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To contact me, please click here: Rep.SusanMcLain@oregonlegislature.gov
 Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I love this time of year when our high school and college students are celebrating their graduations, and I am enjoying all of the commencement photos on social media. I always looked forward to attending the commencement ceremonies as a teacher and also as a proud mom and grandmother for each of my children and grandchildren at their graduations. I am sending my warmest congratulations and praise to this year's graduating class and have included all local graduates in this week's "Shout Out" section of the newsletter! You've committed yourself to four years of hard work and dedication, and it's finally paying off. Good luck to you all on your future academic and professional endeavors!
This week, my Joint Transportation Committee Co-Chair, Senator Gorsek, and I attended an online meeting of the Oregon Climate Action Commission to talk about the intersection of policies related to transportation and climate. On Friday, Senator Gorsek and I have the opportunity to speak to the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners at their annual retreat. I am looking forward to the dialogue around improving our transportation system and ideas for how to provide stable and sufficient funding.
In this week's newsletter, I've provided two recent outreach highlights from The Street Trust's Active Transportation Summit and the Washington County Kids Gala. You can read about both in the "Interim Work" section.
Also included in this newsletter:
- Information on the upcoming Transportation Tour stop in Tillamook
- A review of the latest State Revenue Forecast
- Community Shout Outs!
- Updates from the most recent Bi-State Bridge Committee meeting
- Opportunities and events in Washington County
- Changes to the Oregon Employment Department's phone hours
- A warning about consuming Northwest Shellfish from the FDA
ABOVE: When my granddaughter graduated a few years ago!
TRANSPORTATION TOUR: NEXT STOP IS TILLAMOOK
Transportation impacts Oregonians’ lives every single day. We all want safer streets, better public transportation, and to pay for ongoing maintenance of our roads, bridges, railways, and more. This is why the Joint Committee on Transportation is working so hard on a Transportation Plan for the upcoming 2025 Legislative Session.
To ensure that we have a plan that works for all Oregonians, we have embarked on a statewide "Transportation Safety and Sustainability Outreach Tour. The tour is a way for us to talk with Oregonians about creating a better and safer transportation system, discuss preferred solutions to the structural issues facing our transportation system and work with all communities to identify solutions, and see first-hand what sustainable, sufficient, and equitable investment would mean for unique communities around the state.
As a reminder, June 4th marked the start of the tour with our first stop in Portland. It was a great turnout and you can view a video of the public hearing here.
The Port of Tillamook Bay will be the venue for the second meeting of the Transportation Safety and Sustainability Outreach Tour.
The public hearing will be held on June 18 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Port of Tillamook Bay, Officer's Mess Hall at 6825 Officer Row in Tillamook. It will also be available via livestream on olis.oregonlegislature.gov.
Members of the public interested in testifying can register in person starting 30 minutes before the meeting begins. The committee will also hear remote testimony if time permits, which the public can register for on the committee's webpage here. Additionally, written testimony can be submitted to the committee via email to JCT.exhibits@oregonlegislature.gov.
Preceding the meeting, members of the committee will take a guided trip of transportation facilities in the Tillamook region and hold a roundtable discussion to better understand the transportation needs along Oregon’s north coast through the expertise and lived experience of local partners and officials.
**Read more about the statewide tour and all the stops we'll be making here.
BELOW: Highlights from the Portland tour stop
STREET TRUST'S ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION SUMMIT
Each year, The Street Trust convenes hundreds of professionals and advocates from Oregon and SW Washington to discuss cutting edge transportation issues. Attendees include: state legislators; policy makers; local and national figures in the biking, walking, and active transportation movement; directors of transportation departments and community-based organizations; engineers and planners; land managers; business owners; health professionals; and community advocates. This year, I was proud to be part of their program and to speak about the future of multimodal transportation in Oregon.
My colleague and friend, Metro Councilor Juan Carlos Gonzalez and I gave the opening remarks for last Thursday's program. I then joined the keynote speaker, State Representative Larry Kraft of Minnesota, for a fireside chat. We had a great conversation about Minnesota's recently passed Transportation Package and some of our states' shared visions for creating multimodal transportation systems that place value and emphasis on active transportation.
Thank you to Sarah Iannarone and the Street Trust for the opportunity to participate in this year's conference!
BELOW: Scenes from the Active Transportation Summit
WASHINGTON COUNTY KIDS GALA
Last Thursday, I was honored to give the keynote speech at the Washington County Kids "Reach for the Stars" Gala and to be recognized for my work on funding Summer Learning in the 2024 Legislative Session. Washington County Kids (WCK) is an organization that does great work in Washington County and I have appreciated working with them over the years. WCK is committed to a world where all children are given the opportunity to reach their full potential. WCK fills an important need in our area as the only county-wide coordinator serving after-school and summer programs, and it also works as a liaison to the county’s early learning hub. WCK advocates for sustainable funding to provide access to early learning, after-school, and summer programs for county kids, which are issues very close to my heart and that I have worked on for many years. The bottom line is that WCK strengthens our community by working to provide children access to the kinds of programs they need to succeed.
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MOST RECENT REVENUE FORECAST
The Oregon Economic Forecast provides information to planners and policy makers in state agencies and private organizations for use in their decision making processes. It is the basis for much of the budgeting in state government. The forecast reports are issued four times a year: March, June, September, and December. The most recent forecast was released on May 29, 2024.
The takeaway from the new forecast is that the Oregon economic outlook remains solid with steady growth. You can read more about the forecast from the Oregon Capitol Chronicle. Or go right to the source and review the presentation and executive summary issued by the Office of Economic Analysis:
BI-STATE BRIDGE MEETING HIGHLIGHTS
On Monday, June 10th, Legislators from Oregon and Washington met for a Bi-State Bridge Committee meeting. Thank you to the Interstate Bridge Replacement (IBR) Program Administrator, Greg Johnson, and the whole IBR team for a great presentation on where things stand with replacing the I-5 Bridge. The team is always prepared with detailed information and to answer questions from Legislators. During this meeting, we heard program updates on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, potential funding opportunities from the federal government, and where things stand with obtaining necessary permits for building the new bridge. We also heard about the work the IBR team is doing to reach out to industries and efforts to prepare for workforce readiness when the building process commences. We discussed conceptual visualizations of what the new bridge configurations could look like and we also got answers to the questions we raised in our last meeting.
*You can view the meeting here.
**Meeting slides can be found here.
EQUITY ROUNDTABLE ON ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION
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The IBR program hosted its eighth equity roundtable discussion on May 21 exploring the topic of active transportation. Active transportation is any human-powered means of travel, such as walking, biking, running, skating, and using a wheelchair or stroller. The IBR program plans to include a shared use path as part of the structure that will replace the I-5 bridges across the Columbia River to improve the substandard and unsafe conditions for those who use active transportation to travel over the bridge currently.
During the equity roundtable, Program Administrator Greg Johnson was joined by IBR Principal Climate Officer Mara Krinke, IBR Active Transportation Design Lead Natalie Owen, The Street Trust Executive Director Sarah Iannarone, and Disability Rights Washington’s Director of Disability Mobility Initiative Anna Zivarts. The group participated in a conversation moderated by TriMet Community Affairs Manager Coral Egnew that touched on everything from how the design of active transportation has evolved over the years to strategies to build safe and inviting active transportation facilities that encourage use.
“We have an urban design team that is looking very closely at active transportation access to, in and around transit facilities, looking at where bus stops are located, how to get people from both sides of Hayden Island to the transit station, and really looking at ways to activate those spaces and connect them to existing facilities,” Natalie Owen said.
Sarah Iannarone commended the IBR team for its commitment to equity and for putting out “world-class” public and active transportation designs. She said that, once IBR’s investments are made, the region must continue to expand options for public and active transportation to ensure the widest number of people possible have easy access to these new facilities across the Columbia River.
“I do think the IBR team has done a really nice job developing the equity framework, and I want to give the team some real props on the robustness of that,” Iannarone said.
You can watch the full conversation here.
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CONGRATS TO OUR LOCAL GRADUATES
I want to extend my sincere congratulations to all of our wonderful 2024 graduates celebrating the end of their undergraduate careers at Pacific University and all of our high school Seniors in the area! As a former teacher, I understand and appreciate all of the time, hard work, and dedication you all have put into your studies. Your academic careers have been marked by a novel and unpredictable set of challenges due to the pandemic, which were not always ideal and convenient. I am so impressed by your strong persistence and admirable ability to adapt and excel during these unprecedented times. This is a challenging goal, and I'm inspired to learn of your successful achievement.
This marks the end of a chapter and the start of new beginnings in education, the workforce and beyond. With this accomplishment, you have secured a bright future for yourself, and with that, a bright future for Oregon. I am very proud of you all and I am excited for your future contributions to Oregon’s educated workforce.
CONGRATS TO ELLEN SCHRAMM - 40 YEARS AT FGSD
A special congratulations to Joseph Gale Elementary School kindergarten teacher, Ellen Schramm. Jo Gale staff just celebrated Ms. Schramm's 40 years of teaching in FGSD. What an amazing accomplishment! Thank you for giving so much of your time to our Forest Grove students - what a legacy you have created!
ADELANTE MUJERES' FIESTA OF HOPE
Join Adelante Mujeres on June 21st for Fiesta of Hope 2024, just two weeks away! "Our fight, heritage, and legacy are more alive than ever."
June 21 st, 2024
Castaway Portland ( 1900 NW 18th Ave, Portland, OR 97209 )
COCKTAILS & REGISTRATION / 5:00 PM
DINNER & PROGRAM / 6:00 PM
Buy your tickets today! https://adelantemujeres.ejoinme.org/fohtickets
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Únase a nosotres el 21 de junio para la Fiesta de la Esperanza 2024, ¡solo faltan dos semanas! Nuestra lucha, herencia y legado están más vivos que nunca.
21 de junio de 2024
Castaway Portland ( 1900 NW 18th Ave, Portland, Oregón 97209 )
CÓCTELES & REGISTRO / 5:00 PM
CENA Y PROGRAMA / 6:00 PM
¡Compra tus boletos hoy! https://adelantemujeres.ejoinme.org/fohtickets
FREE TRIMET SUMMER PASSES FOR H.S. STUDENTS
The Forest Grove City Library is a distribution site for the TriMet Hop Pass Program for high school students, which provides free transit passes to students who rely on transit during the summer months.
The passes are valid for unlimited rides on buses, MAX, WES and Portland Streetcar through August 31. Students can pick up a pass at the Information Desk. 
WASHCO'S "STATE OF THE COUNTY"
Please join Board Chair Kathryn Harrington for this year’s State of the County presentation on June 20, including services that Washington County provides to keep the community safe, strong and resilient. https://ow.ly/LZyB50Sbavf
SIGN UP TO BE A CORN ROAST VENDOR
This year is the 60th Annual Corn Roast Festival in Forest Grove! Join vendor booths for artisans and craftspeople, as well as non-profits and food and drink vendors (excluding alcohol). Click on the image below to sign up!
NEW PHONE HOURS FOR OREGON EMPLOYMENT DEPT
New Phone hours – Call from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday. They are temporarily closing phones on Mondays to work on claims and reduce delays. You can also send a message from your Frances Online account or use the Contact Us form.
NOTE: The changes will affect the Paid Leave phone lines as well as those for the Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Contributions and Recovery divisions.
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Nuevos horarios telefónicos – Llámenos de 9 a.m. a 4 p.m. de martes a viernes. Estamos cerrando temporalmente las líneas telefónicas los lunes para trabajar en las reclamaciones y reducir los retrasos. También puede enviar un mensaje desde tu cuenta de Frances en Línea o utilice nuestro formulario de Contacto.
FDA WARNING ABOUT NW SHELLFISH
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning people to avoid eating certain shellfish from Oregon and Washington because they may be contaminated with toxins that cause what’s known as paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). The FDA has also advised restaurants and food retailers not to serve or sell certain shellfish.
PSP is a foodborne illness. PSP symptoms include numbness of the mouth and lips, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, and in severe cases, shortness of breath or irregular heartbeat.
If you have eaten any shellfish and are feeling ill, see a doctor right away.
For more information, read the FDA’s advisory: https://ow.ly/kpX850SfMpM
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My office has compiled a list of resources for our community. You can click on the images below to open a document with the relevant links. If you know of a resource that should be included here, or you need a resource and are having trouble finding the information you need, please do not hesitate to reach out to my office at rep.susanmclain@oregonlegislature.gov.
EDUCATION RESOURCES
Click here, or on the image to the right for a list of Education-related resources. This includes links to the Forest Grove and Hillsboro School Districts, the Oregon and US Departments of Education, information on how to pay for college, student lunch programs, and much more!
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WILDFIRE-RELATED RESOURCES
Click here, or on the image to the right for important resources related to wildfire prevention and recovery. This list includes links to current fire restrictions and recreation site status maps, the Oregon Department of Forestry's fire prevention tip page, and important resources for wildfire victims.
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RESOURCES FOR OUR VETERANS
Click here, or on the image to the right for a list of important resources for Veterans, including links and phone numbers to the various divisions of the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs, local Washington County assistance, supportive and community-based groups like the American Legion, and mental health resources.
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STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Click here, or on the image to the right for links to important local and state government pages, including the Hillsboro, Forest Grove, and Cornelius city government pages. You can also access the Oregon Legislature's page, and other important state agency sites, like the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Unemployment Department, and the Oregon Health Authority.
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Sweet Peas - my Mom's favorite!
Yours truly,
 Representative Susan McLain
House District 29
email: Rep.SusanMcLain@oregonlegislature.gov I phone: 503-986-1429
address: 900 Court St NE, H-493, Salem, OR 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/mclain
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