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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 2019)
in other words june20 2019 3 Salem Report • HB 2658 Requires 60 days advance notice before raising the price of a drug. As we enter the last Advance notice would give insurance month of the 2019 Legisla- companies time to switch to a more af- tive session, things are mov- fordable drug, putting pressure on drug ing quickly, and many bills companies to keep their prices down. are moving through both This bill was unanimously approved in chambers. Recently the Ore- the Senate, and I joined with the major- gon House approved SB 1049, the PERS ity in the House to approve this bill. reform bill. As a state we have seen the • HB 2935 Requires pharmacies to pro- PERS unfunded liability balloon since vide a prescription reader for a person the recession. Employer contribution who is visually impaired upon request. rates have more than doubled in the last For consumers to safely and effectively decade, forcing government employers manage their medication it is critical to lay off staff and make program re- they understand the types of medica- ductions. Even in the best of times the tions, recommended doses, duration, and increase in required contributions to pay side effects. Prescription drugs come down the $27 billion unfunded liability with labels and written information and has led public employers to make pain- instructions but reading and understand- ful cuts. For school districts this has ing those can be difficult for the visually meant laying off teachers and cutting impaired. HB 2935 was approved in the school days and other critical services. Senate and in the House. I voted in favor of SB 1049 be- • HB 2689 Would allow prescription cause I believe it will help accomplish The Oregon Department of two important things. First, the bill in- Transportation held a Community Open drugs to be imported from Canada. Pre- cludes system-wide cost savings that House June 18 in Rainier to discuss the scription drugs sold in Canada are much will protect critical services and ensure East A Street Rail Improvement project. less expensive, typically 30% to 50% long-term stability in our retirement sys- This project has been designed to en- cheaper, but sometimes as much as 80% tem. Secondly, it will head off efforts to hance safety along the City of Rainier’s lower. While opponents have raised make even deeper cuts to public employ- main street where the rail line operates safety concerns, Canadian standards are on par with those of the United States. ee benefits. closely to vehicle traffic, pedestrians, Vermont and Florida already import pre- The bill is the result of years of and bikes. scription medications from Canada and legislative and actuarial analysis to de- The project will create one-way termine the best ways to reduce the costs roads on either side of the track, elimi- have had no drug quality issues. Wheth- of PERS. These changes will reduce nating the asphalt road surface over the er this legislation will be successful costs for public employers in a way that track and exposing the railroad ties and this session is unknown, although HB is legally permissible, actuarially sound, aggregate base, called “day-lighting” the 2689 received a do-pass recommenda- tion in the House Health Care Commit- equitable, and system-wide. track. Safety improvements will physi- Thanks to the advocacy of pub- cally separate vehicles and pedestrians/ tee, it is now in Ways and Means. In or- lic employees, this proposal was made bikes from the tracks and improve rail der to implement HB 2689, the Oregon Health Authority would need to design stronger, eliminating cuts to the Money crossing with new gates. and implement a wholesale prescrip- Match and ensuring there were both one- At the same time, the City of time and ongoing resources dedicated to Rainier will be upgrading and relocat- tion drug program, which would require funding of about $1 million per bien- paying down the unfunded liability. ing the City’s utilities, adding off-street One of those ongoing, new parking, and improving freight move- nium. Recently I was honored to be PERS revenue resources will be the net ments to Hwy 30. named a Habitat for Humanity Oregon proceeds from Oregon Lottery Sports We are continuing to get feed- Legislative Champion. The recognition Betting. This was a concept I introduced back on the Personal Tax Kicker. Nearly comes in part for my advocacy of HB in HB 2288 this session, and it was ad- 300 people have now contacted my of- 2285 which cleared up receivership is- opted in full form as part of SB 1049. fice or weighed in on social media about sues on derelict and abandoned homes, The Oregon Lottery plans to legalize this issue. The majority of respondents opening up the opportunity to trans- sports betting before the 2019 NFL sea- agree with my position which is that until form these so-called “zombie” houses son starts and the program is estimated there is a public vote to change the kick- into neighborhood-enhancing, safe and to contribute tens of millions of dollars er law, the kicker in its entirety should be healthy affordable homes. Habitat for each year to reduce the cost of the PERS returned to the taxpayers. Thank you all Humanity of Oregon announced the program. I am proud to have found a for weighing in on this issue. launch of a national advocacy campaign, means by which serious reductions in This session we have taken aimed at improving home affordability PERS costs will be realized without fur- ther burdening our employers or public up several bills relating to prescription for 10 million people in the U.S. over the drugs, in an effort to bring prices down, next five years. employees. Housing issues, specifically the For too many years, Oregon and to help visually impaired individu- lack of affordable housing, has been a lawmakers have been unable to come als get a better understanding about their focus this legislative session, and HB up with a PERS reform solution, and I medication. By Representative Brad Witt believe inaction this session would have caused a much worse result for public employees and ultimately for communi- ties across the state. Individuals and or- ganizations are making very real threats to put PERS reform on the ballot. One threatened ballot measure would cre- ate yet another retirement tier, denying future employees access to a pension entirely, and instead create a system where their retirement comes entirely in the form of a “defined-contribution” or 401K-style program. If such a ballot measure were to pass, it would mean disastrous impacts on PERS, and public employees. Ultimately, I believe there will be long-term benefits for our entire state with this legislation, and I remain as committed as ever to ensuring our pub- lic employees are compensated in a way which they deserve. Publisher and Managing Editor Scott Laird 503-367-0098 scott@vernoniasvoice.com Contributors Jamie Adams Larry Boxman Chip Bubl Tobie Finzel Jerry Keenon Florence Lennox Senator Jeff Merkley Karen Miller Shannon Romtvedt Captain Will Steinweg Representative Brad Witt Photography Scott Laird Vernonia’s Voice is published on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month. One year subscription (24 issues) $35 Vernonia’s Voice, LLC PO Box 55 Vernonia, OR 97064 503-367-0098 Want to advertise? Have an article? Contact: scott@vernoniasvoice.com 2001 takes up this issue, with a proposal to increase infill in established neighbor- hoods. HB 2001 would require cities with populations of 10,000 and less than 25,000 to permit the development of a duplex on each lot in residential-zoned areas that allow for detached single- family homes. For cities with a popula- tion greater or equal to 25,000 and each county with a metropolitan service dis- trict, HB 2001 would require the per- mit of all middle housing types in these same residential-zoned areas. The term “middle housing” refers to duplexes, tri- plexes, quadplexes, cottage clusters, and townhouses. Oregon currently lacks more than 155,000 homes, mostly for middle- and lower-income Oregonians. Every continued on page 5 Cedar Side Inn FULL SPORTS PACKAGE! 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