Oregon Capital Bureau
Oregon Driver and
Motor Vehicle Services had
bad news and good news for
customers stemming from
the coronavirus pandemic.
The bad news was that
DMV’s initial effort to
reopen its fi eld offi ces after
a 10-week shutdown hit a
roadblock — and not the
physical kind.
The good news is that
DMV was able to get
around it quickly — and
that more than 3.1 million
Oregon drivers will have
up to 15 months, instead of
three, to obtain the kind of
licenses enabling them to
board commercial aircraft.
Assistant Director Travis
Brouwer of the Oregon
Department of Transporta-
tion, DMV’s parent agency,
spoke about both this week
at a virtual meeting of the
Legislature’s Joint Com-
mittee on Transportation.
In the fi rst hour after
telephone lines were opened
June 1, DMV got 18,000
calls — the normal call
volume is 1,000 per day —
and DMV shut down the
lines soon afterward.
“We were faced with a
deluge of calls we did not
anticipate,” Brouwer said.
But with help from its
computer systems vendor,
DMV put up a substi-
tute: An online form for
people to request in-person
appointments, with specifi c
times, at their local fi eld
offi ce.
Of the 60 fi eld offi ces, 38
were able to reopen June 3
to provide limited services.
All but six were closed
since March 25, after the
fi rst of Gov. Kate Brown’s
executive orders during
the coronavirus pandemic
— and those six were lim-
ited to commercial driver
licenses.
In a second phase, 57
fi eld offi ces will reopen by
Monday, June 22, for lim-
ited services. All 60 offi ces
will reopen by Aug. 3 with
all services.
Many DMV services can
be done online or via mail.
A new computer system
will enable DMV to expand
that list.
But renewals of regular
drivers’ licenses require
people to come in for new
photos, and for those 60 and
older, vision tests.
Vehicle registrations
can be renewed online or
by mail. But for people in
the Portland metro area or
Jackson County, their vehi-
cles must undergo inspec-
tions by the Department of
Environmental Quality at
stations now scheduled to
reopen June 15 and 16.
Drive tests for fi rst-
time license applicants
and others also require
in-person appointments.
The tests usually are con-
ducted by DMV vendors,
but Brouwer said vendors
are unavailable in some
areas of Oregon.
The pandemic did have
one unanticipated effect.
Oregon faced a dead-
line of Oct. 1 for licenses
compliant with the Real
ID Act, a 2005 federal
law whose goal is to make
state drivers’ licenses
more secure. Some of the
hijackers involved in the
Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks on the East Coast
used drivers’ licenses to
board commercial aircraft.
Oregon DMV will pro-
ceed with its plan to start
issuing compliant licenses
on July 1.
But Oregon’s deadline
for compliance with the
federal law is now Oct. 1,
2021. ODOT’s Brouwer said
the delay will give DMV
15 months, instead of three
months, and many drivers
now can opt to obtain the
new licenses when their
renewal time comes.
“As a result, it will sig-
nifi cantly reduce that surge
of customers we were pre-
dicting in the fi eld offi ces,”
he said.
The compliant licenses
will be required when state
licenses are used for federal
purposes, such as boarding
commercial aircraft or
entering federal buildings.
Oregon will begin
issuing noncompliant
licenses starting Jan. 1,
when House Bill 2015 takes
effect. That law does away
with the requirement that
drivers show proof of legal
presence in the United
States to obtain a state
drivers’ license, although
drivers must pass the other
tests. These licenses cannot
be used for federal purposes
and must be marked to that
effect.
Colleges and
universities prepare for
COVID reopening
By Teresa Carson
Pamplin Media Group
www.eomediagroup.com
Grande Ronde Hospital and Clinics proudly welcomes:
Tracey Tracy, MD
To the GRH Regional Medical Clinic team as a Primary Care Provider (PCP)
Tracey Tracy, MD, joins the GRH Regional Medical Clinic primary care team from a family
medicine clinic in Clackamas, Oregon. She attended medical school at Oregon Health & Sciences
University in Portland, and completed her residency with Providence Milwaukie Family
Medicine. Dr. Tracy welcomes patients of all ages and gender identities from infants to seniors,
and enjoys taking care of multi-generational families. Her goal is to partner with each patient to
achieve optimal management of their chronic health conditions and focus on preventive
medicine. In her free time, you'll find Dr. Tracy outdoors. She loves cycling,
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After spending over 20 years in the Portland metro area, Dr. Tracy is
excited to be back on the sunnier and drier side of the state. Join us in
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College life will look a
lot different when students
return to school in the fall,
with students being asked
to stay 6 feet apart and
many traditional campus
activities off limits.
“The guidelines
make it very clear” that
campus life will indeed
be different this fall, Ben
Cannon, executive director
of the Higher Education
Coordinating Commission,
said.
College classrooms
have to follow general pan-
demic capacity guidelines
for their locations. That
means no more than 25
people in a room for coun-
ties in the Phase 1 opening
category and no more than
50 people for all other
counties. Colleges must
rearrange classrooms to
allow 6 feet of social dis-
tancing and 35 square feet
per person of space.
That’s going to make
the big lecture classes
with hundreds of stu-
dents crammed together
off limits for the duration
of the pandemic. Stadiums
fi lled with screaming foot-
ball or basketball fans are
out. Arts performances
will have to be rejiggered.
If 6 feet of distancing
isn’t possible, plastic
or other barriers are to
be used and face masks
required. Face coverings
are recommended even for
spaces where distancing is
achieved.
The guidelines, issued
Friday by the commis-
sion, were crafted with the
Oregon Health Authority
and apply to all public col-
leges including commu-
nity colleges and went
into effect Sunday. They
are designed to help tamp
down the spread of the
COVID-19 pandemic
which already has killed
more than 170 Oregonians.
Cannon said “each col-
lege and university will
have the fl exibility to
determine when students
may return to campus.”
The new guidelines said
that for colleges with res-
idential students, dorm
rooms can’t have more
than two students and
must allow 64 square feet
per resident.
Cannon said that most
typical double dorm
rooms would still be able
to accommodate two stu-
dents, but most triples
would probably have to be
reduced to two residents.
“We don’t know yet
what residence hall interest
levels will be,” he said.
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Oregon DMV detours
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