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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
After a challenging year for so many Oregonians, I know this is an incredibly stressful time for renters as the statewide eviction moratorium comes to an end. We all know about the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on low-income families. This is the most unequal recession in American history.
Yesterday, the House unanimously passed Senate Bill 278 to provide a safe harbor from eviction for tenants who have applied for and are waiting on rental assistance after the eviction moratorium expires on June 30. Oregon Public Broadcasting covered the issue here.
The Legislature has worked to prevent evictions caused by the pandemic. In December, we extended the moratorium during a special session. We’ve authorized over $500 million in rental assistance during the 2020 interim. On top of this, I’m proposing a $650 million total housing package for the 2021-23 biennium, including funding for affordable housing and permanent supportive housing, down payment assistance, homeless services, tenant support, and more.
For a few different reasons, there is a backlog in processing applications for rental assistance that many tenants need in order to pay July rent. It would be tragic if, in these final months of the pandemic, people who have applied for rent assistance lost their homes because money didn’t get out the door on time. We can’t allow all the good work we’ve done to keep people in their homes to fall apart now.
Senate Bill 278 will protect tenants from eviction for an additional 60 days if they have submitted documentation to their landlord that they have applied for rent assistance.
If you are a tenant who needs help paying rent, there is still assistance available. You can apply for aid through the Oregon Emergency Rental Assistance Program here.
Additionally, the Landlord Compensation Fund Program provides relief to residential landlords who have been unable to collect tenant rent due to tenants’ financial hardships. The deadline to apply for the fund is next Wednesday, June 23rd. Landlords can apply here.
The Legislature has been in a crisis-response mode since March 2020. As this year’s regular legislative session winds down (our constitutional deadline is June 27), we’re continuing to work hard to continue helping Oregonians impacted by the pandemic, wildfires, systemic racism and other crises.
Here are some highlights from the past week:
The Senate approved House Bill 2001, which I chief sponsored. The bill is a contingency plan that allows districts to retain qualified, more junior teachers during a rare reduction in force. Seniority is an important protection for teachers. We also need a tool to ensure that we achieve a more culturally and linguistically qualified workforce. The bill now heads to the Governor’s desk.
The Senate also passed House Bill 2004 and House Bill 2008.
House Bill 2004 provides another $9.7 million for Project Turnkey to support the acquisition and retrofitting of hotel and motel properties to be used as emergency shelters. Oregon Public Broadcasting covered this here. The Legislature has previously approved $65 million for the program to provide shelter for individuals experiencing homelessness and Oregonians displaced by the 2020 wildfires.
House Bill 2008 streamlines how religious organizations can use their property to build affordable housing and allows them to maintain their property tax exemption if they do so. In my district, 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 were only able to break ground in January 2021. The bill will clear the path for other religious organizations – many of whom own acres of land that can be converted to housing – to help provide more affordable housing in communities across the state.
Additionally, the House passed House Bill 2100. As Oregon Public Broadcasting notes here, the bill would rewrite state law on how dollars for emergency housing assistance are allocated and require agencies to employ an equity lens in their distribution. We also passed Senate Bill 8 to help facilitate the development of affordable housing.
At a district level, I was pleased to see Senate Bill 803 head to the Governor’s desk after passing the House and that House Bill 3372 has been signed into law. Senate Bill 803 aims to stop the theft of catalytic converters and House Bill 3372 will help ensure chronic violators of state environmental laws do not continue to operate.
On the wildfire recovery front, Governor Brown has signed House Bill 3272 to give Oregonians who were displaced the time they need to rebuild without losing insurance coverage, which KDRV covers here.
The session’s final week will be focused on passing the last budget bills and other important bills. Thanks to the recent strong revenue forecast and federal relief funding, I’m excited about the transformative investments coming to help Oregonians. Oregon Public Broadcasting has a preview here of a historic behavioral health funding package. Stay tuned for more on housing, wildfire recovery and prevention, and equity investments.
My office has received quite a few emails expressing concern about House Bill 3115, which I introduced this session and is now awaiting Governor Brown’s signature. The Associated Press covered the bill here. Unfortunately, there has been some misinformation about what the bill does, so hopefully I can explain things a little better.
House Bill 3115 is one piece of a broader conversation about homelessness and housing resources. The bill simply says that individuals experiencing homelessness are protected from fines or arrest for sleeping or camping on public property when there are no other options.
The bill neither requires nor prohibits camping. It also doesn’t ban sweeps. However, my hope is that the bill will lead to a decrease in the use of sweeps because it requires local governments to refocus on where, when and how people can survive in public space. It also will lead to deeper conversations about real solutions like permanent affordable housing, support services, transitional housing, and more.
It’s hard to overstate how destabilizing and dangerous sweeps can be. When people experiencing homelessness are perpetually moved from spaces they have chosen to seek safety, survival and community, it just makes their lives more painful and complicated.
My hope is that local governments that have not yet reckoned with the Boise court decision that prompted the bill 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.
Homelessness and the housing crisis are among the most difficult challenges of our time. Solving this crisis will take time and a number of creative and innovative solutions. I also believe we must lean into these conversations with compassion and empathy in order to make progress.
Here are the highlights from the latest COVID-19 Weekly Report by the Oregon Health Authority, which can be read in full here.
- During Monday, June 7, through Sunday, June 13, 2021, OHA recorded 1,780 new cases of COVID-19 infection, up 3.2% from the previous week’s figure.
- 152 Oregonians with COVID-19 were hospitalized this week, up from 112 last week.
- 36 Oregonians died in association with COVID-19, up from 20 last week.
This week, Governor Brown announced the latest updates to statewide county risk levels.
High Risk (9): Columbia, Crook, Douglas, Jefferson, Klamath, Linn, Malheur, Marion, Umatilla
Moderate Risk (5): Harney, Jackson, Josephine, Polk, Yamhill
Lower Risk (22): Baker, Benton, Clatsop, Clackamas, Coos, Curry, Deschutes, Gilliam, Grant, Hood River, Lake, Lane, Lincoln, Morrow, Multnomah, Sherman, Tillamook, Union, Wallowa, Wasco, Washington, Wheeler
KGW reports here that the only individuals who contract COVID-19 and get so sick they need to be hospitalized are those who are unvaccinated. Every death from this virus is a tragedy. But it’s especially heartbreaking when there is a readily available way to prevent deaths by getting vaccinated. I worry about the morale of our frontline health care workers who continue to fight the virus when they know vaccine doses are going to waste and the state recently broke its six-week streak of declining cases.
Oregon is getting very close to achieving its reopening target of a 70% statewide adult vaccination rate. We’re now less than 56,000 shots away from that goal. We can get there! The vaccine is safe, effective, and the best way to prevent against COVID-19.
Go here to find a place to get a vaccine.
Finally, I was really frustrated to read this story from The Lund Report this week that noted the vaccination rates for Oregon Health Plan members in many rural parts of the state is only 25% to 30%, compared to nearly 70% for adult Oregonians statewide. Oregon Health Authority data also shows that vaccine disparities continue along racial and ethnic lines. If we are going to recover from all of this together, we need to work harder to ensure all Oregonians, in all communities, have the protection they need.
Last week, the Oregon House of Representatives voted to expel Representative Mike Nearman from the Legislature for his role in coordinating and executing a breach of the Oregon State Capitol last December by armed rioters during a special session focused on COVID-19 relief. The vote to expel was bipartisan (59-1).
Below is my full statement on this vote:
“The Oregon House of Representatives has taken the unprecedented step of expelling one of its members. Elected leaders must be held to the highest possible standard. The facts are clear that Mr. Nearman unapologetically coordinated and planned a breach of the Oregon State Capitol. His actions were blatant and deliberate, and he has shown no remorse for jeopardizing the safety of every person in the Capitol that day. Given the extraordinary circumstances, this was the only reasonable path forward. Safety – for the public, building employees, legislators and their staff – continues to be my top priority in managing this extraordinary session.”
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The Oregonian reports here on the success of the $100 gift card incentive for Oregonians to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Oregon Zoo is offering free passes for COVID-19 vaccinations, Willamette Week reports here.
- The Oregon Health Authority announced 315 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the statewide total of new and presumptive cases to 299,074. The OHA also reported five more deaths, meaning 2,750 Oregonians have died of the coronavirus. As of today, more than 2 million Oregonians have been fully vaccinated. There have been more than 4.2 million 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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