A8
STATE
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, June 9, 2021
Brown sets June 21 target to end COVID-19 limits Republican lawmakers take
aim at new gun storage law
State about 127,000
adults short of 70%
vaccination goal
Opponents will have
to gather 74,680
signatures by Sept. 25
By Gary A. Warner
Oregon Capital Bureau
Nearly all COVID-19
restrictions could be lifted
in as early as just over two
weeks, Gov. Kate Brown said
Friday.
The state is about 127,000
adults short of the goal of get-
ting at least one shot of vac-
cine into 70% of eligible
residents.
Once the state crosses the
threshold, Brown said she
would lift masking, business
capacity, event size, social
distance and other limits that
Oregonians have dealt with
for more than a year.
“We can fully reopen —
we can all look forward to
that,” she said.
Local health offi cials
would then take over the
daily decision-making and
operations in counties from
the Oregon Health Authority.
Brown said even very
large events, such as the
Pendleton Round-Up in Sep-
tember, would be good to go
once the state hits its target
vaccination rate.
Oregon’s statewide mark
stood at 66.2% on Wednes-
day. OHA Director Pat Allen
said, if the current pace con-
tinues, the mark would be hit
about June 21.
“This is not a slam dunk,”
Allen said.
Allen said that the June 30
deadline set earlier in the year
by the governor was well
within reach.
“It will take a lot of work
by a lot of people to get it
done,” Allen said.
Lifting restrictions would
include:
• Ending the risk level
system for counties of lower,
moderate, high and extreme.
• Ending a state require-
ment for masks and face cov-
erings in almost all settings.
Exceptions would be airports,
public transit and health care
settings that follow federal
agency guidelines.
By Peter Wong
Oregon Capital Bureau
One day after Democratic
Gov. Kate Brown signed it,
three Republican state repre-
sentatives set in motion a peti-
tion drive that seeks to force a
statewide election on new fi re-
arms storage requirements and
a ban on fi rearms in some pub-
lic places.
The documents for a refer-
endum were fi led Wednesday,
June 2, by Reps. Mike Near-
man of Independence, E. Wer-
ner Reschke of Klamath Falls
and David Brock Smith of Port
Orford.
All of them voted against
Senate Bill 554, which requires
locks and safe storage for fi re-
arms and bars an estimated
300,000 holders of con-
cealed-handgun licenses from
bringing fi rearms into the Cap-
itol in Salem and the passen-
ger terminal at Portland Inter-
national Airport. The bill also
would allow fi rearms bans by
public schools, community col-
leges and universities in their
buildings and on their grounds
if their governing boards agree.
House Republican Leader
Christine Drazan of Canby
called for a petition drive
during House debate on the
bill on April 29. She did so to
rebut critics who said Repub-
licans should have walked out
and denied Democrats the two-
thirds majority (40) required to
conduct business in the House.
(Unlike previous years, how-
ever, House rules now in eff ect
enable Speaker Tina Kotek to
levy fi nes of $500 per day for
unexcused absences.)
For a referendum to qual-
ify for a statewide ballot, oppo-
nents will have to gather 74,680
signatures — equal to 4% of the
votes cast for governor in 2018
— by Sept. 25, 90 days after the
projected June 27 close of the
2021 Legislature. The secretary
of state would have 30 days to
verify signatures.
If enough signatures are ver-
EOMG fi le photo
Gov. Kate Brown in 2018.
“WE CAN FULLY REOPEN —
WE CAN ALL LOOK FORWARD
TO THAT.”
—Gov. Kate Brown
• End requirements for
individuals to show vacci-
nation verifi cation in public
venues and businesses.
• Allow K-12 students to
attend school in-person, full
time, fi ve days per week.
K-12 guidance is being
revised to support schools in
safely delivering in-person
instruction throughout the
school day.
Current health and safety
standards, including indoor
mask requirements, will
remain in place in work-
places, schools and child
care settings. Colleges and
universities can make their
own decisions on protocols
after considering guidance
from the Centers for Disease
Control.
Brown said the move
would not mean the pandemic
was over in Oregon. She will
re-examine whether or not to
lift her emergency order that
gave her a wide latitude on
public health decisions.
“The pandemic will not be
over,” Brown said.
To try to increase the vac-
cination rate toward the goal,
many pharmacies will extend
hours to reach out to more
people who want shots.
“Some people are not vac-
cine resistant, but vaccine
inconvenienced,” Allen said.
Brown also reiterated
plans to give away $1 mil-
lion to a vaccinated Orego-
nian, along with $10,000 to
a vaccinated person in each
of the 36 counties. Scholar-
ships worth $100,000 are also
being off ered to lucky vacci-
nated youth.
Brown and OHA offi cials
said it was time to push past
the current levels of inocu-
lation as medical evidence
and state statistics show the
impact of the virus has sep-
arated residents into two
groups with very diff erent
likely futures.
Those with vaccination
are almost completely free
of infections, severe ill-
ness and death.
But the pandemic is still
“a shadow” across the state
for those who are not inoc-
ulated. OHA said nine out
of 10 deaths are currently
among people who have no
record of vaccination.
Children, immunocom-
promised and those who have
not been able to get vacci-
nated must still be considered
when communities decide
what steps to take.
“There are still Orego-
nians who need to take extra
precautions to feel and stay
safe,” Brown said.
Those battling cancer and
organ donors were among
those still needing protection.
There are also many Oregon
kids who are not yet eligible
for a vaccine.
“So, it will remain incredi-
bly important for Oregonians
to continue making smart
choices,” Brown said.
OHA will continue to
monitor the global pandemic
and provide assistance and
resources, but will increas-
ingly advise local offi cials on
measures to take.
OHA and CDC are
expected to issue more
guidance in coming days
as the state nears the 70%
goal.
ifi ed, the new law is suspended
until the statewide vote takes
place in the November 2022
general election. A “yes” vote
upholds the law as passed by the
Legislature; a “no” vote would
throw it out. If voters upheld the
law, it would take eff ect 30 days
after the election once results
are certifi ed.
Such referendum elections
have met with success and fail-
ure over the past 25 years.
Oregon voters in 2014
overturned the Legislature’s
approval of a 2013 bill allowing
driver cards to people unable
to prove legal presence in the
United States. (The Legislature
in 2019 passed a diff erent bill
that had an emergency clause,
which prevented a referen-
dum; opponents were unable to
gather suffi cient signatures for
an initiative measure, which has
a higher total.)
They also rejected in 2004
tax increases lawmakers passed
in 2003 to balance the state bud-
get and, in 1998, rejected a mea-
sure lawmakers passed in 1997
to reimpose criminal penalties
for possession of less than one
ounce of marijuana.
On the other hand, voters
in 2010 upheld tax increases
lawmakers passed in 2009 to
balance the state budget and,
in 2018, upheld legislatively
approved taxes on hospitals,
insurers and some health pro-
viders to raise money for the
Oregon Health Plan for low-in-
come people.
Nearman is under indict-
ment in Marion County Circuit
Court on a charge of fi rst-de-
gree offi cial misconduct and
a charge of criminal trespass
in connection with his allow-
ing anti-lockdown protesters
to enter the Capitol — closed
since March 18, 2020, because
of the coronavirus pandemic —
during a Dec. 21 special ses-
sion of the Legislature. Some
protesters breached the build-
ing but were ejected by police,
though the protesters caused
damage to the Capitol.
Nearman’s next scheduled
court date is later in June. He
also is the subject of a com-
plaint pending before the House
Committee on Conduct.
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