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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2021
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APPEAL TRIBUNE
Oregon Capitol closed
to public until March
Address: P.O. Box 13009, Salem, OR 97309
Phone: 503-399-6773
Fax: 503-399-6706
Email: sanews@salem.gannett.com
Connor Radnovich
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Legislative committee hearings will
be virtual and the Oregon State Capitol
building will be open to only authorized
personnel for at least the first two
months of the 2021 session to protect
against spreading COVID-19, according
to a plan released Thursday.
The Capitol will stay closed to the
public until Marion County enters the
"lower risk" category as defined by the
Oregon Health Authority and Gov. Kate
Brown. Currently, the county is in the
"extreme risk" category.
The earliest changes could be seen is
March, dependent on the number of
coronavirus cases.
More than 1,550 Oregonians have
died from COVID-19.
“We do not want our actions at the
Capitol starting this month to make
matters worse," House Speaker Tina Ko-
tek, D-Portland, said. "In fact, we want
to model best workplace practices so
the people’s work can get done safely.”
Various changes to the ways the Leg-
islature conducts business are expected
to be made.
h Floor sessions will be rare, with
daily sessions of the Senate and House
of Representatives not occurring until
April.
h The galleries in both chambers —
normally reserved for the public — will
be utilized for voting to expand the
space between lawmakersto abide by
social distancing guidelines.
h Members will be allowed only one
legislative aide on-site, with other aides
and interns working remotely.
h Face masks will be required, cer-
tain hallways will be one-way only, no
communal food will be available, eleva-
tors will have occupancy limits, hand
sanitizer and masks will be available,
and the basement café and Capitol Club
office will be closed (the latter at least
until the public is allowed into the build-
ing).
"The seriousness of what the Oregon
Legislature is about to try is very, very
great," Senate President Peter Courtney,
D-Salem, said. "Because of this virtual
issue, because of the threat of violence,
because of disease ... this is a new way
of governing that we are going to at-
tempt."
The stated goal of the plan is to bal-
ance the safety of those in the building
with transparency of process, opportu-
nity for significant public participation
and ability to complete the Legislature's
work.
Kotek said the mostly remote session
does present the Legislature an oppor-
tunity to innovate in ways it should have
done for some time.
For example, more emphasis will be
placed on seeking input from around
the state by allowing for the public to
submit audio and video testimony to
committees for the first time and ex-
tending the public record for all public
meetings by 24 hours.
A public outreach campaign will also
be established so people better under-
stand the legislative process and how to
participate, whether remotely or in-per-
son.
Courtney promised the Legislature's
work would still be accessible to the
public.
“Every session, Oregonians make
their voices heard on issues they care
about. We need these voices," he said.
"This plan will make the legislative
process more accessible to Oregonians
across the state.”
Republicans have voiced their de-
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sires to have the building more open to
the public for the session, saying the
risk of coronavirus does not outweigh
the need for a transparent legislative
process.
Courtney and Kotek said they expect
Republicans to raise these concerns
when the rules for session are taken up
for a vote on Jan. 11.
The Legislature will open its 2021
session Jan. 19. The state Constitution
requires sessions in odd-numbered
years last for a maximum of 160 days,
which would take the session to the end
of June.
Reporter Connor Radnovich covers
the Oregon Legislature and state gov-
ernment. Contact him at cradnov-
ich@statesmanjournal.com or 503-
399-6864, or follow him on Twitter at
@CDRadnovich.
Goals
Rep. Raquel Moore-Green,
R-Salem
Continued from Page 1A
Rep. Raquel Moore-Green will serve
in her first "long" legislative session this
year, having been appointed to repre-
sent House District 19 in July 2019, after
that year's session had already conclud-
ed.
She will introduce a bill that would
create an Oregon Cleanup and Beautifi-
cation pilot program within Oregon Cor-
rections Enterprises.
The program would provide addi-
tional opportunities for adults in custo-
dy to work and gain skills they could use
in a career after release, Moore-Green
said.
She will also have a bill that would
create a Kidney Disease Prevention and
Education task force that would create a
statewide plan to raise awareness of
kidney disease and the importance of
early detection.
“The onset of COVID-19 has magni-
fied the importance of understanding
the impact that preexisting health con-
ditions play in our overall health,"
Moore-Green said.
the state's emergency response system,
which was widely criticized following
the Labor Day fires where many resi-
dents reported not receiving any notice
of the encroaching wildfires.
The bill would also establish the
State Fire Marshal as an independent
state agency and task the department
with establishing guidelines for wildfire
buffer zones that produce defensible
spaces.
lowed in the building were encouraged
— and later required — to wear masks
and socially distance.
Committee hearings were held over
video conference and streamed on the
Legislature's website.
Legislative leadership is expected to
release their plan for how they will man-
age the 2021 session on Monday.
The state Constitution requires that
legislative sessions in odd-numbered
years last for no longer than 160 days.
Here's a look at Salem-area legisla-
tors' bills:
Senate President Peter Courtney,
D-Salem
A man rides a bicycle past newly
installed cement blocks placed outside
the Oregon State Capitol Building in
Salem on Wednesday, Dec. 30.
CONNOR RADNOVICH / STATESMAN JOURNAL
tions.
Sen. Deb Patterson, D-Salem
Senate President Peter Courtney will
be making another run in 2021 at a bill
that would allow community colleges
and public universities to merge. So far,
the idea has not gained much public
traction among higher education ad-
ministrators.
The concept would allow a commu-
nity college and a public university to
merge after submitting a detailed plan
to the Higher Education Coordinating
Commission.
Courtney said mergers would give
people more access to higher education.
“This would be the kind of change
that shows we mean it when we say we
want people to get educated,” Courtney
said.
He also plans to introduce a bill that
is intended to remove some of the barri-
ers to building affordable housing op-
Newly elected in November 2020,
Sen. Deb Patterson has not had long to
propose bills for the upcoming session.
She was also made the chair of the Sen-
ate Health Care Committee, which she
said is going to take up a majority of her
time.
But one bill she will have would ex-
tend SNAP benefits — also known as
food stamps — to include personal hy-
giene products.
She is proposing an additional $10
per month per person that could be used
on items such as toilet paper, tooth
brushes and soap. These items are es-
sential and should be covered by gov-
ernment assistance, she said.
"They should have a way to purchase
those if they need help," Patterson said.
Rep. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth
With the specter of 2020 and its cas-
cading crises still hanging over us, Rep.
Paul Evans' top priority in 2021 is to re-
form the state's emergency manage-
ment structures and systems.
He is introducing a bill that would es-
tablish the Oregon Department of
Emergency Management as a new inde-
pendent state agency, vested with au-
thority over public health emergencies,
quarantines and massive wildfires.
The new department would oversee
Brentano
Continued from Page 1A
The 68-year-old Brentano was ap-
pointed to the Board of Commissioners
in 2003 and won election in 2004, 2008,
2012 and 2016, some without opposi-
tion. He opted to not run for re-election
in 2020.
In his years as a commissioner, Bren-
tano put in great effort in areas like pub-
lic works, public safety, parks and waste
management, an industry he worked in
for 30 years.
In 2014, it was revealed by Canadian
media that Marion County’s solid waste
burning facility in Brooks had been in-
cinerating the bodies of aborted and
miscarried fetuses through a medical
waste agreement with a company in
British Columbia.
“We ran back to this building and
within two hours we stopped the move-
ment of those babies,” Brentano said.
Among the challenges he faced in his
time on the three-person board was
when Courthouse Square, which was
completed in 2000, was condemned in
2010.
He was part of the task force that in-
cluded citizens like Gene Pfeifer of Sil-
verton that worked to renovate the al-
Rep. Bill Post, R-Keizer
Following a similar bill introduced in
the 2020 short session, Rep. Bill Post is
introducing a bill that would regulate
products using kratom, sometimes used
for managing chronic pain or recre-
ationally.
The Food and Drug Administration
says there is no evidence of kratom be-
ing an effective or safe treatment.
Post's bill would disallow anyone un-
der the age of 21 from purchasing kra-
tom products and set penalties if kra-
tom products are produced or sold while
contaminated with dangerous non-kra-
tom substances.
He will also be re-introducing a bill
that would allow behind-the-counter
sales of products containing pseudoe-
phedrine, such as Sudafed. Post said
this change would lower some health
care costs.
Reporter Connor Radnovich covers
the Oregon Legislature and state gov-
ernment. Contact him at cradnov-
ich@statesmanjournal.com or 503-
399-6864, or follow him on Twitter at
@CDRadnovich.
Support local journalism by sub-
scribing to the Statesman Journal.
ready failing building, and it was re-
paired and reopened in 2014.
Other new buildings were added,
such as one for the juvenile department
and a public service building within the
county’s existing budget.
From his background as a volunteer
emergency
technician,
Brentano
brought an experienced perspective to
public safety.
“This type of pandemic was exactly
what was on Sam’s worry list,” Carlson
said.
He said he will spend much of his
time in retirement fishing – something
he frequently does now – and with fam-
ily.
Brentano identifies with the western
novels of Louis L’Amour. He likes that
the good guy always won and saw a rep-
resentation of himself in the heroes of
those novels.
“This person rides for the brand, and
that means loyal. The other is that per-
son could be someone to ride the river
with, so that’s someone who’s steady
and dependable and resourceful,” Bren-
tano said. “I think I like the stories be-
cause I think that’s who I am and if it’s
not, it’s who I want to be.”
Bill Poehler covers Marion County for
the Statesman Journal. Contact him at
bpoehler@statesmanjournal.com
or
Twitter.com/bpoehler.