A10
OREGON
East Oregonian
Saturday, March 20, 2021
Oregon Senate votes to make health care a right
By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press
SALEM — The Oregon
Senate on Thursday, March
18, approved a resolution that
would ask voters to decide
whether the state is obligated
to ensure that every resident
has access to affordable
health care as a fundamen-
tal human right.
The resolution, whose
aim is to amend the Oregon
Constitution, was approved
along party lines, with
Democratic senators in favor
and Republicans opposed. It
next goes to the House in the
Democrat-controlled Oregon
Legislature.
A similar eff ort in 2018
was approved by the House,
but it died in committee in
the Senate. If it had been put
on the ballot and approved
by voters, it would have
been the fi rst constitutional
amendment in any state to
create a fundamental right
to health care.
“ Ev e r y O r e g o n i a n
deserves access to cost-ef-
fective and clinically appro-
priate health care,” said
Senate Majority Leader Rob
Wagner. “Oregon’s Constitu-
tion should refl ect that truth.”
If the House passes the
bill, voters would be asked
to consider amending the
state’s 162-year-old Consti-
tution.
Republicans said any
promise to ensure all Orego-
nians are entitled to health
care lacks fi nancial backing.
“The bill doesn’t fund
any system to deliver on that
promise,” Senate Republi-
can Leader Fred Girod said.
“If Democrats are serious
about giving Oregonians
free health care, they should
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
A Life Flight Network air ambulance lands at St. Anthony
Hospital in Pendleton on May 1, 2020. The Oregon Senate
on Thursday, March 18, approved a resolution that would
ask voters to decide whether the state is obligated to ensure
that every resident has access to aff ordable health care as a
fundamental human right.
come up with an actual
plan.”
The resolution says the
Pessimism pours like rain in Oregon
By ZANE SPARLING
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — A growing
share of Oregonians think
the state is headed down the
wrong track, if not at risk of
derailing completely, accord-
ing to polling data from the
Oregon Values and Beliefs
Center.
Some 44% of Beaver
State residents are pessimis-
tic about Oregon’s future,
while only 35% are optimis-
tic and the remaining 21% are
unsure. Those results show a
fl ip-fl op from summer 2020,
when 43% believed the state
was headed in the right direc-
tion.
“As a whole, the govern-
ment is infuriating,” Melissa
Aspell, one of the poll’s
respondents, said in a phone
interview. “There’s a lot of
frustration with how Gov.
(Kate) Brown runs things.
And then clean up Portland,
for God’s sake.”
Aspell, a 39-year-old
Bend resident, said she was
concerned about the over-
growth of “cookie-cutter
homes” in her neighborhood
and the misallocation of
government resources, but
noted that local parks are
well maintained and she
has been able to receive a
COVID-19 vaccination.
“(Some people) are pretty
sure it’s full of nanobots or
something, but conspiracy
theories aside, I had a consid-
erably bad reaction to the
second one,” she said. “But
I feel that was something my
body needed to go through.”
Roughly 600 Oregonians,
who are part of a profes-
sionally maintained polling
group, participated in the
online survey in January,
with participants selected to
correspond with state demo-
graphics. The poll’s overall
margin of error is 4%.
Here are the key fi ndings:
• Democrats (51%) are
signifi cantly more positive
about the state’s near future,
compared with Republicans
(23%) and voters who belong
to neither party (28%).
Conversely, 66% of Repub-
licans had a negative view of
Oregon’s future, compared
with 29% of Democrats and
48% of independents.
• Just 2% of poll respon-
dents rated Oregon’s econ-
omy as excellent, vastly
outnumbered by those who
scored the state economy
as poor (31%) or only fair
(47%). Middle income earn-
ers (83%) were more likely to
downrate the economy than
the working class (74%).
• Nearly half of residents
(47%) predict Oregon’s
economy is getting worse,
compared with 11% who see
an upturn on the horizon and
36% who foresee it treading
water. Women (52%) were
more likely to predict tighter
wallets than men (43%). The
most pessimistic age group
was the middle-aged.
• A slim majority (53%)
are ver y or somewhat
worried about their personal
finances, while 45% are
not too worried or not at all
essential public services.
Senate Re publica ns
claimed in a statement that
the League of Women Voters
of Oregon has opposed this
measure “because of its
obscurity.”
But in a Feb. 15 letter, the
League of Women Voters
of Oregon said it supports
the resolution, and called it
“simply an aspirational bill.”
This year, as the coronavi-
rus pandemic persists, “will
be pivotal for national and
state health care reforms,”
League President Rebecca
Gladstone and health care
specialist Bill Walsh wrote.
“It’s time to continue to
do our part in this effort
by involving voters in the
process.”
Asked to explain why
Senate Republicans claimed
the League has opposed the
resolution, caucus spokes-
worried. Nearly two-thirds
(63%) of those making less
than $50,000 are concerned
about the state of their pock-
etbook, compared with 33%
of those bringing in more
than $100,000 yearly.
• When asked about 2021
in general, rather than just
Oregon, most residents (59%)
are optimists, though (38%)
are pessimistic.
Portlander Amy Bradley
said the biggest factor in her
sunny outlook was the rebal-
ancing of power in Washing-
ton, D.C.
“I think the Demo-
crats holding two branches
of government is a good
thing,” the 51-year-old said.
“People are out and spend-
ing money. Help is coming,
and is coming to those who
need it.”
Chris Billington, who
lives in the Sylvan area near
Beaverton, admitted that
mask wearing can be tire-
some — and she’s eager for
restrictions to lift so she can
take a dip in the pool — but
said the state’s response to
climate change promised
economic opportunities.
“There’s a potential for
new and diff erent kinds of
jobs,” she said. “My biggest
concern is the Republi-
can walkout (of the Oregon
Legislature), because that’s
just disruptive.”
Republicans walked out of
the 2019 and 2020 legislative
sessions, and briefl y walked
out again this year. The 2020
walkout ended the session
before it really began.
state’s obligation must be
balanced against funding
public schools and other
Stimulus provides $1.1B for schools
By EDER
CAMPUZANO
The Oregonian
SALEM — Oregon’s
public schools are in line to
receive another $1.1 billion
in federal relief as part of
the $1.9 trillion federal
stimulus package President
Joe Biden signed earlier this
month.
Portland Public Schools,
the state’s largest district,
will get $70 million.
Districts won’t immedi-
ately have access to those
funds, which state offi cials
say they anticipate will
be used largely on school
expenses to facilitate a
return to in-person instruc-
tion. That could include
offering summer school,
emotional wellness services
and classroom air quality
upgrades.
The billion-plus outlay
is the third and largest such
infusion Oregon’s public
schools have received since
the start of the pandemic.
The Oregon Department
of Education was awarded
about $122 million in March
2020. Districts used that
money primarily on equip-
ment for virtual learning,
The Oregonian has found.
Another aid package
approved by Congress in
December 2020 provided
Oregon schools $499
million. Districts are
expected to be able to apply
for a share of it as early as
next week, said Mike Wilt-
fong, Oregon Department
of Education director of
school fi nance and facilities.
Once the latest round of
aid comes online, Oregon’s
public schools will have
access to more than $1.7
billion. The latest pot of
money should be available
by mid-April.
Districts will have wide
latitude in deciding how to
use the cash. The federal aid
works as a reimbursement,
which means the Oregon
Department of Education
will have the fi nal say in
whether a school’s expense
qualifi es.
Districts can apply for
reimbursement until Sept.
30, 2022.
According to the agen-
cy’s latest guidelines,
schools can use their share
of the federal pot to pay for
maintenance or repair proj-
ects to improve indoor air
quality, assessments and
activities to address learn-
ing loss, summer learning
programs and mental health
services, among other
things.
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Professional
man Dru Draper pointed out
that the League had opposed
it in 2018.
A League president —
Gladstone’s predecessor
— had sent a letter in opposi-
tion in 2018, saying the state
couldn’t aff ord “the added
cost of health care coverage
for all its residents at this
time.”
But Gladstone said things
are diff erent this time.
“We are pleased to see
provisions added to this 2021
bill that will balance health
care with the public’s interest
in funding schools and other
essential public services,”
Gladstone said in an email
late March 18. “This seems
to be a direct response to the
League’s work on the 2018
bill, when we advocated for
provisions that would protect
funding of these essential
services.”
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