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To contact me, please click here: Rep.SusanMcLain@oregonlegislature.gov
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Whatever your traditions or plans are for next week, whether it's a quiet time for your family or yourself or community activities, I hope you enjoy this time of year. Life is short, and friends and family are important, so I hope you can spend time with them and feel renewed with the joy of light, memories, and time spent well. You get to decide what that means to you. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year! Whatever you are celebrating, may it be reaffirmed and special.
What you'll find in this week's newsletter:
- A review of the Special Session
- Highlights from Legislative Days
- Upcoming Important Dates
- An overview of OLIS
- Updates on replacing the I-5 Bridge
- Summary of my community events and outreach work
- Events happening soon in Western Washington County
BELOW: AARP volunteers were in the Capitol during Legislative Days last week to advocate for legislation that prevents age discrimination in the workforce. I am proud to join Rep. Sosa, who is introducing the bill, as a co-chief sponsor.
SPECIAL SESSION ON WILDFIRE PAYMENTS
Last Thursday, the Oregon Legislature convened for a one-day special legislative session to provide the Oregon Department of Forestry and State Fire Marshal with the resources needed to pay the state's unpaid bills associated with the 2024 wildfire season.
This year's wildfire season was the most devastating on record for Oregon, with over 1.9 million acres burned this year, including hundreds of thousands of acres of grazing and timber lands in Eastern Oregon. The fire season also destroyed over 150 structures. The season incurred gross costs upwards of $350 million. This is more than double the next most expensive fire season.
While more than half of the costs will eventually be reimbursed by the federal government, the state needs immediate funds to pay the firefighters, local fire services, and vendors who responded when Oregon called. Wildfire fighting costs are generally covered by the interim Emergency Board committee, of which I am a member. However, because of the severity of the 2024 wildfire season, Governor Kotek called the special legislative session to cover the extraordinary outstanding bills.
I was proud of the bipartisanship we demonstrated by joining together on Thursday to vote overwhelmingly to appropriate $191.5 million to the Oregon Department of Forestry and $26.6 million for the State Fire Marshal. It was a short and effective special session and Governor Kotek signed the bill on Friday. The funding is now available to the agencies to pay the wide range of contractors we relied on for firefighting and related support services.
Climate scientists warn that as our wildfire seasons gets hotter and longer, we will continue to face these types of challenging conditions again and again. The Governor and Legislators are committed to working with our agencies to ensure we have a sustainable pathway to cover wildfire funding in the coming years. However, it is not enough to just prepare for increasing costs in the future. We must also focus on true forest management and prevention to ensure we are doing everything we can to mitigate the severity of fires. I look forward to working with my colleagues and the Department of Forestry on this task in the next legislative session.
REVIEW OF DECEMBER LEGISLATIVE DAYS
December Legislative Days took place last week, but were condensed into a shorter timeline to accommodate the special session on wildfire payments. I had almost 30 meetings and three committee hearings in just over two days. The meetings and hearings served as an opportunity to prepare and preview bills for the upcoming 2025 Legislative Session, which begins on January 21st, 2025. I have included a review of my three committee meetings below. Click on the committee hearing date to access the video recording for each meeting.
This committee met on Wednesday, December 11 to approve committee bills for next Session and to hear important updates on past work and investments. Co-Chairs Helm and Owens introduced a series of bills related to the work they are doing on water access and quality as well. The presentations given are listed below with available materials hyperlinked:
The Joint Emergency Board met on Thursday, December 12, but the committee does not meet during legislative sessions. It only meets during the interim when the Legislature is not in session, to consider agency requests and allocate Emergency Funds, increase expenditure limitations, authorize transfers, receive reports, and approve submissions of federal grant applications. At last Thursday's meeting, the grant applications we approved included ones for a child nutrition program, the Summer EBT Nutrition Program, for youth suicide Prevention. and for Eugene passenger rail service to name just a few. We also approved funds for limited-duration staffing for the Early Literacy Program, and approved $4.7 million to the Oregon Health Authority for the United We Heal Medicaid Payment Program. The program is intended to leverage federal Medicaid assistance funding to support behavioral health apprenticeships, training, and education programs.
The Joint Committee on Transportation (JCT) moved from its original time on Thursday, December 12 to Wednesday, December 11 to accommodate. the special session. My fellow co-chair, Senator Chris Gorsek, and I introduced the committee bills for the 2025 Legislative Session, and the committee then voted to accept them for consideration when the session begins. You can find a summary of the committee bills here. Co-Chair Gorsek and I also provided an update on the ongoing Transportation Workgroups and let the committee members know that each workgroup will be submitting a report-out of their deliberations to all JCT members. We then held an informational session on a variety of key topics. The presentations given are listed below with available materials hyperlinked:
IMPORTANT LEGISLATIVE DATES
The 2025 Legislative Session is fast approaching and my next several newsletters will go into more detail about my bills and how you can participate. This week, I wanted to start looking ahead to the next session by providing you with some key dates to keep in mind. See the graphic below for when I'll be sworn in and the date the 2025 Legislative Session begins.
The first date, December 13th has already passed, but I included it here because it's an important one. It was the deadline to pre-session file bills with the Chief Clerk of the House or the Secretary of the Senate. This means that any legislator who wants to introduce a bill at the beginning of the 2025 Legislative Session needed to file a bill draft last Friday. The overwhelming majority of bills we will consider next session fall into this category and were filed on Friday. Most Legislators spent last week gathering signatures from colleagues to be co-sponsors or co-chief sponsors on their bills. Regular readers of this newsletter will know that the Transportation Plan will take a significant amount of my time in the next session, but I did pre-session file several bills, and also signed onto several important ones that other members are introducing. I'll save the specific details for my next newsletter, but I am excited to say that I am co-chief sponsoring two important bills: A bill to fund the addition of diseases to the Newborn Screening Panel with Representative Owens, and a bill to ban flavored tobacco sales in Oregon that is being introduced by Senator Lisa Reynolds (a pediatrician).
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WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT OLIS
I often refer you to OLIS for information on bills or committee videos, but as we prepare for the 2025 Legislative Session, I want to take a moment to explain what it is, and how it can be useful to you. The Oregon Legislative Information System (OLIS) is the online repository of current and recent historical legislative recordings and documents. The Legislature makes audio and video recordings of committee hearings and floor sessions available on OLIS and also scans and make available all the documents submitted to and created by the Legislature. This includes draft bills, written committee testimony and reports written by staff. If you want to watch the action on the House Floor during Session, go to OLIS. If you want to read a bill draft or find out what action has been taken, go to OLIS. If you want to testify on a bill, go to OLIS to sign up or submit written testimony. If you want to view all written testimony submitted on a bill, go to OLIS. And if you want to read reports or view presentations from a committee meeting, go to OLIS. In short, almost anything you want to read or watch that relates to the Oregon Legislature can be found on the OLIS website. It is an incredibly useful tool for Legislators and their staff, but it is also an important resource that the public can utilize to track legislation or follow legislative proceedings. Want to know more about using OLIS? The best place to start is to watch this video tutorial on how to use OLIS:
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BI-STATE BRIDGE COMMITTEE MEETS
In my last newsletter, I noted that the next meeting of the Legislative Bi-State Bridge Committee would be in January. However, because both Washington and Oregon are beginning their respective Legislative Sessions in January, the decision was made to hold it in December instead. We met on Tuesday, December 17th for two hours and it was the Washington Legislature's turn to host the meeting, which can be viewed here.
During the meeting, we heard updates from Interstate Bridge Replacement (IBR) Program Administrator Greg Johnson and his team on the permitting process that must be completed before construction begins. The IBR program is meeting regularly with impacted river users to understand future business and negotiate settlement agreements with businesses that will be impacted by construction of a new bridge. Once all agreements are in place, the program will formally submit an updated Navigation Impact Report to the United States Coast Guard (USCG). A preliminary report was submitted in 2022. Following that submission, the USCG will initiate a 30-day public comment period to provide the opportunity for river users to identify themselves as impacted by a fixed span bridge. The IBR program hopes that with agreements in place, no impacted river users will be identified, and a revised navigation clearance determination will be issued. The program hopes to submit the bridge clearance permit application in late 2025 or early 2026 for a fixed span bridge.
We also heard an update on the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. During the public comment period, the IBR program received over 3,400 public comments. Over the next few months, we will receive an interim public comment summary highlighting the number of comments received and primary topics. All comments received will be used to refine the design options considered and to update the analysis as appropriate. All comments and responses will also be included in the Final SEIS statement submitted to the Federal Government. IBR program responses will include any updates made to the program options and/or analysis as a result of the comment.
As a reminder, the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program website is an excellent resource for people interested in any aspect of replacing the bridge. The Draft SEIS is available on the site in it's entirety.
IBR AT GOVERNOR'S MARKETPLACE
Interstate Bridge Replacement (IBR) Program Administrator Greg Johnson was the keynote speaker at the Oregon Governor’s Marketplace, an event that brings information about public contracting opportunities and business resources to Oregonians. Following the keynote, the IBR Program held an additional information session to connect with business owners and attendees, where they shared details about how to work with the IBR Program in the future.
The one-day event was a conference and tradeshow attended by contractors and other businesses, and featured training sessions, informational booths, and speaking events.
For more information about opportunities to work with the IBR Program, visit the construction resources and opportunities webpage.
BELOW: IBR Program Administrator Greg Johnson and Governor Tina Kotek
LEGISLATIVE DAYS MEETINGS
Legislative Days are always a busy time for meetings, and my days are usually spent in non-stop 15-minute meetings with jurisdictional partners, non-profits, and stakeholders talking about priorities for the next Legislative Session. The only time that I'm not in meetings is when I'm in committee hearings. This December, I managed to fit almost 30 meetings into two and a half days. Here are just some of the groups I was able to meet with: the Oregon Land Trusts Coalition, the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission, members of the Governor's team, a group of public university students from across the state, the Coalition for Climate and Economic Justice, SEIU 503, the Oregon Building Trades and Construction Council, representatives from OSU, PSU, and UO, the American Federation of Teachers, Family Forward, and the Innovation Law Lab. While I was in committee meetings, my Chief of Staff also had a great meeting with students from the Multnomah Youth Commission who were there to lobby on behalf of expanded transit passes for youth and a bill they are working on to push back the start time for schools to ensure students are learning at the most opportune times.
BELOW: I enjoyed meeting with public university students and hearing about the issues that matter most to them, including keeping costs for attending college low.
BUSINESS PLAN LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
On December 9th, Senator Chris Gorsek and I led a breakout session on Transportation at the Oregon Business Plan Leadership Summit. As co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Transportation, we talked about our efforts to lay the groundwork for a major Transportation plan in the 2025 Legislative Session. We emphasized the significant budget shortfall that ODOT faces and discussed why we need to prioritize funding for a safe and resilient multimodal Transportation system now.
The Oregon Business Plan Leadership Summit is one of the state's largest and most consequential economic development forums. Every year, it brings together leaders from the business and nonprofit sectors and from government to discuss how to improve and advance Oregon's economy and livability. This year's event, "Advancing World-Class Ambitions," focused on seizing key opportunities to fuel economic growth in a way that benefits all Oregonians. Governor Tina Kotek shared her agenda for the next year, and House Speaker Julie Fahey and Senate President Rob Wagner shared an outlook on the 2025 Legislative Session. I appreciated listening to everyone speak and the opportunity to talk about the importance of Transportation in relation to securing and growing our state economically.
Read more about the 2024 Oregon Business Plan Leadership Summit in this article from the Oregon Capitol Chronicle.
BELOW: Leading Our Breakout Session and our agenda from the program
FOREST GROVE SCHOOLS TOUR
On Tuesday, I toured Joseph Gale Elementary School and Neil Armstrong Middle School in Forest Grove with Superintendent Suzanne West and School Board Chair Kristy Kottkey. At Neil Armstrong, I had the opportunity to talk with Principal Juliana Kelly and see both an art and music class. At Joseph Gale I was joined on the tour by Dean of Students Amy Harlow. I was delighted to see a former Glencoe student, Xochi Turner, who is now teaching. It was a great opportunity to see our dedicated teachers at work, and I appreciated learning about the fabulous school activities and classes being offered in our district. It truly takes a village to support our schools and especially our students. We should all be proud of the opportunities that the Forest Grove School District is providing for them.
UPCOMING EVENTS IN OUR COMMUNITY
There are always a lot of great events in our community at any given time, and below I've listed just a few happening soon around House District 29!
Holly Daze Dinner in Hillsboro
Enjoy a three-course holiday-themed meal at the Community Senior Center. This event will sell out so call 503-615-1090 to reserve your seat.
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Make Gingerbread Houses at the Cornelius Library
What can be better than hot cocoa? Making gingerbread houses! Stop by the library and build your own with graham crackers. While supplies last.
¿Qué puede ser mejor que una taza de chocolate? Crear su propia casita de jengibre! Ben a la biblioteca y crea tu propia casita con galletas. Hasta agotar los materiales.
- December 20 from 5:30-7:30 pm
- Drake Learning Center - 1310 N. Adair St
- FREE
"Annie" Presented by Theater in the Grove
Join Theatre in the Grove for the timeless musical Annie, a holiday treat perfect for the whole family! There are still shows December 20-22nd. Buy tickets here!
Theater in the Grove: 2028 Pacific Avenue in Forest Grove
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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BELOW: I really miss being in the old part of the Capitol where we always had trees and music for the holidays. Construction be done please!
BELOW: Family time later today to get our Christmas Trees.
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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