Weekly Update: Session Progress, More Rent Assistance

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House Speaker Tina Kotek

Weekly Update: Session Progress, More Rent Assistance

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

We’re now in the final month of the 2021 session, and legislators are hard at work to complete the people’s work by this year’s constitutional deadline of June 27. To start off this newsletter, I’d like to highlight some notable developments from the week on some of the session’s top priorities.

But first, a brief update about how we’re faring in the pandemic. The latest COVID-19 Weekly Report notes that we’ve had five consecutive weeks of cases declining statewide. Hospitalizations decreased 15% from the previous week and were at a six-week low.

If you’ve gotten the vaccine, thank you for helping contribute to these really encouraging trends. The pandemic isn’t over yet, and many more Oregonians still need to get vaccinated. The Oregon Health Authority announced this week that were 16,097 cases of COVID-19 in May, and 98% of these cases were among Oregonians who were unvaccinated. The vaccines work, and COVID-19 vaccines are all highly effective at preventing severe COVID-19 illness and death.

The efforts of so many have made us all safer, so let’s keep going!

If you or someone you know who is 12 years or older still needs the vaccine, here is where you can find appointments.


Session Highlights for the Week

This week, Governor Brown signed House Bill 2009 into law, thereby reinstating the moratorium on foreclosures during the pandemic emergency. The Oregonian has more details here.

The Governor also signed Senate Bill 554, the landmark gun violence prevention legislation that requires the safe storage of firearms and allows public buildings to establish gun-free policies. The Associated Press has more information here.

And also on the housing front, Senate Bill 79 was signed into law to allow for grants and technical assistance to organizations working to increase homeownership access for low-income individuals and people of color. Homeownership rates are significantly lower for communities of color in Oregon and this is one step legislators are taking to address this disparity.

Oregon Public Broadcasting has a thorough rundown here of police accountability bills that started in the House and passed the Senate this week, including House Bill 3164. This is the bill to reform the interfering with a peace officer charge in order to prevent unjustifiable arrests that disproportionately impact communities of color and people experiencing homelessness, as The Oregonian detailed here last year.

From a district perspective, House Bill 3372 is now on its way to the Governor. The bill clarifies the Department of Environmental Quality’s authority to hold the most egregious violators of our environmental laws accountable during the agency’s permitting processes. I was angered to learn today that NW Metals, which caused the five-alarm fire in the Cully neighborhood in 2018, is already out of compliance with its air permit. These are the kind of chronic violators that should not be permitted to operate in our state.

Lastly, yesterday the House voted to approve a $9.3 billion State School Fund budget, the largest K-12 budget in Oregon history. The bill is now headed to the Governor’s desk. This historic investment is in addition to several other sources of funding that will ensure we’re meeting the needs of our children, including the Student Success Act for another $2 billion next biennium and the $250 million summer learning package approved earlier in the session, which The Oregonian covered here.


SSF

More Assistance Available for Tenants and Landlords

The legislature has pushed hard to utilize state and federal dollars to stabilize tenants and landlords during the pandemic. This financial support has complimented new laws to suspend evictions and offer grace periods for paying back rent. More information about the eviction moratorium can be found here.

There are two main financial programs to help right now – the Oregon Rental Assistance Program and the Landlord Compensation Fund.

The Oregon Emergency Rental Assistance Program is accepting applications for renters with financial need. This program is not a loan, which means those who receive assistance will not have to pay back funds so long as they are used as approved and not duplicating other assistance programs. Assistance is offered to all eligible renters regardless of their citizenship or immigration status, and it will not impact the recipient’s eligibility for other federally funded programs such as food stamps or public housing.


Emergency Housing

The final funding round of the Oregon Landlord Compensation Fund opened on Tuesday. This means that at least $60 million in assistance is still available to cover rent owed by tenants that was accrued from April 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021. Landlords are encouraged to apply for funding by Friday, June 18. All funds must be awarded by the end of the month. More details on are available here in a press release from Oregon Housing and Community Services


LCF

County Risk Levels and Vaccine Rates

Governor Brown updated county risk levels throughout the state, which will be in effect from Friday, June 4, through Thursday, June 10. Full public health guidance based on county risk level can be found here.

High Risk (13): Clackamas, Columbia, Crook, Douglas, Jackson, Jefferson, Josephine, Klamath, Linn, Malheur, Marion, Umatilla, Yamhill

Moderate Risk (4): Coos, Lane (moved from High). Polk (moved from High), Wasco

Lower Risk (19): Baker, Benton, Clatsop (moved from Moderate), Curry, Deschutes. Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Hood River, Lake, Lincoln, Morrow, Multnomah, Sherman, Tillamook, Union, Wallowa, Washington, Wheeler

Counties that vaccinate at least 65% of their adult residents with at least one dose and submit documentation on how they will close equity gaps in their vaccination efforts are eligible to move to the Lower Risk level.

As of June 3, Oregon had achieved a 66.2% vaccination rate for individuals 18 and older, with 127,308 more people needing to receive a first dose to reach 70%.

Today, Governor Brown announced the steps the state will take to lift COVID-19 health and safety restrictions and fully reopen the economy after 70% of all Oregonians 18 and older have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

  • Oregon’s Risk Level framework, including all county-based metrics and health and safety restrictions, will be lifted. This includes mask, physical distancing, and capacity limit requirements.
  • The state will not require masks and face coverings in almost all settings, with some exceptions following federal guidance, including airports, public transit, and health care settings.
  • Because the same mask and social distancing rules will apply for all individuals—vaccinated or unvaccinated—vaccine verification will not be necessary.
  • It will still be strongly recommended that unvaccinated individuals and other vulnerable individuals continue to wear masks and practice other health and safety measures to stay safe from COVID-19.

County Vaccination Rates 060421

Unemployment Benefits Update

The law requires that people getting regular unemployment insurance (UI) benefits must look for work. These requirements were paused during the pandemic but are now being phased back in.

Oregon’s work search requirements for UI applicants are:

  • Register and complete a job seeker profile in iMatchSkills.org.
  • Report work-seeking activities on your weekly unemployment claims.
  • Have a Welcome Conversation with a WorkSource Oregon staff member.

Everyone getting regular UI benefits is required to report work-seeking activities by July 31. If you do not report work-seeking activities on your weekly claim that week, your benefits will stop.

The deadlines to register in iMatchSkills and have your Welcome Conversation are happening on a rolling basis. If you’ve been receiving benefits, you should be getting a letter with your deadlines.

If you have any questions about this process, the Oregon Employment Department is hosting a webinar on next Thursday, June 10 at 1 pm. The agency will provide more in-depth information on what you need to know regarding work search requirements. The webinar will be simultaneously interpreted in Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, and Cantonese. You can register here for the webinar.


OED Work Search Webinar 6-4-21

The Latest News

  • The Oregon Department of Education told the House Subcommittee on COVID-19 this week that the plan for the next school year is to have students back in person full time. The department is slated to have its final fall guidance for schools by July 22. Oregon Public Broadcasting has more details here.
  • I’m excited to see that the Oregon Department of Transportation and the City of Portland have come together on a plan to improve 82nd Avenue and transfer the state highway to the City’s control, as Willamette Week reported here. Kudos to Representative Khanh Pham who has strongly advocated for better transportation safety in her district. We’ve been pushing for safety improvements on 82nd Avenue this session, and I’ll continue working to ensure the state provides the funding to make this plan a reality.
  • The Oregon Health Authority announced 436 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the statewide total of new and presumptive cases to 202,675. The OHA also reported three more deaths, meaning 2,686 Oregonians have died of the coronavirus. As of today, nearly 1.9 million Oregonians have been fully vaccinated. There have been nearly 4 million total doses administered.

OHA COVID-19 Update 060421.JPG

OHA COVID-19 7-Day Average 060421.JPG

OHA COVID-19 Hospital Capacity 060421.JPG

OHA COVID-19 Vaccine Update 060421.JPG

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

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