every county, which you can review by clicking the image below.
Here are the latest details from the Oregon Health Authority's COVID-19 Weekly Report, which can be read in full here.
- The OHA reported 1,729 new daily cases of COVID-19 during the week of Monday, March 1 through Sunday, March 7, a 35% decrease from the previous week.
- New COVID-19 related hospitalizations also dropped from 164 to 139, which is a 15% decline from last week and the lowest weekly total in five months.
- Reported COVID-19 related deaths increased to 86, up from 57 last week, although these are a lagging indicator of vaccine transmission.
- There were 129,442 tests for COVID-19 for the week of Feb. 28 through March 6, a 7% increase from the previous week. The percentage of positive tests was 2.8%, which represents the lowest percentage since Oregon adopted the test-based method in mid-November.
Thank you for staying safe and continuing to work hard to keep these numbers going in the right direction.
Governor Brown has updated the state’s COVID-19 county risk categories, which will be in effect from Friday, March 12 to Thursday, March 25. You can find more information about activities by risk category here.
Extreme Risk (2): Coos, Douglas
High Risk (9): Benton (moved from Extreme), Columbia, Curry (moved from Moderate), Jackson*, Jefferson (moved from Extreme), Josephine (moved from Extreme), Marion, Polk, Umatilla
Moderate Risk (12): Baker (moved from Lower), Clackamas, Deschutes (moved from High), Klamath (moved from High), Lane (moved from High), Linn, Malheur**, Multnomah (moved from High), Tillamook (moved from Lower), Union, Washington, Yamhill (moved from High)
Lower Risk (13): Clatsop, Crook (moved from High), Gilliam, Grant, Harney (moved from Moderate), Hood River (moved from Moderate), Lake (moved from Moderate), Lincoln, Morrow (moved from Moderate), Sherman, Wallowa, Wasco, Wheeler
*Jackson County qualifies for Extreme Risk but has been given a two-week caution period at High Risk because it moved down from Extreme Risk in the last movement period.
**Malheur County qualifies for High Risk but has been given a two-week caution period at Moderate Risk because it moved down from Extreme Risk in the last movement period.
For Jackson and Malheur counties, if the case rate data still puts the county at a higher risk level at the end of the caution period, the county will move to that higher level.
When I first entered the legislature, metal theft from construction sites and the theft of catalytic converters from people’s cars was a major problem. In 2009, the legislature changed the law to prohibit people getting paid in cash for the metal they wanted to sell, and this made a big difference. But stealing catalytic converters is on the rise again.
My office has received a lot of outreach from constituents about Senate Bill 803, which would only allow scrap metal businesses to buy catalytic converters from commercial sellers. I support this bill and look forward to signing on as a sponsor when it reaches the House. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Energy and Environment last week and hopefully will have a hearing soon.
- The Oregon Health Authority announced 367 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the statewide total of new and presumptive cases to 158,644. The OHA also reported 11 more deaths, meaning 2,316 Oregonians have died of the coronavirus. As of today, 445,624 Oregonians have been fully vaccinated. There have been 1,235,067 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
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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