STATE/NATION
THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 2021
House extends foreclosure
moratorium in Oregon
By PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — A morato-
rium on residential fore-
closures would continue
through June 30, and pos-
sibly to the end of this year,
under a bill that is halfway
through the Oregon
Legislature.
Two Republicans joined
36 Democrats in the House
to pass House Bill 2009,
which narrows the scope
of the moratorium that had
been in eff ect until the end
of last year. The 38-21 vote
on Tuesday, April 6, sent
the bill to the Senate.
The state extension coin-
cides with a longer mor-
atorium announced Feb.
25 by the Federal Housing
Finance Agency, which reg-
ulates the federally backed
mortgages that account
for about 70% of the total.
Congress does not need to
approve federal extensions.
But the Legislature must
approve a state extension,
which now would apply
only to a total of fi ve resi-
dential properties per owner
— each property can con-
tain no more than four
units — and no commercial
property.
The new bill empowers
Gov. Kate Brown to extend
the state moratorium by
executive order to cover
the fi nal two quarters of
this year. But she must give
notice by June 14 The mor-
atorium has been in eff ect
since the start of the coro-
navirus pandemic a year
ago. The Legislature wrote
Brown’s executive order
into law on June 26, but that
law ended on Dec. 31.
Rep. Paul Holvey, a
Democrat from Eugene
and the bill’s fl oor man-
ager, said federal aid is on
the way. Congress approved
mortgage assistance in
December that will result
in an estimated $40 million
for Oregon, and its approval
of President Joe Biden’s
pandemic recovery plan last
month will make available
up to $100 million more for
Oregon.
“We need time to make
sure that assistance from
the federal government will
enable homeowners to have
defi ciencies in their pay-
ments and their mortgages
to be cured,” Holvey said,
“without impacting their
future their ability to have
credit and return to our
normal way of life.
“It is imperative that we
as a legislature do every-
thing we can to keep
people safe during this pan-
demic, to keep them from
becoming homeless, to keep
them from losing the major
asset of their lives because
of their inability to make
payments through no fault
of their own.”
According to a House-
hold Pulse survey con-
ducted in January by
the U.S. Census Bureau,
Holvey said, 7.2% of
Oregon homeowners
(133,355) reported they
were not caught up on their
mortgage payments and
7.5% (140,319) said they
had little or no confi dence
in paying the next month’s
mortgage.
Republicans Cedric
Hayden of Lowell and Ron
Noble of McMinnville
joined 36 Democrats to vote
for the bill.
All the votes against
the main bill were cast by
Republicans, who sided
with arguments by banks
and credit unions during
a March 3 hearing that
the bill was unneces-
sary. A Republican substi-
tute, which was rejected
on a party-line vote, would
have limited the morato-
rium extension to the 30%
of mortgages not backed
by federal agencies — but
also would not have limited
what lenders could do.
“Banks and credit unions
are continuing to work indi-
vidually with their bor-
rowers to continue to ensure
they can avoid foreclo-
sure,” Rep, Daniel Bonham,
a Republican from The
Dalles, said in promoting
the substitute. “The share
of mortgage loans that are
delinquent or in forbearance
continues to decline as the
economy improves.”
According to the Mort-
gage Bankers Association,
he said, Oregon’s foreclo-
sure rate was 4.96%, put-
ting it 48th among the 50
states and Washington, D.C.
THE OBSERVER — 7A
Senate expands list of who should
report child abuse, human traffi cking
By GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — The Oregon
Senate on Monday, April
5, expanded the list of
those who should report
possible child abuse to
include hoteliers, and those
who should report sus-
pected human traffi cking
to include employees of
restaurants and bars.
“Sexual
exploitation
crimes often
go unreported
and victims
don’t have
the resources
Findley
they need to
fi nd help,” said Sen. Lynn
Findley, R-Vale. “The more
reporting the community
does, the better.”
Both bills on the matter
were introduced by mem-
bers of the Republican
Senate caucus and passed
with bipartisan support.
They now go to the House
for consideration.
Senate Bill 515 requires
employees of bars and
restaurants to report rea-
sonable belief of sus-
pected human traffi cking
or unlawful employment
of minors.
The bill passed 27-1,
with all Democrats sup-
porting the legislation
and Rep. Dallas Heard,
R-Roseburg, voting no.
EO Media Group, File
The Oregon Senate on Monday, April 5, 2021, expanded the list of those
who should report possible child abuse to include hoteliers, and those
who should report suspected human traffi cking to include employees
of restaurants and bars.
“By all of us taking a
little responsibility for the
most vulnerable in our
communities, we can make
a diff erence.” said Senate
Minority Leader Fred
Girod, R-Stayton.
Senate Bill 535 makes
hotelkeepers and inn-
keepers mandatory
reporters of child abuse.
It also requires computer
technicians and processors
to immediately report sus-
pected child pornography
found on devices or sys-
tems they work on.
“Traffi cking and sex
crimes are happening in
our own backyard, and
we need more tools to
fi ght them,” said Sen.
Tim Knopp, R-Bend.
“These employees can
play an important role in
reporting.”
The bill passed 26-2,
with all Democrats voting
yes, while Heard and Sen.
Brian Boquist, a long-
time GOP lawmaker from
Dallas who has declared
himself an independent,
both voted no.
During the initial call of
the vote, Senate Majority
Leader Rob Wagner,
D-Lake Oswego, asked
Senate President Peter
Courtney for a “Call of the
Senate.” This impels sen-
ators to come to the fl oor
to vote.
In the initial roll call,
neither Heard or Boquist
responded to the roll call.
In the last roll call, they
both voted no.
We thank these Chamber Members
for their continued support
STATE NEWS BRIEFS
Oregon Tech faculty union yers say is the biggest fol- patient needs.
lowing the city’s racial jus-
Sen. Sara Gelser,
votes to authorize strike
KLAMATH FALLS
— The Oregon Institute
of Technology’s faculty
union voted this week to
authorize a strike.
The vote last week
comes more than 500 days
after negotiations began
between the union and
school administration,
Oregon Public Broad-
casting reported. Oregon
Tech’s chapter of the
American Association of
University Professors is
seeking salary increases
and more clearly defi ned
workload limits, among
other requests.
The union said as of
Friday, April 2, 96% of
faculty had cast their
votes, and 92% of those
votes were in favor of
authorizing a strike.
It is not guaranteed that
the faculty will strike, but
union leadership can now
call for one if an agree-
ment isn’t reached.
If a strike happens, it
would be the fi rst-ever
faculty strike at an Oregon
public university. Port-
land State’s faculty union
voted to authorize a strike
in 2014, but then reached
a deal. Eastern Oregon’s
faculty union similarly
came close to striking in
2006.
University offi cials
said both parties last
met on Thursday and are
scheduled to meet again
Monday. The faculty
union also said negotia-
tions would continue.
Photographer: Mayor
should denounce police
protest actions
PORTLAND — An
independent photographer
who said she was assaulted
by Portland police during
protests received a $50,000
settlement, which her law-
tice protests.
Teri Jacobs is now
calling on Portland Mayor
Ted Wheeler to denounce
the police force and their
actions toward press and
protesters, The Oregonian/
OregonLive reported.
Jacobs, who won the
settlement in February,
released an open letter to
Wheeler this week, calling
for him to condemn the
offi cers who have been vio-
lent to protesters.
A spokesperson for
Wheeler’s offi ce said they
had not previously been
aware of the letter.
“Police are consistently
assaulting and hurting
humans, and that doesn’t
seem to bother the mayor,”
Jacobs told the newspaper.
“It seems like property is
the only thing he’s con-
cerned about.”
The Oregon Justice
Resource Center, which
represented Jacobs, said
she was photographing an
Aug. 18, 2020, protest with
a visible press pass when
police ordered people to
disperse.
The Oregon Justice
Resource Center said
Jacobs was trying to leave
when a police offi cer ran
after Jacobs, hit her on
the back of her head, neck
and back with a stick, then
knocked her down and hit
her in the face.
Jacobs’ lawyers said
the incident was caught
on camera and when the
offi cer saw he was being
fi lmed, he stopped hitting
Jacobs and moved away.
Oregon lawmakers look
at improving long-term
care facilities
SALEM — Oregon
lawmakers have been con-
sidering a bill to establish
staffi ng ratios in long-term
care facilities based on
D-Corvallis, who is the
cosponsor of Senate Bill
714, said there’s not a
one-size fi ts all approach,
KLCC reported.
“Ultimately, this is
about the residents that
live in these facilities and
their right to have digni-
fi ed lives, to be safe, to
be comfortable,” Gelser
said. “For them to do that,
they need to be supported
by staff and staff are
exhausted.”
Gelser said with the
pandemic limiting family
members’ access to care
homes, staffi ng issues have
become more apparent as
often family would nor-
mally help out with care.
She added staff need more
training, support and pay.
Many of the staff who
tried to unionize at the
Rawlin Memory Care
facility in Springfi eld have
resigned, KLCC reported.
Some are working to help
make changes at the state
level.
Summer Trosko
was a med tech for 14
years, most recently
at The Rawlin. She’s
working with the Service
Employees International
Union to lobby for Senate
Bills 714 and 703. SB 703,
which Gelser also cospon-
sored, would require the
Department of Human
Services and the Oregon
Health Authority to adopt
quality metrics for care-
giver registries, home
health agencies, in-home
care agencies and certain
residential care facilities.
“They would change
everything if we could get
these passed,” Trosko said.
“They’ll use an acuity
based staffi ng tool where
they’ll go by the acuity of
the residents and decide
how much staff we need
based on their needs.”
— Associated Press
Bar MD Cattle
Company
www.VisitUnionCounty.org
Smart Solutions from an
IT Partner You Can Count On
Bagett
Griffith
& Blackman
(541) 963-8889
Repair
Support
Consulting
Sales
bluemountaintech.com
Union County will begin their roadside spraying program to control vegeta-
tion and noxious weeds that are encroaching on county road shoulders and
right-of-ways. In most locations, spraying will extend four to eight feet from
pavement edges. Property owners who do not want herbicides applied near
their property must sign an “Owner Will Maintain” agreement with the county
which must be updated annually. The county will provide signs for the own-
ers participating. Property owners wishing to participate can sign up for the
“Owner Will Maintain” program at the Union County Public Works Department
located at 10513 N. McAlister Road in Island City. Any questions, please call
Brian Clapp 541-805-5399 or email bclapp@union-county.org.
Stacked with
power
Ask us about
free delivery
ELGIN ELECTRIC 43 N. 8th
Elgin, OR 541-437-2054
GARDEN
SHEDS
www.CountrysideSheds.com
Storage Building
(541) 663-0246
Locally owned and operated
for over 25 years
ISLAND EXPRESS
LUBE CENTER & CAR WASH
Basic Maintenance • Oil Change • Wash • Under Carriage Sprayer
Automotive Accessories
541-963-7400
10603 ISLAND AVE
ISLAND CITY
- Light Bars
- Floor Mats
- Winches
- Bumpers
- Fender Flares - Mud Flaps
- Vortex Spray-on Liner
- And More
RENT to OWN
starting at
See Our Display Lot at
10505 N. McAlister Road
(Corner of Hwy 82 & N. McAlister Rd.)
$
68 Month
Grif