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August 13, 2023
Dear Neighbors and Friends,
I hope that you and your loved ones are doing well, staying healthy, and have been looking out for your neighbors and friends during this past week.
Tonight’s newsletter gives you my take on the big legislative news this week—the determination by the Secretary of State that most Republican (and Independent) senators cannot file for reelection this year because they violated the terms of the new constitutional requirement created by the voters in Ballot Measure 113. It’s controversial, and will lead to legal action, but I believe it to be a necessary step. Read more below.
You’ll also find more end-of-session information, an update on fire season, an upcoming community meeting on the recent Kmart fire, tomorrow’s opening of the application period for Oregon’s new paid leave program, and some additional links to interesting news items.
One of the things that we legislators do during the interim is join with regional and national colleagues and counterparts to compare notes and learn. In next week’s newsletter I’ll tell you about a few of them: the Eastern Oregon Economic Summit, the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators, and the National Conference of State Legislators.
Until next week, please do your best to stay cool and safe, and do what you can to help others do the same. And let me know if you have any questions or thoughts about anything in this week’s newsletter.
Secretary of State: Senate Republicans Cannot File for Reelection
During the month that I was away following the end of the 2023 session, Governor Kotek selected LaVonne Griffin-Valade to replace Shemia Fagan as Oregon’s Secretary of State. Griffin-Valade is the well-respected former Auditor for Multnomah County and the City of Portland. She retired in 2014. You can read more about her and her background here.
We knew going in that one of the first important decisions the new SOS would have to make would be how to handle the five Republican and two Independent senators whose prolonged participation in the recent walkout put them in jeopardy of not being able to run for reelection in 2024. According to Ballot Measure 113, which passed handily in last November’s election, legislators with ten or more unexcused absences in a session are barred from running for reelection in the next election. The filing period for the 2024 election opens on September 14.
Most of those seven senators have announced that they do intend to file, questioning the intent, wording, and constitutionality of BM 113. In an announcement made this past week, the Secretary of State announced that the Elections Division will not be accepting these filings. As you can see from her announcement, she believes that the intent of the voters was clear and to allow the senators to file again would be to go against their wishes.
Here are the senators who are up for reelection in 2024 and immediately affected by this ruling (two of them have switched their affiliation to Independent, even though they continue to vote with the Republicans):
Brian Boquist (I-Dallas)
Lynn Findley (R-Vale)
Fred Girod (R-Stayton)
Bill Hansell (R-Athena, who had already announced his decision to retire at the end of 2024)
Tim Knopp (R-Bend)
Dennis Linthicum (R-Klamath Falls)
Art Robinson (I-Cave Junction)
Four more Republican senators were just elected or reelected in 2022 and under the terms of BM 113 are eligible to fill out the remaining three years of their term:
Daniel Bonham (R-The Dalles)
Cedric Hayden (R-Fall Creek)
Kim Thatcher (R-Keizer)
Suzanne Weber (R-Tillamook)
Two Republican senators up for reelection next year retain their ability to file because they continued to show up for floor sessions during the walkout:
Dick Anderson (R-Lincoln City)
David Brock Smith (R-Gold Beach)
As expected, the Senate Republican Office has announced that they intend to bring legal challenges to the ruling very quickly. While I agree with the Secretary’s ruling and hope that it prevails, I do hope that we get a quick resolution to this question. With the filing period opening in a month, it’s going to be important to know as soon as possible who can and cannot file.
As I’ve mentioned in previous newsletters, I believe that Measure 113 was well-intentioned and successful in that it showed very strong support for action to eliminate the walkout as an expected tactic. It was supported by a majority of voters in every Senate district and by 68% of voters statewide.
However, the courts may eventually rule regarding the wording of M113, it's increasingly clear to me that we should take the next step and deal with the issue more simply and directly: change the Oregon Constitution to align it with the U.S. Constitution and that of all but three other states—requiring that a majority of members be present in order to do business.
At the very end of the 2023 session, I was one of the Chief Sponsors of a bill that would have done that--HJR 30--which would refer that question to the voters. There was no path to passing it at that late date, but its purpose was to lay out a future path. I doubt that it could pass in the 2024 session either, as it would certainly trigger another walkout on its own. So, it’s going to require again using the initiative process and gathering signatures. I hope that happens.
For press coverage of the Secretary of State’s decision, here’s reporting from the Oregonian, from the Capital Chronicle, and from OPB.
And here’s coverage and an editorial perspective (which I believe to be right on target) from by KGW’s Pat Dooris on his news show The Story.
Want to See All the Bills that Passed or Didn’t Pass During the 2023 Session?
The Legislative Policy and Research Office (LPRO), which provides support and research for all of our policy committees, has just completed its summary of all the bills from the 2023 session. It’s a great resource, broken down by issue area and including links to each individual bill.
Here are links to each issue area:
Behavioral Health & Health Care
Business & Consumer Protection
Civil Law
Courts
Criminal Justice
Education & Early Childhood
Emergency Preparedness
Energy & Environment
General Government & Elections
Housing, Development, & Homelessness
Human Services
Labor and Employment
Natural Resources
Transportation & Infrastructure
Veterans
We’ve been told that LPRO will be following up next month with a series of “Legislative Summary Briefs.” These briefs will highlight substantive changes to Oregon’s policy landscape based on the measures passed during the 2023 legislative session. I’ll be sure to let you know when they are available.
Hope you find these useful.
Oregon Department of Energy Releases Very Useful Summary of Legislation
Following up on the above, many state agencies, commissions, and advocacy groups are also producing summaries of legislation from the 2023 session. One of the best and most thorough, and particularly useful for those interested in climate and environmental issues, is the report just released by the Oregon Department of Energy.
Here’s link to the report.
Latest Fire Report from ODF: Positive News So Far, but Difficult Weather Coming
I don’t need to tell you that this has again been a difficult year for fire in many parts of the world, notably in Canada, in Greece, and most recently and tragically in Hawaii. Our hearts go out to them. The negative effects of climate change--record-high temperatures, drought, dangerous wind patterns—are continuing to take their toll.
Fortunately, for us in the Northwest, this summer’s fire season has been relatively mild—so far. Legislators just received the latest update on this year's fire season from the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Chief of Fire Protection.
According to the Fire Chief, the relatively low number of acres burned so far are the result of investments that the Legislature has made (notably in SB 762 from 2021), along with aggressive early attacks on new fires. They “tell the story of ODF’s successes at keeping fires small and keeping costs low through consistent prevention messaging, early detection, and aggressive initial attack. Through the use of the agency’s Special Purpose Appropriation (SPA) funded aircraft, ODF has been able to contain fires until firefighters arrive to suppress the fire. These tactics, combined with strong working relationships with our wildfire suppression partners across multiple jurisdictions, continue to prove effective in wildland firefighting success.”
However, as we move further into August (August and September have traditionally been our most dangerous months for fire), this could change quickly. The Fire Chief warns that the spike in heat that we are about to experience, along with winds from the east, are creating the conditions for big fires. His update identifies some of the ways that ODF is preparing for the worst.
Most of the fires that we’ve experienced this summer have been human-caused and could have been avoided. We’re all being asked to be extremely careful as many if not most parts of the state enter dangerous conditions.
For more information on fire conditions, here’s an August 12 article on the fire season from the Oregonian.
You can always follow the latest state of fire conditions at ODF's Wildfire News Blog.
And on a final note, I hope you’ll join me in extending condolences to the family of Benjamin Charles Sapper, originally from Boulder, CO. Benjamin was a young firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service’s Gold Beach Fire District, who lost his life in an on-duty vehicle accident on August 4. Here’s the announcement from the Forest Service.
This loss reminds us of how dangerous this work can be—even in a fire season that has been relatively mild. We owe so much to those who are putting their lives on the line to keep us safe.
Coming Tuesday, August 15: Community Meeting on the Kmart Fire in Parkrose
 Needless to say, not all serious fires occur in forests or grasslands. On July 19th the former Kmart store at 12350 NE Sandy Blvd., at the northern tip of SD 23, was the site of a severe fire. Located in a residential area, next to an apartment complex and across the street from Parkrose High School, the immediate concern was both the fire itself and the dangerous smoke and debris that engulfed the neighborhood.
That building was already a source of considerable neighborhood concern. When Kmart decided to close and ultimately sell the building to a holding company that has leased it to Prologis, which is turning it into a large warehouse and distribution center. Neighbors are understandably concerned about the resulting air pollution, noise, and safety concerns, as it is so close to neighboring apartments and schools. They had been trying to get the City of Portland to stop the project, but the City does not believe it has the ability to do that, as the existing zoning code allows for that kind of operation there.
The immediate concern after the fire was the potential presence of asbestos in the airborne debris. Prologis reported that it had already completed asbestos abatement on the building and believed that there was little risk of asbestos getting into the air or neighboring soil. Not surprisingly, neighbors remained concerned.
The Department of Environmental Quality and the federal EPA took the risk seriously, and within hours of the blaze testing was underway. Fortunately, the EPA was able to report that it had not discovered asbestos residue in the area. The DEQ quickly set up a web site to provide information on the fire and its results and provided regular updates for the next two weeks.
You can read more about the fire and its aftermath in this reporting by the Oregonian.
As it happens, we had another source of information about the neighboring air quality. In addition to the testing by the DEQ and EPA, a company called Argos Scientific already had monitors at Parkrose High School and were surveying air quality before, during, and after the fire. Based in Camas, WA, Argos is a leader in environmental monitoring. The company’s president, Dr. Don Gamiles, is a native of Parkrose and has been concerned about the potential impacts of the new warehouse/distribution center. He had partnered with the Parkrose School District to set up monitors to establish a baseline for air quality to better understand (and potentially require mitigation for) any eventual impacts. So those monitors were already in place during the fire.
The Parkrose School District convened a meeting with area public officials, DEQ, public health advocates, and Argos on August 1 to hear about that project and the results to date of the fire and cleanup efforts. Here are the PowerPoint slides that Argos presented.
The presentation was quite informative, and it paved the way for what I hope will be a productive partnership between DEQ and Argos.
The next step is another meeting set up by the Parkrose School District, this one open to the broader public, to be followed by others to come. The idea is that the first meeting will provide an opportunity for the School District and Argos to give an update on their partnership and the air quality monitoring and tracking. The latter portion of the meeting will be an opportunity for the community to ask questions.
As you can see in the flyer above, those interested can attend in person (at Parkrose Middle School) or via Zoom. Government partners in attendance will be addressing questions as they are raised, but the District also plans to keep a log of community inquiries and provide further opportunities for engagement and discussion over the course of the year.
I myself won’t be able to be there this time, unfortunately, as I’ll be at a meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures this week. I’ll try to zoom in if I can.
I want to thank everyone at the Parkrose School District, and particularly Superintendent Michael Lopes-Serrao, for their community engagement and leadership on this very serious issue. I’ll let you know more as it arises.
Coming On Monday: Next Step for Oregon’s Paid Family Leave Program
Paid Leave Oregon, the new program that provides up to twelve weeks of paid leave for those who need it for a variety of qualifying reasons, was created by the Legislature in 2019. We are one of a dozen states to have this kind of program.
The program is funded by a combination of contributions from workers and employers (for businesses with 25 or more employees). Workers and employers began paying into the new program at the beginning of 2023, and starting Monday at 8 am, workers will begin to be able to apply for benefits (though benefits won’t actually be able to be paid out till September 3).
Here is the website for Paid Leave Oregon. with a range of information for workers and employers. And here is the application site itself, known as Frances.
OPB provided an excellent description of the new program back in December, just before the new contributions were set to begin. They've just provided another story on the subject, this one about “Frances” going live on Monday.
And here’s a set of Questions and Answers that the agency provided to legislators in a recent meeting with legislative staff.
If you’re a constituent and have any problems engaging with the new program, please reach out to us, and we’ll see what we can do to help.
A Few Additional Links to Stories of Interest
- Here’s one from OPB on the current state of COVID in Oregon. current state of COVID in Oregon.
- And one from Dr. Leona Wen in the Washington Post on why the current uptick in cases nationally is not expected to create another emergency.
- Here’s exciting news about a $2.3 million grant that PSU just received that will allow it to partner with PCC and Chemeketa CC to provide expanded opportunities for incarcerated students. It will complement several broadly-supported initiatives that we were able to get passed during the 2023 session.
- And finally, here’s an article from Bike Portland that is sure to put a smile on your face. It tells about our success in getting the Bike Bus Bill (HB 3414) passed this session. It will make it easier for kids to access active transportation to get to school. Many thanks to Representatives Khanh Pham and Hoa Nguyen for their leadership on this one.
Best,
 Senator Michael Dembrow
District 23
email: Sen.MichaelDembrow@oregonlegislature.gov
web: www.senatordembrow.com
mail: 900 Court St NE, S-407, Salem, OR, 97301
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