2A — THE OBSERVER
D AILY
P LANNER
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2020
LOCAL
New laws to know for 2020
By Jade McDowell
TODAY
EO Media Group
Today is Wednesday, Jan.
1, the fi rst day of leap year
2020. There are 365 days left
in the year.
SALEM — Several new
Oregon laws take effect
with the start of the new
year, including measures for
making voting even easier
in Oregon. Others address
plastic bags, revenge porn
and marijuana convictions.
When a new year starts,
it can be easy to miss the
memo on changes to the law.
Ignorance of the law is not
a defense for breaking it,
however, so here are some
handy guidelines for 2020:
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On Jan. 1, 2005, desper-
ate, homeless villagers
on the tsunami-ravaged
island of Sumatra mobbed
American helicopters carry-
ing aid as the U.S. military
launched its largest opera-
tion in the region since the
Vietnam War.
ON THIS DATE
In 1785, The Daily Uni-
versal Register — which
later became the Times of
London — published its fi rst
issue.
In 1863, President Abra-
ham Lincoln issued the
Emancipation Proclama-
tion, declaring that slaves
in rebel states shall be
“forever free.”
In 1892, the Ellis Island
Immigrant Station in New
York formally opened.
In 1953, country singer
Hank Williams Sr., 29, was
discovered dead in the back
seat of his car during a stop
in Oak Hill, West Virginia,
while he was being driven
to a concert date in Canton,
Ohio.
In 1959, Fidel Castro and
his revolutionaries over-
threw Cuban leader Fulgen-
cio Batista, who fl ed to the
Dominican Republic.
In 1975, a jury in Washing-
ton found Nixon administra-
tion offi cials John N. Mitch-
ell, H.R. Haldeman, John D.
Ehrlichman and Robert C.
Mardian guilty of charges
related to the Watergate
cover-up.
In 1993, Czechoslovakia
peacefully split into two
new countries, the Czech
Republic and Slovakia.
In 2009, the U.S. formally
transferred control of the
Green Zone to Iraqi authori-
ties in a pair of ceremonies
that also handed back
Saddam Hussein’s former
palace.
In 2014, the nation’s
fi rst legal recreational pot
shops opened in Colorado
at 8 a.m. Mountain time.
LOTTERY
Megabucks: $8.1 million
2-11-32-33-35-38
Mega Millions: $60 million
30-44-49-53-56-11-x3
Powerball: $220 million
20-23-39-59-60-18-x2
Win for Life: Dec. 30
17-18-54-73
Pick 4: Dec. 31
•1p.m.:1-1-9-3
•4p.m.:1-9-9-9
•7p.m.:7-0-9-3
•10p.m.:6-1-8-0
Pick 4: Dec. 30
•1p.m.:6-7-1-3
•4p.m.:9-0-2-5
•7p.m.:9-1-9-3
•10p.m.:8-7-2-5
NEWSPAPER LATE?
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liver your Observer in a timely
manner. Occasionally condi-
tions exist that make delivery
more diffi cult.
If you are not on a motor
route, delivery should be
before5:30p.m.Ifyoudonot
receiveyourpaperby5:30p.m.
Monday through Friday, please
call 541-963-3161 by 6 p.m.
If your delivery is by
motor carrier, delivery
should be by 6 p.m. For calls
after 6, please call 541-975-
1690, leave your name,
address and phone number.
Your paper will be delivered
the next business day.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“If you asked me for my
New Year Resolution, it
would be to fi nd out who
I am.”
— Cyril Cusack, Irish actor
Plastic bags
Starting Jan. 1, stores
will no longer be able to give
out single-use plastic bags
at check-out, although bags
used for meat and produce
will be exempt. Stores will
also be required to charge at
least 5 cents per bag for pa-
per, reusable bags or other
alternatives.
Real ID
As of Oct. 1, 2020, regular
Oregon driver’s licenses will
no longer be valid to board
a commercial fl ight, enter
a secure federal facility,
such as a military base, or
do other activities where a
federally approved form of
identifi cation is required.
After Oct. 1, Oregonians
who want to take a fl ight
will have to use another
form of approved identifi ca-
tion, such as a passport,
or apply for a new type of
driver’s license called a
Real ID. The state hopes to
have the federally approved
Real IDs available through
the Department of Motor
Vehicles starting in July
after fi nishing a “major IT
overhaul,” according to the
department’s website.
Real IDs will be optional,
and those getting them
will be required to pay the
DMV’s fee for replacement
of a driver’s license, plus
a yet-to-be-determined
additional Real ID fee. The
newly issued Real ID will
have the same expiration
date as the person’s current
driver’s license, so people
whose licenses expire soon
after the Real IDs are avail-
able are advised they may
want to wait until it is time
to renew their license.
Should someone choose
not to upgrade to a Real ID,
a standard Oregon driver’s
licenses will still be good for
activities such as driving,
purchasing alcohol, register-
ing to vote or applying for
benefi ts.
Voting
In 2020, Oregon will
continue its quest to make
voting as convenient as
possible by not charging for
postage to mail in ballots.
During the next election,
Oregonians will simply be
able to drop their ballot in
the mail without a stamp.
Bicycling
Starting Jan. 1, bicyclists
can proceed through an
intersection with a stop sign
or traffi c signal without
stopping, providing they
proceed at a safe speed
and yield to vehicles and
pedestrians.
Revenge porn
As of 2020, it will be a
crime in Oregon to dis-
tribute intimate photos or
videos of a person without
their consent. The photos
or videos qualify as revenge
WALLOWA COUNTY
Spending
bill offers
little help
locally
By Bill Bradshaw
EO Media Group
Portland Tribune/Jaime Valdez
IThe Oregon Legislature passed hundred of new bills that go into effect in 2020.
no longer be allowed to
force employees to sign
nondisclosure agreements
restricting them from talk-
ing about harassment or
discrimination they experi-
enced at the company.
EO Media Group Photo/Ben Lonergan
A receipt from a a retailer in the Tri-Cities, Washington,
shows an 8.6% sales tax. The tax consists of Washing-
ton’s 6.5% sales tax and the 2.1% sales tax in the Tri-
Cities. Under a new Washington law, Oregon residents
must fi le for reimbursement of the tax rather than
receive a point-of-sale exemption.
porn under the law if they
show a person’s “intimate
parts” or show them engag-
ing in a sex act, the subject
is identifi able, they did not
give permission and could
reasonably be expected to
be “harassed, humiliated or
injured by the disclosure.”
Previously, the law only
covered posting such con-
tent to a website but now
adds any other methods of
dissemination, such as text
message, email, private
messaging in apps or hand-
ing out physical copies. It
also allows victims to sue
for up to $5,000 in dam-
ages. The crime is a Class
A misdemeanor for a fi rst
offense and Class C felony if
the perpetrator has a prior
record of such offenses.
Calling 911
Using the police as a weap-
on to harass someone will be
a risky move starting Jan. 1
as a law takes effect allowing
people to seek civil damages
from someone who sum-
moned police with the intent
to infringe on the person’s
rights, discriminate against
them, cause them to feel ha-
rassed or embarrassed, expel
them from a place where
they are legally allowed to be
or damage their reputation
or fi nancial standing.
The law was put in
place to address reports of
incidents in which whites
called 911 on people of color
for legal activities, such as
holding a barbecue.
Marijuana convictions
Starting in January, the
aptly named Senate Bill 420
will allow people with past
marijuana convictions to
petition to clear their record.
The bill was passed in
recognition that while Or-
egon legalized possession of
user amounts of recreational
marijuana in 2015, many
people have criminal records
based on possession pre-
2015. Those convictions, for
something that is now legal,
can hold them back from
obtaining jobs and housing.
After Jan. 1, people who
have “qualifying marijuana
convictions” can petition the
court to set aside their con-
viction and seal the record,
making it as if it never hap-
pened. As long as the convic-
tion fi ts under the defi nition
laid out by the law, the court
must grant the motion.
A qualifying conviction
means the person was
found to possess less than
1 ounce of marijuana or
other behavior described in
ORS 475B.301, the offense
happened before July 1,
2015, and the person fully
complied with the require-
ments of their sentence.
Employment
Employees in Oregon
will receive a variety of new
protections in January.
Pregnant workers will be
among those who receive
new protections under the
law. Employers will be re-
quired to provide reasonable
accommodations, such as as-
sistance with manual labor
or more frequent bathroom
breaks, to pregnant employ-
ees. They will also be prohib-
ited from denying someone
employment, requiring them
to take a leave of absence
or otherwise retaliating or
discriminating against
them for requesting accom-
modations for their preg-
nancy.
Employers will also be
required to create anti-
harassment policies for
their workplace and will
FAMILY
OWNED
Minimum wage
Minimum wage will in-
crease once again in July
as part of a law passed
by the Legislature in
2016 that set up regular
increases through 2022.
This year, minimum wage
in Oregon will increase to
$12 in “standard” coun-
ties (mostly found on the
west side of the state),
$13.25 in metro counties,
such as Clackamas and
Multnomah, and $11.50
in rural counties. Union
and Wallaowa counties
fall into the rural category,
along with the rest of
counties east of Sherman
County.
Sales tax
In July, Washington
stopped granting Oregonians
an exemption to sales tax at
the register. But as of Jan. 1,
Oregon residents who have
been saving their receipts
can fi le a tax return for the
amount of sales tax they paid
to Washington in 2019.
To qualify, applicants must
be a resident of a state that
does not have sales tax, must
have purchased the items for
use outside of Washington
and must be requesting re-
imbursement for more than
$25 in taxes paid (at 6.5%
state sales tax, that means
spending at least $384.62 on
qualifying items). They will
have to submit receipts and
information about the time
and place of each purchase,
in addition to proof of resi-
dency.
Each person is allowed
to apply for reimbursement
once per calendar year for
taxes paid in the previous
year.
According to the Wash-
ington Department of
Revenue’s media relations
offi ce, the necessary forms
will go online in January
under the “general public”
heading on their home page.
For now, what information
is available can be found at
dor.wa.gov/fi nd-taxes-rates/
retail-sales-tax/sales-non-
residents.
ENTERPRISE — Although
a new federal spending bill in-
cluded nearly $60 million for
sustainable and organic agri-
culture, few Wallowa County
producers expect to see any
benefi ts despite federal and
state efforts to promote such
farming methods.
The $1.4 trillion 2020
spending bill was signed
Dec. 19 by President Donald
Trump to avert a government
shutdown. Notice of the bill
came in a press release from
U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and
Ron Wyden.
Pete Schreder, the
Oregon State University
Extension livestock, range
and natural resources
agent for Wallowa County,
said the county’s organic
market is rather small
and without knowing the
strings attached to the
funding he couldn’t be sure
of the effects.
“It provides some opportu-
nities for individuals think-
ing of changing methods …
toward an organic market,”
he said.
Merkley’s spokesperson
Sara Hottman, emphasized
his help securing $37 million
for the U.S. Department
of Agriculture education
and research program, an
increase in the National
Organic Program to $15
million and $6 million to
help farmers transition from
conventional to organic farm-
ing practices.
“For Wallowa County,”
Hottman said, “this means
that folks have access to
competitive grant funding.
Oregon in particular has ben-
efi tted from organic research
programs and the Organic
Transition Program, which
provide education to farm-
ers who are newly adopting
organic practices. The pro-
gram will help transitioning
producers better understand
the economic and environ-
mental benefi ts of organic
production.”
As an example of grants to
establish new organic crops
that are available under the
transition program, Hottman
cited a program to incentives
growing organic blueber-
ries on the east side of the
Cascades. These and other
grant opportunities are avail-
able through OSU Extension,
Hottman said.
Hank Stern, a spokes-
man for Wyden, said while
there’s no per-county dollar
estimate, these increased
resources will help farmers
working in Northeast Or-
egon and throughout rural
parts of the state if they are
interested in organic and
sustainable agriculture.
That’s a win all-around for
both the rural economy and
a sustainable future.
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