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To contact me, please click here: Sen.DebPatterson@oregonlegislature.gov
Dear Friends,
We are nearing the first Chamber deadline to move bills out of policy committees, either to Ways and Means (for bills that come with fiscals, or price tags to implement), or to the floor of the Chamber for voting by the whole Senate or House, as the case may be.
I continue to work on bills to try to make healthcare, housing, and other necessities like food more accessible and affordable.
This week, we passed two of my bills off the Senate floor with unanimous bi-partisan support – SB 32, which requires Oregon Housing and Community Services to post a list on their website of all the affordable housing complexes in Oregon, and when the affordability restrictions might expire. SB 973 would require landlords to notify applicants for housing with affordability restrictions when they might expire. This is especially important for older adults, to be sure they know if their apartment complex might be moving to market rate, and when, so that they are fully informed. Another bill I am working on, SB 444, will have a public hearing on April 9th and would raise to 10% the amount of accessible housing units required to be built in new multi-family housing complexes.
I’m continuing to work on SB 539, which would require hospitals and clinics to let patients know in advance if they charge “facility fees” which are not always covered by insurance and sometimes may add hundreds of dollars to a patient’s bill. It would also ban these fees in some instances. I’m also bringing to the Senate floor SB 951, which would keep in place the requirement that doctor’s practices be majority owned by doctors in Oregon, with those doctors in charge of deciding their recommendations for our healthcare, not private equity and other corporate concerns.
Food insecurity remains an issue, and top priority for me is advocating for funding for the Marion Polk Food share, along with needed funding for Liberty House, and the Marion Polk Early Learning Hub, among other funding requests.
Those of us who live in the eastern portion of SD 10 pay higher waste removal rates than those in the western part of the district, and SB 1067 seeks to give Salem and other Marion County cities and towns the same options as communities in every other county outside Portland’s Metro.
Last week, I urged folks with concerns on issues at the federal level to contact the White House comment line. Please note that its hours have been reduced – the comment line is only available 11 am to 3 pm Eastern time on Tuesdays through Thursdays.
I hope you can attend my next Town Hall, to be held Friday, April 11th from 3-4 pm in the Loucks Auditorium at the Salem Public Library, 585 Liberty Street SE, Salem, OR 97301.
As always, I am glad to hear from you. Be well.
Sincerely yours,
Deb
Town Hall, April 11th
Senator Patterson will be hosting another Town Hall, this time at the Salem Public Library, on Friday, April 11th at 3:00pm in the Loucks Auditorium. I will be sharing updates on the legislative session and want to hear what issues are important to you. We hope you can join us!
Oregon's Unclaimed Property Program
Oregon holds and returns millions of dollars in unclaimed property funds, which manifests in the form of insurance proceeds, uncashed checks, forgotten bank accounts, tax refunds, credit balances, utility deposits, stock dividends, investments accounts, and mutual funds and securities. The Oregon State Treasury's Unclaimed Property Program has made it easy for Oregonians to search their name and file a claim online free of charge.
For more information on the Oregon State Treasury and their duties, see here. To search for your unclaimed money, click here.
What is Happening with the Block of Humanity
Senator Patterson was recently featured in a Salem Reporter article regarding the Block of Humanity, which is a YMCA led project for Downtown Salem. If you are wondering what the next steps of this project may look like, please see here to read the article.
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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