Governor Kate Brown is relying on the Western States Scientific Review Workgroup to support her agenda for Health Smart Cards. The workgroup, made up of nationally-acclaimed scientists with expertise in immunization and public health, has concurrently and independently reviewed the FDA’s actions related to COVID-19 vaccines. What isn’t apparent is that the workgroup, even though stacked with qualified people, simply does what any analyst could do -- read the reports sent to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by pharmaceuticals. There is no investigation by the workgroup. Ironically, the workgroup was convened in 2020 by several governors of western states because they did not trust the Trump administration to provide adequate scientific oversight of the vaccine approval process.

In the wake of Governor Brown announcing boosters are now approved by the workgroup for 16- and 17-year-olds, the FDA and Pfizer are being exposed for not being transparent. Her decision follows the FDA requesting courts to hide Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine data for 55 years that reports 1,223 death and 158,000 adverse reactions including fetal deaths and spontaneous abortions during a 90-day trial study of the vaccine.

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As a result of vaccine mandates, Governor Brown still has serious problems at Oregon State Hospital having posted 12,382 vacancies. Taxpayers are supporting boosted pay by an extra $18 per hour not counting overtime to retain workers. She approved continued Oregon National Guard deployments of approximately 1,000 crisis response and other medical personnel for understaffed hospitals and the Oregon State Hospital through the end of December. Contract extension was also approved for Jogan Health Solutions staffing through mid-January 2022, covering pediatric and adult behavioral healthcare residential treatment programs, emergency staffing for hospitals with acute COVID-related needs, emergency medical services, long-term care facilities, vaccine hubs, homes for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and other programs.

Oregon has spent more than $90 million to provide emergency staffing needs across the state. Some say that the solution is simple. Some say it could all be resolved if Governor Brown would terminate the vaccine mandate and adhere to three federal court rulings striking down vaccine mandates by the Biden administration.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2021-12-10 13:46:00

Last Update: 2021-12-10 14:08:27

After repeated failures by Oregon’s housing department to timely implement a rental assistance program, Senate Republicans are pushing for a bipartisan agreement to fix the problem and protect landlords and renters.

“When we first started, we were miles apart,” said Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp (R-Bend). “We were not willing to entertain coming in to pass legislation that we believed would do long-term damage to the rental housing market. Senate Republicans have voted numerous times to extend rental protections over the last 2 years. We weren’t interested in doing it again unless we had a bipartisan deal that would fix the problem at the housing department and ensure housing providers would be made whole.”

As part of the agreement, $5 million will be directed to the Oregon Housing and Community Services to speed up the processing of assistance applications. $10 million will be placed into the Landlord Guarantee Fund, which will ensure housing providers are made whole if a renter who applied for assistance is not eligible. The Emergency Rental Assistance Program will be replenished with $100 million to ensure those who have already applied will get assistance. The assistance application portal may reopen to spend any additional money left over. Another $100 million will go to local agencies for eviction prevention programs.

The safe harbor provisions passed in SB 278 will be available to renters who apply for assistance by June 30, 2022. Those protections will last until the application is processed, or September 30, 2022, whichever is sooner. Then the program will come to an end.

At the request of Senate Republicans, Monday’s session will also include important emergency legislation to support public safety and clamp down on illegal marijuana operations in Southern Oregon; a $99.725 million drought package to help farmers and ranchers recover from this summer's heatwave; money to support incoming Afgan refugees, and affordable housing investment in targeted areas.

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“Special sessions are for emergencies,” Senator Knopp continued. “These additional bills will address urgent problems facing Oregonians. The illegal marijuana situation in Southern Oregon is absolutely an emergency. The drug cartels are committing murder, stealing water, assaulting Oregonians, and engaging in human trafficking. Law enforcement needs our support to stop these dangerous operations.

“Oregon’s farmers and ranchers were hit hard by the heatwave this summer. The resources included in the drought package are going to do a lot of good. Our economy relies on a robust agricultural sector. We need to come together for them.

Representative Christine Drazan (R-Canby) called for new leadership at the Oregon Housing and Community Services Department, citing the agency’s repeated failures to implement Oregon’s emergency rental assistance program.

Representative Drazan urged Governor Brown to dismiss the current director and to respond to calls from housing providers to take concrete steps to address the agency’s systemic problems in advance of next week’s Special Session of the Oregon Legislature.

“The rollout and implementation of this much needed program has been grossly inadequate for struggling renters and landlords alike, who were promised relief but instead have been expected to wait patiently while the bills pile up,” said Representative Drazan. “Even today, thousands of promised checks have yet to be delivered. Oregonians should not have to keep waiting while this agency continues to underperform and put stable housing at risk. It is time for Governor Brown to take responsibility for this failure and appoint new leadership within the agency instead of simply throwing millions more taxpayer dollars at the program and expecting different results.”

“Oregonians need a functioning agency,” she continued. “I urge Governor Brown to take decisive action to fix this broken program and remove Director Salazar immediately.”


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2021-12-10 12:54:42

Last Update: 2021-12-10 13:46:00

Editor's note: The following is an anonymous letter from a Newberg School District parent.

Recently, I made the tough decision to take the last of my 4 children out of the public school system. I have always been a strong believer that we are our best advocates for our kids, and so we have looked for what worked best to help each child excel and reach their full potential.

I’m not sure what happened over the last few years, but the climate has completely changed in the public schools in Newberg, and I’ve had enough. The focus has shifted from academics to Pride Flags and BLM support. I personally have always and still do love and support the gay community as well as all people, no matter the color of their skin, religion, etc. I believe access to public education should be welcoming to all of the public. My kids are not pawns, and neither are your kids, your grandkids, nor our future leaders who are simply little kids right now.

When the middle school art class was asked to paint projects that are rainbow pieces to put throughout the school, the steps are painted in rainbows, the lights in the halls are rainbow colors, and the principals are wearing rainbow lanyards or pins, it makes any parent wonder what the focus is at the schools. When I know girls aren’t using the bathrooms at school because they are now genderless bathrooms, I worry about safety and access. When my middle school child was asked how she identifies gender wise by a teacher and asked to list her pronouns, she was confused.

When my high school child's class was asked who was vaccinated and who was not, I saw division created and medical privacy violated. When I read that the American Flag was too controversial and was removed from a classroom, I saw blatant infraction of the law. When my son’s English class was assigned a short story to read involving a gay 5th grader daydreaming about the professionals he would have sex with, such as policemen and fire fighters as well as referencing clitorectomies, I was appalled. When I saw a teacher creating Tik Toks to show all the Pride things in her classroom, I knew this teacher cared more about her message than my kids' education. When I saw the things counselors and staff said on Facebook, I knew my kids could not safely go to their counselors for unbiased help with anything.

When I know that recall signature sheets and flyers are being passed in the schools during school hours, and the leadership, including the superintendent, allows more and more material into the schools that has nothing to do with academics, I know my kids are no longer in a place where learning is the focus. I continue to wholly support the gay community and BIPOC, but we aren’t even helping kids pass classes because the focus has been lost. Doesn’t it feel like the kids, regardless of identity or color, are being used as pawns to further the divide? This is about learning, and our schools are failing our kids and generations to come. We owe it to our children to do better and be better.


--A Newberg School District Parent

Post Date: 2021-12-09 10:12:45

Last Update: 2021-12-09 10:45:59

As the 2022 elections near in a year in which Republicans expect to do well nationally, the hope that statewide coattails will follow combined with the fog of redistricting has inspired several Republican members of the Oregon House to run for the Oregon Senate.

In Salem, two-term Republican Representative Raquel Moore-Green has announced her decision to run in Senate District 10 which includes South Salem, West Salem and the cities of Monmouth and Independence. She will run against Democratic Incumbent Deb Patterson who narrowly defeated Denyc Boles in 2020.

Freshman Representative Suzanne Weber is seeking to take over Senate District 16 which is being vacated by Democrat Senator Betsy Johnson who is set to run for Governor as an Independent. The district includes Tillamook, Clatsop and Columbia Counties.

Representative Daniel Bonham who represents The Dalles and much of the rural Columbia River Gorge will run for Senate District 26 which also includes Sandy and Hood River. He seeks to replace Chuck Thomsen who is retiring from a district that is very tight.

Also declared is Cedric Hayden who will run in Land and Linn Counties in Senate District 6, trying to replace Democrat Lee Beyer, who is retiring.

Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp (R-Bend) supports all four candidates, “Raquel, Suzanne, Daniel, and Cedric are proven leaders who have fought for a better Oregon. I welcome their decisions to step up and run for the Senate.

“Oregonians are desperate for new leadership. Voters are angry and anxious about the direction of the state. They want public safety, real solutions on homelessness, no heavy-handed government controlling their lives, and parents need to be part of education decisions in the classroom. Making progress on these issues starts electing more Republicans to the Senate.”

Knopp focused on Moore-Green's opponent in Salem. “Since getting elected, Senator Patterson has proven she is out of touch with her constituents. She voted with Portland liberals 99.99% of the time to advance the same tired policies that have made Oregon a more expensive place to live and raise a family.

“In just one year, she has voted to keep schools closed, against bolstered funding for law enforcement, and has sided with Governor Kate Brown’s extreme overreach. She has voted to continue the same policies that have made homelessness in Salem worse. She has even advocated taking school resource officers out of schools, which has led to fights in Salem-Keizer schools to increase by 42%.”


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2021-12-09 09:11:41

Last Update: 2021-12-09 10:12:45

State Representative and former McMinnville Police Chief Ron Noble (R-McMinnville) has announced that he is running for the Republican nomination for the newly carved out 6th Congressional district. He joins a crowded field for the seat which, of course as a new district, has no incumbent.

In a tweet which at the same time could be seen as both an expression of frustration of serving in the super-minority in Oregon's House, while at the same time, hoping to serve in what many experts see as a real possibility of a Republican majority in Congress, Noble said, "I am officially running for Congress in #OR06. I look forward to earning the trust of Oregonians to represent their interests and actually get results in Congress."

The crowded field includes Republicans Angela Plowhead, David Russ and returning 5th Congressional District nominee, Amy Ryan Courser. The 6th district contains much of what was in the 5th in the previous decade. As a moderate, Noble could watch a handful of conservative with less name recognition than he split the conservative vote and make his nomination possible.

As Chair of the House Special Committee On State Legislative Redistricting, State Representative Andrea Salinas (D-Lake Oswego) drew herself into the vacant district, then filed to run for the district. Many experts see this as a clear case of the kind of self-dealing that gives politics a bad name.

Prior to serving in the Oregon Legislature, Salinas was a lobbyist for the government employee union SEIU 503 and presumably will expect support from them.

Also announced on the Democratic side, is Loretta Smith (D-Portland) who served as a Multnomah County commissioner from 2011 to 2018. She ran unsuccessful campaigns for Portland City Council in 2018 and 2020.

Oregon's newly created 6th Congressional District is the counties of Yamhill, Polk and the western part of Marion County, as well as the southwestern portion of Clackamas County.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2021-12-08 14:12:18

Last Update: 2021-12-08 15:18:39

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