Why state leaders visited Tigard last week
Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin at 11/06/2023 12:38 PM PST
Hello Friends,
Thank you for subscribing to my newsletter! Here is another update from the “interim” between legislative sessions. Today is the first day of the November Legislative Days, which means my colleagues and I are in the Capitol to hear updates on a host of issues ahead of the 2024 legislative session.
CATT Tour
In October I was able to tour Washington County’s new Center for Addictions Triage and Treatment (CATT). The CATT will significantly increase addiction treatment capacity in Washington County. Upon its completion, it will add 86 new treatment beds and a peer drop-in center. The idea is that this center will provide the whole range of services one might need in their path to recovery–it’s a big deal for the region and exactly the type of program we need to build and sustain.
Kristin Burke - Washington County Behavioral Health Special Projects Supervisor explaining the CATT’s day-to-day functioning on our tour
The CATT will help us tackle the addiction crisis and ensure we get people off the streets and into treatment as quickly as possible. I am grateful the County was able to get this project off the ground with a mixture of federal, state, and local funds. Thank you to Commissioner Treece and Commissioner Willey for showing us around the building (pre-renovation). I will keep you all posted on the work being done and look forward to the CATT opening in 2025.
From left to right, Commissioner Willey, Commissioner Treece, Rep. Neron, Sen. Campos, Me
Hall Boulevard Tour and Discussion
Anyone who has read my newsletter knows that making Hall Boulevard a safer road that properly serves our community (by transferring ownership to the City of Tigard) is a top priority of mine.
Last week, I hosted a walk of a portion of Hall Blvd as part of continued efforts in the proposed jurisdictional transfer of this facility. I was delighted that the co-chairs of the Transportation Committee, Rep. Susan McLain and Sen. Chris Gorsek, were able to join, as well as ODOT Director Kris Strickler. We were also joined by Sen. Aaron Woods, Rep. Neron, Tigard Mayor Lueb, and other representatives from the city, state, and region. There is broad alignment that we need to figure out how to transfer ownership of Hall and improve safety conditions of the dozens of other state-owned highways that have fallen into disrepair.
ODOT Director Strickler and I discussed the planned and needed infrastructure improvements to Hall Boulevard
After the 2023 legislative session, we got a little bit closer to making a transfer a reality with a $3 million investment from the legislature, which will make key pedestrian safety improvements on this road. With these state investments, new federal investments secured by Congresswoman Andrea Salinas, and lowered speed limits all along Hall–we are making real progress, and we still need to work with urgency to get this done (as Dr. Ben Harkin, whose wife was killed on Hall, reminded us).
The group also discussed the new statutory jurisdictional transfer committee that I helped pass through the legislature, which will recommend state-run roads across the state that should be transferred to local control. The first batch of recommendations is due in 2025, in time for consideration in the transportation package.
Roundtable discussion on Hall Boulevard
Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative Tour
As you probably know, I am an Oregon political history nerd–so I jumped at the opportunity to tour the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC) headquarters in Clackamas. Under Gov. Tom McCall, Oregon passed the visionary Bottle Bill in 1971. This was the first extended producer responsibility system in the nation. On the tour, it was fascinating to see how Oregon’s bottle bill has evolved more than 50 years later into a modern and high-function recycling system.
Bottle Bills like ours routinely outperform other recycling pathways. According to the Container Recycling Institute (CRI), the average nationwide recycling rate for beverage containers is around 35%. By contrast, Oregon’s beverage container redemption rate is regularly in the 80-90% range. Beverage containers are also processed for recycling in the United States (much of it right here in Oregon).
It was very cool to see the green bags being processed in real-time–and of course, I took the opportunity to talk about Tom McCall (Eric Chambers, who now works for OBRC, worked for the legendary Senator Mark Hatfield before his retirement. McCall and Hatfield had a famously…difficult relationship–so Eric and I enjoyed some fun banter about our respective allegiances before the tour).
Eric Chambers from OBRC showing me the sorted plastic “hay bales”
AFL- CIO and OLCV Scorecards
Though legislators rarely know how their votes will be graded, there are a host of organizations that are monitoring how we vote during the legislative session and then release “scorecards” based on our record. Last week the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and Oregon League of Conservation Voters (OLCV) released their scorecards.
I was proud to receive a 94% rating from the OLCV. You can see their full scorecard here. I was also proud to receive a platinum rating on the AFL-CIO scorecard, which you can find here. I am sure I will be graded poorly on some scorecards–but I was proud to get high marks from these two organizations.
Oregon Historical Society Tour and Tigard Life
As this month’s constituent event, I will be hosting a tour of the Oregon Historical Society on November 12th at 11am (this weekend!). The tour will be led by OHS’s Executive Director, Kerry Tymchuk–who’s had one of the most interesting careers in politics, working for Elizabeth Dole, Bob Dole, and Gordon Smith (and co-authoring books with Oregon giants like Gert Boyle and Al Reser). The tour will have limited space, so if you would like to attend please fill out this form. I’d love to see you there.
Also–in case you missed it, there was a cool plug for my selection for the New DEAL program in Tigard Life newspaper. Previous members have included Pete Buttigieg, who joined as a mayor, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, and our very own State Treasurer Tobias Read.
I will be in Washington DC in mid-November to learn more from leaders around the country (including my White House briefing) if you want to learn more about the organization you can find that here.
Business Spotlight - Byenveni Baby
Welcome to the second edition of our Business Spotlight. In the newsletter, I plan to feature a local business periodically. If you know of any business worthy of a feature please let me know by emailing me at rep.benbowman@oregonlegislature.gov.
This week’s business feature is Byenveni Baby. Byenveni Baby is a new business that was started last year by Nurse Midwife Sara Holt to address gaps in the traditional maternity healthcare delivery system. She brought on a community midwife, Joanna Wilder of Mariposa Midwifery, and a lactation consultant, Robin Nunez of Nurture Lactation. They offer services ranging from private midwifery visits to group pregnancy education and navigation sessions. They also offer multiple free support groups each week for new parents as well as other learning opportunities for the community.
I’m glad we have them doing this important work in our community. You can read more about Byenveni Baby here.
Thanks for reading,
Ben Bowman
Oregon State Representative
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