Legislative Update: A Session Unlike Any Other

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House Speaker Tina Kotek

Legislative Update: A Session Unlike Any Other

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Last Saturday, we closed the book on a legislative session unlike any other in our state’s history.

Mirroring what all Oregonians have been facing, we worked hard to find solutions to significant crises. We came into the session with the goal of prioritizing pandemic relief, wildfire recovery, the housing crisis, our inadequate behavioral health system, and pushing for more equitable policing and a fairer criminal justice system. When I look at the full scope of what we were able to accomplish for our state and the future, it makes me proud to be an Oregonian.

There’s more below on the session highlights and about a few things left undone. It’s a long newsletter, so thanks for reading!

But first, the latest update on the pandemic.


We Got Through This Together

Since March 2020, I’ve ended these newsletters with the same sentence: We will get through this together.

And we have. Thank you.

Today, Governor Brown announced the lifting of all remaining state COVID-19 health and safety restrictions. The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has withdrawn the facial covering and physical distancing requirements for all workplaces, except for certain locations like health care, public transit, and airport services.

I want to give credit to every Oregonian who has made sacrifices over the last 15+ months to stop the spread and keep each other safe. This includes getting vaccinated! Oregon has the third-lowest number of reported cases per 100,000 residents among all 50 states, according to The Washington Post, which also has us 12th among all states for percentage of population that is fully vaccinated.

None of this would have been possible without our collective efforts to vaccinate over 2.3 million Oregonians.

The lifting of the remaining restrictions does not mean the pandemic is completely behind us. Thousands of Oregonians have died or gotten seriously ill, and that will take time to heal. There are still some people getting sick and dying. Of those dying from COVID-19 now, hospitals are saying 98% of them are not vaccinated. As of today, we are just over 16,000 adult Oregonians away from crossing the 70% vaccination rate threshold. We must keep the public health effort going!


Vaccine Tracker

While masks are no longer required in almost all public spaces, please show consideration for anyone who elects to continue wearing one. Masks are still among the best ways to prevent transmission among people who are unvaccinated or protect yourself if you have a compromised immune system.

Let’s not forget the ongoing inequities that the pandemic continues to expose. We all know how the recession has hit low-income workers especially hard. Data continues to show that vaccination rates are disproportionately lower for Black and Hispanic Oregonians. More must be done in the coming months to close these gaps. If you or a loved one is still not vaccinated, I encourage you to get vaccinated as soon as you can. It’s the most effective way to stop the virus and ensure that the state stays open. For more information on getting a vaccine, visit covidvaccine.oregon.gov.

I hope this newsletter has provided a measure of comfort as a consistent source of accurate information you could rely on during the long months we faced together. There have been days when we’ve all struggled to face the next day. My team and I have appreciated the feedback, notes of thanks, and other information this newsletter has prompted. Your kindness has helped us get through some of the tougher moments of the last 15 months.

In light of the reopening, the frequency of my newsletter will be reduced. Plus, my team deserves some needed time off this summer. As always, thank you all for reading.


A Successful Session for Oregonians

The 2021 Regular Session of the 81st Oregon Legislative Assembly concluded on June 26, a day before our constitutional deadline. Begun at the height of the pandemic, the session took on multiple crises and concluded with historic investments and transformative legislation that will guide the state to a strong recovery and an equitable future.

To keep people safe, we conducted all committee meetings virtually. Public participation reached new levels with the convenience of testifying by phone or video. The Legislature’s nonpartisan staff worked wonders, improving things as the months progressed.

We followed strict COVID-19 workplace protocols inside the Capitol. And while we had a few reported positive cases that required us to temporarily suspend some activities, no one working inside the Capitol (or their family members, that I’m aware) required hospitalization or died from the virus. We were not able to restore broader public access to the Capitol during the session because Marion County never reached lower risk status.

Finally, we didn’t let partisan politics derail the session. In fact, House members came together in a 59-1 vote earlier this month to expel a member who had endangered Capitol staff when he intentionally allowed violent protesters into the building last December. Despite the occasional tension or disagreement, legislators figured out how to work together to deliver for their communities and the state as a whole. We can all take pride in that.

And now on to some highlights.


$765 Million to Address Housing and Homelessness

I have been determined to not let our state repeat the mistakes of the Great Recession. Since last year, my colleagues and I have fought to keep Oregonians housed through a combination of compassionate policy and sound investments.

We entered this session with clear goals: increase the state’s supply of affordable housing, support Oregonians experiencing homelessness, prevent evictions and foreclosures, and reduce housing disparities for communities of color. By the end of session, the Legislature approved a combined $765 million dollars for affordable housing and permanent supportive housing, down payment assistance, homeless services, tenant support, and more.

While the work we’ve done has provided more stability for Oregonians, we’ll need to maintain a crisis mindset going forward as we continue to work to solve the state’s housing crisis.

Read the full list of housing accomplishments here.


$600 Million to Wildfire Recovery and Prevention

The Labor Day wildfires of 2020 were the most destructive in state history. They burned over one million acres and destroyed more than 4,000 homes in the Cascades, central coast, and southern regions of the state. Recognizing that climate change will only increase the length and severity of Oregon’s fire seasons moving forward, Governor Brown and legislative leaders made wildfire recovery and prevention one of the top priorities for the 2021 legislative session.

We set new standards for how the state must respond when wildfires devastate any of our communities, and we also started to chart a new course for smarter prevention and mitigation strategies. The Legislature approved more than $600 million to support communities impacted by the September 2020 wildfires, mitigate the effects of future wildfires, and increase community resilience.

Read the full list of wildfire-related accomplishments here.


Criminal Justice and Policing Reform

Listening to the many Oregonians who demanded reform of policing and our criminal justice system, the Legislature responded by passing more than two dozen policy bills and funding new programs to begin transforming these systems to ensure greater accountability and justice for communities of color.

Transforming how law enforcement operates in Oregon will not happen overnight, nor will behaviors change simply because we pass good legislation. Yet, we can strengthen accountability and give clear direction for the changes we want to see. These bills were long overdue, and we anticipate more work ahead in next year’s session.

Read the full list of policing and criminal justice reform accomplishments here.


Big Wins for the Environment

The climate crisis continued to drive many of our discussions this session. The Legislature adopted one of the country’s most ambitious timelines for eliminating carbon emissions from the power grid with the passage of House Bill 2021. The bill outlines the path to 100% clean electricity by 2040 and includes a $50 million investment to jumpstart more community renewable projects in Oregon.


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We also passed Senate Bill 582 which strengthens Oregon’s outdated recycling program by establishing statewide recycling rates for plastics and recycling contamination reduction goals, and requiring large producers of packaging, paper products, and food service ware to help fund the expansion of recycling services. Oregon Public Broadcasting reported on the bill here.


Education: Strong Budgets and Advancing Equity

Legislators passed strong ongoing budgets for schools, community colleges, and universities, including the biggest K-12 State School Fund in Oregon history at $9.3 billion and a $30 million increase for college financial assistance through the Oregon Opportunity Grant. Preschool and child care programs also saw significant boosts.

Education equity was a particular focus this session. Two highlights are:

  • House Bill 2001, which retains seniority during layoffs and also ensures we can retain teachers whose expertise reflects the lived experience of their students.
  • House Bill 2166, which includes support to reduce suspensions and expulsions of children in early learning settings. These suspensions and expulsions have disproportionately impacted Black, Indigenous and People of Color communities.

Helping Our Communities Heal

The health of Oregonians has been severely impacted by the pandemic, and our systems of support have not adequately met the need. To make progress, we invested $470 million in behavioral health to expand access to mental health and addiction services, as well as grow and diversify our state’s behavioral health workforce.

For more details on the behavioral health investments, go here.

We also focused on increasing access to health care, including expanded eligibility for the Oregon Health Plan and more access to telehealth services and language translation. On the “Cover All People” effort, the Statesman Journal covered the bill here.


Cover All People

Supporting Economic Recovery

Highlights for small business recovery include:

  • House Bill 3389, which provides businesses impacted by the pandemic with $2.4 billion of unemployment insurance relief over the next decade while keeping the state unemployment insurance trust fund among the most solvent in the nation.
  • House Bill 2966, which provides a grace period for commercial tenants until September 30 to catch up on back rent.

And highlights for workers and their families include:

  • House Bill 3073, which responds to the state’s child care crisis and provides immediate and long-term relief to the state’s most vulnerable families in need of child care. The Oregonian has more information here on the work completed this session to improve access to more affordable child care and preschool.
  • House Bill 2474, which expands eligibility for protected leave under the Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA).
  • Senate Bill 800, which will allow workers in long-term care facilities to access health insurance.
  • Senate Bill 483, which protects workers who are retaliated against after raising a workplace health or safety concern.

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District Priorities

While I believe most everything I work on helps my constituents in one way or the other, there are always a few bills related to district concerns:

  • House Bill 3372 (the “NW Metals bill”), which clarifies that the Department of Environmental Quality has the authority to hold the most egregious violators of our environmental laws accountable by refusing to issue a permit for those violators. Willamette Week covered the bill here when it was introduced in March.
  • House Bill 2008 (the “Portsmouth Union bill”), which streamlines the process for religious institutions to develop affordable housing on their property and helps them maintain their property tax exemption if they do so. You can read my testimony here about the attempts to do this by our North Portland friends at Portsmouth Union.
  • Senate Bill 803, which requires scrap metal businesses to purchase used catalytic converters only from legitimate businesses in order to cut down on the theft of these parts from people’s cars. The Oregonian covered this bill here.

Closing Reflections

On a final note, tomorrow will see another increase in Oregon’s minimum wage. This time to $14 an hour for Portland area workers. As The Oregonian reported here, the wage floor in the Portland area will have climbed by more than 50% in the last five years, which means nearly $10,000 more annually for a full-time worker earning the Portland area’s higher minimum wage.

Increasing the minimum wage was my top priority as Speaker five years ago. The Legislature’s actions during the 2016 short session – while not everything I wanted – has led to wage growth year after year for essential workers across the state.

The pandemic has reminded us that we need to do more to reduce income inequalities and other disparities so we can all be healthier together. That’s why these items that didn’t get done this year are at the top of my list of “unfinished business” for the 2022 session:

  • Reducing unnecessary and potentially dangerous interactions between law enforcement and BIPOC Oregonians or individuals experiencing a mental health crisis.
  • Paying Oregon agricultural workers overtime like Washington State will start doing next year.
  • Ensuring access to legal representation for Oregonians dealing with immigration matters.
  • Supporting essential workers through the economic recovery.

I hope you’ll join me in these efforts.

Thank you for reading.

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