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To contact me, please click here: Rep.Farrah.Chaichi@oregonlegislature.gov
Thank you for following the work of this office as my second legislative session has drawn to a close. I am honored to represent your voice in the House. My hope is that in these newsletters you can learn more about legislation, my priority policies, public events, and other helpful resources.
This session I returned to serve on the following committees:
In Oregon every two years we hold a short session, meaning legislators have just 35 days to do all of the work necessary to govern and fund priorities for the state. The last very busy days focused on weighing Oregon’s budget priorities in the Ways & Means Committee and furiously taking floor votes on bills that have passed out of committee and between chambers. Legislation we passed heads on to the Governor’s desk to be signed.
Investing in Education
While my Access to Opportunity Through Higher Education bill did not make it through the process this time around, my office worked closely with fellow chief sponsors Rep. Bowman and Senator Gorsek, legislative colleagues, representatives of campus community stakeholders, educators and students, and University leadership to start a very important dialogue around the need to fund and fully support higher education. We need to better understand how our public universities are faring in order to make strategic investments. I will continue to work to make this a reality.
I know firsthand the power of education to increase opportunity and believe in the importance of supporting new Oregonians to ensure that they can thrive in their communities statewide. Access to education is a critical component of setting up new Oregonians for success. That is why I co-sponsored Senate Bill 1532, which directs the Department of Education to create a statewide education plan for students who are asylum seekers, refugees or immigrants. This is especially important here in our diverse district. I am happy to share that this bill passed!
Making Healthcare More Affordable and More Accessible
Oregon has made significant improvements to our healthcare system, yet many Oregonians are still without access to culturally responsive and affordable care. To this end, I co-sponsored bills to improve access to culturally responsive and affordable healthcare. Senate Bill 1578 made it through both chambers and is on its way to be signed into law!
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Senate Bill 1578 will connect patients and providers with language interpreters to ensure that all Oregonians are able to receive adequate and accurate medical care.
Environmental Stewardship and Confronting Climate Change
As a member of the Environmental Caucus, I am excited to share a few of the successful initiatives championed in the short session by our group of committed environmental leaders and legislators.
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HB 4083 - COAL Act (Clean Oregon Assets Legislation) was spearheaded by Rep. Khanh Pham alongside over 100 organizations and public sector teachers’ unions including the Oregon Education Association, AFT Oregon, and AAUP-Oregon in the Divest Oregon Coalition. In a landmark vote, the Oregon legislature has directed the Oregon State Treasury to end new investments in thermal coal, and eliminate an estimated $1 billion in current holdings in coal stocks. I could not be more proud to have sponsored this critical legislation.
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SB 1596 - The Right to Repair legislation passed with broad support. This bill requires original equipment manufacturers to provide consumers with the tools and parts needed to make repairs on things like computers, cellphones, dishwashers, and mobility devices. Additionally, it will reduce toxic landfill waste, increase the lifespans of our devices which reduces manufacturing pollution, and support local businesses who are focused on reuse of working parts, all while saving Oregonians money.
Building Strength from our Roots
I also support policies that address the root causes of the challenges we face and recognize that these issues disproportionately impact low-income families, small businesses, veterans, and communities of color. As always, that means investing in our future, by addressing poverty and fighting for the working class.
This session, I co-sponsored and helped to pass critical legislation such as:
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SB 1585 - SNAP Hot Food. Food insecure Oregonians need our support now more than ever. It is our responsibility in this confluent crisis of the rising cost of living, an aging population, and a homelessness crisis, to not let something as simple and necessary as access to hot food stand in the way of any Oregonian’s success. I am so excited to see Oregon take this first step towards expanding access to hot and prepared foods for individuals on food stamps.
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HB 4127 - Warehouse Workers, Warehouses and warehouse workers are contributing an ever increasing amount to the Oregon economy. This bill adds protections for warehouse workers, making sure they know about quotas and expectations their bosses have for them and creates civil penalties for employers who violate these new rules.
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HB 4113 - Copay Fairness, The price of medications that Oregonians rely on has increased, seemingly without end. Prescription drug costs are going up while Oregonians are feeling the squeeze. This bill takes steps to make sure that Oregonians can access the treatment and care they need at prices they can afford. HB 4113 requires insurers to apply third-party financial assistance to an enrollee’s annual deductible to pay for life-saving medicines.
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SB 1595 - Family Financial Protection. This bill improves outdated and flawed consumer protection and debt statutes by strengthening economic protections for Oregonians who are working to pay back their debts and providing recourse for Oregonians subjected to unfair debt collections practices. As the cost of living has increased, the amount of Oregonian’s wages and personal property protected from debt collectors has remained the same. This bill recognizes the increased expenses facing Oregon families and ensures that they can continue to feed their families, get to work and school, and remain in their homes as they pay back their debts, preventing the devastating impacts of outrageous debt collection practices.
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SB 1533 - Voters Pamphlet Translation. Making your voice heard at the ballot box may be the cornerstone of American political life. Senate Bill 1533 is a critical step to make sure all Oregonians are able to share their thoughts and perspectives by increasing the translation of our voters' pamphlets from the 5-most spoken languages to the 10 most spoken languages in each county. This will ensure that more Oregonians can make informed, empowered choices as they make their voices heard at the ballot box.
We had some major wins in terms of dollars coming back to our district and our communities:
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Center for Addictions Triage and Treatment
The legislature adopted HB 5204, which includes $8.9 Million for the Center for Addictions Triage and Treatment (CATT), Washington County’s comprehensive substance use treatment and supportive services center for adults. Upon its completion, it will add much needed capacity for assessment and triage; sobering; withdrawal management (detox); residential and outpatient treatment; transition services; health services; peer drop-in center; and crisis services. This investment will make a substantial difference for all of our community members, most strikingly those who suffer from substance use disorder and their families.
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Water Infrastructure Funds for Beaverton
Our office has worked with the City of Beaverton to ensure that we are amplifying the needs of our community in Salem. We are so proud that this session we secured $3,000,000 for the City of Beaverton for the Kemmer Booster Pump Station to provide water supply to new neighborhoods in the Cooper Mountain Community Plan Area. This foundational water infrastructure is needed to unlock up to 2,000 units of housing in five neighborhoods.
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PRISM
As a dedicated member of the Legislative LGBTQ caucus, I was pleased to support HB 5204, which granted Cascade AIDS Project (CAP) $4 million to purchase the Prism Health facility on North Morris Street in Portland. I am grateful to CAP for inviting legislators and staff to tour the facility under construction. The renovations will provide space for additional mental health/substance use disorder providers, to serve 250+ new mental health and substance use disorder patients, and to serve 3,000 total patients at full capacity.
“LGBTQ+ Oregonians often struggle to find and receive treatment and services that address their unique experiences. LGBTQ+ folks deserve the same access to care as every other person. We are grateful to Prism Health for providing critical services to our community and are excited to see its expansion with this funding,” said the Legislative LGBTQ+ caucus in a statement.
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In 2020, Oregon voters recognized that the status quo of the "War on Drugs" was not solving the problems of addiction and substance-use disorder and sought a health-based approach to addiction and overdose as a more effective, compassionate, and productive response. The passage of Measure 110 provided vital funding for the programs which have already helped more than 60,000 Oregonians, even after the initial distribution of funding was severely delayed. OHA has reported a nearly 300% increase in access to services. Across the United States, including where drug possession and use are criminalized and harshly punished, substance use and its consequences have been increasing without signs of slowing. The causes of this crisis have been building for decades, only intensifying with the introduction of the fentanyl epidemic, and run much deeper than Oregon’s relatively recent passing of Measure 110.
This session we saw the passage of HB 4002, which will recriminalize the possession of drugs with optional deflection programs – where a county can choose to create deflection programs and police and prosecutors can choose to participate in them, completely optional and not required. The bill passed despite the Oregon Judicial Department citing significant concerns for implementing HB 4002. In a letter to the chairs of the Joint Committee On Addiction and Community Safety Response, Oregon’s Chief Justice Flynn outlined the substantial challenges that HB 4002 will face in implementation.
In addition, significant concerns were raised about how this legislation will be weaponized against those historically marginalized and communities of color, which I have been following closely as a member of the BIPOC Caucus. The Criminal Justice Commission’s Racial and Ethnic Impact Statement on this bill was troubling. Punitive, criminalized approaches to the crises of addiction and drug use have been racially charged since their inception. We have decades of data about the selective enforcement of drug crimes in Communities of Color. Regrettably, these racially charged outcomes have held true in Oregon as well and I will be paying close attention to how this new legislation unfolds.
If you would like more information about my vote against HB 4002 you can watch my full floor speech regarding the bill or read the explanation for my vote which can be found on OLIS and is also attached to this email. In addition, please listen to what organizations doing recovery work on the ground had to say about their concerns. I am proud to stand on the right side of history, voting my conscience, even when it is not always easy.
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Many of you know I work a full time day job in addition to my legislative responsibilities. I am so grateful to bring the perspective of a working class representative of the people to the Oregon state legislative body. While I stay pretty busy year-round, I always look forward to coming home to the district.
Once we have had a chance to recover from the short session, my colleagues and I will host a joint townhall in May to debrief and update constituents about the success, victories and challenges we faced over the past few weeks. Please stay tuned for more info!
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Thank you to the City of Beaverton for hosting the State of the City. It was great to hear from Mayor Beaty about all of the incredible work that is being undertaken at the city level. From housing, to infrastructure to supporting local businesses, there is a lot to look forward to! Read more here: 2023-2024 City Annual Report |
The Oregon Employment Department (OED) launched a new online system for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits. The new UI system is Frances Online, the same system already used for employer contributions and Paid Leave Oregon benefits.
Action Required for Current Claimants
What current claimants need to do to use the new system:
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Create a Frances Online account at frances.oregon.gov. If you have an active claim or applied but your claim is still being reviewed, information about the claim will appear in their new Frances Online account. If you have an account in Frances Online because you claimed benefits from Paid Leave Oregon, then you do not need to set up a new account.
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File your weekly claim at frances.oregon.gov/claimant. Claimants can now file for the week of February 25-March 2. If you did not file a weekly claim for the week of February 18-24 and you are seeking benefits for that week, you can still claim that week using Frances Online. You can file all future weekly claims using Frances Online.
Please note OED expects the Unemployment Insurance Program will receive high call volumes for at least the first couple of weeks after going live in the new system. We are encouraging customers to use self-serve features available through Frances Online such as checking the status of a claim, uploading documents online, or making a payment online, but if you have any trouble please reach out to us.
Go to unemployment.oregon.gov/frances for more customer service tips.
From March 22 until May 21, the Legislature enters the “blackout period.” During this time, legislators running for office are prohibited from using state resources for mass communications with their constituents 60 days prior to an election. You are welcome to reach out to my office during this time, but this will be my last newsletter until after May 21. As always, if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me.
In Solidarity,
Representative Farrah Chaichi
House District 35
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1435
Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, H-478, Salem, Oregon 97301
Email: Rep.Farrah.Chaichi@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/chaichi
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RepresentativeFarrahChaichi/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FarrahChaichi
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