Delivering for Oregon

Unfinished Business - 2024 Legislative Priority

One effort that passed the House but failed to make it in time in the Senate that I’m dedicated to bringing back is Wage Theft Protections for workers.

HB 2057 – Wage theft affects millions of workers across the country and exacerbates income inequality. HB 2057 combats wage theft by holding contractors accountable for their subcontractor’s failure to pay wages.

For my entire career, I have fought for the rights of all workers. First, as a representative for the Carpenters Union and now as a member of the Oregon Legislature. Defrauding workers of wages they have earned and are rightfully entitled to, is devastating to the workers and our communities. When workers don’t receive compensation, it could be the difference between making this month’s rent or being able to cover childcare costs. Working Oregonians deserve better.

Even though we passed HB 2005 Banning Ghost Guns there is still so much unfinished business on gun safety. Unfortunately as a result of the Republican walkout leadership agreed to take out 2 other provisions of the bill that raised the age to buy automatic rifles to 21 and further allow local prohibitions on concealed carry. While these are a step in the right direction we must do much more.

Investments in Stronger Schools

It’s vital that students are supported from childhood to career, which is why I voted for a historic $10.2 billion budget for K-12 schools, investments in higher education, and a $140 million investment in early literacy. I also advocated strongly for our educator workforces, so they have the tools they need to succeed. We have urgent problems in our schools like staffing shortages that need to be addressed now.

Record K-12 Education Investment: HB 5015, which invests an historic $10.2 billion in the State School Fund (a 10% increase over the 2021-23 biennium funding of $9.3 billion), which will ensure Oregon’s K-12 students and educators have the support they need.

Early Literacy Success Initiative: HB 3198, which invests $144 million to support evidence-based literacy strategies to improve how we are teaching kids to read and write.

Educator Workforce: SB 283 addresses the shortage of educators in Oregon’s K-12 schools by funding educator training and retention initiatives. SB 279’s passage means Oregon will join the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact.

Higher Education Opportunity Package: HB 5025 invests $3.7 billion to increase access to college, affordability, and completion for Oregonians who choose to purse postsecondary education. The Includes $1 billion for the Public University Support Fund, $800 million for the Community College Support Fund, and $24 million to the Tribal Student Grant program. I was especially glad that that $308 million was allocated to the Oregon Opportunity Grant program – the Oregon Opportunity Grant is Oregon's largest state-funded, need-based grant program for low-income college students.

The 2023 legislative session, which wrapped up on June 25, proved to be incredibly challenging with an unprecedented 42-day Republican walkout. But despite this derailment we were still able to act on critical issues facing Oregonians. I’m proud to say we made significant progress to protect communities from the climate crisis, defend fundamental reproductive rights, address the state’s homelessness crisis, build more affordable housing, and make major investment in our local community.

The policies we passed and budget decisions we made will help our state rebuild for the future, but we need to continue to take bold and transformative action ​to improve the lives of all Oregonians.

OVERVIEW OF THIS SESSION AND MY ROLE

This session I was once again elected as the Speaker Pro Tempore. I served as the Chair of the House Business and Labor Committee, and a member of the Natural Resources Subcommittee and Ways and Means Committee. I was also Co-Chair of the Capital Construction Subcommittee where I worked with my colleagues on investments across the county and state, which included bonding, lottery, and general fund dollars.

Climate & Environment – HB 3409 & HB 3630

Climate-fueled extreme heat, drought, and wildfires have devastated the lives of Oregonians. It’s crucial we take bold action, which is why I co-sponsored the Climate Resilience Package investing in community-focused solutions to increase our energy efficiency, keep Oregonians safe from extreme weather, and build a more resilient, sustainable, and equitable energy system. The package invests $90 million in sustainable solutions that will leverage federal funding to create jobs, protect Oregonians from extreme weather, and drive down household energy costs for working families.

Addressing Harmful Algal Blooms - I’m especially excited for a piece I’ve been working on for years now, Section 83 of HB 3409, will help address algal blooms and protect the water quality in our watersheds by refocusing the efforts of DEQ and OHA to better monitor and track waters susceptible to harmful algal blooms, and develop strategies, notifications, and public awareness of water quality and potentially unsafe water bodies and drinking water sources. Oregon spends large amounts of money to react to these problems and needs to do more to ensure the welfare of Oregonians who drink water or are exposed to contaminated waters while enjoying the outdoors. We literally need to go upstream and develop strategies to prevent the problem.

Drought & Water Investment (HB 2010): Invests $100 million in new and existing resources to ensure families, farms, and wildlife across Oregon have clean, accessible water – now and into the future.

Workplace Equity and Growing a Skilled Workforce (HB 2649)

One of my main priorities this session was increasing both the percentage of apprentices on public projects and the diversity of those apprentices. HB 2649 increased to 15% the number of apprenticeship positions utilized on public construction projects in Oregon. It also expands these requirements to the Oregon Department of Transportation, public universities, and community colleges that use state public funds for construction costs. These requirements will better ensure that publicly funded projects are utilizing apprentices and conducting robust outreach to women, minority populations, and veterans. It is crucial that we demand increased job opportunities for apprentices and more diversity in our construction industry.

Reproductive Health (HB 2002)

After Roe v Wade was overturned, Democrats committed to protecting these fundamental rights and freedoms. We delivered on that promise by passing the Reproductive Health & Access to Care Act, which will safeguard abortion rights, make sure providers are protected from legal overreach from anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ states, and expand gender-affirming care. Every Oregonian should be able to make their own healthcare decisions about their own bodies.

Consumer Protection (HB 2759, SB 619)

I worked hard on several Consumer Protection bills that ensure bad actors are held accountable and Oregonians’ online data and information can be protected.

Scam Robocalls: HB 2759 With new technological advancements Oregon’s existing anti-robo call statutes are no longer adequate to protect Oregonians from scams phone calls. New scams are becoming a bigger and bigger problem in Oregon and around the country. US consumers received over 50.3 billion robocalls in 2022. Over 68.4 million Americans lost an estimated $39.5 billion to phone scams in 2022. HB 2759 makes it a deceptive practice for a telemarketing company to provide substantial assistance to an entity it knows or “consciously avoids” knowing is violating the law. This will allow Oregonians to recover damages from carriers that have violated that federal standard (willingly allowing the calls to go forward even though they know they are scam calls). In the end of the day this will allow Oregonians to recover damages from carriers that have violated that federal law.

Oregon Consumer Privacy Act: SB 619 provides Oregonians with a number of important rights over their personal information and imposes specific obligations on large businesses who collect, use, store, disclose, analyze, delete or modify consumers’ personal data.

In the absence of federal data privacy legislation, Senate Bill 619 establishes multiple rights for Oregon consumers, which include: Right to Know: Consumers will have the right to know whether controllers are processing their data, types of data, and third parties the data has been disclosed to. Right to Deletion: Consumers will have the right to require a controller to delete their personal data held by a controller. Right to Opt Out: Consumers will have the right to opt out of the processing of their personal data for targeted advertising, sale or profiling of the consumer in a way that produces legal effects; and

Consumers should have a say over how their data is used and companies shouldn’t be able to target and exploit them, SB 619 will make sure Oregonians are protected and in control of their data.

Affordable Housing & Homelessness (SB 5511, SB 5505, HB 3395)

A lack of housing supply drives the homelessness crisis and strains working families. I supported major investments to build more homes and preserve affordable housing. I also supported the Affordable Housing & Emergency Homelessness Response Package (HB 2001, HB5019) a $200 million investment supporting critical programs that will help get unhoused individuals off the streets, connected to services, and into stable housing.

Affordable Housing & Emergency Homelessness Response Package (HB 2001, HB 5019): This housing & homelessness response package was the first piece of major legislation we passed this session. The policies and funding in this package will help get people off the streets, connected to services, and on the path out of homelessness. The package also addresses the root causes of homelessness by funding eviction prevention work and youth homelessness programs. Finally, important policies in the package will help ramp up housing production across the state.

Housing Supply and Stability Investment (SB 5511, SB 5505, HB 3395): At the end of the legislative session, we passed nearly $2 billion in investments in housing and homelessness response and a key omnibus housing bill, HB 3395, that will help cut red tape for housing siting and construction.

Community Safety

Public Safety & Accountability Investment: A $4 billion investment to fund law enforcement, hold bad actors accountable, and give communities the safety and security they need. It includes an unprecedented $1.3 billion to fully fund the Oregon Department of Emergency Management.

SB 337: Addresses Oregon’s public defense crisis by ensuring an accountable, transparent, and efficient system so that Oregonians are afforded their right to representation.

Addiction Treatment & Behavioral Health

Behavioral Health Care Delivery Investment (HB 2757, SB 5525, HB 5026, SB 5506): Building off of the $1 billion invested in 2021-2022, $153 million this investment will help stabilize mobile crisis response funding and coordination between care centers and response systems so that Oregonians can receive the care they need.

HB 2757: Critical, stable funding for the 9-8-8 Suicide Prevention & Behavioral Health Crisis Line to help Oregonians in need.

HB 2395: Bipartisan Opioid Harm Reduction Package that will address the state’s fentanyl crisis and save lives by increasing access to naloxone.

HB 2513: The Hope & Recovery Bill fixes Measure 110 implementation so that Oregonians struggling with addiction can receive the care they need and get on a path to recovery.

HB 2645: Holds bad actors accountable through penalties for possession of fentanyl.

Bonding Investments in our Local Community

As the Capital Construction Committee Co-Chair, I continued my work spearheading infrastructure and project investments around the state, with special attention to investments in our local community.

• Homes for Good NAVAL Reserve – $5 Million paired with local investments to build 81 units of new affordable housing co-located with an early learning center. Head Start of Lane County and Early Childhood CARES partnered to develop an innovative model for housing to address the need in our community.

• UO’s Friendly Hall Renovation — $65.8 Million to modernize classrooms with innovative learning technology, update the HVAC to create a safe building operable in the modern climate of very hot summers and wildfire smoke, and bring the building into ADA compliance making it accessible for all students.

• Kids Sports & Civic Complex — $6 Million funding the culminating piece of the civic restoration project, a 2,500 grandstand that will house locker rooms. Its completion will bring significant economic benefits to local businesses and allow the facility to be financially self-sustaining.

• Lane County Behavioral Health Stabilization Center — $5 Million

• OSP Command Center and Medical Examiner/Forensic Lab Springfield — $28.9 Million

• LCC Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Building Renovation — $8 Million

Over the last two years the pandemic and extreme wildfires have caused major disruptions to our businesses, schools, and daily lives. With substantial state revenue remaining from our recent economic growth and an infusion of federal America Rescue Plan funds, our main goal this session was to make strategic investments to rebuild the economy, support critical services, and address challenges to the workforce caused by the pandemic.

With that goal in mind of allocating these investments to help our state in significant ways, and passing meaningful policy changes, I believe this may have been the most successful short session to date.

This session I continued in my role as Speaker Pro Tempore and had the great privilege to prepare for and begin the short session as Speaker of the House of Representatives. After Speaker Tina Kotek resigned, I presided for the remainder of January and oversaw the election of current Speaker of the House Dan Rayfield on February 1st.

In addition to serving as Speaker Pro Tempore this session, I served on the following committees:

• House Committee on Business and Labor – Chair

• Joint Committee on Ways and Means – Capital Construction – Co-Chair

• Joint Committee on Farm Worker Overtime – Co-Chair

• House Committee on Rules

• Joint Committee on Legislative Administration - Co-Chair

HB 4002 - Agricultural Worker Overtime

I took on continuing the conversation from 2021 to find a solution ensuring farmworkers are treated fairly under Oregon’s Constitution in receiving overtime pay. Since the 1930's agricultural workers have been one of the only groups exempted from overtime pay. After an interim workgroup we were able to design a concept that phased in the overtime hour threshold over 5 years and provided financial support to help farmers adapt to these costs. Oregon will soon become the eighth state to extend overtime pay to agricultural workers, and will join California and Washington to phase in an overtime requirement for hours worked in excess of 40 per week.

After a Supreme Court decision in Washington and pending legal action in Oregon, a legislative solution seemed a better way to move forward to help the industry adjust to the new requirement. A statutory provision also provided the certainty of a slower phase in and financial assistance that could not be accomplished in a judicial or administrative proceeding. HB 4002 phases in overtime requirements over 5 years, starting at above 55 hours in 2023, and ending with 40 hours in 2027; while concurrently providing the financial assistance over 6 years, with greater aid for smaller agriculture operations.

Though not everyone is happy with the outcome, I worked hard to craft the best policy we could to achieve a solution where complete stakeholder agreement was not achievable. I’m proud of that work and being a Chief Sponsor of HB 4002 providing overtime pay for agricultural workers, just like most other workers are guaranteed. Farmworkers deserve equal treatment under Oregon law, and this is a major step in that direction.

HB 4157 - Cost of Living Payments of Low Wage Workers

Low-wage workers play an essential role in Oregon but as the wealth gap has widened during the pandemic these essential workers are some of the most vulnerable to the increasing cost of everyday necessities. Rents continue to rise, childcare remains unaffordable and inaccessible, and healthcare costs remain high throughout this pandemic.

HB 4157 will support over 260,000 low income workers and families by giving one-time $600 payments for those who worked during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those payments will be coupled with the earned income tax credit payments allowing them to be distributed more quickly and effectively to those who are eligible.

Infrastructure Investments

As the Capital Construction Committee Co-Chair, I continued my work spearheading infrastructure and project investments around the state, with special attention to areas impacted by wildfires, including the McKenzie River community. Some notable capital projects in our community were:

• $3 million for the McKenzie River Discovery Center

• $3.6 million for the McKenzie Goodpasture Bridge rehabilitation project

• $375,000 for EWEB Water treatment improvement project

• $15 million to St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County non-profit for manufactured housing production facility

• $3.3 million for Peace Village to support SquareOne Villages

• $10 million to University of Oregon Acceleration Scientific Impact

• $4.5 Million to University of Oregon to support the Oregon Hazards Lab (OHAZ) Wildfire Camera Network

• $7.5 million for Lane County Fairgrounds Multi-Use Facility

• $6 million to Eugene Civic Alliance Civic Park

• $5 million for Lane County Emergency Response Functionality

• $1.5 million for City of Oakridge Willamette Activity Center

Notable Statewide Investments:

• $300 million education package to address the staffing crisis in Oregon’s schools, create summer learning opportunities, support wild-fire impacted school districts, and address education disparities.

• $100 million to address the need for affordable childcare including recruitment and retention payments to childcare workers, training of new childcare providers, and direct grants to expand existing childcare facilities.

• $400 million for affordable housing and help for homeless Oregonians including $165 million for homelessness services, $215 million to build and preserve affordable housing, and $20 million to improve access to homeownership.

• $100 million to help our communities pursue Oregon’s 100% renewable energy goals and combat drought including residential solar and storage rebates, and investments in charging infrastructure for zero emission medium- and heavy-duty trucks.

• $57 million to fund violence prevention programs and support community safety including $15 million to support Community-Based Organizations working to prevent violence, $5 million to expand hospital-based community violence prevention programs, $13 million to help local communities around the state clean up trash and provide sanitation services, $14 million to support services for crime victims, and $10 million for the Oregon Domestic & Sexual Violence Services Fund.

• $250 million for Broadband Access Budget to help develop broadband across Oregon.

Following these appropriations, Oregon will still maintain more than $2.7 billion in reserve. That includes projected balances of $760 million in General Funds, $1.3 billion in the Rainy-Day Fund, and nearly $700 million in the Education Stability Fund.

Other important policy bills the Legislature passed this session:

• HB 4123 - Homelessness Pilot Program: Creates eight locally led pilot programs with counties, cities, tribes, and community organizations to facilitate a coordinated response to homelessness that will help connect those in crisis with shelters and pathways to more permanent housing.

• HB 4035 - Protecting Health Coverage for Low-Income Oregonians: The number of Oregonians receiving health care coverage from the Oregon Health Plan increased by 28 percent since the start of the pandemic. Once the public health emergency ends an estimated 300,000 Oregonians will lose their coverage. Along with allocated funds HB4035 will ensure Oregonians have access to health insurance while they are moved out of the state Medicaid system.

• HB 4015 - Small Business Access to Capital: To help jumpstart Oregon’s small business and start-ups HB 4015 permanently increases access to capital through the Entrepreneurial Development Loan Fund at the Oregon Business Development Department.

• SB 1501 - Private Forest Accord: Updates provisions of the Oregon Forest Practices Act, which governs logging activity on private forestlands to provide important protections for our forests and natural habitats.

• SB 1536 - Extreme heatwaves: Eases barriers to renters accessing portable cooling devices and heat relief during severe weather events.

2021 was an unprecedented legislative session where historic investments from the America Rescue Plan Act were made to help Oregon begin to recover from the impacts of the pandemic. We also advanced crucial bills to address wildfire recovery, racial injustice, and environmental impacts of climate change.

The pandemic has highlighted the many issues within our society that need to be addressed and has made our work in the legislature more difficult as we navigated working remotely. I am grateful that we were able to keep the public involved through our online remote hearings while the Capitol was only open to authorized personnel following guidance from OHA, OHSU, and regulations from OSHA.

Our state was hit hard economically by the pandemic, but we were able to remain strong together. One of our main duties coming into session was to address the impacts from COVID 19 and help the state recover. We worked hard this session to protect small businesses, working families, essential workers, and low-income communities across the state who have been most impacted by the pandemic.

This session I was once again elected as the Speaker Pro Tempore. I served as the Chair of the House Business and Labor Committee, Chair of the House Special Committee on December 21, 2020 (to consider the Expulsion of Representative Nearman), Vice Chair of the House Rules Committee, and a member of the Natural Resources Subcommittee. I was also Co-Chair of the Capital Construction Subcommittee where I worked with my colleagues on investments across the county and state, which included bonding, lottery, and general fund dollars as well as the allotment of the American Rescue Plan Act dollars.

AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN INVESTMENTS

Oregon received $2.6 billion in stimulus funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). State legislators were each empowered individually to allocate a total of $2 million to investments that we believed needed it the most. I joined a group of Lane County Legislators in pooling our ARPA funds to be able to make more significant investments in our community.

The joint Lane County funding requests include:

• $2,100,000 to FOOD for Lane County to renovate their warehouse and increase capacity to distribute and store food, train volunteers, and address community hunger needs.

• $3,250,000 to the City of Eugene to establish “safe parking” and “safe tent” sites where people experiencing homelessness can legally park their vehicles or sleep in tents.

• $250,000 to the City of Eugene to help prepare temporary shelter sites for people experiencing homelessness.

• $500,000 to nonprofit St. Vincent De Paul for costs related to a new 10-unit building for veterans experiencing homelessness.

• $400,000 to Lane County for mobile crisis response and health care vans to serve people experiencing homelessness who are not served by CAHOOTS.

• $500,000 to Lane County for needed building improvements to a shelter for people with health vulnerabilities.

• $522,000 to Lane County to build a seed fund that will provide grants to increase homeownership for low-income families, with a focus on BIPOC communities.

• $500,000 to nonprofit Square One to acquire land for the Peace Village project, which will provide 70 units of permanently affordable, cooperatively owned housing for households with very low incomes.

• $580,761 to nonprofit Looking Glass to renovate a facility to provide affordable childcare and other services.

In addition to these projects, I allocated $325,00 for McKenzie River Water Quality through the EWEB Finn Rock Restoration Project and also joined Senator Prozanski to invest $750,000 to the Lane Rural Fire Authority for reimbursement of PPE costs during the pandemic, an additional ambulance, and Type 6 Wildland Fire Vehicle for the South Battalion station.

OREGON BUDGET AND CAPITAL CONSTRUCTION INVESTMENTS

This session we have been able to provide funding at more abundant levels than we have been able to accomplish in the past, thanks to our rebounding revenues and federal dollars. This has allowed us to make transformative investments in housing, wildfire recovery, behavioral health, and significant investments in infrastructure around the state. Some of the additional Lane County investments include:

• Additional funding for the Eugene Riverfront Project

• Several projects in the McKenzie River Corridor

• A new building for the Eugene YMCA

• Renovation for the Shedd

Statewide investments included:

Transforming Behavioral Health

• $302 million for new Behavioral Health Resource Networks and addiction treatment services established through the passage of Ballot Measure 110 (2020)

• $130 million for capital, start-up, and operational costs related to increasing statewide capacity of licensed residential facilities and housing for people with behavioral health needs

• $31 million for opening two 24-bed patient units at the Oregon State Hospital Junction City campus, which will make more bed space available at the Salem campus

Tackling the Housing Crisis

I want to compliment Representative Fahey on her work chairing the Housing Committee addressing the critical issues of homelessness and affordable housing, especially during the pandemic.

• $410 million for the Local Innovation and Fast Track (LIFT) Housing and Permanent Supportive Housing programs

• $30 million to cover 100% of missed rental payments for applications submitted to the Landlord Compensation Fund and $5 million for a landlord risk fund (SB 278)

• $130 million for affordable housing preservation and affordable housing property acquisition loan programs

• $100 million for construction, rebuilding, and financing initiatives for housing for displaced survivors of the Labor Day 2020 wildfires

• $94 million for other housing initiatives, including shelter operations, down payment assistance, and affordable homeownership development

Education
This year our focus was to continue to facilitate virtual learning while preparing for students to safely return to in-person education.

• $9.3 billion historic investment in K-12 education funding that included investments in social, emotional, and mental support after COVID impacted in-person learning

• $250 million for summer learning, enrichment programs, and childcare to support our children and families that are enduring the pandemic, and facilitating students to catch up and prepare for the next school year

• $200 million Oregon Opportunity Grant - Oregon's largest state-funded, need-based grant program for college students. Approximately 40,000 students receive Opportunity Grants each year.

Another notable highlight is the passage of HB 2166 which establishes a comprehensive approach to create a centralized statewide system for early care and educational programs.

Wildfire Recovery and Disaster Preparedness
In 2020, we saw one of the most destructive and devastating wildfire seasons in Oregon’s history. The fires killed at least 10 people, burned more than 1,000,000 acres of land, and destroyed thousands of homes. SB 762 will coordinate a statewide response to plan for and mitigate wildfires with a focus on community preparedness and public health. It is a bill that has been years in the making and is a huge first step to addressing the increasingly severe wildfires in this State.

• $200 million for essential workforce and local communities on the frontlines, managing and mitigating wildfires

• $150 million reserved in a special purpose appropriation to address natural disaster preparedness, response and recovery activities, including potential responses to the drought crisis in the Klamath Basin

• $150 million for wildfire recovery housing

• $75 million for food and shelter for wildfire-impacted communities

• $28 million for planning and rehabilitation of high-hazard dams

• $23 million for reimbursement to counties for lost tax revenues

Additionally, I was glad to support SB 405 aimed at wildfire cleanup and recovery and HB 5042 to help rebuild and restore the impacted communities.

Investments Focusing on Racial Equity

• $100 million for the implementation of the Cover All People program (HB 3352). This is an essential step to address health disparities and accessibility to Oregonians, including DACA recipients and undocumented persons who are often essential workers and help sustain our economy

• $11.7 million for the Oregon Youth Employment Program, with increased participation from communities of color, rural communities, or historically underrepresented communities (HB 2092)

• $10 million for loan-loss reserve program grants to lenders to address institutional and social barriers that have made access to capital nearly impossible for small business owners, especially those in rural, veteran and BIPOC communities (HB 2266)

Improving Water Systems

• $276 million for drinking water, stormwater, and sanitary sewer water projects statewide (HB 5006)

• $95 million to capitalize grant and loan funds for water projects

• $71 million for enhanced capacity, planning support, stakeholder engagement, water quality, groundwater and surface water availability and allocation, groundwater well and septic system financial assistance programs, and environmental protection programs

Supporting a Strong Economic Recovery

• $2 billion of crucial infrastructure investments across the state to spur economic activity

• $193 million was invested to strengthen the state’s long-term care system and workforce

• $113 million to support higher wages for workers in assisted living facilities, adult foster homes, and skilled nursing facilities

• $30 million for the Oregon Essential Workforce Health Care Program (SB 800)

• $50 million for the Community Renewable Investment Fund to provide grants for eligible community renewable energy projects (HB 2021)

• $50 million for grants to support local independent movie theaters and businesses in the live events industry as they recover from business closures due to the pandemic

PERSONAL LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES

Residential Foreclosure Moratorium Extension - HB 2009: I am proud to say the Residential Foreclosure Moratorium Extension passed with bipartisan support. HB 2009 gives homeowners until September 30th to defer their payments without penalty to later in their mortgage loans if they had been affected by the pandemic. The bill also allows for the Governor to extend the moratorium until the end of the year if needed. There is a tremendous amount of federal recovery funding coming to help homeowners and renters but we still need time for state agencies to allocate the money to individuals in need. Having a roof over your head is crucial to protecting the health and wellbeing of Oregonians and provide a safety net while they get back on their feet in the wake of this pandemic.

Helping Small Business with Unemployment Insurance - HB 3389: Another one of my priority bills that I was honored to champion was HB 3389. I appreciate the collaboration of the Employment Department and some of my colleagues to make this a bipartisan effort to help small businesses recover from the economic impact of the pandemic. HB 3389 reduces unemployment insurance tax rates for most businesses that experienced layoffs as a result of the pandemic. The bill will result in a reduction of approximately $2.4 billion in the UI taxes for local businesses over the next 8 to 9 years.

Prevailing Wage - SB 493: SB 493 worked to codify better wages and benefits on publicly funded construction projects. It’s long overdue for the State of Oregon to recognize community standards established by prevailing wage rate and invest in family wages, healthcare, apprenticeship, and training for the construction industry. Wages have been stagnating under the current system, and industry compensation needs to keep pace if Oregon wants to cultivate a competitive market for a skilled workforce and invest in a vibrant economy.

Forest Practices Reform - HB 3410: For several years I have worked on issues related to forest practices, wildfire, and water quality and the science behind our natural resource policies. We have seen the increased severity of wildfire in forests across the state as a result of climate change, but capacity to address the increase has been extremely challenging to the state’s resources and budget and is not sustainable. Since the elimination of the severance tax on timber in the early 1990’s, revenues that were dedicated to schools and counties vanished and the state’s fiscal obligations increased along with the slate of wildfire costs. It is long overdue to bring Oregon’s severance tax on timber back to replace the lost revenues and better fund our forestry agency, wildfire response and mitigating the water quality impacts of forestry practices. For far too long the timber industry in this state has been paying too little in taxes while the cost and impacts of their practices are being subsidized by all of Oregon's taxpayers. The timber industry is contributing substantially less to these investments than they pay in Washington or California. I introduced HB 2379 and a further refined HB 3410 to accomplish this tax reform. Unfortunately, the legislature was unable to act on this reform but I am committed to continuing this conversation in the future.

Eliminating the public funding of the Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI) - HB 2357: Following the OPB and ProPublica articles there was much more momentum from the public and legislators to work on reforming OFRI after learning that they have been silencing science, attempting to influence politics, and exaggerating environmental outcomes with tax dollars. I was a sponsor of HB 2357 which would have made changes to OFRI, and although this bill passed the House, it died in the Senate. The Secretary of State’s office just released an audit confirming what the OPB articles had found and specifically found that “OFRI’s Statute Undermines its Public Benefit and the State Agency is Not Transparent About its Statutory Mandate to Support the Industry”. Looking to the future I plan to continue to advocate for eliminating the public funding of OFRI and instead provide funding to OSU to do additional educational programs for students and small forestland owners.

HIGHLIGHTS OF POLICY ACCOMPLISHMENTS THIS SESSION

Addressing Long Standing Systemic Racism and Police Accountability
In addition to responding to the pandemic one of our caucus’s main goals going into this session was addressing long standing systemic racism harming communities across Oregon and continuing our work on police accountability. We approached legislation through a racial equity lens, prioritizing issues like housing, economic development, health disparities, and community safety.

HB 3265 - updates the Sanctuary Promise Act to protect immigrant and refugee communities and prioritize public safety

HB 2935 - The CROWN Act bans public schools and employers from discriminating against hairstyles associated with race or sexual orientation

HB 2086 - provides community-driven programs with a focus on culturally specific and responsive behavioral health services to people of color and tribal communities

HB 3182 - Indian Child Welfare Act incorporates provisions of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act into Oregon law, providing key protections for Native children across multiple state systems

Police Accountability

HB 3164 - limiting the use of charging non-violent protesters with “interfering with a police officer”

HB 2928 - regulates the use of tear gas and other crowd control munitions during protest

HB 2513 - furthering our interim ban on chokeholds and requiring officers to be trained in respiratory distress

HB 2481 - curtails the further militarization of police agencies by limiting receipt of military-style gear from the federal government

HB 3355 - creates transparency by specifying what identification must be on a law enforcement officer’s uniform and gear during crowd management situations

Combating Climate Change and Protecting Our Natural Environment
This year's record heat and intensifying wildfire seasons are a constant reminder that climate change is real, and it is happening now. The legislature was able to pass a handful of bills to help combat climate change and protect our natural environment.

HB 2021 100% Clean Energy - Requires retail electricity providers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with energy production to be 100% free by 2040 and to develop clean energy plans to meet this target. If we can continue to decarbonize our energy, we will achieve a huge step to curbing one of the largest climate drivers.

SB 582 Recycling Reform - While I am frustrated the final bill language was not more aggressive, SB 582 is a great first step to help overhaul Oregon’s outdated recycling system. By requiring large producers of packaging and paper products establish goals for statewide rates for plastic and recycling contamination we will be able to help fund expansion of recycling services in Oregon.

HB 2062 Improved energy efficient standards - As a result of this bill, the Oregon Department Energy estimates cost savings of $30 million annually by 2025 and $100 million by 2035. ODE also estimates a greenhouse reduction of 50,000 metric tons in annual CO2 emissions by 2025, and a reduction of over 100,000 by 2035. Promoting Electric Vehicles - HB 2165 extends the state’s electric vehicle rebate program to hopefully make electric vehicles more accessible to all income levels. HB 2180 encourages the use of electric vehicles by requiring through building codes that new apartment buildings and commercial buildings be made ready for the transition to transportation electrification.

HB 2475 Energy Affordability - Allows the Public Utility Commission (PUC) to take into account the differential energy burdens on low-income customers and other economic, social equity, or environmental justice factors that affect affordability for certain classes of utility customers.

NEARMAN EXPULSION

One late session assignment for me was chairing the House Special Committee on December 21, 2020 to consider the expulsion of Representative Mike Nearman for disorderly behavior.

On December 21 during a special session, armed protesters aided by Rep. Nearman illegally gained entry to the Capitol Building, assaulted and injured State Police with bear spray and other weapons, damaged Capitol property and put the safety of elected officials and Capitol staff at extreme risk. It was later revealed and confirmed that Rep. Nearman’s role included planning and encouraging the December 21 assault, in addition to letting the rioters into the building. House Resolution 3 to expel Rep Nearman was passed out of the special committee unanimously and subsequently the House floor on a vote of 59-1. I carried the resolution on the floor, and it passed with one no vote, which was from Rep. Nearman. It was the first time in Oregon history that a member of the legislature was expelled, which I do not take lightly. But it was extremely important for the legislature to hold him accountable and to protect the integrity of the Oregon House of Representatives, and the rules of law and democracy.

To be frank the 2020 legislative session was deeply disappointing. Oregon’s Senate and House Republicans have abandoned their oaths of office and duties to serve Oregon by walking off the job. This marked the 4th time in over 10 months that the Republicans have used this tactic to deny the number of legislators constitutionally required to vote on bills. They have done this before and have expressed little intention of stopping. Its undemocratic that a minority party effectively holds veto power over any legislation they disagree with. A legislator’s job is to negotiate and vote on bills, and their choice to walk away demonstrates an unwillingness to do either.

We entered the 2020 Short Session with important, and often bipartisan bills that deserve consideration on both the House and Senate floors. I support House Speaker Kotek’s difficult choice to use our constitutional powers as a majority party to ensure that progress will be made, even without the cooperation of our Republican colleagues.

House Republicans are in clear violation of their one constitutional duty: to vote, on bills, on this floor. They are denying Oregonians their right to a functioning legislature by walking off the job and preventing votes on all the legislation ready for consideration on our floors.

The claim is that this is about Senate Bill 1530, the climate action bill is completely false. The first walkout in 2019 was over funding our schools, public health and sensible gun safety legislation. The second and third walkouts were over addressing our global climate emergency. Threats were even made against state police and the Senate President if they sought to compel Republicans’ attendance. This last walkout cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars and killed bills and budgets that are vital to Oregon. Even after many of the changes sought we made many of those changes in the months leading up to this session. Not all of them, true, but many major, substantive changes were made. People listened and compromised because we know that compromise is in the best interest of serving the people who elected us.

And still, House Republicans walked off the job. They left the state a full two weeks before our constitutional deadline to adjourn, after only three bills had passed both chambers this session, with hundreds of others that have won support through our public process being left in limbo.

I’ll admit, I saw that corrosion more clearly at the national level before I recognized it here at home.

After missing almost 2 weeks of work and creating an insurmountable backlog of good bills and good budgets, the Republican leaders wanted to come back with less than a day left so they can pick and choose what bills live and die. This would mean that after days of shirking their duties, they simply get to return and decide they can unilaterally kill all bills of their choosing.

Issues like climate change will not just go away and I promise that myself and my Democratic collogues will continue to bring back legislation to address these crucial issues.

Student Success Act

Since the passage of Measure 5 and Measure 50 in the 1990s our schools have been critically underfunded and our General Fund has become increasingly stressed in the recent decade. This session we dedicated a monumental investment in schools with the passage of the Student Success Act, which raises $1 billion annually from a business activities tax coupled with progressive income tax relief, all devoted to pre-k through 12th grade education. This investment is going towards reducing class sizes, fully funding Measure 98, and providing adequate resources for our schools, teachers, and students to thrive.


Paid Family Medical Leave

Another significant piece of legislation HB 2005, established a landmark paid family and medical leave insurance program in Oregon. When the benefits begin in 2023, employees will have access to 12 weeks of paid leave to care for a child after birth, or to care for themselves or a family member with a serious health condition. This is a much needed safety net for workers who can't afford to take time off or lose their job to care for themselves or a family member. This program is designed not to be punitive on small business.

Tenant Protection & Investments in Affordable Housing

While many landlords in our state do right by their tenants, there are still too many cases of rent gouging, sudden no-cause evictions, and ill treatment from landlords. SB 608 works to ensure a fairer approach to many of the problems that tenants experience. The bill establishes just or for-cause evictions standards and also works to prevent extreme rent increases. In addition to increased tenant protections, the legislature included significant amounts of funding to tack the affordable housing shortage. Over the next two years the state will devote more than $350 million in targeted investments to address the state’s housing crisis.

Stable Funding for Healthcare

Ensuring stable funding for the Oregon Health Plan (OHP) was one of the most important tasks at the beginning of this legislative session, as we faced nearly a billion-dollar shortfall in funding for the state’s Medicaid program. HB 2010 extends funding for OHP for the next six years and allows Oregon to access significant federal matching funds. Additionally, HB 2270 refers a tobacco tax increase referral to the voters on the November 2020 General Election ballot. If passed, the measure would increase the price of tobacco products, with 90% going to the OHP and the remaining 10% towards tobacco prevention and cessation programs. The measure would also create a new tax for e-cigarette and vaping products. I’m so proud of the work accomplished by my colleagues to make sure our most vulnerable populations, including 400,000 children and seniors, have health care coverage and also the steps we are taking to discourage teens and other Oregonians from smoking.

Campaign Finance Reform

We also made significant progress on campaign finance reform. Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 18 is a ballot measure referral that will allow voters to decide during the November 2020 General Election on campaign contribution limits. Two other bills that passed will increase transparency for voters. HB 2983 requires more transparency in reporting from 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(6) non profit organizations that contribute to partisan political activity. Currently, these groups can contribute virtually unlimited and oftentimes unreported money to campaign activity. HB 2716 requires that political advertisements disclose ‘paid for by’ on the advertisement. Another enormous accomplishment was the passage of SB 870, also known as National Popular Vote. National Popular Vote enters Oregon into an agreement with other states to recognize the candidate that receives the majority of the popular vote as the President. The compact becomes operative when 270 electoral votes are committed by states through the agreement and with Oregon joining only 74 more electoral votes are needed for enactment.

Juvenile Justice Reform

A huge victory this session for juvenile justice reform was SB 1008. This legislation modernizes Oregon's juvenile justice system and ensures that youth who commit crimes under Measure 11 will not automatically spend their life in prison without a chance of rehabilitation. Since Measure 11 we have learned more about brain development in youth and realize offenders should have the opportunity to have a “second look” hearing to determine whether the youth has taken responsibility for their crime and have been rehabilitated. This is just one step towards making our justice system work for everyone and giving our judges increased discretion.

Sustainable Infrastructure

In 2007 I championed HB 2620, which required public agencies to consider 1.5% of the overall cost of a public building to be invested in solar technology. The goal of the legislation was to grow clean energy and the solar industry in Oregon, helping make public buildings more energy efficient and resilient. This year we made some huge adjustments to the policy through HB 2496. The legislation adds onsite battery storage (used in conjunction with onsite solar generation) to further a building's resiliency and efficiency. It also allows an off ramp for funds to be used entirely on energy efficiency when solar is deemed unfeasible for the building. In the end I'm proud of this legislation evolving the Oregon Green Energy Technology program and ensuring its continued success in solar and green technology applications.

These are just a glimpse at some of the great, collaborative bills that were passed in the 2019 Legislative Session. There were many substantial bills passed this year, but there is also a significant amount of work that was left on the table for next session.

Consumer Data Protection / Response to Equifax Data Breach

Several recent major data breaches affecting Oregonians and national consumers made it clear this problem needed attention from the Oregon Legislature. This year Senator Prozanski and I led an interim workgroup and Chief Sponsored SB 1551 to respond to the massive breach of consumer data by the Credit Reporting Agency Equifax aiming to all hold entities with consumer information to higher standards.

It is unacceptable that a corporation has free reign with our most sensitive personal and financial information often not taking the necessary steps to ensure the information is as secure as possible. When a data breach occurs, Oregonians deserve to know about it as soon as possible and to have an easy and inexpensive means to secure their information.

SB 1551 will institute a number of key provisions including:

• Unlimited free credit freezes or unfreezes.

• Requirement to notify consumers within 45 days after a breach is discovered.

• Limits on upselling or the ability of companies that offer free credit monitoring after a data breach to couple that free offer to an additional paid service they may offer during the same transaction.

• Requirement to better safeguarding and practices to protect consumers’ personal information.

Clean Energy Jobs / Cap and Invest

The devastating effects of climate change should not go unaddressed. Although standards may have slipped at the federal level, Oregon continues to push forward as a leader in fighting climate change. A priority this session was House Bill 4001, the Clean Energy Jobs bill, also known as “Cap and Invest”. It provides a market-based solution for integrating a price on carbon and green house gas reductions in a regional clean energy economy. After years of work on this proposal, I supported its passage this session. Though we lacked some critical votes to pass it this short session, we did commit to work for 2019 passage, and while not loosing time on structuring the program.

Key measures to keep us on track to enact a cap and invest program in Oregon:

• Legislature’s approval of a newly created Carbon Policy Office to continue the groundwork needed to fully implement a cap-and-invest program.

• A one-time $1.4 million General Fund appropriation to support the Carbon Policy Office. The appropriation includes $650,000 to fund studies to examine the economic impact analysis of a cap and trade program on Oregon’s jobs and economy, leakage risk of emission intensive, trade exposed industries (EITEs), and carbon sequestration.

• The Speaker of the House and Senate President will convene and co-chair a new Joint Committee on Carbon Reduction to further refine the Clean Energy Jobs bill and strategically position it for passage in 2019.
  

Net Neutrality

I adamantly believe in an open and accessible internet for the public. When the Federal Communications Commission recently repealed rules that enforced net neutrality (the principle that all internet traffic be treated equally) I joined with Representative Jennifer Williamson to Chief Sponsor House Bill 4155. This bill prohibits public bodies from contracting with broadband internet service providers that engage in paid prioritization, blocking lawful content or applications, or disadvantages lawful internet content. With uncertainty at the federal level we need to do everything possible to preserve net neutrality in Oregon. I believe this measure will be a step toward protecting an open internet for Oregonians.

Gun Safety / Closing the “Boyfriend Loophole”

Gun control sadly remains an important topic for lawmakers. Fortunately, the Oregon Legislature was able to advance at least one bill this session to close the so-called “boyfriend loophole.” This bill tightens restrictions on gun ownership for people convicted of domestic violence or stalking. HB 4145 expands existing state laws to prevent intimate partners, regardless of marital status, from purchasing and possessing guns if they have been convicted of domestic violence. This is a step forward for common sense gun control in Oregon.I will continue to advocate for smart and effective gun laws to help prevent gun violence.

Federal Tax Disconnect

Addressing the budget impact of the new federal tax cut was a priority for the legislature this session. This bill “disconnects” Oregon from the new federal pass-through tax deduction in order to avoid a negative impact on the state from the recently passed tax overhaul. SB 1528 will help to keep our state tax revenues close to what they had been before the federal change, which would have negatively impacted our ability to fund vital services. These changes minimize the risk to future state revenues that especially impact the next biennium. SB 1528 will also increase the Oregon Opportunity Grant Fund by $14 million, providing greater access to college for low-income Oregonians.

Drug Price Increase Transparency

The skyrocketing cost of pharmaceuticals is making life-saving drugs unaffordable to those who need them the most. HB 4005 creates a statewide prescription drug cost and price transparency program. By targeting price-gougers, this bill will shine a light on how drug prices are set by requiring drug manufacturers to justify large cost increases for prescription drugs. HB 4005 also requires drug manufacturers to report marketing and research costs to the Department of Consumer and Business Services and to make policy recommendations to reduce costs based on the newly provided information.

Debt Buyer Regulation

The House Committee on Business and Labor introduced and passed HB 2356 that will require entities that purchase debt and subsequently take collection actions on consumers, also known as “debt buyers”, to register with the Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS). Its passage ensures that debt buyers are compliant with several requirements necessary for consumer protection from fraud and unethical collection practices while providing transparency, disclosure, and efficient court processes. This bill passed out of both chambers successfully and I am very proud of the years of work that went into creating this vital piece of consumer protection legislation.

Shell Corporations

HB 2191 will require all corporations that operate in the State of Oregon to be registered and obtain a license from the Secretary of State. The corporation will obtain a license if it has a physical address in the State of Oregon and agrees to a certain level of transparency, including allowing permission of the Secretary of State to review relevant corporate documents at will. This bill passed out of both chambers and will now be signed into law. Not unlike the debt buyer bill, I have been working with stakeholders on this bill for several years and am incredibly pleased with its passage. This legislation will help prevent fraudulent entities from operating in Oregon and protect consumers.

Equal Pay

Another priority for the Business and Labor Committee was passing House Bill 2005, providing equal pay for equal work. This law further prohibits wage discrimination based on race, color, veteran status, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status, disability or age, and outlines remedies for victims of wage discrimination. I was proud to move the bill through the Business and Labor Committee and off the House floor. HB 2005 has been signed into law by the Governor.

Addressing Climate Change

It is important that we recognize not only the future of our planet, but the future impacts climate change will have on Oregon. During the 2107 legislative session, there was considerable conversation and focus on climate change and the importance for Oregon to address these issues sooner rather than later. There were two main legislative concepts that I and others focused on during this session. The first was HB 2135, the Clean Energy Jobs bill. It established a cap on greenhouse gas emissions along with a system of credits, allowances, and investments, to address greenhouse gas reductions and investments to mitigate the impacts of climate change. I am disappointed that this bill did not move forward but am dedicated to moving this work forward in Oregon. Another piece of a strategy for Oregon to address climate change was House Bill 2020. It simply restructures the Department of Energy into the Department of Energy and Climate and gives it the statutory direction to gather the information, analysis and recommendations necessary for state government to take action on climate change issues in Oregon. This reorganization is necessary for state government to effectively take on the challenges that climate change presents to Oregon. I am disappointed that business organizations and utilities in our state (including EWEB) opposed this common-sense approach to enable Oregon to consider its options in addressing climate change.

Modernizing the Forest Practices Act

As climate instability increases, wildfires are becoming a larger threat to our forests, watershed health, and our general fund budgets. For the past few sessions I have been calling for increased revenues from timber harvest taxes to better address our capacity to suppress these wildfires while increasing the protection of our general fund revenues and services (like education). It is my opinion that the focus and priority of these harvest revenues should be funding forest fire suppression, and not funding industry organizations and television commercials touting the quality of Oregon’s Forest Practices Act. This is especially disconcerting when the tax effort to Oregon’s income tax and county property tax systems from the forest industry is greatly diluted by exemptions and Wall Street accounting principles.

In addition Oregon’s Forest Practices Act has proven to be sub-standard compared to other states and inadequate in terms of protecting our watersheds from high stream temperatures and high pesticide contamination levels. To address these concerns I introduced HB 3226, which was drafted with the help of Pacific Rivers and the Center for Sustainable Economy. It proposed updating and increasing protections for watersheds and forestland health. HB 3226 is based on sound science and would help ensure forest management practices that would improve our environment and habitat, and our future economy.

Reproductive Healthcare

Affordable access to vital reproductive health care services is increasingly important as federal health care threats become more apparent. I firmly believe that cost should not be a barrier to comprehensive reproductive health care access, which is why I am happy to support this bill. I have been an advocate of health care access and rights to reproductive health and I also support funding for Planned Parenthood as a provider. This bill passed and is now waiting to be signed by Governor Brown. I am very pleased with this progressive step toward the health and wellbeing of Oregonians.

Raising the Minimum Wage

For over 30 years, wages for most workers have stagnated even while productivity and CEO salaries have soared, crippling our middle-class economy. Too many parents are working full time—sometimes at multiple part-time jobs—and are still unable to make ends meet. Too many workers are paid so little that they have to depend on public assistance just to get by, costing taxpayers nearly $2 billion every year—even while many employers make record profits.

Tax reform to help address income inequality has not happened and Oregon does not have the revenue to subsidize these basic needs working Oregonians deserve. For the middle-class American dream, this lopsided economy has become an existential crisis. I’m proud to say that this year, the Oregon Legislature voted to begin tackling this problem head on by raising Oregon’s minimum wage.

While this historic minimum wage bill passed during the 2016 legislative session, the work to shape it began more than a year ago when several bills were introduced for consideration in January 2015. And despite uninformed claims and false assumptions about the process leading up to this year’s vote, the effort to craft this proposal was thorough, measured, and took into account feedback from the public, business organizations, labor unions, advocacy groups, political parties, legislators, and economists. In fact, over the course of the past year, we held 10 public hearings on raising the minimum wage, adding up to about 30 hours of public testimony from all sides on the issue.

The concepts that emerged from the work-group and the public hearings informed Governor Brown’s initial proposal in January of this year. After more input from all sides, Senate Bill 1532 came forward with provisions addressing feedback from business groups and rural legislators in two key ways.

First, we phased in the wage increases gradually over seven years—between July 2016 and July 2022—in order to provide certainty and stability for employers and give them time to plan for the increases. This ramp up is much slower than many of the other concepts that were floated, namely the $13.50 and $15 ballot measures that were moving forward.

Second, rather than having one minimum wage rate for the entire state, Senate Bill 1532 establishes a regional system with three wage levels to reflect different local economies and costs of living. This is an innovative approach to raising the minimum wage that could be emulated across the country.

Senate Bill 1532 is a three-region minimum wage measure that phases in increases in the state minimum wage over six years. Arriving at $14.75 in the Portland metropolitan area, $12.50 in rural counties and $13.50 in the Willamette Valley Northwest Oregon, as well as Jackson, Josephine, Deschutes, Wasco and Hood River counties.

Community Solar, Increasing RPS and the End of Coal-Fired Electricity

Another major piece of legislation was SB 1547, moving electricity generation in Oregon away from coal by 2035 and doubles the Renewable Portfolio Standard for large utilities to 50% by. With its passage Oregon will become the first U.S. state to quit coal, eliminating the use of coal-fired power by 2035. SB1547 also establishes a program for small scale community renewable projects, and incentivizes development of electric vehicle infrastructure throughout the state. This is particularly important as we strive to address the threat of climate change. I believe that after much work in the session this bill strikes a good balance between phasing in clean energy sources for Oregon’s electricity supply while taking into account the needs of rate-payers.

Community Solar – SB 1572 Incorporated within the Coal to Clean/RPS increase was SB 1572, a bill that allows Oregonians to participate in the development and proportionately own part of a community solar project. This is an endeavor that I have been working on with Senator Beyer and solar advocates for several sessions. Now retail customers are able to subscribe to electricity generated by a community solar facility as an alternative to a private on-site solar installation program or purchasing utility scale solar energy. The renewable electricity is purchased by the utility and the subscriber then receives a credit on their’ electricity bill based on that generation, (minus some costs and other potential adjustments) just as if it were on their own roof.

Community solar gardens provide customers who otherwise can’t afford, rent their homes or don’t have the desire/ability to maintain solar panels on their roof access to renewable solar energy. Community solar represents fair access to Oregon ratepayers interested in participating in the costs and benefits of solar power, in addition to a smart and economically efficient means to enabling renewable energy development and generation in the state. Unlike the rest of SB1547 all community solar projects must be built in Oregon, strengthening our local economies, creating jobs and putting us on a path to meet renewable goals.


Labeling of Genetically Engineered Fish; especially Salmon

HB 4122A would have required the labeling of Genetically Engineering Fish that are sold in the marketplace.

I believe that Oregon has a substantial state interest in ensuring that consumers are fully informed about the fish they purchase for consumption. Without labeling laws Oregon consumers will be unable to tell whether they are buying wild caught or farmed fish from the North West vs Genetically Engineered fish that feel may pose a potential threat to heath, the environment and Oregon’s fishing industry.

In November the FDA approved the sale of GE salmon, the first Genetically Engineered animal that has been approved for consumption. These are Atlantic Salmon that have Ocean Pout jeans, allowing them to grow faster and bigger. In December (through HR 2029) the FDA was tasked with creating labeling guidelines but even if these guidelines are ever created the requirement could still end in the fall of 2016. In the meantime many major grocery chains such as Costco, Safeway, Whole Foods and many others have already pledged to not carry GE Salmon.

Originally HB 4122 was introduced as a bill to allow local authority to address concerns about the protection of conventional and organic crops from contamination from nearby GMO crops. We could not get the support to move the bill out of committee and then offered an amendment to replace the concept with a labeling requirement for genetically engineered fish. Though the bill appeared to have enough votes to pass the Senate, Senate leadership would not bring the bill forward for a vote. Its main opposition was the Farm Bureau, Oregonians for Food and Shelter and Aqua Bounty. It was supported by Oregon Right to Know, the Oregon Salmon Commission, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, Trout Unlimited, Center for Food Safety, Oregon Environmental Council and others. It is disappointing with all that support that the bill was blocked. We are also closely following Federal efforts such as the Dark Act to preempt state labeling.

Extending Unemployment Insurance for Locked-Out Workers

HB 4086 extends unemployment insurance to workers who are locked-out as a result of a labor dispute. The legislation was introduced after Allegheny Technologies Inc. locked out members of the United Steelworkers in August of last year. Nearly 200 Steelworkers have been locked out of their worksite at the ATI plant in Albany due to a multi-state labor dispute. Recently their six months of unemployment benefits ran out, leaving these workers and their families without a safety net.

Many of the affected workers came to Salem in early February to tell their stories of hardship to the House Committee on Business and Labor. (pictured right)

The Oregon House voted 49-9 to extend unemployment benefits for locked out workers from six months to 12 months. House Bill 4086 will give these workers—and workers like them in the future—a full year of benefits while the labor dispute is negotiated.

Wage Transparency

SB 1587 is intended to addresses bad actors who do not pay their employees as required by law. Wage theft is damaging to employees and unfair to the employers who play by the rules. There is more that can be done to address wage theft, but SB 1587 is a step in the right direction.

Current law requires paystubs to show the amount and purpose of payroll deductions. This measure specifies that the paystub include specific information regarding the employer, the payroll period, the rate of pay, the basis of pay (e.g., hourly, shift, salary, piece rate, commission), overtime hours and overtime rate of pay, and specifics on piece rate.

SB 1587 prohibits contractors or subcontractors from intentionally failing to pay prevailing wage rate or taking other actions to avoid the cost of prevailing wage rate. Punishes violation by maximum of five years’ imprisonment, $125,000 fine, or both. Victims of wage theft can be some of the most vulnerable workers in Oregon.

Current law allows the Wage Security Fund be used only for paying wage claims against an employer who has gone out of business and lacks the assets to pay wages. The Fund has a balance of approximately $8.3 million. The measure increases BOLI’s expenditure limitation for the 2015/17 biennium by $325,954. With this increase, BOLI anticipates hiring 3 people to investigate and enforce claims of underpaid and unpaid wages.

Finally SB 1587 also requires the employer to maintain time and pay records of employee for not less than period required by Fair Labor Standards Act (depending on the record, this is a period of 2 or 3 years) and allows an employee to receive a certified copy of time and pay records within 45 days of request. I am proud to stand with workers to make sure they receive the compensation for their work that they deserve.

Inclusionary Zoning

One of the major priority for the legislature was to address our statewide housing crisis. SB 1533 ends statewide bans on two affordable housing tools, inclusionary zoning and construction excise taxes.

Inclusionary zoning is a market-based, land-use housing policy that allows cities to require affordable units be built alongside market-rate housing in order to better meet the needs of their residents. In the past state law has prohibited local governments from requiring that residential projects include affordable housing. SB 1533 relaxes this prohibition by allowing local governments to require that up to 20 percent of a multifamily structure be affordable. In addition to providing an inclusionary zoning framework for local governments, the bill requires that revenue from any new construction excise taxes will support affordable housing. Every Oregonian should be able to afford a decent place to live and this legislation will help local governments meet their responsibility to ensure more Oregonians have access to affordable housing.

Tenant Protections

Many Oregonians who work full time still can’t keep up with rapidly increasing rents. House Bill 4143 prohibits landlords from increasing rent during the first year of occupancy and requires them to give at least 90 days’ notice before increasing rent after the first year of tenancy for month-to-month tenants. Approximately 40 percent of Oregonians are renters. In today’s tight rental market, renters face a real threat of homelessness if they can’t afford a sudden unexpected increase in their monthly housing costs. By stabilizing rent within the first year of a tenancy and providing more notice for tenants in month-to-month rental agreements House Bill 4143 will allow individuals and families reasonable time to plan around their housing expenses.

Affordable Housing

In the 2015 legislative session, we authorized $40 million in general obligation bonds to fund affordable housing development projects statewide, but did not establish program parameters. With bonds scheduled to be issued in the spring of 2017, Senate Bill 1582 sets forth clear guidelines to ensure that bonding dollars are invested wisely.

SB 1582 specifies how Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) will comply with the requirement of general obligation bonds and outlines program goals and project selection standards including priorities to contain costs, maximize the number of units created and protect units for long-term affordability. The program places specific emphasis on reaching historically under-served communities. Housing stability is crucial to individual and family stability. SB 1582 will help ensure that the significant investment made by the Legislature in 2015 is spent to meet the housing needs of Oregonians across the state.

Paid Sick Leave

One of the principal issues this session was paid sick leave: a requirement that employers provide time off to their employees. Workers often have to decide if they should lose a days’ pay or come to work sick. SB 454 has become a nationally recognized legislative measure and I was proud to help craft a policy that will benefit the majority of workers in Oregon.

During the session hundreds of citizens came to the Capitol to express their opinion on the issue. We heard from employees, parents, business owners, as well as representatives from cities that have already passed paid sick leave ordinances (Eugene and Portland). Oregonians overwhelmingly told us how important it is that they have paid sick leave so that they can stay home and recover quickly when they are ill, so that they can care for their sick children, and so that even when they fall ill they are still able pay their bills at the end of the month.

Class Action Lawsuits

In Oregon if a group of people win a class action lawsuit, the company at fault is required to put the money into a fund to pay the individual claims. Under the previous law, the company at fault would keep any money that remains after all claims have been made. For example, if only half the people who were eligible for the settlement made a claim, the remaining half of the money would revert back to the company.

House Bill 2700 requires that any money remaining after all claims have been made be used to fund legal aid services for low income Oregonians and, if ordered by a judge, money may be given to a charitable organization that works on issues similar to the one the lawsuit addressed.

Workers Comp Attorney Fees

The purpose of this legislation is to increase the access to representation and benefits for injured workers. It updated attorney fee schedules in areas where these fees have not been previously paid or were inadequate to compensate for the time and work required for attorneys to obtain a successful result for workers. This bill will help level the playing field for workers facing the challenge of getting the benefits that are paid for and they deserve.

Minimum Wage

This session there were 10 bills in the Legislature to raise Oregon’s minimum wage. (SB130, SB327, SB332, SB597, SB610, SB682, HB2004, HB2008, HB2009, HB2012). I support Oregonians’ ability to earn a living wage and be self-sufficient. Unfortunately none of these proposal had enough support to reach the floor for a vote. We had very informative discussions on these proposals in the Business and Labor Committee. I have been continuing discussions around the merits and impacts of raising wages in an interim work group. It appears likely there will be a ballot measure in the November 2016 election; and the legislature must take that into account when considering any proposals it may take action on in the February 2016 Legislative Session.

Investing in a Strong Education System

The 2015-17 budget includes $7.376 billion total funds ($6.96 billion General Fund and $408.2 million Lottery Funds) for the State School Fund (SSF) which makes up the state portion of the amount distributed to School Districts and Education Service Districts (ESDs) through the school funding formula. The 2015-17 budget represents a $723 million (or 10.9%) increase in General Fund and Lottery Funds for the school fund over the amount available in 2013-15.This investment in public schools will provide a stable budget for school districts while also funding full-day kindergarten for children throughout Oregon for the first time.

We boosted funding to Oregon’s 7 public universities to $700 million along with increasing the budget for our 17 community colleges to $550 million. This is the largest reinvestment into Oregon’s public colleges and universities in the last 20 years. There were also significant increases for early learning programs including $24 million General Fund for Healthy Families Oregon (a home visitation program), additional funding for Early Learning Hubs bringing total funding to $15 million, $9.1 million for Kindergarten Readiness grants, and new funding for preschool programs including an additional $8.8 million for Oregon Pre-Kindergarten. HB 5005 included $125 million in bonds to provide matching grants for school districts and $175 million to provide seismic upgrades and retrofits to K-12, community college, and university buildings. $35 million investment in Career and Technical Education and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math education (CTE/STEM) will help increase high school graduation rates and better prepare Oregon students for high-wage jobs.