NEWS
A12 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 2021
Merkley touts American Rescue Plan benefi ts for Oregon
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
Morrow County Com-
missioner Jim Doherty was
one of several people from
around the state who helped
Sen. Jeff Merkley tout
the benefi ts of the newest
COVID-19 stimulus pack-
age on a video call with Ore-
gon journalists on Friday,
March 12.
President Joe Biden
signed the $1.9 trillion
American Rescue Plan Act
of 2021 on Thursday, March
11. The plan provides bil-
lions of dollars for COVID-
19 vaccinations and test-
ing, along with money for
state and local govern-
ments, additional fi nancial
aid for businesses and relief
for individuals that includes
Doherty
Merkley
stimulus checks of up to
$1,400, large child tax cred-
its and increased amounts
for unemployment checks.
Merkley called the plan
“one of the most progressive
and transformative pieces
of legislation since the New
Deal.” While the country
isn’t out of the woods yet
with the pandemic, he said,
the American Rescue Plan
will help put its eff ects in the
past.
“This bill will put checks
in Americans’ pockets, shots
in their arms, kids back in
our classrooms, and open
signs in the windows of busi-
nesses — small businesses
across Main Street and
across America,” he said.
During the call, Doherty
thanked Merkley for his
work in including payments
to local governments so that
they could determine how
best to help their residents.
With the previous stimu-
lus package of CARES Act
funds, Doherty said there
was too much of a one-
size-fi ts-all approach from
state offi cials doling out
funds. While some coun-
ties’ economies were devas-
tated by the loss of tourism
dollars for their restaurants
and hotels, Morrow County
residents are mostly essen-
tial workers in the agricul-
tural and food processing
industries, and had diff erent
needs, he said.
“When we got the funds
in they said, ‘Use this on
your restaurants and hospi-
talities,’ and you know, as
broad and diverse in all the
things we’ve got going on,
you can’t buy a pair of socks
in Morrow County,” he
said. “So what might fi t for
another county really didn’t
fi t here. We needed to get our
message out to our essential
workers and get it out to our
Hispanic population.”
One thing being presi-
dent of the Association of
Oregon Counties last year
taught him, Doherty said, is
“if you’ve seen one county,
you’ve seen one county.”
Curry County Commis-
sioner Court Boice, also on
Preparing fi elds for spring
the call, echoed Doherty’s
sentiments, calling the dis-
tribution plan in the Amer-
ican Recovery Plan a more
equitable plan for rural Ore-
gon. He said there have been
some “hard feelings” in Ore-
gon with how previous stim-
ulus money was distributed
(or in some cases, not distrib-
uted) to local governments.
Representatives
from
other parts of the state spoke
to how the anticipated funds
from the new stimulus pack-
age will help provide vac-
cine information in Span-
ish, allow family-owned
entertainment venues to stay
in business or help restau-
rants recover from past
shutdowns.
For individuals curious
about when their own stim-
ulus check is coming, the
Internal Revenue Service
introduced a new tool at irs.
gov/coronavirus/get-my-
payment, where people can
check if they will be receiv-
ing a payment, and whether
it has already been sent to
them in the form of an Eco-
nomic Impact Payment debit
card or directly deposited in
their account using informa-
tion the IRS has on fi le from
tax returns.
The $1,400 is avail-
able for single adults who
reported less than $75,000
in adjusted gross income
on their 2019 or 2020 tax
returns, or couples fi l-
ing jointly with a com-
bined income of less than
$150,000 (those couples
would receive $2,800). Fil-
ers will also receive $1,400
for each eligible dependent.
BRIEFS
Spicerkuhn retains city council seat
after special election
Phillip Spicerkuhn will offi cially
retain his Hermiston City Council seat
representing Ward IV after a special
election.
Spicerkuhn, a local attorney, was
appointed as an interim councilor in
November 2020 after the resignation of
Doug Smith, and ran unopposed in the
March 9 special election to fi ll the rest
of the term.
According to unoffi cial results from
the Umatilla County elections offi ce
posted at 8:27 p.m. on March 9, 819
voters turned in ballots, with 726 votes
for Spicerkuhn and 74 write-in votes.
There were 19 undervotes recorded,
meaning voters turned in their ballot
without marking any name for the race.
Filing deadline to run in May
election is March 18
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
A tractor traverses a fi eld near Stanfi eld on Monday, March 16, 2021.
Although federal, state and munici-
pal elections are decided in even-num-
ber years, dozens of local races will be
up for election on May 18.
Seats on every school board in the
county will be up for election, as well
as various taxing districts that cover
services like fi re protection, parks and
recreation, and cemeteries.
The fi ling deadline for these seats is
Thursday, March 18.
In Hermiston, the seats belonging
to Karen Sherman, Mark Gomolski,
Bryan Medelez and Brent Pitney are
all up for election. Sherman and Pitney
are running for new terms on Position
6 and Position 4, respectively.
Dain Gardner, a senior trooper with
the Oregon State Police, is running for
Position 3, the seat held by Gomolski.
If no one fi les for an open seat, the
winner of the write-in vote will be
off ered the seat. If they decline, the
board can appoint someone to the seat.
Besides school boards, all fi re dis-
tricts, cemetery districts, water control
districts and parks and recreation dis-
tricts will also be on the ballot.
Other taxing districts with elec-
tions include the boards that govern
Blue Mountain Community College,
the Umatilla County Special Library
District, the Port of Umatilla, and
the Umatilla Morrow Radio & Data
District.
EASTERN OREGON
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