|
If you're having trouble viewing this message, please visit my legislative web page at http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/prozanski/, click on "News" in the lower left-hand column and scroll down.
Dear friends,
As COVID-19 cases begin to ease slightly, it remains essential that we all continue to do our part to combat this surge and prevent another. We can accomplish this together by getting vaccinated (booster doses are now available to some groups), masking up, social-distancing and frequently washing hands.
Last month, Governor Brown called the Legislature in to special session for the once-a-decade task of redistricting. For only the third time since 1911, we successfully passed state legislative and congressional maps. The new maps are fair, representative, meet the highest of legal standards and incorporate feedback from Oregonians across the state. The maps followed 2020 census data to protect the constitutional requirement of one person, one vote. For a summary of the redistricting process, I encourage you to read Senator Kathleen Taylor's and Representative Andrea Salinas' opinion piece in The Oregonian. (Senator Taylor and Representative Salinas chaired the Senate and House committees on redistricting, respectfully.) You can also access the work of the redistricting committees at their dedicated webpage.
Under the approved redistricting plan, boundaries of many legislative districts will change significantly due to increases and shifts in population over the past 10 years. Senate District 4 (SD 4), which I have the privilege to represent, will shift from an urban-rural district that presently includes large portions of rural Douglas and Lane counties to a more urban district exclusively in Lane County with the bulk of the district including a larger portion of Eugene and all of Springfield. SD 4 will effectively become an urban district.
The newly drawn districts reflect a need to enlarge legislative districts in Oregon's south to ensure that all legislative districts are equally sized. Basically, all southern districts lost population over the past 10 years and their lines had to move north, thus causing other districts to also move north to maintain equal representation. I plan to run for re-election in SD 4. In the meantime, I will continue to represent current constituents of SD 4 until the new district lines become effective in January 2023.
As mentioned in earlier e-bulletins, part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that Congress passed last spring included substantial funding to Oregon for local community investments. Each representative was allocated $2 million and each senator $4 million to support specific projects in and around their districts. I received dozens of requests from local governments and nonprofits for assistance using these funds. Distribution of funds is expected to begin this month. I was able to support the following projects in Senate District 4, among others, by pooling resources with fellow legislators to extend the reach of federal ARPA dollars:
Lane County
Projects funded via "pooling" of allocated funds with seven other Eugene-Springfield area legislators include:
- FOOD for Lane County
- Lane County Mobile Crisis response
- SquareOne Village –– Peace Village affordable housing
Project funded via pooling of allocated ARPA funds with Rep. Paul Holvey (HD 8*):
- Lane Fire Authority –– western Lane County fire response
Projects funded via pooling of allocated ARPA funds with Rep. Cedric Hayden (HD 7*):
- Vida McKenzie Community Center –– rebuilding after the Holiday Farm fire
- McKenzie School District –– gym roof replacement
- Family Relief Nursery –– South Lane (also serving Drain)
Douglas County
Projects funded via pooling of allocated ARPA funds with Rep. Cedric Hayden (HD 7*):
- UCAN –– new walk-in freezer for donated frozen foods and kitchen remodel
- Douglas County Fire District No. 2 –– fire engine replacement
- NeighborWorks Umpqua –– secure temporary housing for crime victims
- Glide Revitalization –– operational funds and financial assistance to families impacted by the Archie Creek Fire
- UCC –– vocational training scholarship for long-haul trucking program
Separately, I secured $50,000 to assist the City of Sutherlin in repairing Main Street from road damage caused by large truck traffic during fire response and recovery efforts. The Oregon Department of Administrative Services expects to distribute allocated ARPA funds this fall.
*(HD 7 & HD 8 are the two house districts that make up SD 4. Each senate district is comprised of two contiguous house districts.)
Click here to listen to my most recent interview (9/22/21) with Kyle Bailey on KQEN's "Inside Douglas County." He and I discussed redistricting and events in Salem.
Below you will find information on:
- 2021 Session Accomplishments: Supporting Workers & Local Businesses
- Wildfire Survivor Outreach Campaign
- Scam Alert: Fake Job Postings
- Presidential Scholars Program: Nominations Requested
- Pedestrian Bicycle Strategic Funding Program Online Open House
- Communities in Senate District 4 Receive State Funding Awards
- Halloween Traffic Safety Tips
I hope this information is helpful and informative for you or someone you know. As always, feel free to share your comments, questions or concerns with me by phone, mail or e-mail.
2021 Session Accomplishments: Supporting Workers & Local Businesses
Beginning with this e-bulletin, I'm sharing in-depth summaries of bills passed during the 2021 Legislative Session by subject area. Below is a comprehensive listing of accomplishments related to supporting workers and local businesses — by Senate/House bill and in numerical order:
Senate Bills
SB 483 - Ending Retaliation in the Workplace: This legislation protects workers who speak out against health, harassment or other applicable violations in the workplace. SB 483 creates a rebuttable presumption that a firing or demoting of an employee that happens within 60 days of the employee engaging in a protected activity such as whistleblowing was a retaliatory action. If the employment action happens after 60 days, there is no such presumption.
SB 493 - Prevailing Wage: This legislation ensures that Oregonians working in trades will be paid a fair wage. Under the current system, a prevailing wage for a given trade and region is set through a complicated process and a rate determined in a collective bargaining agreement only prevails as the required pay if it represents 50 percent or more of the current rate. SB 493 requires that the prevailing wage always be set based on the relevant collective bargaining agreement. When there is more than one applicable CBA, the higher rate will become the prevailing wage.
SB 582 - Recycling Modernization: This legislation overhauls and modernizes Oregon's recycling system. SB 582 create Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) and requires producers to pay into the system. The Environmental Quality Commission will establish a waste prevention and reuse fee to be charged to PROs. This fee may not exceed 10 percent of the three-year average of the organization's annual expenditures. It also directs the Department of Environmental Quality to develop statewide recycling contamination reduction goals, and to evaluate the cost effectiveness of different methods for reducing contamination. The measure also establishes the Oregon Recycling System Advisory Council, to advise DEQ and producer responsibility programs. The Council is to report to the interim committees of the Legislative Assembly related to the environment no later than September 15 of each even-numbered year, on recommendations made. Additionally, this measure establishes the Truth in Labeling Task Force to study and evaluate misleading claims about recyclability of products. Finally, DEQ is directed to develop a uniform statewide collection and create facilities to address commingled recycling products.
SB 762 - Wildfire Prevention and Response ($150m investment): This legislation represents Oregon's omnibus wildfire prevention and response bill. SB 762 is landmark legislation that makes a variety of policy changes and critical investments. It directs the development of a statewide, publicly available, map of wildfire risk incorporating information such as risk classes. It will also develop community-driven wildfire prevention applications and create new defensible space standards. SB 762 includes a workforce development component with a youth corps training program and increases firefighter capacity. The bill also creates an advisory council, provides for air purification systems for populations vulnerable to smoke, and directs utility systems to adapt to more extreme and frequent wildfires
House Bills
HB 2021 – 100 Percent Clean Energy: This legislation sets Oregon on the path to using 100 percent renewable energy by 2040, double the previous standard established by the Legislature in 2016 of 50 percent by 2040. HB 2021 sets new incremental clean energy goals to reach 80 percent by 2030 and 90 percent by 2035. It invests in community small-scale renewable projects and encourages employment of women, veterans and BIPOC Oregonians. It also includes labor standards for those Oregonians who work on these projects, thus spurring economic and community growth while reducing our reliance on unsustainable resources.
HB 2266 - Small Business Recovery Funds: This legislation directs the Oregon Business Development Department to create and implement the Disadvantaged and Emerging Small Business Loan program. HB 2266 appropriates $20 million from the general fund for this purpose.
Wildfire Survivor Outreach Campaign
To continue supporting survivors of the September 2020 wildfires, the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) has been tasked with developing a Wildfire Survivor Outreach plan. After developing a campaign and engaging county and tribal emergency managers, DHS announced the campaign will be launching this month in Douglas, Lincoln and Marion counties. To support success for all concerned, the campaign is beginning with a "soft launch" in counties with the best disaster case manager to survivor ratios. The campaign will expand to the other counties impacted by the 2020 wildfires as disaster case managers being hired under the FEMA grant are able to meet the need.
This is a call-to-action campaign. It urges survivors to call the Oregon Department of Human Services' wildfire survivor toll-free number at 1-833-669-0554 for support and to access resources at https://wildfire.oregon.gov. Those eligible for wildfire survivor support will be referred and assigned to a disaster case manager, who will help them navigate recovery. The outreach campaign includes a flyer; ads in print, social media, and other digital spaces; and, where available, transit and billboard ads.
Scam Alert: Fake Job Postings
The Oregon Department of Justice has learned of fake job postings created by "scraping" legitimate websites, such as LinkedIn, that substitute false information and embed links which lead to website(s) used to harvest personally identifiable information. By posing as a legitimate recruitment site, scammers then collect personally identifiable information from unsuspecting individuals which is then sold.
Please be cautious if you receive unsolicited job announcements. To protect yourself from fake job scams, review these tips:
- Conduct a web search of the hiring company using the company name only. Results that return multiple websites for the same company (abccompany.com and abccompanyllc.com) may indicate fraudulent job listings.
- Legitimate companies will ask for personally identifiable information and bank account information for payroll purposes after hiring. This information is safer to give in-person. If in-person contact is not possible, a video call with the potential employer can confirm identity, especially if the company has a directory against which to compare employee photos.
- Never send money to someone you meet online, especially by wire transfer.
- Never provide credit card information to an employer.
- Never provide bank account information to employers without verifying their identity.
- Do not accept any job offers that ask you to use your own bank account to transfer their money. A legitimate company will not ask you to do this.
- Never share your Social Security number or other personal identifiable information that can be used to access your accounts with someone who does not need to know this information.
- Before entering personal identifiable information online, make sure the website is secure by looking at the address bar. The address should begin with https://, not http://.
For more information on how to avoid phishing scams, review the tips in this helpful one-pager. If you have been a victim of a fake job listing, please file a complaint online at www.oregonconsumer.gov or call the Oregon Attorney General's Consumer Hotline at 1-877-877-9393.
Presidential Scholars Program: Nominations Requested
The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) is currently seeking nominations for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program. The program's mission is to recognize and honor outstanding high school seniors and thereby encourage high attainment among all students. Under the executive order establishing the Presidential Scholars Program, students are selected based on outstanding scholarship.
This year, ODE may submit the names of up to 20 students, 10 male and 10 female, for the general component of the program. All high school seniors graduating between January and June of 2022 who are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents, who attend public, parochial, or independent schools, as well as those who are home-schooled, are eligible. Superintendents, principals, school counselors, and teachers can suggest a student for nomination by completing this form.
If you know of an outstanding senior in your school or district who demonstrates outstanding scholarship, but who might not otherwise be nominated through the current SAT/ACT or Arts recognition processes, you are encouraged to submit their name to ODE. All student nomination forms are due no later than Friday, October 15. Selected nominees will be announced and invited to apply in mid-January 2022 by the U.S. Presidential Scholars program office.
To learn more about the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program and the Commission on Presidential Scholars please visit the website.
Pedestrian Bicycle Strategic Funding Program Online Open House
Earlier this year, the Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) approved an increase of $55 million for pedestrian and bicycle projects in the 2024-2027 Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan. The money is dedicated to addressing critical gaps for walking and biking on the state system. At least $10 million will be used to improve walking and biking access to schools.
Over the last several months, OTC staff has been analyzing data to find the most beneficial projects throughout the state. They developed a list of projects using a tool called the Active Transportation Needs Inventory (ATNI) that uses data such as essential destinations, household income, existing conditions, and crash risk factors to identify high need locations. It supports improving safe and equitable access to active and public transportation.
The program primarily focuses on the top 10 percent of priority locations as identified in the ATNI and the top 20 percent for Safe Routes to School projects in communities under 5,000 in population.
Consider taking the survey to let OTC know what you think about the projects in your community, which projects would have the most impact on you, what concerns you have and what improvements you think would be most helpful. They'll use this insight to help guide the project development process and provide information to the ODOT scoping teams about the user experience.
Please visit the OTC online open house open until October 31. After it closes, OTC will look at feedback to inform program development and ODOT decision-making if additional funding becomes available. Their goal is to create a multimodal transportation system that is safe and equitable for everyone and your input will help us get there. Visit the Pedestrian Bicycle Strategic Funding Program website to learn more.
Communities in Senate District 4 Receive State Funding Awards
The City of Oakridge has been awarded a $260,000 state grant for well improvements and resiliency. Additionally, Oakridge has been selected –– along with Cottage Grove and Westfir –– for 2021-2023 Planning Assistance awards administered by the Department of Land Conservation & Development. Congratulations on your successful applications!
Halloween Traffic Safety Tips
The Oregon State Police (OSP) reminds you to watch for trick-or-treaters when driving in neighborhoods or going to a party on Halloween night, October 31. OSP encourages parents to:
- Dress children in bright costumes. Use reflective tape or stickers on dark costumes.
- Apply face paint or cosmetics appropriate for children directly to the face. It is safer than a loose-fitting mask that can obstruct a child's vision.
- If a mask is worn, cut the eyeholes large enough for full vision.
- Have children carry flashlights or glow sticks to improve their visibility.
- Secure hats so they will not slip over children's eyes.
- Remind children to cross streets only at intersections.
- Teach children to stop and look for cars, looking to the left, right and left again before crossing, and then to keep looking both ways for cars while they cross.
- Teach children to never dart into a street or cross a street from between parked cars.
|
