Update from the Oregon Legislature

The 2016 Oregon legislative session has been one heck of a roller coaster ride! Some major legislation has passed (ups), while simple proposals have died in committee (downs) - and some have veered off in unexpected directions. There have been emotional debates, raucous protests, and humorous moments. And like roller coasters, a lot of waiting around in line - as bills sit in committees waiting their turn to be voted on.

This week, a few bills we are tracking are still being worked on, but there has not been much change since last week.

• Advance Directives modernization – this legislation is moving through the process and was moved from one committee to another this week.
• Memory Care facility standards – AARP was involved with stakeholder conversations that led to the creation of a proposal to have a task force take a deep dive into licensing and regulation of Memory Care facilities in Oregon. This bill moved from one committee to another this week, and is expected to keep moving forward.
• Housing – there are two bills that moved forward from one committee to another this week. One is a Senate bill to allow local communities to use Inclusionary Zoning rules to provide more affordable housing. The other is a House bill that includes certain protections for tenants. There is still a lot of conversation about these proposals that AARP is part of.
• Senior and Disability Transit – a bill to help rural communities pay for improved transit services has died in committee.
• Non-discrimination of family caregivers in employment – This bill died in committee this week. It would have prevented discrimination against employees or job applicants simply on the basis of caregiving responsibilities outside the workplace.
• Elder abuse – a bill to allow counties to establish “Elder Abuse Fatality Review Teams” died in committee, but is expected to be revived for the 2017 session.
• Budget – We are continuing to advocate for restoration of the Gatekeeper program, funding for a position of Elder Abuse Resource Prosecutor, and to prevent any cuts in long term supports and services. While no decisions have been made yet on any of these issues, a modestly positive revenue forecast that came out this week is encouraging that we can accomplish our objectives. - See more at: https://states.aarp.org/update-from-the-oregon-state-capitol/#sthash.F51wS9xI.dpuf

• Advance Directives modernization (SB 1552-A) https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2016R1/Measures/Overview/SB1552  – this legislation is still sitting in a committee in the Senate, and needs to move soon if it is going to pass this session.
• Memory Care facility standards (HB 4083-A) https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2016R1/Measures/Overview/HB4083 – AARP was involved with stakeholder conversations that led to the creation of a proposal to have a task force take a deep dive into licensing and regulation of Memory Care facilities in Oregon. This bill moved from one committee to another last week, but it sat there all week. There isn't any expected controversy on this bill, but stranger things have happened.
• Housing – there are four housing-related bills in the state legislature that are being treated as a "package". AARP Oregon is active on two of them. One of those, the tenant protection bill (HB 4143-A) https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2016R1/Measures/Overview/HB4143 passed out of the House Rules Committee with a bipartisan vote in support. It moves to the House floor, but that vote hasn't been scheduled yet. The other bill, to allow local communities to use Inclusionary Zoning to create more affordable housing (SB 1533A)   https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2016R1/Measures/Overview/SB1533 is still being negotiated in a Senate committee.
• Budget - We are still hopeful that the positive revenue forecast will mean that both of our budget priorities will be included in the budget re-balance. We are continuing to advocate for restoration of the Gatekeeper program[http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/SENIORS-DISABILITIES/SUA/Pages/Gatekeeper-Program.aspx], funding for a position of Elder Abuse Resource Prosecutor, and to prevent any cuts in long term supports and services. We have received assurance that there will be no cuts to services, so that's one thing that is a positive to report.

This week, a report was released on the sustainability of the Department of Human Services budget. We collaborated with several other organizations representing seniors and people with disabilities to critique this report, as we noted numerous flaws in its methodology and findings. We expect this report to simply be the beginning of a conversation AARP will be at the center of that will continue throughout the year on how to maintain quality and efficient long term supports and services for those who need them the most.

Also, we were glad to see dozens of people from the Alzheimer's Association [https://www.facebook.com/AlzheimersOregon/] at the Capitol. They were meeting with legislators speaking about the Gatekeeper program and the Elder Abuse Resource Prosecutor and provided a blast of color and energy to the halls of government. We thank them for being there!

This coming week, we believe decisions will be made on all the outstanding issues we are working on. However, there are no guarantees of that, and we may still be working on issues into March. We will continue to work hard for you as long as it takes to get it done.

 

Editor’s Note – We are giving you weekly roundups of our work for you at the Legislature.