STATE
6A — THE OBSERVER
SaTuRday, May 29, 2021
Bailey’s Bill clears latest obstacle with Judiciary Committee’s OK
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
SALEM — A bipartisan
bill that increases penalties
for teachers who sexually
abuse students is headed
to the House floor. The 10
members of Oregon’s House
Judiciary Committee voted
unanimously on Monday
night, May 24, to move
Bailey’s Bill
forward.
But the
journey of
Senate Bill 649
through the
Oregon legis-
Hansell
lative process
has been bumpier than the
law’s original sponsor, Sen.
Bill Hansell, R-Athena, ever
could have imagined.
The bill, named for
Weston-McEwen High
School student Bailey
Munck, increases penalties
for criminal sexual contact
with an underage victim if
the offender was the vic-
tim’s teacher. If approved
by the House and signed
by Gov. Kate Brown, the
legislation fixes a discrep-
ancy. Currently, a coach
convicted of sexual abuse
receives harsher penalties
than a teacher who commits
the exact same crime.
“It’s been an interesting
and arduous journey getting
Bailey’s Bill through the
process,” Hansell said after
the May 21 hearing.
Bill becomes political tool
“Interesting” and
“arduous” refer to obstruc-
tions that threatened to kill
the bill at different points
along the way. The most
recent came in the form of
two amendments authored
by Rep. Marty Wilde,
D-Eugene. The amend-
ments would have essen-
tially torpedoed the bill,
replacing most of the ver-
biage with language that
actually does the opposite
of the original proposed
legislation.
During the May 24,
Wilde explained he simply
Kathy aney/East Oregonian
Bailey Munck testifies at a House judiciary committee hearing about
Bailey’s Bill on May 18, 2021, from her home in Athena.
was expressing his desire
to start a discussion on sen-
tencing reform.
“I think we need to
acknowledge each other’s
legitimate concerns,” said
Wilde, who is an attorney.
“Many in my party believe
that we are over-pun-
ishing and we do need to
address mass incarcera-
tion. I believe people in the
other party aren’t wrong
either when they believe
that people have com-
mitted truly atrocious acts
and should go away for a
long period of time. I think
where we might find agree-
ment on that is restoring
some greater degree of dis-
cretion to sentencing judges
to make appropriate sen-
tences based on the facts of
those cases.”
When the chair, Rep.
Janelle Bynum, D-Clack-
amas, called for a vote,
all 10 members voted
aye. On April 19, mem-
bers of the Senate also
passed the bill unanimously
after the Senate Judiciary
Committee’s unanimous
recommendation.
Another threat to the
bill happened earlier this
month when it appeared
Bynum likely wasn’t going
to schedule SB 649 for a
hearing by the House Judi-
ciary Committee, a move
that would doom the bill.
The other members dusted
off a rarely used House
rule that says if a majority
of committee members
request a hearing in writing,
the chair must schedule
one within five days. They
wrote a letter to Bynum that
all members signed. Given
no other choice, Bynum
scheduled a hearing.
Filling a gap in the law
During public testimony
May 24, former Umatilla
County Chief Deputy Dis-
trict Attorney Jaclyn Jen-
kins spoke about the expe-
rience of Munck, now 17.
Munck testified earlier
during Senate and House
committee hearings about
sexual abuse during a 2019
volleyball trip by Andrew
DeYoe, an English teacher
and scorekeeper for the
volleyball team.
He later abused her in
his classroom. DeYoe, 31,
after pleading guilty to
harassment that included
sexual touching, spent
a night in the Umatilla
County Jail and will serve
five years probation. He
wasn’t required to register
as a sex offender.
If DeYoe had been a
coach, he might have been
convicted of a Class C
felony, a crime that carries
sentences up to five years in
prison and a $125,000 fine.
Jenkins said teachers
are in a position of power
and authority and there-
fore should have stiff pen-
alties when they abuse their
students.
Oregon discloses huge surge
in wasted COVID-19 vaccines
The Oregonian
SALEM — More than
half of all Oregonians are
now at least partially vac-
cinated against COVID-
19. But demand has slowed
in recent weeks, and that’s
apparently playing a role
in the growing number of
wasted doses reported by
state health officials.
On Tuesday, May 25, the
Oregon Health Authority
reported 9,090 vaccine
doses have now been
wasted, spoiled or expired
since December. That’s
more than double the total
disclosed last week, which
stood at 4,418, and it’s more
than quadruple the 1,922
reported three weeks ago.
For context, Oregon
through May 4 had reported
administering nearly 3.1
million doses of vaccine,
meaning just 0.06% of
doses had been wasted,
spoiled or expired.
But since then, Oregon
has reported administering
719,665 doses against 7,168
that have been wasted,
according to calcula-
tions of state data by The
Oregonian.
That means that for
every 100 doses recently
administered, one dose
has been wasted — a far
higher rate than during
the first five months of
vaccinations.
Tim Heider, a spokesman
for OHA, said in an email
that wastage “may increase
as the vaccine rollout con-
tinues.” He said that’s
because vial sizes for some
vaccines have increased,
those vials may be opened
without every dose being
used, and more providers,
including smaller sites, are
now receiving vaccines.
Heider’s response
matches wording from a
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention document
written last week, which
he did not attribute to the
CDC.
“We recognize that as
we continue to create more
opportunities to vacci-
nate more people, it may
increase the likelihood of
leaving unused doses in
a vial,” the CDC docu-
ment said. “While we want
to continue to follow best
practices to use every dose
possible, we do not want
that to be at the expense
of missing an opportunity
to vaccinate every eligible
person when they are ready
to get vaccinated.”
La Grande
When people share their time, treasure and talent, the benefi ts spread throughout the entire
community. In celebration of this culture of generosity, we thank the tremendous work of
nonprofi ts, volunteers and donors who help improve the lives of all Oregonians.
JUST A FEW OF THE 350 EASTERN
OREGON GRANTS AWARDED IN 2020:
EASTERN OREGON 2020
LOCAL I M PAC T TOTA L S:
Burns Paiute Tribe
Grants and Scholarships: $5.6M
Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts
Grants: 350
Euvalcree
Scholarships: 320
Four Rivers Cultural Center & Museum
Value of Endowment: $47.7M
High Desert Partnership
Volunteers: 173
Kids Club of Harney County
Funds: 148
Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center
Northeast Oregon Compassion Center
Pendleton Friends of the Library
St. Mary’s Outreach Food Pantry
Umatilla County Historical Society
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 922
L E A R N | CO N N EC T | D O N AT E
BRINGING OREGONIANS TOGETHER SINCE 1973
PORTLAND | BEND | SALEM | EUGENE | MEDFORD
O R E G O N C F. O R G
