State
Blue Mountain Eagle
Legislature could reimburse
schools for lead testing
By Paris Achen
Capital Bureau
Oregon public schools
could be reimbursed for the
cost of testing for lead in
campus drinking water, un-
der a proposal lawmakers
will consider Sept. 23.
The proposal sets up a
fund administered by the
Oregon Department of Edu-
cation. School districts could
submit invoices to request
reimbursement for costs as-
sociated with lead testing be-
tween March and December
of this year.
The Legislative Fiscal
Ofice has recommended
that the Emergency Board
approve the $5 million as a
placeholder until state edu-
cation oficials gain a better
sense of how much school
districts will request for re-
imbursement.
The education depart-
ment could submit a revised
inancial request to the emer-
gency board in December, if
requests exceed $5 million,
said Doug Wilson, a legisla-
tive iscal analyst.
“It’s really a signal to
districts that we are putting
money aside for lead test-
ing,” Wilson said of the rec-
ommendation.
The Oregon Association
of School Business Oficials
conducted a survey of school
districts this summer to try to
estimate the cost of testing.
About 100 districts, repre-
senting about half of the state
student population, respond-
ed. The $5 million igure is
roughly based on those dis-
tricts’ responses, Wilson said.
That amount equates to
about $35 for each lab test,
including testing and a small
amount to defray the cost
of collection, he said. The
amount doesn’t account for
any expenses associated with
mitigation of lead contamina-
tion.
Some larger school dis-
tricts such as Portland and
Beaverton used contractors
to take water samples, which
drove up the cost of testing,
Wilson said.
Lawmakers pledged to
provide some kind of inan-
cial assistance to districts
after the Oregon Health Au-
thority and the education de-
partment last summer asked
districts to test for lead in
school water supplies. The
agencies recommended that
schools identify sources of
lead, stop access, communi-
cate results to staff, students,
parents and the community
and mitigate and repair the
problem.
The request for testing
followed widespread media
coverage of a scandal in Port-
land Public Schools over lead
in drinking water that went
unreported.
In August, the state Board
of Education — at the behest
of Gov. Kate Brown — ap-
proved a rule that requires
school districts to submit a
plan for testing for lead in
water and other toxins in
school environments and to
report any results to the pub-
lic, but the rule doesn’t re-
quire actual testing.
State agencies, including
the education department and
the Oregon Health Authority,
have no authority to force
school districts to test for
lead in water, but that could
change next year. Lawmak-
ers are considering legisla-
tion during the 2017 session
that would require districts to
test for lead in water and pos-
sibly other toxins, said Sen.
Michael Dembrow, D-Port-
land. Dembrow and Rep.
Alissa Keny-Guyer, D-Port-
land, spearheaded legislation
in 2015 that required districts
to test for radon.
“At that time, we focused
on radon because to be hon-
est, we assumed there was
testing already happening
for lead and other things, but
radon seemed like something
people were just beginning to
become familiar with.”
“As we come to a better
understanding of the multiple
toxins in schools, we need to
expand that,” he added.
New York recently enact-
ed a law requiring schools
to test for lead by the end of
October, report results to the
public and develop a plan
for reducing exposure to the
toxin, the Oregon Legislative
Fiscal Ofice reported.
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Oracle settles Cover Oregon
lawsuit for $100 million
By Nick Budnick
and Paris Achen
Capital Bureau
The state of Oregon and
Oracle, the vendor on the
$300 million Cover Oregon
website debacle, have set-
tled their wide-ranging legal
dispute for more than $100
million in goods, services and
cash.
Oracle will supply funds,
software and services to the
state to settle a case in which
Oregon had accused the Red-
wood City, Calif., software gi-
ant of fraud and racketeering
on the state’s one-stop-shop-
ping health insurance website
project that never worked as
planned.
The state had been asking
for roughly $6 billion.
“Today’s settlement agree-
ment ends years of turmoil
and taxpayer expense related
to a troubled health care ex-
change program I dissolved
in March 2015,” Gov. Kate
Brown said in a statement.
The agreement, an-
nounced early Thursday by
Brown at OMSI, includes
only $35 million in actual
cash. Of that, $25 million
will go to legal costs. The
other $10 million will go
toward science, technolo-
gy, engineering and math
education in public schools,
to be branded as “Oracle
STEM Education Grants.”
The state’s $105 million
valuation of the settlement
Paris Achen/Pamplin Media Group
From left, Deputy General Counsel Misha Isaak,
Gov. Kate Brown, and state Chief Information
Officer Alex Petitt answer questions at OMSI in
Portland Thursday after Brown announced a more
than $100 million settlement with Oracle Thursday
over the failed Cover Oregon website.
also includes $60 million in
free customer service sup-
port for yet-to-be-obtained
Oracle software.
State officials were ex-
pected to notify the federal
government of the settle-
ment later Thursday morn-
ing, Brown said. Brown de-
clined to answer a question
about whether the state will
be required to give any of
the settlement money to the
federal government.
“We received a very lim-
ited amount of cash as you
will see; the cash is $35
million,” Brown responded.
“These settlements are very
challenging to resolve, and
all of the parties had to do
some give and take in order
to resolve the matter.”
The federal government
contributed $305 million
C OUNTY
H
A9
for Cover Oregon. But fed-
eral officials may find it
hard to recoup any part of
the settlement’s ostensible
value. Not a penny of the
amount will go to repay the
state for the $240 million it
paid Oracle in connection
with the project, or reim-
burse the state for any of
the related damages cited in
the state’s lawsuit against
Oracle.
Kristen Grainger, a
spokeswoman for Brown,
said the settlement was
“carefully” and “creative-
ly” constructed to let Or-
egon keep as much of it as
possible, hopefully the whole
amount.
“We are hopeful that (the
federal government) will see
that the needs of consumers
are met,” she said.
C ORNERSTONE
S URVEYING , I NC .
om e
S INCE 1995
Jack Watson
541-575-1813
233 S Canyon Blvd.
John Day
cornerstonesurvey@centurytel.net
Improvements
Improvements
Remodeling
your bathroom?
Trust Andy’s Plumbing to
ensure everything is done
quickly and efficiently.
Grant County’s Most Unique Shop
H OME D ECOR • P AINT • T OOLS
G IFTS • B EER & W INE
A
P
ndy’s
lumbing
CCB#114195
245 N Canyon City Blvd. • Canyon City • 541-575-2144
B OYD B RITTON
W ELDING , INC .
Y OUR W ROUGHT I RON S PECIALIST
Country
Chic Flair
124 Front St., Prairie City
541-820-3739
Open Mon-Sat 9am-6pm
Mills Building Supply
A
nd d Spo r ti ng G oo
ds
An
o ods
751 W Main St., John Day
541-575-1021
G EAR UP FOR YOUR
HOME IMPROVEMENTS
Vintage & refinished furniture
Decorative home accessories
Antique collectibles
Antique jewelry
Interior decorating
Shop vintage styles
to create a unique
and simply beautiful
living space.
THIS FALL .
Don’t forget to check out
The Boutique
Gates • Trellises• Mailboxes •
Flower pot holders• Hand rails
• Repairs • Custom decor
The Dark Horse Group
Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm
841 W Hwy 26, John Day • 541-575-0763
600 S Canyon Blvd. | John Day
541-575-2404 | Open Mon-Sat 10-4, Closed Sun & Wed
for clothing, accessories,
perfumes and body lotions
• New Construction
• Remodeling
• Trex Decking
• Siding & Roofing
• Garages & Sheds
• Porches & Decks
• Fencing
• Fill Sand
• Bricks
• Doors
• Railroad Ties
• Concrete