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NEWS
WEDNESDAy, JuLy 10, 2019
Legislators reflect on 2019 session
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
14 NEW OREGON LAWS TO KNOW ABOUT
HB 2509 bans stores and
restaurants from providing
single-use plastic bags at
checkout, and requires
them to charge at least
five cents per bag if they
provide paper or other
alternatives, beginning in
2020.
T
he 2019 legisla-
tive session came to
a turbulent conclu-
sion as Republican sena-
tors returned from a nine-
day walkout over cap and
trade, but the drama over-
shadowed the hundreds
of less-controversial bills
passed over a four-month
session, often with biparti-
san support.
Rep. Greg Smith and
Sen. Bill Hansell worked
on a variety of policy and
budget bills throughout the
session, some tailored spe-
cifically to Eastern Ore-
gon issues and others that
have more broad benefits
throughout the state.
Hansell was a sponsor or
chief sponsor of 138 bills
and resolutions, not all of
which became law by the
end of the session.
He was the chief sponsor
of Senate Bill 290, which
protects people voluntarily
helping fight a fire in good
faith, such as farmers help-
ing fight wildfires on neigh-
boring farms, from civil lia-
bility. Hansell likened it to
Good Samaritan laws that
protect people who stop and
render first aid at the scene
of a car crash.
He was also sponsor of
SB 312, which requires
public universities and com-
munity colleges to charge
in-state tuition for Native
American students who
graduated from an Ore-
gon high school. He said he
heard from Nixyaawii Com-
munity School in Pendle-
ton that they have tribal stu-
dents who attend during
the school year while liv-
ing with relatives, but keep
a home address outside the
state.
“The bill seemed to make
good sense that we keep
these students in Oregon if
they want to go here,” he
said.
One of the bills Hansell
sponsored was brought to
his attention by a constitu-
ent in Adams, whose insur-
ance denied coverage for a
type of cancer treatment that
Hansell himself benefitted
from when he survived can-
cer. Senate Bill 740 requires
insurance companies that
cover radiation therapy for
cancer to also cover proton
beam therapy.
Another bill sponsored
by Hansell will allow small
rural cemetery districts to
SB 90 prohibits restaurants
from giving customers
single-use plastic straws
unless the customer specifi-
cally requests one, effective
immediately.
HH file photo
Lawmakers conduct business during the 2019 legislative session.
annex more land into their
districts.
Hansell said it was a
tough session, but he was
pleased with the number of
capital projects the district
will see funding for.
“The bill seemed
to make good sense
that we keep these
students in Oregon if
they want to go here.”
Bill Hansell , Oregon Senate
He said projects such
as a mental health-related
renovation of the Umatilla
County Jail and a joint med-
ical and mental health Wal-
lowa Valley Center for Well-
ness are expected to serve as
an example to the rest of the
state in better serving those
with mental illnesses and
addictions.
Smith was a sponsor or
chief sponsor on 85 bills and
resolutions this session. One
was SB 408, which allows
counties to approve cer-
tain types of land zoned for
exclusive farm use to site
utility facilities “necessary
for public service.” He said
the bill will assist Umatilla
Electric Cooperative as it
continues to serve the grow-
ing region.
Smith said despite promi-
nent disagreements between
Republicans and Democrats
during the session, there
was also bipartisan work.
One example was a package
of reforms of Measure 11.
Smith, who didn’t sponsor
the bill but did support it,
said he believed the reforms
balance “justice and mercy”
for young offenders.
Measure 11, passed by
Oregon voters in 1994, set
mandatory minimum sen-
tences for certain offenders
and required offenders ages
15-17 be tried as adults,
allowing them to receive
life without parole. Under
Senate Bill 1008, those con-
victed of a crime before
their 18th birthday will be
given a hearing halfway
through their incarceration
that would consider whether
they might serve the rest of
their term under supervision
outside of prison. They will
also be allowed to apply for
parole after 15 years.
Offenders would not
automatically be released,
Smith pointed out, but the
new law will allow the jus-
tice system to take into
account how someone who
committed a violent crime at
age 15, 16 or 17 might have
changed in the years since.
“I would hope I’m not
the same person today as I
was at age 15,” he said.
The beginning of the
2019 session focused heav-
ily on education. Smith
sat on the Student Suc-
cess Committee that toured
schools throughout the state
as legislators worked on
a package of bills to help
boost graduation rates and
other measures of educa-
tional success.
Smith ultimately voted
no on the resulting tax bill,
however. He said business
and industry leaders told
legislators they knew more
revenue needed to be raised
for education, and made
an “extremely reasonable
request” to be given a cou-
ple of weeks to come up
with language they could
support.
“When that deal was
rejected, I knew I needed to
step back,” Smith said.
He said much of the
school-related work this
session was focused on ele-
mentary and secondary edu-
cation, but he expected
assisting higher education
would be a major focus in
the next biennium.
He said beyond sponsor-
ing legislation, an important
part of being a rural East-
ern Oregon legislator is also
educating legislators from
urban areas on issues facing
rural Oregon and how one-
size-fits-all bills might have
negative consequences for
the east side of the state.
That work will likely
continue into the next ses-
sion, he said, as the legis-
lature grapples with how
to address climate change
while also protecting jobs
and vulnerable populations.
HB 2393 strengthens
Oregon’s “revenge porn”
laws by making it a crime to
distribute intimate photos
or videos of a person with-
out their consent. Previ-
ously the law only covered
posting such content to a
website, but now includes
other methods of electronic
dissemination such as text
message, email and apps.
It also allows victims to sue
for up to $5,000 in damages.
HB 2328 will make it easier
for police to put car thieves
behind bars. A 2014 court
decision meant that pros-
ecutors have had to prove
that a person had knowl-
edge the vehicle they were
driving was stolen. Now,
they merely have to show
that the person disregarded
a “substantial and unjusti-
fiable risk” that the vehicle
might be stolen.
SB 998 allows bicyclists to
yield, rather than come to a
full stop, at stop signs and
traffic signals.
SB 3 allows community
colleges to offer four-year
bachelor’s degrees. Colleges
would have to gain approv-
al for each program through
the Higher Education
Coordinating Committee by
showing that the program
would address a workforce
need not being met.
SB 9 allows pharmacists
to prescribe emergency
refills of insulin and related
supplies instead of requir-
ing patients who run out
to wait for their doctor to
become available to write
them a new prescription.
HB 2005 sets up a system for
paid family leave in which
Oregon workers can take off
up to 12 weeks of paid leave
to care for a new child or
sick family member, or to re-
cover from a serious illness
or domestic violence. The
leave would be paid for by
a state insurance fund that
employers and employees
will contribute less than 1%
of their paycheck to, similar
to worker’s compensation.
Employers with fewer than
25 employees will not
have to pay into the fund
but their employees will
still be eligible to apply for
compensation during their
leave of absence. The state
will begin collecting funds
in 2022 and employees will
be able to begin collecting
benefits in 2023.
HB 2015 allows undocu-
mented immigrants to ob-
tain driver’s licenses. Those
who can’t provide docu-
mentation of citizenship will
not be added to the voter
rolls, however.
SB 861 provides for prepaid
postage on ballots, allowing
Oregonians to vote by mail
without paying for a stamp
starting in 2020.
SB 608 capped annual rent
increases at 7 percent plus
the change in consumer
price index. The bill, which
took effect upon passage,
also prohibits landlords
from evicting month-to-
month renters without
cause after 12 months of
residency.
SB 320 would allow Oregon
to stay on daylight savings
time year-round, but only
if the federal government
passes a law allowing the
switch and Washington and
California follow suit. The
bill would exempt the sliver
of Eastern Oregon that op-
erates on Mountain Time.
SB 870 adds Oregon to the
National Popular Vote Com-
pact. States belonging to
the compact agree to award
their electoral college votes
to the winner of the nation-
al popular vote instead of
the winner of their state.
The compact will take effect
once states representing
270 electoral college votes
join. Oregon brings the total
to 196 votes.
HB 3216 allows people to
sue anyone who “knowingly
summons a police officer”
as a way to discriminate
again the person, cause
them to feel harassed or
embarrassed, infringe on
the person’s rights or expel
them from a place where
they are lawfully located.
— Jade McDowell, East
Oregonian
Merkley fields questions in Boardman
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
C
oncern for children
in America’s class-
rooms, homes and
border security permeated
discussion at a town hall
with Sen. Jeff Merkley in
Boardman on Saturday.
The senator advocated
for more education fund-
ing, more early child-
hood education opportuni-
ties and changes in the way
the country handles minors
crossing the southern bor-
der in response to several
questions from a crowd of
about two dozen people at
the SAGE Center.
Doctors and lawyers with
access to child detention
centers at the border have
described young children
packed into facilities with-
out access to clean clothes,
soap, toothbrushes, sleep-
ing mats and other items.
One town hall attendee
described the government’s
treatment of unaccompa-
nied minors and those taken
from their parents as an
“abomination” and asked
Merkley what Congress and
everyday citizens can do.
Merkley said he was
deeply troubled by the
reports and what he had
seen in his own visits to
the border, including a for-
mer Walmart that had been
built to house 300 boys but
instead held 1,500. He said
the for-profit businesses
that run the detention facil-
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Sen. Jeff Merkley speaks during a town hall at the SAGE Center in Boardman. Merkley used the
time to address community concerns regarding Social Security, refugees and education.
ities on behalf of the gov-
ernment were paid $750 per
child per day, giving them
no incentive to find place-
ments with family or foster
homes.
“They have every incen-
tive to keep kids in there as
long as they can,” he said.
He advocated for a return
of the Family Case Man-
agement Program, which
assigned caseworkers to
families who were consid-
ered low flight risks and
helped them get set up with
housing and other neces-
sities while they waited
for their hearing. The pro-
gram had a near 100% suc-
cess rate in getting fami-
lies to show up to court, but
was canceled by the Trump
administration for reasons
Merkley said he hasn’t been
able to determine.
He said the federal gov-
ernment needed to provide
the resources to get people
of all ages seeking asylum
through the hearing pro-
cess much more quickly.
The vast majority of people
who seek asylum are turned
away, he said — only about
20,000 people were granted
asylum last year.
“Regardless of whether
they win or lose we should
still treat them with dignity
in between,” he said.
He also said the country
needed to stop turning away
unaccompanied minors at
the border, leaving them at
the mercy of sex traffickers
and other bad actors.
Others at Saturday’s
town hall were concerned
about children who are
struggling in America’s
education system.
Maureen
McGrath,
director of Umatilla Mor-
row Head Start, asked about
federal initiatives on the
horizon for early childhood
education. Rick and Susan
Scheibner, who both work
for Hermiston School Dis-
trict, described children
coming to school with more
mental health problems and
more trauma than a decade
ago. Susan said she saw eco-
nomically stressed parents
making tough choices, and
the effect on their children.
Merkley said the fed-
eral government needed to
directly invest in education
but also help families by
cutting wasteful spending
and focusing on basics such
as health care and housing.
He said when he was
growing up his family pur-
chased a home worth the
equivalent of two years
of his father’s salary as a
mechanic. Today the same
type of home in the same
town costs five to six times
a mechanic’s annual salary,
he said.
“It isn’t that the fami-
lies in my neighborhood
changed, it’s that the eco-
nomics have changed,” he
said.
Merkley also said he was
a proponent of a combined
effort of state and federal
spending to serve more chil-
dren with early childhood
education programs like
Head Start. He said research
showed that investments in
a child’s formative years
paid off many times over
when they became a more
productive member of soci-
ety and avoided trouble like
incarceration.
Attendees at Saturday’s
town hall also asked about
keeping Social Security sol-
vent, taking away subsidies
for fossil fuels, prevent-
ing foreign interference in
elections, slowing climate
change and holding pow-
erful tech companies like
Facebook accountable.
Merkley said if the gov-
ernment removed the cap
on the level of wages sub-
ject to the Social Security
tax or placed a Social Secu-
rity tax on capital gains
the program would be sol-
vent for many decades into
the future with money for
increased benefits.
He expressed support
for incentivizing clean
energy and energy-effi-
ciency upgrades to homes
and agreed with the citizen
who advocated removing
the subsidies for oil and gas
companies.
Merkley said he sup-
ports passage of the bipar-
tisan DETER Act, which
lays out stiff sanctions for
any foreign country found
meddling in the United
States’ elections. Beyond
foreign interference, he
feels Congress has a duty to
tackle problems he believes
are eroding the country’s
democracy.
“We’re seeing a lot
of gerrymandering, a lot
of voter suppression and
intimidation and a lot of
dark money in campaigns,”
he said. “It’s got to be a real
priority to take those on.”