Why Dolly Parton said my name
Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin at 05/31/2024 03:53 PM PDT
Dear friends and neighbors,
This is my first newsletter in a while because of the legislative “blackout period” – the 60-day period prior to an election where legislators running for office are prohibited from using state resources or official social media accounts for mass communications with their constituents.
So – I’m excited to be back to our regularly scheduled programming, and apologies for a slightly-longer-than-normal email. Feel free to skim 🙂
Dolly Parton Imagination Library goes statewide!
Last week I was in Salem to celebrate the Dolly Parton Imagination Library’s (DPIL) statewide launch. Children ages 0 to 5 in Oregon will now be able to receive a free book a month, thanks to this statewide expansion.
Dolly and I delivering the good news
Getting this program funded was a top priority of mine in 2023 (it is an unbelievably inexpensive program with a remarkable return on investment, thanks largely to Dolly Parton’s generous philanthropy). We were successful, in part because of some behind-the-scenes legislative heroes who helped out: Rep. Lisa Reynolds, who chairs the House Early Childhood Committee, former House Speaker Dan Rayfield, and a bipartisan coalition of legislators who agreed with a simple premise: every child in Oregon should grow up surrounded by books.
The ceremonial bill signing with Governor Kotek, Dolly, Legislators, and Advocates who helped pass the bill
The program is a beautiful example of what’s possible when state government partners with private organizations like DPIL to make Oregonians' lives better. Because of this program, many thousands more kids in every corner of this state will learn to love reading — no matter how much money their parents make.
Currently, over 54,000 children across Oregon receive the gift of a monthly book through 55 community programs. Books are free to the family regardless of family income. Soon every child under the age of 5 in our state will have access to this program.
You can watch the full announcement video and my (somewhat edited) debut alongside Dolly Parton here. Watching her say my name on video was a truly mind-blowing experience!
Transportation Committee Road Show and Local Construction
Transportation will be a primary focus of the 2025 legislative session. You have probably heard of some of the work being done around the I-5 bridge replacement. You may have also followed the debates around tolling in our area.
In 2025 the legislature will be working on a transportation package. We will (hopefully) spend the session hammering out a deal that will allocate billions to infrastructure programs and projects. The last time this process occurred, in 2017, the governor signed over $5.3 billion to the cause.
The Joint Committee on Transportation (JCT) will be holding 12 meetings and local tours around the state for the purpose of hearing from the community on how they would like these dollars to be spent.
I strongly encourage you to make your voices heard at two local meetings in our area. The first will be on Tuesday June 4th in Downtown Portland. The second will be on Friday September 27th in Hillsboro. You can find details on OLIS when they are available.
One priority for our area is securing funding for a jurisdictional transfer of Hall Boulevard so long-overdue safety improvements can be made.
Congresswoman Salinas and me on a tour of Hall Boulevard provided by the City of Tigard and ODOT
Finally, on the topic of local transportation: you have probably noticed that the OR 217 Hall Boulevard overpass and Pfaffle Street are closed for the next nine months or so. ODOT is demolishing and then rebuilding the overpass with wider footings to make room for the new auxiliary lanes and shoulders underneath on OR 217. The new overpass will include wider sidewalks and bike lanes, be more earthquake resilient, and Americans with Disabilities Act compliant.
Starting last week there is also a contractor working from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., Sunday through Friday nights on a Paving Project. During those hours expect right lane closures on OR 99W from I-5 to SW McDonald Street in both directions. Expect temporary sidewalk closures throughout the project area with ADA-accessible pedestrian detours. This project will pave, build new sidewalks and bicycle lanes, upgrade sidewalk curb ramps, repair bridges, and make safety improvements in the intersection with SW Johnson/Main Street.
Salem City Club and the Corporate Practice of Medicine
On May 10th I was a panelist at a Salem City Club event about the rapid trend of corporations and private equity firms acquiring local medical practices.
Right to Left: Hayden Rooke-Ley JD, Me, Senator Deb Patterson
In the last 10 years, there has been a 100,000% increase in private capital invested into primary care. The scale of that increase alone should give us all pause. Across our state and the country at large, small doctor-owned clinics are being bought up by large corporations and private equity firms.
When you replace a locally-based physician owner with a private equity firm there are serious, negative consequences. Prices go up, quality of care declines, injuries increase, and physicians burn out. In short, worse care at higher prices.
We are seeing the harm of not acting in real-time. Over the last month, thousands of patients in Eugene received letters informing them that their local clinic, the Oregon Medical Group, could no longer provide care for them. They would have to find a new doctor.
Four years ago, in 2020 the Oregon Medical Group, previously a provider-owned and run medical practice, was bought by the fifth largest company in America, UnitedHealth. Since that purchase, close to 30 physicians have left the clinic and, due to the contracts they signed with United Health, were forced to either retire from the practice of medicine or leave the community they had made their home. Those leaving the clinic reported that UnitedHealth’s focus on efficiency and profit left them feeling disillusioned and unable to provide the best care for their patients.
If you haven’t read this piece by Jeff Manning in The Oregonian about what happened, I highly recommend it.
I was honored to share my concerns with the Salem City Club alongside my colleagues Senator Deb Patterson and Hayden Rooke-Ley.
Addressing a full house at the Salem City Club
I will be bringing legislation in 2025 that will address this growing problem.
CCO 3.0 (for lack of a better term)
There is a very important and very-under-the-radar conversation going on around the Oregon Health Plan and Oregon’s Coordinated Care Organization, or CCO, model (this is how Oregon serves our Medicaid population).
The goal of Oregon’s CCO model is to provide a coordinated service delivery model to promote physical, behavioral, and oral health. Former Governor John Kitzhaber worked to create both the Oregon Health Plan (back when he was Senate President) and CCO’s (in his third term as Governor) to ensure high-quality, affordable care for Oregonians on Medicaid. CCO’s were established in 2012 and have proven successful in bending the cost curve. We did a second round of “procurement” in 2020 where CCOs are given contracts and performance metrics. Basically, procurement is how we set the goals for the entities that provide care to low income families in Oregon. We are about to enter our third round of procurement (hence CCO 3.0).
This conversation is really important. This is likely the largest procurement process the state will have ever done before. We are investing millions of dollars to ensure Oregonians are well cared for, and we should be very careful how we distribute those dollars and what benchmarks we set for entities who are awarded contracts. Our Behavioral Health and Healthcare Chair Rob Nosse will be leading these conversations as we head into the 2025 legislative session.
In late April I participated in a roundtable discussion about this topic with Governor Kitzhaber, Chair Nosse, Representatives Reynolds, Javadi, Pham, Elmer, and various CCO representatives. I found this conversation illuminating and was honored to be involved.
Here are some broad goals of mine in this procurement process:
- Ensuring every Oregonian has access to a basic level of quality health care.
- Incentivizing upstream investments in health that lower the cost of providing medical care in the long run.
- Providing stability that ensures CCOs are rooted in the communities they serve.
- Providing flexibility so that CCOs are able to innovate and build local partnerships that better serve the needs of the people they serve.
- Ensuring there are clear accountability measures directly connected to the health outcomes of people and populations.
The Roundtable Discussion about the future of Oregon’s Coordinated Care Organizations.
Our New 400,000 Square Foot Timber Roof
One cool thing I wanted to mention: I recently got to tour the new expansion of the Portland International Airport Terminal, and I left feeling excited and proud to be an Oregonian. Our “brand” or reputation as a state has been damaged in the last few years, and it’s critical to our economy (and our collective self-confidence) that we turn it around. The airport is oftentimes the first thing people experience when they get here – the new terminal will make an awesome first impression (and not just because of the carpet!).
The Port of Portland (overseeing the project) has ensured that local stores, local architectural and design features, local art, and local materials are prominently featured. The result is a visually stunning experience, including a gorgeous 400,000 square foot timber roof. Funded in part by the Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure bill, the new roof is made from approximately 3.3 million board feet of local douglas fir.
The wood needed for this roof was bought from local landowners and Pacific Northwest tribes across the region within a 600-mile radius. Hyla Woods, Skokomish Tribe, Anne and Richard Hanshcu, and the Nature Conservancy provided the beautiful Douglas Fir material for the lattice.
You can see a picture of the roof under construction here.
Oregon is at our best when we embrace and celebrate what makes us different. I think you’ll find that the new terminal is one of a kind.
Denim and Diamonds
I was proud to attend the Denim and Diamonds event at the Family Justice Center of Washington County at Senator Janeen Sollman’s table. The Justice Center is a non-profit offering wrap-around services to survivors of domestic violence, all in one place. Since its opening, the Center has served over 21,000 survivors and their children. They are an awesome local organization.
Below you can see me at the event wearing denim (no diamonds) with Senator Sollman, and Mike and Laura McMurray, owners of the Hillsboro Hops.
Cook Family Park
Last week I attended the ribbon cutting of Tigard’s new inclusive playground at Cook Family Park–and I have truly never seen so many kids playing on a playground at one time!
As part of the ceremony, we also celebrated the renaming of Cook Park to Cook Family Park. This was a well deserved change to recognize the immense contributions of not just of the original John Cook (John E. Cook), but of his children and their families, John L. and Julie. Both Johns were mayors of Tigard, and John L. is a good friend and incredibly generous community servant and volunteer. Our community is a far better place because of the Cook Family’s service.
From right to left: Me, Rep Courtney Neron, Mayor Heidi Lueb, former Mayor John Cook, Councilor Maureen Wolf, Youth Councilor Madi Vogel, Council President Yi-Kang Hu
One final note that I’m too proud not to share: a few weeks ago, I was recognized by the Oregon Safe Schools and Communities Coalition with a Safe Schools Award “in recognition of leadership at the forefront of addressing bullying and harassment in Oregon schools.” This issue matters a lot to me on a personal level – but that’s the subject for another newsletter.
Thanks for reading,
Ben Bowman
Oregon State Representative
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