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Dear Friends,
The work of the Oregon State Legislature is in its final two weeks of this short session. This week, we passed two important housing bills out of the Senate: SB 1530 and SB 1537, which provide funding for new housing development, infrastructure, shelters and other housing related supports. These bills were at the request of Governor Kotek, following the last session, and reflect a tremendous amount of work by the Governor and her staff, along with many other legislative and community stakeholders, led by Sen. Kayse Jama in the Senate and Rep. Maxine Dexter in the House. I’m so grateful to be a member of the Senate Housing Committee and a part of this conversation. While I remain concerned that there were some one-time allowances to expand the UGBs of cities, there was much stricter requirements and guardrails, and the acreage for a city was less than 1/6th of a square mile. Thank you for the many people who testified on this bill.
In Senate Healthcare, we had a public hearing on HB 4130, which would require close loopholes in current Oregon law and require medical practices to be majority owned (51% or more) by physicians. While there was little opposition in the House, and the bill passed out of the House with a wide margin, there was significantly more opposition in the Senate hearing. Please stay tuned as I believe that this bill, sponsored by Rep. Ben Bowman, is an important piece of proposed legislation, and we were honored to have former Governor John Kitzhaber testify in support in the hearing on February 28th.
Related to funding, none of the funding bills have been voted on yet in the Senate, but I am hopeful as several items of interest to our region continue to be discussed, including funding for a sobering center, recovery housing, and new substance abuse rehab beds at Bridgeway Recovery Services, along with hope for funding for a social services center in downtown Salem near the YMCA. More information here in this Salem Reporter article by Les Zaitz. This is one of my priority bills, SB 1570. Other funding requests in our district are still pending, including funds for water infrastructure upgrades in Monmouth and Independence, and support for veterans’ housing in West Salem.
Next week promises to be another busy and full week, with Sine Die projected for March 8th. Please stay in touch and stay tuned for more updates coming soon.
Best regards,
Deb
HB 4002 - Vote Explanation
When the people of Oregon passed Measure 110 as a ballot measure, they did so out of compassion for people struggling with pain and addiction. They did so with the intention that access to needed services such as substance abuse treatment would be available to all. They know, and we know, that addiction is a public health issue.
We have been working hard to expand access to treatment and services, along with affordable housing and healthcare, in the last session, and that work continues this session, and will continue. We just approved a significant investment in recovery housing and services in the allocations outlined in HB 5204.
The people of Oregon have also expected that we would seek a compassionate path that would urge those suffering from substance use disorder to seek treatment and recovery.
This bill offers a path forward that combines multiple entryways into that care through outpatient or inpatient treatment. It requires the offer of deflection, and multiple points of exit from the criminal justice system, with automatic expungement of charges regardless of path chosen.
Do I have concerns? Certainly I do – grave concerns. Few of us are naïve enough to believe that justice has always been equally applied in this state, or elsewhere. Earlier this week on the Senate floor, we heard a statement made by one of our legislators that racism is rare. The lived experience of many Oregonians would argue quite differently. Their voices must be heard.
I am glad to see HB 4002 bill requires collection and review of data on racial disparities in enforcement of this proposed legislation. We must be profoundly diligent in ensuring that this is done.
At the end of the day, I want every Oregonian who is struggling with addiction to find the support they need for recovery. I want our communities to be safe spaces for all people. I want everyone to have access to affordable housing, physical and mental healthcare, educational opportunity, good jobs, and retirement with dignity.
I was an aye vote on HB 4002, BUT we have much more work to do.
Thank you.
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1710
Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, S-411, Salem, OR, 97301
Email: Sen.DebPatterson@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/patterson
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