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Hello Friends,
Great news! Oregon employees who need to take time off work to care for important life events can begin applying for paid leave benefits as of August 14 through the state’s new paid family and medical leave program: Paid Leave Oregon. Paid Leave Oregon covers paid family leave, medical leave, and safe leave for working Oregonians.
Employees can apply for benefits online beginning August 14 through the Oregon Employment Department’s Frances Online system at bit.ly/OregonFrancesOnline.
Employees can apply for the following reasons:
- To care for themselves or members of their family during the birth of a child, or to bond with a child after birth, adoption, or placement of a child in their home through foster care
- To care for themselves during a serious health condition
- To care for a family member when they have a serious health condition
- If they or their child experience sexual assault, domestic violence, harassment, or stalking
Learn more about Paid Leave Oregon at PaidLeave.oregon.gov, or attend an informational webinar hosted by Paid Leave Oregon. Webinars occur every Thursday through September 28. Register Here.Â
I am pleased to share that Oregon Housing and Community Services reopened the federal Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) Program  to new applications this past week. The program offers federal temporary COVID-19 emergency mortgage relief intended to support homeowners who have experienced severe financial hardships due to the pandemic. It provides funding for past-due mortgages and other housing expenses, as well as ongoing payment assistance, to a limited number of homeowners with low to moderate incomes.Â
Homeowners can apply through the online portal or speak with a homeownership counselor who can help them apply and find other resources. Search the full list of free certified housing counselors by county.
It’s important to have all the facts about the Oregon Health Plan data breach so you can take action and protect yourself. Here’s what we know:
Oregon Health Plan (OHP) members were impacted by the global MOVEit Transfer data hack that impacted the Oregon DMV last month. Oregon Health Authority (OHA) said they were informed of the breach by Performance Health Technology (PH TECH), a private-sector vendor that helps manage OHP member data. According to PH TECH, the breach allowed hackers to access personal information of about 1.7 million members due to a security vulnerability from the Progress MOVEit software.
This breach is part of a global technology hack that affected more than 2,000 organizations worldwide who use the MOVEit transfer software tool, including the Oregon and Louisiana DMVs, the U.S. Department of Energy, and others.Â
What you can do to protect yourself:
OHP members impacted by the data breach can expect a letter in the mail from PH TECH with information on how to access free credit monitoring. PH TECH will not contact you by phone or email. Report scams and fraud by calling the Oregon Department of Justice hotline at 1-877-877-9392.
Check your credit report: Federal law allows individuals to receive a free credit report every 12 months. You can request one online at www.annualcreditreport.com or by phone at 1-877-322-8228. Check the reports for any activity you do not recognize. For more information you can also visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website on identity theft at consumer.ftc.gov/features/identity-theft.
Be vigilant in monitoring your credit activity.Â
Freeze your credit files to prevent accounts from being opened without your knowledge, please contact all three monitoring agencies for assistance:
For additional information, please contact PH Tech at 888-498-1602 or by visiting https://response.idx.us/PHTECH/.Â
 Photo credit: Barrett Johnson
What a delight to join hosts Oregon League of Conservation Voters, Metro Councilor Duncan Hwang and Representative Khanh Pham on a walking tour of the Jade District, which is on its way to becoming Portland's most transit rich, affordable, and climate friendly district in Portland. On the tour, we saw high capacity transit arriving every 12 minutes, several new affordable housing developments, some which include community spaces thanks to APANO, and efforts to protect pedestrians and bicyclists, all within a few blocks of each other. We also experienced how trees are so important in combating heat islands as we walked into Harrison park. It’s so exciting to see these concepts in development as more resources for climate resilience become available. I hope to see these concepts implemented statewide.
The EV Big Rig unveiling was so exciting. It was a historic undertaking to move big trucks away from fossil fuels and seeing that history made here in Oregon was an honor and privilege. Transportation makes up about a third of greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon, and electric vehicle technology for logistics will help Oregon hit our reduction goals.
On a personal note, I interned at Daimler Trucks over a decade ago and it was such an awesome experience, but I didn't ever drive a truck. I was not about to let the moment pass me by this time!
Recently, I had the pleasure of going out to the Hops stadium to watch the Special Olympics regional bocce ball tournament and a bit of softball. Special Olympics Oregon runs 14 different kinds of games across the state to bring together athletes from across the state to compete all year. I even got to meet some of the dedicated athletes repping Washington county!
 
This session we moved closer to our goal of making sure every child has a safe, nurturing place to learn and grow from cradle to career. At the end of July, Governor Tina Kotek signed several bills into law supporting those efforts. I am proud to support our schools, our educators and support staff and our students. And I will continue to fight to make sure that Oregon provides a world class education to every child!
Our communities are dealing with a behavioral health and addiction emergency. These problems are not unique to Oregon – nationwide, states are grappling with spikes in drug-involved overdose deaths and behavioral health challenges – but we are making real progress, and I believe the work we did this year will deliver even better results.
In the 2023 legislative session, we took action, passing bills that will get people the help they need now, and on August 8th, Governor Tina Kotek signed many of these bills into law.Â
In case you missed it, Beaverton was rated one of the top 100 places to live. Of course, as a lifelong Beavertonian, I am biased, but I am proud to have grown up here and am proud to fight to keep our community a place where everyone can thrive. We are facing many challenges, and every day my job as your State Representative is to do the work to meet these challenges. As always, if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me.
In Solidarity,Â
Representative Farrah Chaichi
House District 35
Capitol Phone:Â 503-986-1435
Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, H-478, Salem, Oregon 97301
Email:Â Rep.Farrah.Chaichi@oregonlegislature.gov
Website:Â https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/chaichiÂ
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RepresentativeFarrahChaichi/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FarrahChaichi
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