Friends,

We will keep this short and sweet, but we wanted to share news coming out of Washington D.C. this week that will have a significant and positive impact on our communities in Senate District 30. We’ll be talking about this in more detail next week at our March Virtual Town Hall so make sure to read about that below and sign up.

 Federal Relief for Local Needs 

Earlier this week, the federal government passed the $1.9 Trillion American Rescue Plan to provide much-needed financial support and relief to states due to the impacts of the Coronavirus. For Oregon, that means over $4 Billion statewide and for Senate District 30, it’s over $69 Million. It’s important to note these are estimated amounts and the official numbers will be provided soon, but they give us a general guideline of what we can anticipate.

Counties and local governments will have the authority and responsibility to allocate these funds and they are required to report the use of the funds to the Treasury Department so that there is accountability and transparency in how these dollars are used. The funds can only be used to provide relief specific to COVID-19 impacts, things like: 

• Responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency;
• Providing premium pay to essential workers;
• Offsetting lost revenues to provide essential government services;
• For water, sewer and broadband infrastructure;

Here's what that means for Senate District 30 by the numbers -

By County:

SD 30 County	Estimated Funding
Baker County	$3.13 Million
Deschutes County	$38.34 Million
Grant County	$1.40 Million
Harney County	$1.43 Million
Jefferson County	$4.78 Million
Lake County	$1.53 Million
Malheur County	$5.93 Million
Wasco County	$5.17 Million
Wheeler County	$260,000
TOTAL	$69.17 Million

 

By City & Town:

SD 30 City	Estimated Funding		SD 30 City	Estimated Funding
Adrian	$35,263		Metolius	$163,271
Baker	$1,999,406		Mitchell	$24,664
Burns	$569,512		Monument	$25,479
Culver	$342,441		Mosier	$94,579
Dayville	$29,760		Mount Vernon	$104,363
Dufur	$130,250		North Powder	$93,764
Fossil	$89,279		Nyssa	$649,211
Granite	$7,338		Ontario	$2,240,950
Haines	$86,018		Prairie	$178,558
Halway	$59,519		Richland	$36,079
Hines	$314,923		Seneca	$46,678
Huntington	$88,872		Shaniko	$7,542
John Day	$340,810		Sisters	$566,862
Jordan Valley	$36,079		Spray	$30,167
Long Creek	$38,728		Unity	$14,268
Madras	$1,437,233		Vale	$370,570
Maupin	$89,891

 

Next Week - March's Virtual Town Hall

We’re another month into the Legislative Session which means it’s time for another virtual town all with me, Rep. Mark Owens (HD60) and Rep. Daniel Bonham (HD59). Join us next week for our March 2021 Virtual Town Hall on Wednesday, March 24 at 5:30pmPDT to discuss issues and take questions from you. Register now so you don’t miss out.

A few topics we’ll discuss:

• Reports from each of us on our experience so far in the session
• Updates on bills – what’s moving forward and what’s not
• Programs for relief and recovery for Oregon individuals and businesses
• Issues specific to your communities where we might help
• Your priorities, questions, comments, and concerns

We host these town halls so that we can stay connected with you, but they are mostly so you have an opportunity to ask us questions, share any concerns, and give input on the bills and issues we talk about.

Questions can be submitted in advance when you register, using Q&A chat during the event, or asked live during the virtual town hall. You can join us via Zoom or watch via my Facebook Page Livestream. If you decide to participate via Zoom, you must register prior to attending the event.

If you have questions you’d like to send along in advance, please feel free to email them to me here at sen.lynnfindley@oregonlegislature.gov and we’ll get them on the list.

As always, if you need more information or have questions, please contact us any time.

Thank you,

Lynn Findley

Senator, District 30