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The Legislature is finally ramping up floor sessions and slowly moving some bills. It's the "people's work" and it's what we're here to do. But it is still disappointing to see the lack of priority for the actual needs of our people.
The Republican Representatives have upheld the Constitutional need to "read bills" in their entirety before voting on them – trying to leverage one of our procedural "tools" to force the Legislature as a whole to reevaluate our priorities, and to work collaboratively towards real solutions for our communities' needs. Not simply rushing through everything, business as usual.
As a result, we haven't seen a shift towards the important policy discussions happening, nor prioritizing important legislation to fit the time we have available to work bills. Instead, we have been scheduled for nearly 20 hours of floor session next week alone, with the addition of evening sessions Monday through Thursday. But that's okay, we aren't giving up pushing for the needs of our people!
There are lots of important discussions to be had, including how to allocate Oregon's $2.6 Billion from the America Rescue Plan. I believe in doing the "people's work" and look forward to finally tackling the critical needs of our communities.
 My first "bill carry" on the House floor – an agency bill I was assigned to adjust loan limits for small businesses. Not a bad bill, but not tackling the critical needs of our communities either.
This weekend representatives from Marion County, ODOT, and other wildfire recovery partners will be available to answer questions that residents have on recovery efforts in their area. Details for Detroit and Gates are below.
This week Congress gave final approval to a third stimulus relief package. This is a $1.9 trillion rescue package that provides payments to qualifying individuals of up to $1,400 with payments to a qualifying family of 4 of up to $5,600. Payments start to decline for an individual once adjusted gross income exceeds $75,000 and goes to zero once income hits $80,000. For married couples, the payment starts declining when income exceeds $150,000 and goes to zero when adjusted gross income reaches $160,000. |
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More information will soon be made available through the IRS at: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment
Travel Oregon has announced their Competitive & Recovery Grants Program. The grant program provides funding for projects that work to enhance the visitor experience over both the short and long-term, with an emphasis on outdoor, distanced, and COVID-19 safe experiences. See the list of eligible project types in the full guidelines. Both nonprofit and for-profit businesses may apply. Applications open 3/15 for a two-week application period.
For more information on getting vaccinated, please use the resources below.
To view previous newsletters, please visit my website.
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1417
Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, H-378, Salem, OR 97301
Email: Rep.JamiCate@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/cate
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