Senate’s Record Walkout Ends
After six long weeks and earning the distinction of being the longest walkout in Oregon’s history, the Senate had a quorum yesterday allowing business to resume and officially ending the walkout.
We have heard strong opinions on this issue from folks all over the State—as well as both sides of the issue, but the realities of walkouts are far more complicated than they often get boiled down to. Since the beginning of May, our office has continued to caution that walkouts are not the "magic bullet" they often get portrayed as.
As the minority in the Legislature, there are very few tools available to try to protect the interests of our districts—none being sufficient to fully achieve that goal. Walkouts create leverage for negotiations to find a compromised approach to lessen the bad policy, or if negotiations fail, they just “kick the can down the road.” They don't truly kill bad bills, as they will inevitably return (often in worse forms) during Short Session or (even worse) in Special Sessions where anything goes for the majority party.
At the end of the day, true compromise leaves both sides wanting more, but both sides sacrificing more than they would like. And when you serve in the minority, "compromise" is sadly a huge victory—and something that shouldn't have to take such extreme measures to obtain.
Make no mistake: the root problem is the lack of balance in the Legislature, allowing one party to unilaterally prioritize an extreme agenda that leaves a majority of Oregonians behind. People can be quick to focus on this or that, and let any other issue distract us from the real battle. If we want bad legislation to stop, we must bring real balance back to the Legislature through elections.
For more details on yesterday's deal, see the House Republicans' press release below.
HJR 16: Impeachment Power – Part of Walkout Negotiations!
I introduced HJR 16 because Oregonians deserve to have every avenue of accountability possible for their state-wide elected officials, and I was encouraged that this bipartisan effort was included as a priority in the negotiations to end the Senate Walkout. Every state has the power of impeachment, except Oregon, and HJR 16 would give Oregon voters the option of creating this added check and balance of power for our highest leaders. Here is a link to watch my testimony in committee last month.
HJR 30: Reduces Quorum Requirement to Simple Majority
This resolution was introduced during this session's walkout by House and Senate Democrats, undoubtedly, to strip away the minority party's ability to deny quorum after Measure 113 failed to stop walkouts because authors didn’t think Legislators would sacrifice their jobs to try and curb extreme policy. As you may know, Oregon's Constitution currently requires 2/3rds of members to be in attendance for a chamber to conduct business—higher than much of the country.
HB 3409: Environmental Omnibus Bill – Without Previous Amendments
This bill creates a swatch of new programs, rebates, regulations for various environmental causes with an estimated price tag of $61 million, including $45 million from the general fund. HB 3409, like many “omnibus” packages, is a combination of individual bills that had been worked, only this omnibus surprisingly didn’t include the previously amended version of one bill. It was voted out of committee this week on a nearly straight party line vote.
SB 610: Food Stamps for Illegal Immigrants
This bill made some chatter this week after it failed to be scheduled for a work session in a Ways & Means subcommittee—indicating the bill is dead. SB 610 would have expanded food stamps to illegal immigrants by establishing the Food for All Oregonians Program.
Jefferson Inaugural Heroes' Day
On Saturday, June 24th, Jefferson is hosting its first ever Heroes' Day celebration! It will be a day full of festivities including a parade, pancake feed with proceeds going towards training and equipment for the volunteer firefighter association, local vendors, food trucks, a car cruise-in, games, and more! Pancakes will be available at 7:00AM and the parade will begin at 10:00AM.
For more information, see the flyers below or visit the event's Facebook page here: Jefferson Heroes Day Oregon
Remember, proceeds from the pancake sale below go to our volunteer firefighters!
Sweet Home Beautification Set to Begin
Sweet Home's upcoming painting project will beautify Main Street and Long Street, spanning from 9th Avenue to 18th Avenue, and Miller Paint has graciously chosen to sponsor the event by supplying the paint for 12 murals! It's worth noting that Miller Paint plans to feature Sweet Home in their national press, further promoting the city.
The entire package is estimated to have a minimum worth of $200,000-$250,000. Downtown businesses must sign a waiver and commit to the project to participate in this exciting initiative. They may also need to undertake some minor improvements or actions. However, grant money is available to assist these business owners in making those enhancements. Before the painting commences, the City of Sweet Home Public Works crew will pressure wash all the buildings involved in the project, ensuring a clean canvas.
To kickstart this project, a youth group will arrive in Sweet Home on July 14th for professional painting training. It is the city's objective to involve them actively in this endeavor. Sweet Home welcomes additional volunteers interested in contributing their time and effort to this remarkable undertaking.
If you would like to have your business painted, please contact Blair Larsen or Adam Leisinger at blarsen@sweethomeor.gov or aleisinger@sweethomeor.gov to receive your waiver that must be signed in order to get your business pressure washed and painted.
Free Meals All Summer for Kids
Central Linn Elementary has an amazing program this summer to provide free meals to all children up to the age of 18.
Keep in mind that after the deadline, the summer meal boxes will still be available but on Mondays only for pick up at Central Linn Elementary School. Those Monday's will fall on August 14th, 21st, 28th, and you can pick up the meal boxes between 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Health Care Career Camp
Know of any high school students considering a career in the health care sector? From June 21 - 23, attendees will dive into health care careers with a three-day camp filled with hands-on enrichment activities provided by medical students, with Lebanon and Lyons Fire EMS training, AHA CPR/BLS certification, and more. This is a FREE event for students! Incoming 9th graders to 12th grade are invited.
For more information see the flyer below:
Sweet Home Sweet Ride Charity Car Show
On Saturday, June 24th, the 15th annual kid-friendly Sweet Ride car show in Sweet Home will be taking place! Come to the high school track and field to see all of the cool classic and modern vehicles on display, and enjoy the many other exciting activities taking place between 7:00AM and 3:00PM. There are more details on the flyer below:
Formal Investigation into the OLCC Begins
A scandal we have been following all session has been the alleged ethics violations by members of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commision. This week, it was reported that Oregon Government Ethics Commission gave the go-ahead for formal ethics investigations into six Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission managers.
You may remember back several months ago when the story broke of executives at the OLCC giving favorable treatment of rare liquor distributions to those in positions of power. What is clear now is that there is a smoking gun, and that the agency will be thoroughly investigated even after many of those directly involved in the scandal have been thrown out of their jobs.
The Oregonian ran a piece on the investigation this week.
Be Alert: DMV Data Breach
News broke yesterday that there was a massive DMV data breach that included unauthorized access to up to 90% of Oregonians' data, including driver's license information.
ODOT confirms that DMV data had been copied and taken while transferring that data through a software vendor. The broad-based attack affected over 2,000 organizations worldwide.
According to ODOT, individuals with active credentials through the DMV (driver's license, permit, ID card, etc.) should assume that information related to that credential is part of the breach.
To protect yourself, please regularly monitor your credit and consider freezing your credit. Here is the contact information for the three major credit reporting agencies:
-Equifax: https://www.equifax.com or 1-800-685-1111 -Experian: https://www.experian.com/help or 1-800-909-8872 -TransUnion: https://www.transunion.com/credit-help
Additional questions can be directed to AskODOT@odot.oregon.gov
Here is an OregonLive article containing more information.
Walkout Reaches Record Number of Days
One Month into the Senate Walkout
Update on the Senate Standoff
Senate Walkout: 13 Days and Counting
The “Walkout” Continues: Follow the Law
Opening Ceremonies Needed
Do you sing? Read poetry? Play an instrument? Pray? Then we have a job for you!
Every Floor Session in the House of Representatives starts with Opening Ceremonies, and is a great way to showcase the talents found across the state. Guidelines for Opening Ceremonies are below, but if you're interested in being a ceremonial part of the 82nd Legislative Session, let me know! My office can help coordinate with the Chief Clerk's office to get you on the calendar.
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