Friends and Neighbors,

As we move through the holiday season and celebrate with friends and family, I am grateful Oregon’s legislature will be returning to special session next week to protect more than 10,000 Oregon households who are waiting on rental assistance, but are still at risk of eviction due to their safe harbor protections timing out.

No one should face eviction for nonpayment because of administrative delays in processing their application.

The chairs of the Legislature's housing committees, Rep. Fahey and Sen. Jama, have a proposal to extend the state’s bipartisan safe harbor protections and provide additional funds for direct rent assistance that will benefit both tenants and housing providers.

We know evictions are increasing as current protections run out; we can’t wait for evictions to reach record levels before we take action to address the problem. No one should be evicted during the coldest months of the year when rental assistance is on the way.

If you are in urgent need of housing assistance, please call 2-1-1 or look online at www.211info.org. 

HD-37 Housing Assistance Resources: 

Washington County: 
Washington County’s local Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program continues to accept applications through existing local pathways.
 
Community Action, the agency administering the local funds for Washington County, maintains a phone line, an online portal and has established partnerships with other agencies, community-based organizations as well as public health contact tracing staff to get the funds out as quickly as possible. These local funds will continue to be available for income-eligible renters over the foreseeable future.
 
“Our priority right now is meeting the needs of Washington County renters struggling financially by helping them stay in their homes and helping property owners who are also feeling financial pressure,” said Board of County Commissioners Chair Kathryn Harrington. “Thanks to Community Action, we’ve cut about 20 days from the processing time for these local applications – and we are working to shorten this response time even more. Nonetheless, renters should expect several weeks before payments directly to landlords are made due to high demand for this vital support.”
 
Oregon has safe harbor rules in place that mean renters cannot be evicted for 60 days, or 90 days in some parts of Washington County, if they show their landlords proof of having applied for any emergency rental assistance program. These maps show the protections for the different jurisdictions within Washington County (Information in English mapping tool) bit.ly/3aTeFbc or (Information in Spanish mapping tool Protección contra desalojos (arcgis.com).
 
All renters needing assistance and residing in Washington County are encouraged to apply for the Emergency Rental Assistance program. To learn more on how to apply for emergency rental assistance, visit the Community Action webpage at https://caowash.org/programs/housing-stability/renter-support.html. 

For immediate resources including shelter and food access contact 2-1-1 online at www.211info.org or by calling 2-1-1.

Clackamas County:
Clackamas County Coordinated Housing Access (CHA) aims to help people find immediate, alternative housing arrangements, which may include rental assistance or other financial help. If this is not possible, CHA will talk with you about any housing waiting lists you may qualify for. If you are interested in learning more, please visit their website, or call 503-655-8575.

Si necesitas ayuda en espanol, llama 503-655-8575

If you are currently experiencing domestic violence or sexual assault, you may contact the Clackamas Women’s Services at 503-654-2288. There are extra layers of security around protecting the confidentiality of survivors.

If your household income is less than $61,900 for a family of two, or $77,350 for a family of four, and COVID 19 affected your income, you may be eligible for assistance. CHA representatives speak Spanish and can help anyone, regardless of immigration status.

For immediate resources including shelter and food access contact 2-1-1 online at www.211info.org or by calling 2-1-1.
 

Drug Price Transparency Public Hearing:

This week I had the privilege of serving as a moderator on this year’s Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) Drug Price Transparency Public Hearing. The goal of the Drug Price Transparency program, created in 2018, is to provide accountability for prescription drug pricing through transparency of specific cost and price information from pharmaceutical manufacturers and health insurers.

This year, we reviewed the approval of Aduhelm for treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, patient assistance programs, and co-pay accumulators. I appreciate the opportunity to learn from the panel presenters and public testimony.  You can learn more about this program here and report drug price increases here. 

Birth Justice for Incarcerated People:

Earlier this week I also joined PSU students on zoom to hear their capstone presentations:  "Current Issues in Pregnancy and Birth: Prenatal through Postpartum Support During Incarceration” in partnership with the Family Preservation Project.
 
Students presented on exploring, and improving, HB 3266, my bill from the 2021 session, and another group presented information on the Minnesota Healthy Start Act's with recommendations for doing the same in Oregon.

HB 3266, if passed, would have instructed the Department of Corrections to provide trauma-informed, wraparound pre- and postpartum services to mothers incarcerated at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility.

The Minnesota Department of Corrections’ Healthy Start Act goes beyond HB 3266 to protect infants and mothers. Minnesota is the first state in the nation to pass legislation that places women who are pregnant or immediately postpartum into a community based residential facility and provides them with treatment, education and support for the duration of their pregnancy and up to one year post-birth to allow for the child to be near their mother for the first year of their lives. This is something other countries have been doing for a long time and Oregon should join them in prioritizing children over incarceration. 

I am committed to supporting the vision of organizations engaged in reproductive and birth justice for what they want birth support to look like in Oregon– especially for communities who identify as Black and Indigenous. 

It is past time for the mamas, aunties, elders, doulas, nurses, midwives, and other healthcare providers who support this work to be heard and pass an Oregon version of Momnibus Act.

COVID-19 Updates:


 
COVID-19 treatment authorization expanded to include infants 

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved monoclonal antibody treatment for eligible patients who have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and are at high risk of severe disease and hospitalization. “Children under one year of age who are exposed to the virus that causes COVID-19 may be at particularly high risk for severe COVID-19 and this authorization addresses the medical needs of this vulnerable population,” said Patrizia Cavazzoni, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center  for Drug Evaluation and Research.

Cavazzoni noted treatment is not a substitute for vaccination, which is our best tool to fight against the virus. COVID-19 vaccines are authorized for everyone age 5 and older.

Read more about this authorization here. 

Pop Up COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics
 

Are you finding it hard to get a COVID-19 vaccine?

Whether it’s your first dose, second dose, third dose or booster dose, be sure to check out the high-volume vaccination sites now operating throughout Oregon.

These walk-in and drive-through sites offer all three COVID-19 vaccines at no cost and are open to everyone.

There are four sites in Washington and Clackamas County:

 
Washington County:

Pacific University
Dec. 11 through Dec. 14, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Tektronix, Beaverton
Every Monday through Saturday, 12 to 7 p.m.
Sundays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.


Clackamas County:

Orchid Health Wade Creek Clinic
Nov. 29 through Dec. 3, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Abundant Life Church
Dec. 12 through Dec. 14, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Late start on Dec. 12, 1 to 5 p.m.

You can view a full list of sites on OHA’s website here.