The BulleTin • Friday, May 7, 2021 A5
EDITORIALS & OPINIONS
AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
Heidi Wright
Gerry O’Brien
Richard Coe
Publisher
Editor
Editorial Page Editor
Rep. Kropf has
a partial fix for
Bend’s homeless
I
n November, David Savory died just off of Third Street in
Bend. He was homeless. Temperatures plunged into the teens.
Good Samaritans couldn’t find a hotel that would take him in.
Bend’s winter warming shelter for the homeless had not opened yet.
The scramble has been on every
winter to find a location for a winter
warming shelter for the homeless in
Bend. It’s long past time for a more
permanent solution. State Rep. Jason
Kropf, D-Bend, proposed Wednes-
day a path to get there — $2 million
toward a year-round, low-barrier
homeless shelter. His hope is it will
be enough to buy and renovate a
building.
Nonprofits and other organiza-
tions have long stepped up to help
the homeless in Bend. The recurring
problem in the winter: a building
for a low-barrier shelter. Low-bar-
rier shelters typically don’t have the
requirements for entry that some
homeless shelters have.
The $2 million comes indirectly
from the federal government and,
of course, taxpayers. Every member
of the Oregon House gets $2 million
and every member of the Oregon
Senate gets $4 million to allocate
from the federal American Res-
cue Plan Act. That’s how legislators
agreed to split up the money. Kropf
told the Bend City Council Wednes-
day night his $2 million would go
toward a building for a homeless
shelter.
The city does not have the money,
yet. The proposals from legislators
aren’t due until May 10. The plan
is to put them all in one big bill,
which would then need to pass the
Legislature.
Bend already is lined up to get
$2.5 million for a navigation center
from the Legislature. That will pro-
vide services to homeless people to
get their lives back on a better track.
The city of Bend is also pursuing le-
veraging grant money to buy a hotel
and convert it into a homeless shel-
ter. It’s not clear if the money Kropf
is proposing will supplement that
purchase or be used for something
else.
Kropf, though, has chosen well.
Homelessness is a serious problem
in Bend. Yes, Bend does have many
serious challenges. It’s not hard
to think of many other deserving
causes where $2 million would be
welcome and well spent.
But there are few where there is
such a large disparity between the
resources available to meet it and
the problem’s scope. The search for a
building for a low-barrier shelter has
orbited Bend year after year for far
too long.
Should Oregon delay paid
family medical leave?
T
his late in the legislative ses-
sion, new bills don’t pop up
that often. A bill backed by
the state’s Employment Department
showed up on Monday.
It would delay the implementa-
tion of Oregon’s paid family medical
leave program. We wondered why.
When the paid family medical
leave program was created by the
Legislature in 2019, it was a big deal.
Families would be able to get paid
time off — not only for births and
deaths — but to care for others when
they need it. Maybe your employer
already offers that.
The 2019 bill ensured the benefit
would be widespread. At the sign-
ing ceremony for the bill, Gov. Kate
Brown personally thanked state Sen.
Tim Knopp, R-Bend, for his leader-
ship — among others — to get the
bill passed.
The plan was that the benefits of
the new state program would be-
come available in January 2023. The
new bill, House Bill 3398, proposes
to move that back to September
2023. The Employment Department
told us it had to refocus its agency
to confront the pandemic and the
flood of unemployment claims. And
as you have likely heard or maybe
experienced, the department has
had trouble keeping up.
Patty Jo Angelini, a communica-
tions officer with the employment
department, wrote the extra time
“will allow OED to develop policy
and administrative rules; build a
modernized technology platform;
afford time for adequate planning
and preparation with partner agen-
cies; and review and process applica-
tions using new technology instead
of manual processes.”
The justification from OED
seems understandable. Still, we urge
legislators to insist on a detailed
explanation.
Remember, just earlier this year
the Oregon Health Authority told
Oregonians it could no longer pro-
vide detailed reports about each per-
son killed by COVID-19. It had be-
come too much work for OHA. Gov.
Kate Brown initially backed that
move and then reversed and told the
OHA to continue doing it.
They are two different depart-
ments, and these are different issues.
But sometimes, government agen-
cies can achieve things they at first
say they cannot.
Editorials reflect the views of The Bulletin’s editorial board, Publisher Heidi Wright, Editor
Gerry O’Brien and Editorial Page Editor Richard Coe. They are written by Richard Coe.
My Nickel’s Worth
McPherson Douglass and
LeGrand for Bend schools
As the mom of three children in
Bend-La Pine Schools and a local pe-
diatrician, I am writing to urge sup-
port for Carrie McPherson Douglass
and Marcus LeGrand for the Bend-La
Pine School Board election. They de-
serve your vote and will remain strong
advocates for our children’s education,
health and well-being.
Carrie Douglass has been one of
the most prominent community
voices for safely resuming in-person
instruction at the district schools.
This is in line with the guidance of the
American Academy of Pediatrics. She
lobbied at the state level throughout
the pandemic, including advocating
for adjusting the metrics to allow kids
to come back sooner to the classroom.
(Please see letter published on Dec. 2,
2020, in Central Oregon Daily News
for details). As soon as the governor
allowed schools to reopen, under Car-
rie’s leadership, we were one of the
first large districts to reopen. Carrie is
also great at listening to parents of dif-
fering viewpoints and has been very
accessible throughout this stressful
time.
Marcus LeGrand is an experi-
enced educator and counselor and has
worked in education for over 11 years
in many capacities, ranging from aca-
demics to advising to college admin-
istration.
He has served in the Navy and is
the father of 2 children. In 2018 and
2020, LeGrand received the Diversity
Achievement Award from Central
Oregon Community College for his
longstanding commitment to com-
munity service. He will be an excellent
addition to the Bend-La Pine School
Board.
— Dr. Susan Méndez, Bend
Lawler for Deschutes
Public Library Board
I have known and had the pleasure
of working with Martha Lawler since
we served together on the Deschutes
Public Library Budget Committee.
We also served together on the li-
brary board. Martha has been an ac-
tive advocate for not only the patrons
in Zone 3, but for all of Deschutes
County. Her experience in helping the
library move forward through reces-
sion and major changes to support
the needs of the community during
the transformation to the digital age
has been top-notch. Martha studies
the materials in order to keep abreast
of new trends and needs. Our county
has experienced a population increase
at a rapid rate, and the library board
has worked hard together to make
the best decisions for the patrons.
The pandemic presented a new set of
challenges that involved difficult de-
cisions.
The library staff has shown flexi-
bility and quick reactions. The library
board members have done an excel-
lent job looking to the future, guiding
and supporting staff decisions.
Martha has worked as a volunteer
in the La Pine Library branch since
2004, before she served on the bud-
get committee, and has led the li-
brary board as president. I urge you
to vote for Martha Lawler so she can
continue the great work she has been
involved with while serving as De-
schutes Public Library district direc-
tor of Zone 3.
— Susan B. Torassa, Redmond
Molon labe does not
indicate extremism
On May 4, your front page had an
article regarding an officer with the
Bend Police Department who had a
tag visible that displayed the words
“molon labe.” The history behind that
term as you alluded in your article goes
back centuries. The meaning was used
in many instances between opposing
forces who were telling their adversar-
ies to come and take it — meaning to
come and try to take their weapons.
This term is very common and used
frequently among those who support
the Second Amendment. It is not a
right-wing nor an extremist saying.
If someone got their feelings hurt
(as so many “woke” folks seem to be
these days), perhaps they should be
thankful that those who are there to
protect us are willing to ensure they
give no quarter to those who would
harm us. It is shameful and demor-
alizing to our men and women in
blue to be so demeaned by the cur-
rent trend to attack the police in such
a way.
Instead of looking for all the rea-
sons to attack police, perhaps you
(whomever you are) should go on a
ride-along and see for yourself just
what is put on the line for you each
and every day.
I know I speak for the majority of
our citizens when I say thank you for
the selfless service police perform ev-
ery day.
— Owen Herzberg, Sisters
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COVID eviction ban helped, but a judge was right to strike it down
BY NICHOLAS BAGLEY
Special to The Washington Post
O
n Tuesday, a Trump-appointed
judge in Washington ruled
that the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention exceeded
its authority in placing a nationwide
moratorium on certain residential
evictions. It’s the fifth time that a fed-
eral court has found that the order, set
to expire at the end of June, is invalid,
but this ruling is the most significant
yet because it applies nationwide. The
Biden administration has asked the
judge to pause her decision while it
makes an emergency appeal. But if
she rebuffs that request, the CDC may
no longer be able to prevent landlords
from evicting tenants who fall behind
on their rent.
Though the consequences would
be harsh for many Americans, this
isn’t the story of a right-wing judge
contorting the law in a politically
motivated effort to thwart a robust-
COVID-19 response.
Instead, the decision is a measured
and sensible interpretation of the law
empowering the CDC to act, one that
respects the usual allocation of pub-
lic health authority between the states
and the federal government. While
it’s hard to blame the CDC for pull-
ing out all the stops to mitigate the
pain of the epidemic, it’s also not a
surprise that its efforts have encoun-
tered resistance in the courts. And this
week’s decision leaves the door open
for Congress to pass a law that would
grant the CDC or another agency the
power to protect renters — hardly a
sign of rank judicial activism.
The background of the law that the
CDC has invoked to justify the mor-
atorium, Section 361 of the Public
Health Service Act, helps explain why
the judge was skeptical that it gave the
agency sweeping power over housing
policy. Originally adopted in 1944,
Section 361 delegated power over
certain public health measures to the
surgeon general. (The CDC hadn’t yet
been created, though its predecessor,
the Office of Malaria Control in War
Areas, was hard at work.)
Today, the surgeon general is
mainly known as the chief medical of-
ficer for the nation, but his military title
reflects his historical role as the head
of the Marine Hospital Service. Estab-
lished shortly after the nation’s found-
ing, the hospital service started by es-
tablishing institutions to care for sick
and disabled seamen. After a rash of
devastating yellow fever epidemics in
1877, Congress assigned to the service
quarantine-related responsibilities that
had previously been left to the states,
partly because marine hospitals were
natural quarantine sites at seaports.
In the subsequent decades, the sur-
geon general’s quarantine authority
grew in the face of communicable-dis-
ease threats. As it did, his job trans-
formed into that of the chief public
health officer for the federal govern-
ment — which made him a natural
delegate, in 1944, for the authorities
under Section 361. The fact that quar-
antine was at the heart of the surgeon
general’s responsibilities also explains
why Section 361 is found under the
heading “Quarantine and Inspection.”
Clearly, an eviction moratorium is
neither a quarantine nor an inspec-
tion measure — a bit of legal awk-
wardness right out of the gate. Then
again, Section 361 is pretty awkwardly
worded. It starts big. The law says that
the CDC “is authorized to make and
enforce such regulations as in (its)
judgment are necessary to prevent the
introduction, transmission, or spread
of communicable diseases” from for-
eign countries or across state lines.
Taken literally, that’s an extraordi-
narily broad mandate. Diseases don’t
respect state lines, so the best way to
prevent “spread” from one state to an-
other is often to stop the disease wher-
ever it is found.
If the Biden administration can’t
stop the decision from taking effect,
the consequences for families facing
eviction would be serious. But the
implications for Congress’s authority
over public health would probably be
modest. Friedrich’s decision still al-
lows Congress to revisit an antiquated
statute allocating public health au-
thority between the federal govern-
ment and the states. If Congress wants
to grant the CDC or another federal
agency broader powers to cope with
the threat of contagious disease — in-
cluding perhaps the authority to tem-
porarily suspend residential evictions
— it remains free to do so.
e e
Nicholas Bagley is a professor of law
at the University of Michigan.