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Dear Friends & Neighbors,
I’d like to wish you all a safe, warm, and happy holiday season. Whether you’ve already celebrated Christmas or Hanukkah, begun Kwanzaa celebrations, or are preparing for the Chinese New Year, I hope you are able to enjoy your traditions with loved ones.
This past year has been quite challenging despite a widely available COVID vaccine. We continue to battle a global pandemic that continues to mutate into new variant strains; we vaccinated 66.04% of our state against COVID-19; we fought wildfires and delivered relief to the impacted areas of Oregon; we worked to address the massive backlog of unemployment claims and helped many constituents receive their benefits. Oregonians are strong and resilient.
The Legislature worked to keep Oregonians housed while many had no access to income. We made historical investments in our behavioral health system, and worked towards more equitable policing and a fairer criminal justice system.
During the most recent special session, we continued relief efforts by further investing in preventing evictions, providing support for Afghan refugees, providing drought relief to farmers and irrigators across the state, and investing in gun violence prevention.
As 2021 nears its close, I am proud of the work my colleagues and I have done to provide relief to Oregonians. I look forward to continuing this work – no matter what 2022 has in store for our state.
Finally, as the omicron variant poses a growing danger to our communities, I ask that you get your COVID-19 vaccine if you haven’t done so yet. The omicron variant is a highly contagious strain, and we know that getting a booster shot doesn’t merely decrease your chances of catching COVID, it also helps to minimize your symptoms if you do catch the virus. We are still in this together, and the more we can care for each other by adhering to all public health guidelines the more our communities will be safer and healthier.
For a more in-depth look at what we accomplished over the short session and what I will be working on during 2022’s short session, keep scrolling.
Sincerely,
Andrea Salinas
State Representative
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 Housing Protections
In June, on a near unanimous vote, the Oregon Legislature passed a law to provide a 60-day safe harbor protection to tenants facing eviction while they waited for their rental assistance application to be processed. Unfortunately, over 8,000 Oregon households are still waiting on rental assistance after their 60-day safe harbor protections timed out.
From the pandemic's start, we have committed to protecting individuals and families at risk of eviction. We stayed true to that promise by protecting tenants whose rental assistance was delayed. No Oregonian should be evicted while rental assistance is on the way.
In the special session, we extended these safe harbor protections to prevent evictions that would have devastating consequences for individuals, families, and communities. We also funded a $215 million package to prevent evictions, provide rental assistance, speed up the process of applications, support housing providers, and ensure landlords are fully paid. While it is critically important to ensure that nobody loses their home, we must also ensure that property owners are also able to pay the mortgages on those properties.
Drought Relief
Climate change continues to take a toll on Oregon communities. The recent heat dome, wildfire smoke, and record drought has impacted farming communities across the state, from crop production to equipment sales, as 92% of the state is now facing severe drought. This puts at risk our agricultural industry, one of Oregon’s economic engines.
In response, the Legislature passed a $100 million drought relief package to support farmers and irrigators across the state who have been impacted by drought, heat, or fire.
Illegal Cannabis Enforcement
Illegal cannabis operations in Southern Oregon have been using limited water resources without the appropriate water rights, harming local lands, threatening neighbors, and negatively impacting businesses run by legal marijuana growers. This is an issue that impacts migrant communities who make up the majority of workers who are put in harm's way. Reports of human-trafficking, threats to withhold pay, and unsanitary conditions without adequate food, shelter, or access to services make this issue all the more urgent.
To address this growing issue, we approved $25 million to prevent illegal operations and address the humanitarian crisis impacting workers at these sites.
Afghan Refugee Support
To make Oregon a welcoming state for refugees arriving from Afghanistan, we allocated $18 million to help refugees find housing, education, language and job training, and legal aid. This support from the Legislature will allow incoming families to establish a strong foundation for their new lives as our neighbors and community members.
Gun Violence Prevention
In 2016, the city of Gresham invested $3,000 into a pilot program with local community partners like Latino Network, Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center, Play Grow Learn and Active Children Portland. This pilot program created a space for children where they could build strong community relationships and receive guidance on how to achieve their goals. This pilot program was incredibly successful, but unfortunately, the funding for this pilot ended, leaving many young community members without after school structured activities.
Now, East Multnomah County is experiencing a rise in youth violence. To combat this issue, the Legislature invested $2 million dollars to create and implement the East Metro Outreach, Prevention, and Intervention (OPI) program – modeled after the successful pilot program previously run in Gresham. This program will provide culturally responsive resources, education, treatment, and guidance for at-risk youth. This program will work to reduce violence with upstream initiatives.
This February 1, 2022 will be the first day of Oregon’s 2022 short session. Unlike the long session, I am only able to introduce two bills so I have chosen two that unfortunately failed last session. Those bills are:
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Overtime Pay for Farmworkers will make agricultural workers eligible for overtime pay, as the Fair Labor Standards Act exempts these workers from overtime pay. To see the 2021 version of the bill, click here.
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Racism as a public health crisis creates a requirement that OHA set up a mobile health unit pilot project to provide care in communities in Oregon. This pilot project will inform us on whether mobile health units are an appropriate tool to combat the effects of racism on the health of people of color. The bill also creates affinity groups through the Oregon Advocacy Commission to work with leaders from BIPOC and tribal communities to better understand the health inequities and recommend solutions to address those inequities. To see the 2021 version of the bill, click here
- In 2021, we were able to pass a portion of this bill that declares racism a public health crisis in Oregon. To see that resolution click here.
Even though legislators are only able to introduce two bills, I will be a champion on another bill this session as well:
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Universal Legal Representation—This bill will allow undocumented Oregonians to access legal representation when they face deportation and other critical legal matters. This bill will expand an already existing pilot project that serves more than 1,100 Oregonians. For undocumented Oregonians at risk of deportation, having access to a lawyer increases your chance of staying with your family by 457%. To see the 2021 version of the bill, click here.
By now, we’ve all heard of the new omicron variant strain of COVID-19. According to the Oregon Health Authority, omicron is more contagious than the delta variant, and cuts vaccine efficacy by half. The good news is that a vaccine booster bumps up your protection and mitigates the infection rate of this new strain.
If our state can successfully deliver booster shots to one million more Oregonians, we have a chance of flattening the spike in omicron cases, saving many Oregonians from suffering through this disease.
It’s not too late if you haven’t yet gotten a booster. Visit getvaccinated.oregon.gov to schedule an appointment.
email: Rep.AndreaSalinas@oregonlegislature.gov I phone: 503-986-1438
address: 900 Court St NE, H-485, Salem, OR, 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/salinas
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