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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I know many are following the ongoing coverage from Minnesota of the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who killed George Floyd last May.
It’s incredibly difficult to again be confronted by the images from that horrific day, and I know this is especially traumatic for our communities of color. The testimony has been emotional, and I know this reopens a lot of wounds.
As legislators here in Oregon continue their work, I’m committed to ensuring we do not lose the resolve to make a difference that so many of us shared in the days following George Floyd’s death. Our country continues to undergo a long overdue reckoning, and I believe the equity lens through which we are approaching this session will make progress on our goals to improve racial justice throughout our state.
I’m happy to say that tonight we took a major step in our efforts to support students and families recovering from the last year of life in the pandemic, with a much-needed focus on equity.
The Oregon House on Thursday night advanced a series of bills to close out the state’s budget for the 2019-21 biennium and invest about $300 million in response to Oregon’s most urgent needs, including funds for summer learning and child care, emergency shelters, and wildfire recovery.
House Bill 5042, which rebalances agency budgets for the 2019-21 biennium, also includes key investments:
- $250 million for a summer learning and child care package to help students and families recover from the educational and emotional losses of the past year living in a global pandemic. The program will create grants for enrichment activities, academic support, child care, and early learning programs. Investments will be made equitably to serve Oregon’s children of color, who have borne a disproportionate impact of the pandemic. Combined with up to about $75 million in federal funds, both in district matching funds and funding for the Employment-Related Day Care Program, as much as $325 million total will be invested in summer learning and child care programs.
- $18 million for low-barrier emergency shelters, known as navigation centers, in Eugene, Salem, Bend, Medford, McMinnville, and Roseburg. These facilities will be open seven days per week to connect homeless individuals and families with health services, permanent housing, and public benefits. More details are available here.
- More than $5 million to support wildfire-impacted communities across the state as they continue their recovery. The funding allocations were developed following 13 hours of public testimony before the House Special Committee on Wildfire Recovery, which will continue working on further legislation and funding needs for these communities.
We have a lot more work ahead this session. But I’m glad that this critical funding is moving forward and will soon be making a real difference for Oregonians across the state.
The legislature’s budget leaders, the Co-Chairs of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, have announced the dates for the 2021 Oregon Budget Virtual Hearings to receive public feedback on how the legislators should balance the state budget and use federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.
Oregonians are encouraged to attend the hearings and offer their views on the state budget for the 2021-23 biennium. The Co-Chairs are particularly interested in hearing how equity can be embedded across the board in both current and new investments.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, these hearings will be conducted virtually, and they are organized by congressional district. Members of the public will be able to submit written testimony, as well as provide live testimony by phone or video during the hearings. Meeting details will soon be posted on the Oregon Legislative Information Site.
The Co-Chairs – Senator Betsy Johnson (D-Scappoose), Senator Elizabeth Steiner Hayward (D-Beaverton), and Representative Dan Rayfield (D-Corvallis) – released their 2021-23 Budget Framework last week. The document serves as a starting point for the 2021-23 budget cycle.
The five dates and times are listed below. Oregonians can find their congressional district here.
- District 1 - Wednesday, April 14, 5:30-7:30 pm
- District 2 - Saturday, April 17, 1:00-3:00 pm
- District 3 - Wednesday, April 21, 5:30-7:30 pm
- District 4 - Thursday, April 22, 5:30-7:30 pm
- District 5 - Saturday, April 24, 1:00-3:00 pm
Last Friday, the Oregon Health Authority once again moved up the state’s vaccine eligibility timeline. Group 7 will be eligible starting this Monday, April 5. That includes frontline workers, people ages 16 to 44 with underlying conditions, and people living in multigenerational homes.
If you haven’t yet received a COVID-19 vaccine, it’s a good idea to sign up here for the Get Vaccinated Oregon (GVO) tool. With more people becoming eligible, the OHA is encouraging everyone who has signed up through the GVO tool and not yet gotten a vaccine to update their information.
- If you’ve signed up for notifications only, please update your information by visiting getvaccinated.oregon.gov and clicking “Get Started.”
- If you created a Get Vaccinated Oregon profile, please visit getvaccinated.oregon.gov and click “Login” in the top right of the page. When you get a pop-up, click the “X” and you’ll be able to login and update your information.
- The GVO tool reflects statewide eligibility only. It does not take into account the counties that have been approved to move ahead of the statewide timeline.
On Wednesday, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) announced that 20 Oregon counties have submitted attestation letters signaling their intention to immediately offer COVID-19 vaccinations to expanded eligibility groups.
Those counties are Benton, Coos, Crook, Deschutes, Douglas, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, Josephine, Klamath, Lake, Lane, Lincoln, Malheur, Marion, Morrow, Sherman, Umatilla, Union and Wheeler.
By attesting to their success in meeting the needs of earlier groups, these counties can now begin vaccinating all individuals listed in Phase 1B, Group 7, ahead of the previously designated statewide start date of April 5.
Lastly, the GVO tool no longer accepts landline phone numbers as a method of contact. There are approximately 200 people in the GVO who registered with a landline as their primary contact and no other way to contact them. Anyone who registered for the GVO with a landline will be contacted for support with vaccine access, if you haven’t already been contacted.
The latest COVID-19 Weekly Report from the Oregon Health Authority can be read in full here. Below are some highlights:
- During Monday, March 22, through Sunday, March 28, 2021, OHA recorded 2,456 new cases of COVID-19 infection, up 28% from last week’s figure and, despite a 10% decrease in testing, the test positivity rose from 2.9 to 3.7%
- Hospitalizations slipped from 139 to 137, and 10 Oregonians died in association with COVID-19, the lowest weekly death count since the week of June 1–7, 2020.
The news about our low rate of deaths is encouraging, especially as more Oregonians continue to get the vaccine. However, let’s remember that hospitalizations and deaths are lagging indicators of virus spread, so let’s not let our guards down – even if you have your first shot and are waiting for your second.
Our test positivity increased and cases are on the rise. Many in the public health community continue to be concerned about a fourth wave. Many continue to deal with the symptoms of “Long COVID” – like fatigue, shortness of breath, concentration and memory challenges, headaches, loss of taste and smell, and more. And this story from Oregon Public Broadcasting shows that wastewater testing in Grants Pass and McMinnville detected instances of the B.1.1.7 variant first detected in the United Kingdom.
We’re going to get through this. Remember how challenging this looked one month ago when demand for vaccines dramatically outpaced our supply? We’re in a much better position now, and I think that trend will continue in the coming months. But as I regularly say, keep your guard up and continue to do everything you can to stay safe as we keep working toward herd immunity.
- The Oregon Health Authority announced 521 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the statewide total of new and presumptive cases to 165,524. The OHA also reported two more deaths, meaning 2,385 Oregonians have died of the coronavirus. As of today, 701,413 Oregonians have been fully vaccinated. There have been 1,853,084 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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