Friends and neighbors, here are some highlights from last month and helpful community information for you! 

 - Shelly

EPA’s Overstep Threatens Local Agriculture

In response to a lawsuit from environmental activists claiming they were not properly protecting endangered species by allowing farmers to use pesticides, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a work plan to curtail pesticide use throughout the nation.

The EPA has identified the Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly as a species of concern in the Willamette Valley under the Endangered Species Act. As part of their plan, pesticide use, critical to the growing of crops, would be totally banned on close to 1 million acres in the Willamette Valley, severely limiting farmer’s ability to make a living.

The butterfly’s habitat is currently estimated to be under 20 acres, far smaller than the proposed pesticide ban area of 1 million acres. Even more shocking, the recovery plan for the butterfly issued by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in 2022 identified habitat loss, not pesticides, as the primary factor in declining butterfly populations.

This overstep by the EPA would devastate local nurseries and nearly a quarter of grass seed farming operations in the Willamette Valley, rendering large portions of the Willamette Valley’s farm ground unproductive.

While there is no action item for this situation at the moment, I thought it was important for you to understand this potential threat to our local economy.

Multiple agricultural organizations are involved in finding solutions. Please contact my office for more information. 

🚨ACTION ALERT🚨: Board of Education Wants to Suspend Graduation Requirements AGAIN

As kids go back to school, it’s a good reminder that parents need to stay up to date with how government is running our public schools.

After parental pushback, the Oregon State Board of Education (BOE) removed a proposal to fast-track the suspension of graduation requirements for another four years. We need to keep the pressure on to ensure they don’t resurrect the proposal at this month's meeting on October 19^th. In the meantime, you can submit comments to the Board.

Parents and members of the public are encouraged to submit written comments to StateBoard.PublicEmail@ode.oregon.gov. You can also send comments by mail to State Board of Education, 255 Capitol Street NE, Salem, OR 97310.

Opportunities to testify before the Board in each meeting’s public notice are traditionally sent one week in advance of the meeting. Currently, direct public comment is by advanced registration only. The best way to receive information about direct public comment opportunities, as well as other meeting notices and updates, is to subscribe to the State Board of Education mailing list.

Here is some useful background on this issue:

In 2021, the Legislature passed SB 744 to suspend graduation standards that ensured kids could read, write, and do math before earning a diploma. That suspension lasted through the end of this school year. But now the Oregon Board of Education wants to suspend them for another four years.

The item was on their September 21 meeting agenda. In the staff summary for the proposal, Department of Education staff noted that suspending the graduation requirement “may also result in less student accessibility, public transparency, and comparability.”

Proponents of suspending graduation requirements point to the fact that students still must fulfill a minimum credit requirement to graduate. While it's true that students have to meet a credit minimum, that really isn’t much of a standard at all. Many students passed classes and graduated during the pandemic (an increase in the graduation rate actually), but I don't know anyone who would say they received the same level of education. 

At the same time we see graduation rates slowly increasing, proficiency levels are declining. I am glad we have a credit requirement, but until parents see that as sufficient for producing students who are well-educated and well-prepared, suspending the graduation standards is a disservice to students wondering if they are getting an education that prepares them for the real world. The point of education is learning, not credentialling, so issuing a diploma without first ensuring they have mastered basic reading, writing, and math skills defrauds them of a real education.

A Special Committee to Solve Our Drug Problems?

Last week, the Senate President and House Speaker created a new committee that will focus on the drug crisis on our streets, the same week it was reported that Oregon had THE LARGEST increase in fentanyl deaths in the nation.

Unfortunately, the Joint Committee On Addiction and Community Safety Response is made up of the same Democratic leaders who have blocked Measure 110 reforms for the last year. Republicans introduced several measures to repeal or reform Measure 110 last session but never got a hearing. We don’t need a special committee to tell us what we need to do on the drug crisis. It’s simple: we start by completely repealing Measure 110, and dedicate funding to effective treatment.

Much like this committee, the Governor has put together a task force to solve Portland’s problems. While their meetings are behind closed doors, they are accepting comments online. Take a moment to give the task force your thoughts on what is needed to make Portland livable.

Trucks Are Overpaying for Our Transportation System

The Joint Transportation Committee finally got a formal presentation of the Highway Cost Allocation Study (HCAS).

Oregon’s transportation system is primarily funded through gas taxes (paid for by passenger vehicles) and weight mile taxes (paid for by freight trucks).

The system is based on the principle of ‘cost responsibility,’ meaning that passenger vehicles and freight trucks should pay their fair share of the costs of transportation projects. For example, if ODOT is planning to build another weigh station, freight trucks (through the weight mile tax) would bear the primary cost of that project. For a project that primarily benefits passenger vehicle, cars would bear the primary cost. For most projects, it is a combination of both classes of vehicles paying for a percentage of the cost determined by a very long calculation of “cost responsibility.”

Why do we do it this way? The Constitution requires it. Oregon voters ratified the principle of cost responsibility in November 1999 by voting to add the following language to Article IX, Section 3a (3) of the Oregon Constitution: “Revenues … that are generated by taxes or excises imposed by the state shall be generated in a manner that ensures that the share of revenues paid for the use of light vehicles, including cars, and the share of revenues paid for the use of heavy vehicles, including trucks, is fair and proportionate to the costs incurred for the highway system because of each class of vehicle. The Legislative Assembly shall provide for a biennial review and, if necessary, adjustment, of revenue sources to ensure fairness and proportionality.”

As you can probably tell, the process of determining cost responsibility is very complicated. That’s why every two years, the State Economist prepares the HCAS to give the Legislature the information to fulfill their Constitutional responsibility of adjusting tax rates, if necessary, to ensure “fairness and proportionality.”

So what did this year’s study tell us? Freight trucks are substantially overpaying their fair share of the transportation system and have been for the last several years. Part of the reason for this is that fuel-efficient vehicles, like hybrids and electric cars, are not paying as much (or any) gas tax as other cars. As more of those vehicles are coming onto the roads, the less and less gas tax the state is collecting in order to pay for infrastructure projects. One other big reason that freight trucks are overpaying their fare share is that ODOT projects have been more geared towards “bike/ped” and car-specific construction projects instead of adding capacity to our road system that would benefit freight trucks. This has resulted in more projects geared towards “light vehicles” instead of “freight trucks.”

What do we do about it? The Constitution requires the Legislature to maintain a fair and proportional system. This study calls the Legislature to action to rebalance the system to ensure trucks stop overpaying, while still maintaining a way to pay for the roads and projects needed to ensure a safe and efficient road system. If we do not do that, it opens the Legislature up to lawsuits from truckers who are tired of overpaying. As they should be. I hope we will be able to bring the system into balance, and start treating trucks fairly and with more respect, before that happens.

‘Hard choices’: Christine Drazan holds roundtable on affordable housing challenges in Central Oregon KTVZ | By Dylan Anderman Central Oregon’s challenging affordable housing issues were the focus of a lively 90-minute roundtable discussion in Bend on Monday, held by former state lawmaker and GOP gubernatorial nominee Christine Drazan. “We have got to solve the affordability crisis we have in Bend, and I believe that the people that are the leaders across the community are the right ones to get this done,” Drazan told reporters afterward. Organizers said the roundtable was part of Drazan's new effort called A New Direction, a 501(c)4 organization "focused on advocating for solutions to Oregon's most pressing issues outside of an election cycle." A 501(c)4 is defined by the IRS as a "social welfare group," to which donations are not tax-deductible, unlike 501(c)3 nonprofits. Those on hand included state Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp (who’s also the vice president of the Central Oregon Builders Association), Redmond City Councilor Cat Zwicker and Pahlisch Homes Vice President Cory Bitner.

Target will lay off 158 when Portland stores close The Oregonian | By Kristine de Leon A total of 158 Target employees in Portland will lose their jobs after the retail giant closes three stores across the city this month. Target notified state officials on Monday that it will lay off 62 at its Galleria location downtown, 56 at its Hollywood store on Northeast Halsey Street, and 40 at its store on Southeast Powell Boulevard. The workers, who are not represented by a union, were notified of their layoffs and that they can apply for openings at other Target stores.

Natural gas utilities: Oregon climate program misfires in targeting them for emissions Portland Business Journal | By Peter Danko Natural gas utilities, other companies and business groups told the Oregon Court of Appeals on Friday that state environmental regulators overstepped their authority with rules that aim to draw down climate emissions. The crux of their argument to overturn the Climate Protection Program, adopted in December 2021, was that it flouts statute by treating fuel suppliers as “air contamination sources” that can be regulated.

Measure 110 grant recipient sued for fraud and unpaid wages Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Ben Botkin A month before the Oregon Health Authority terminated a grant with a mental health provider to run a recovery home in northeast Portland, a former employee sued that company’s executive director for alleged unpaid wages and fraud.  In August, Erin Farr sued her former employer and boss, Jermaine Mason, executive director of Bright Transitions, which received $717,000 in public funding to run a home for nine people recovering from drug addiction. Farr’s lawsuit seeks nearly $18,000 in unpaid wages and damages and alleges the company’s proposal to the health authority was a scheme to obtain grant money. That grant is an example of a failed program that was part of Measure 110, which decriminalized possession of hard drugs and dedicated a share of marijuana revenue for programs to help drug addicts across the state. Bright Transitions is one of three organizations in Oregon that received Measure 110 money and lost the contract. The other two organizations are in Malheur County and Klamath Falls. In all the cases, the health authority only took action after officials received complaints about financial mismanagement and a lack of services for people. Farr’s lawsuit raises similar concerns.

Mortgage rates forecast for October is grim for borrowers The Oregonian / Nerd Wallet Die-hard home buyers, driven by life circumstances, will press forward in October. Everyone else will be inclined to wait for mortgage rates to fall, making homes more affordable. They’ll have to bide their time for months, not for weeks. In September, mortgage rates reached their highest levels since 2000, and they could inch upward in October. Intrepid home shoppers might discover that more sellers are reducing their asking prices, but most would-be buyers will struggle to find suitable places to make offers on.

Intel will spin out its programmable chip business, partially unwinding $17 billion deal The Oregonian | By Mike Rogoway Intel said Tuesday it plans to make its programmable chip division into a standalone business, a signal the company wants to reduce its stake in the niche technology.

Former Measure 110 organization fails to return $1 million to Oregon by deadline Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Ben Botkin The Oregon Health Authority has failed to recoup more than $1 million of Measure 110 grant money – nearly five months after the state terminated its contract with a Klamath Falls provider over mismanagement of funds.

‘It’s gotten worse’: People react to Monday’s mass overdose incident in Portland KPTV | By Chandler Watkins On Monday morning, Portland first responders converged on North Park Blocks in the Pearl District, where eight people overdosed around the same time. “What happened was unfortunate,” said one woman experiencing homelessness who didn’t want to be identified. “What’s important is that people care enough to take notice of the overdoses.” “The fact that there were eight overdoses yesterday was horrific and yet, completely understandable in the scheme of things,” said Robert Savage, who works near the park. “With these narcotics coming in where you might thing you’re buying one thing and you’re getting another with the common denominator in all of it that is killing people is fentanyl.”

Average long-term mortgage rate surges to highest level in 2 decades Associated Press The cost of financing a home surged again this week as the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate climbed to its highest level since December 2000, further dimming the affordability outlook for many would-be homebuyers. The average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan rose to 7.49% from 7.31% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.66%. Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loan, also increased. The average rate rose to 6.78% from 6.72% last week. A year ago, it averaged 5.90%, Freddie Mac said. High rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford in a market already out of reach for many Americans. They also discourage homeowners who locked in rock-bottom rates two years ago from selling. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage is now more than double what it was two years ago, when it was just 2.99%.

Proposed rule would make hospital prices even more transparent Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Julie Appleby “How much is the ice cream?” A simple enough question, featured on a new TV and online advertisement, posed by a man who just wants something cold. A woman behind the counter responds with a smile: “Prices? No, we don’t have those anymore. We have estimates.” The satirical ad pretends to be a news report highlighting a “trend” in which more retail outlets take up “the hospital pricing method”: substituting estimates for actual prices for the cost of meals, merchandise on store shelves, and clothing. The scene ends with a partially deleted expletive from the ice cream-seeking man. While the use of estimates in retail settings is imaginary and preposterous, the advertisement is part of an ongoing campaign by the advocacy group Patient Rights Advocate, which contends that some hospitals are still falling short of a law that went into effect in 2021 requiring them to publicly post their prices. Even then, said Cynthia Fisher, the group’s founder and chairperson, too many post estimates rather than exact dollar-and-cent figures. “People need price certainty,” said Fisher. “Estimates are a way of gaming the people who pay for health care.”

FARM TO SCHOOL MONTH

From our friends at Oregon Department of Ag:

October is National Farm to School Month, a time to recognize the efforts of schools, farms, and communities to bring healthy, local food to school cafeterias and classrooms.

Farm to school is a movement that aims to enrich the education, health, and well-being of students and their families. It allows small, local farmers to sell their crops to school districts while providing nutritious food to students and teaching kids invaluable lessons about nutrition, agriculture, and food systems.

ODA is honored to celebrate National Farm to School Month alongside Oregon Farm to School and School Garden Network and Oregon Department of Education. Whether you're a grower, parent, educator, or beyond, find out how you can get involved with Oregon Farm to School.

AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM

From our friends at Mid-Willamette Family YMCA:

Register today for our After School Program - for elementary aged kids and older. Spots are limited!

Check out our No School Day Program - Registering for the following no school days: October 13, November 9 + 10.

More information, HERE.

OCTOBER 2023

BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

Loved ones, friends, family members and everyone in between. Together we can show our support for all those living with and impacted by breast cancer.

Did you know an estimated 43,550 women will lose their fight with breast cancer just this year? Help Stop The Loss. Mammogram screenings, self-examination, and getting ALL lumps checked with your doctor are all ways to ensure you're giving yourself the best chance at early detection.

Find more information for early detection and more, HERE at the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. 

You can help give comfort in the form of a HOPE KIT, available to survivors. Go HERE for more information on how to donate or to receive one.

#pink ribbon #breastcancerwarrior #getchecked #selfexamination #earlydetection #breastcancersurvivor 🎗

🚨 PHONE CALL SCAM ALERT 🚨

From our friends at Linn County Sheriff's Office:

Your Linn County Sheriff’s Office wants to make everyone aware of a SCAM that is currently going around the county.

We have received reports that someone is making phone calls using a real name of a local law enforcement official and using a fake rank at the Sheriff’s Office to sound more official. The phone calls are also calling from what appears to be a local number (541 area code). The calls are all similar in nature and usually involve the caller stating that the person has missed a court date of sorts and needs to pay a fine in order to avoid arrest. The caller will ask for payment via wire, PayPal or prepaid cash cards. This is a SCAM. We do not call the public when they have missed court, have a subpoena or any similar situation. Under no circumstances are we going to call you to collect a fine or fee of any kind for any reason. If you receive one of these calls, DO NOT give out any of your personal information. They are attempting to trick you into giving them money.

TREATS FOR OUR COMMUNITY!

Boys and Girls Club of Albany hosting this event!

Oct. 27 - 5-7pm

IN LOVING MEMORY

Honoring a special member of my family.

From our friends at Mid-Willamette Family YMCA:

The Davis Family of Davis Glass, in Albany, joined us to dedicate a new bench at our Early Learning Center garden in memory of family patriarch Ken Davis. Ken passed away in 2020. His son Geoff, daughter Jenny and wife Mary Jeanne shared about Ken's interest, including being an avid lover of all things outdoors.

We found it fitting for this special piece to be in our ELC garden, which is a space for outdoor play all year round. We want to thank the Davis Family. We know this new bench will provide a space for rest and comfort for our students for many years to come.

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Thank you to our friends at YMCA.

During the session break (interim) - and for the rest of the year - my office will continue to keep you updated and informed with a monthly newsletter. My office is always at your service. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any community event announcements, legislative questions, or concerns.

Talk soon, 

Capitol Phone: 503-986-1415
Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, H-389, Salem, OR 97301
Email: Rep.ShellyBoshartDavis@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/boshartdavis