Teacher of the Year and Other News from Rep. Tina Kotek

 Lots of information here:

 

In This Issue  Oregon Teacher of the Year Town Hall Recap   CRC Bi-State Advisory Committee   Portland Financial Planning Day  Cully Main Street & Local Street Plans Project Event  Alzheimer's Disease Telephone Town Hall November Legislative Days Quick Links       Contact Me My YouTube Channel About Us Dear Friends and Neighbors, I hope you are enjoying the beautiful fall weather.  While the Capitol is largely quiet during the interim, legislative committee days held every other month ensure that we continue important conversations and stay on top of the people's business (see below for more on this).  In addition to sharing some great news about Roosevelt High School and recapping my recent town hall, there are several events that I thought would interest you.  Please read on!    Roosevelt Teacher Named Oregon Teacher of the Year    Photo courtesy of Brian Christopher Last Thursday, I had the honor of attending the ceremony naming Roosevelt High School's very own Spanish Language teacher Elena Garcia-Velasco as the Oregon Teacher of the Year.  The announcement was a surprise to the students and guests assembled in the auditorium, not to mention Ms. Garcia-Velasco herself.  She captured the moment perfectly by saying to the students, "If I'm the teacher of the year, you are the students of the year." Roosevelt is definitely on the rise.  PPS Superintendent Carole Smith was on hand at the award ceremony to congratulate students for their improved math and English grades.  Roosevelt was also praised by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan before hundreds of business leaders at the Oregon Business Association dinner last week.  Go Riders!!! For the latest about Roosevelt, click here. As Teacher of the Year, Ms. Garcia-Velasco received a $5,000 check and instructional software for her classroom.  She will travel to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Obama at the White House.  To view the Oregonian's story about Elena, please visit this website.   Town Hall Recap Thank you to everyone who attended my town hall last month.  We had a great crowd.  The event was an opportunity to catch up, recap the 2011 Session, and talk more in depth about issues through roundtable discussions with experts.  The table topics included: health insurance rate review, hosted by Sen. Chip Shields; how foreclosure affects our communities, led by Rep. Lew Frederick; problem bars and taverns, led by the City of Portland; children and toxic chemicals, hosted by the Oregon Environmental Council; and foreclosure protections, led by Economic Fairness Oregon.  The immediate feedback was that people liked the roundtable discussions because it allowed for more discussion and meeting new people.  It was great to hear the feedback from you all on these issues.  Knowing what you think equips me to better represent you. CRC Bi-State Citizen Advisory Committee The Columbia River Crossing (CRC) project is seeking participation from Oregon and Washington residents in forming a Bi-State Citizen Advisory Committee to gain feedback from diverse perspectives.  The committee will be composed of approximately 30 members with 12-15 members from each state.  This is a great opportunity to be a part of the decision making process and to advise CRC staff, represent stakeholder organizations, and report back to constituencies.  An opportunity for public comment will be provided for each meeting.  To apply to be on the committee, please click here.  For more information about the committee, please visit the CRC Bi-State Citizen Advisory Committee website.       Portland Financial Planning Day This Saturday, the City of Portland, CASH Oregon, and the Financial Planning Association of Portland invite the public to attend Portland Financial Planning Day where you'll be able to meet one-on-one with dozens of professional financial planner to discuss your personal finance questions, concerns and interests.  Information and advice is available on a wide range of topics including general financial planning, income tax planning, estate planning; investment planning, insurance planning, retirement planning, and employee benefits.  In addition to personalized advice, Portland Financial Planning Day will also feature a series of classroom-style 50-minute educational workshops.  What:    Portland Financial Planning Day When:    Saturday, October 22, 2011 10:00 am to 4:00 pm Where:   Portland Building              1120 SW 5th Avenue, 2nd floor (map) Cost:      FREE To learn more about the event offerings and to register to the event, please visit this website.    Cully Main Street and Local Street Plans Project Event Come join community members and project staff and share your ideas to improve the Cully Boulevard business district and local streets.  Free refreshments, child care provided, raffle entry and Spanish interpretation provided.   What:     Cully Main Street and Local Street Plans Project                Open  House When:    Thursday, October 27, 2011                5:00 pm to 8:00 pm Where:  Rigler School                5401 NE Prescott Street (map) For more information, please contact the Bureau of Planning & Sustainability at 503-823-6946, the Portland Bureau of Transportation at 503-823-1088 or visit www.portlandonline.com/bps/cullymainstreet. State Plan for Alzheimer's Telephone Town Hall The State Plan for Alzheimer's Disease in Oregon (SPADO) Task Force is seeking input to help craft a plan to address the escalating public health crisis caused by the growing number of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. The SPADO Task Force involves numerous community partners who are concerned about the impact of Alzheimer's disease on our communities. SPADO Task Force members include state legislators, non-profit organizations, state government agencies, scientific and academic researchers, memory care providers, individual caregivers and others. What:     SPADO Telephone Town Hall When:    Thursday, November 10, 2011                1:00 pm to 2:30 pm Where:  Your phone!  Please RSVP here to participate or call                Jon Bartholomew at 503-416-0202 Upcoming November Legislative Days The "interim" for legislators is when we are not in session in Salem every day (we won't be "in session" again until next year).  During the interim, legislative committees convene every other month to continue work and conversations about issues carried over from the previous sessions and sometimes to start conversations about important issues as they arise.  Legislative days are predetermined and do not include floor sessions to vote on bills.  The Legislature will convene for full session in February, 2012.  Committee agendas are posted online in advance of the meetings.  You can sign up to receive committee agendas and updates here by selecting the committee you are interested in and in the bottom left-hand corner of the committee page, click on the eSubscribe button and enter your email address. The next committee days are scheduled for November 16, 17, and 18.  If you can't make it to Salem, committee meetings can be viewed online.  Go to this website (the video is live-streaming) and select the committee room you wish to view.  If you need additional information on committees, please don't hesitate to email my office. As always, it's a pleasure to represent you.  I hope to hear from you soon. Best wishes,

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Town Hall with Tina Kotek and others

This is the same day as the neighborhood cleanup - but you can go to this and help out before or after!

Dear Friends and Neighbors, As quickly as things are moving in Salem, our work is always about what's happening in the district. We're bringing the Legislature to you next week... First, I hope that you will join me at an upcoming Town Hall! Representative Lew Frederick, Senator Chip Shields and I are hosting a mid-session conversation at the Cascade campus of Portland Community College on Saturday, April 23. You are invited to come hear about the work we're doing in Salem and share your ideas and opinions. Legislative Town Hall Who: Representatives Lew Frederick and Tina Kotek, Senator Chip Shields, and you! What: Mid-Session Town Hall When: Saturday, April 23, 10 AM- noon Where: Moriarty Hall Auditorium, PCC Cascade

Ways and Means Public Hearing In addition to the Town Hall, there is another local opportunity for you to have your say in the legislative process on Tuesday, April 19. The Ways and Means Committee is hitting the road, traveling around the state to hold meetings about the budget and hear directly from members of the community. I hope that you will join us in Portland to share your thoughts on how to best address the $3.5 billion budgetary shortfall that Oregon faces this biennium. Many of the cuts proposed might affect you--and we need to hear from you. Please note, the usual protocol is to allow 2 or 3 minute-long testimony, so come prepared to be brief. Ways and Means: Portland Hearing Who: The Joint Committee on Ways and Means What: Community meeting with legislators about the state budget When: Tuesday, April 19, 5PM-7PM Where: Portland Community College- Sylvania, 12000 SW 49th Avenue Portland, OR 97219

I hope to see you at one or both of these events! Best wishes,

Do You Own a Small Business?

Then read this letter form Tina Kotek, our Stet Rep.

This legislative session has been a swirl of activity. Between testifying on bills, spending long hours studying the budget with colleagues and sitting in Ways and Means committee hearings, I am looking forward to spending time in North Portland for our in-district day this Friday, March 25th.

Small Businesses

Senator Chip Shields' office has taken the lead on hosting a reception for N/NE Portland's small businesses from 3-5pm this Friday that Rep. Lew Frederick and I will be attending. We will be there to hear concerns and share our legislative efforts in helping small businesses in the district. Light hors d'oeuvres will be provided, self-pay bar. All are welcome.

I hope to see you this Friday, March 25th at the Leisure Public House - 8002 N. Lombard Ave- from 3 to 5pm!

Patient Safety & Payment Reform

Three of my health care bills had hearings yesterday in the House Committee on Health Care. I am interested to hear what you think about these ideas.

Patient Safety- HB 2271 requires that hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers use evidence-based surgical checklist and prohibits hospitals from charging for "never events." "Never events" are preventable events that are so egregious that they should never happen, but if they do, no patient or a patient's insurance plan should have to pay for them. You can browse through a list of "never events" here.

Primary Care- HB 3246 requires health insurance companies to submit a five-year plan to the Oregon Health Authority that outlines how they will increase pay to primary care providers while decreasing payments to specialists. This is one way to make real investments in primary care, while ensuring that the we are not just continuing to pay for a lopsided health care system.

Payment Reform- HB 3559 requires a standardized way of figuring out how much inpatient and outpatient care costs. The bill would make hospital costs more transparent, an important step in controlling health care costs. The idea for this bill came from the Health Incentives and Outcomes Committee of the Oregon Health Policy Board, a stakeholders group that did extensive work over the interim.

The committee heard testimony for and against each of these bills, and now my office will try to get work sessions scheduled so we can continue to move them through the process. If you have any experiences you want to share related to the issues addressed by these bills, please let my office know!

In the News

Thanks to those of you who are following me on Facebook! I am working on more issues than I have detailed in this newsletter and often just have time to share what the media is saying about them on my Facebook page.

Here are two stories I wouldn't want you to miss:

* The Statesman-Journal shared how HB 2800, the Farm to School bill I am working on with Rep. Brian Clem (Salem) brings together kids, healthy foods and local farmers.

* OPB covered SB 778, my bill to combat predatory refund anticipation loans and checks, highlighting a North Portland resident who wants the sale of these products to stop.

As the session moves forward, I look forward to hearing your comments on these and other priorities - so please keep in touch!

More from Tina Kotek Rep. HD 44

Special Session Wrap-Up

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In This Issue Town Hall this Saturday Highlights of the Session Other News from Salem Quick Links Contact Me My YouTube Channel About Us Dear Friends, The February Special Session of the Oregon Legislature wrapped up its business last Thursday, passing 120 bills in an intense 25-day session. Our focus was on jobs, the economy, and helping struggling Oregonians. We balanced the budget and reined in the cost of the Business Energy Tax Credit. We held true to our commitment to K-12 schools to provide the dollars necessary to ensure a full school year in the coming year. And we passed bills to protect job applicants and consumers in these difficult times. I hope you will join me at my town hall this coming Saturday, March 6th, to hear more about the session and to add your ideas to our preparation for the 2011 session. Please see the details below. Legislative Town Hall this Saturday, March 6th with Rep. Tina Kotek, Rep. Lew Frederick, and Sen. Chip Shields 10:00 a.m. to Noon Portland Community College-Cascade Campus Terrell Hall, Room 122 Please join your North/NE Portland legislators for a report on the February Special Session and a discussion about community issues as they prepare for the 2011 Regular Session. Highlights of the Session These are tough times for lots of folks. My priority during the session was to pass good bills to help people and our state recover from the economic recession. We did that, despite limited resources, and my hope is that our efforts will keep the recovery moving forward. Here is a summary of some of those actions: Extended Unemployment Benefits - Unemployment benefits are extended until mid-April for 19,000 unemployed Oregonians, helping them make ends meet while they search for employment (HB 3655). Balanced the Budget and Filled Some Gaps - Even with the tax measures passing, we came into the session approximately $190 million short because of another drop in state revenue. We tightened our belt to balance the budget, but we also restored child care assistance for working families (theEmployment Related Day Care Program which would have been cut July 1st) and made sure Opportunity Grants promised to college students would be available through the end of this school year. Provided More Resources for Small Businesses - Knowing that small business growth and hiring will drive the economic recovery, we passed legislation to provide new loans and grants to small businesses who create new jobs and hire Oregonians (BOOST, HB 3698) and increased access to loans from the Oregon Business Development Fund for capital investments (SB 1017). Protected Job Applicants and Consumers - I was the chief co-sponsor of the Job Applicant Fairness Act, which restricts employers' use of pre-employment credit history checks, thereby removing an obstacle to employment for many Oregonians hard hit by the recession (SB 1045). We also passed bills to protect consumers from unlawful trade practices by banks and other financial institutions (HB 3706) and tightened up requirements for lenders to explain to struggling homeowners why they were ineligible for loan modifications (HB 3610). Other News from the Session In addition to my work on the Job Applicant Fairness Act (see above), I was pleased to pass a bill that makes a one-time investment of $150,000 to implement a demonstration project to create a cost-effective, evidenced-based vision screening program that can, eventually, be duplicated statewide (HB 3626). When one in five children have undiagnosed vision problems that are keeping them from succeeding in school, it is essential to explore ways to provide vision screenings on a regular basis to Oregon school children. I was also excited to work on and pass an expansion of Oregon Health Plan coverage to young adults aging out of the state's foster care system (HB 3664). This was a follow-up bill to legislation I introduced in 2009 to make sure former foster care youth continue to have access to essential health care until they turn 21. Senator Jackie Dingfelder's bill to reduce exposure to radon in residential buildings and public buildings will be important to North/NE Portland residents because of the prevalence of radon in our end of town (SB 1025). The Senator and I also teamed up to re-introduce a bill to provide the Oregon Liquor Control Commission with another tool to work with problem bars and taverns (SB 1026). The bill had a hearing, but didn't advance, so we will be strategizing on new approaches on this issue for the 2011 session. Finally, at nearly the close of the session, we referred a measure to the voters who will decide whether the Constitution should be amended to allow the Legislature to meet every year in time-limited sessions. The measure calls for 160-day sessions in odd-numbered years and 35-day sessions in even-numbered years. I believe this change would provide more efficiency and regularity to allow the Legislature to meet the complex needs of our state. It's an honor to serve you in the Legislature. Please contact my legislative assistant Alex Berke at our district office, by phone, 503-286-0558, or email, if we can be of any assistance to you and your family. Best wishes,

Community Safety Open House and Town Hall

Please join Sen. Chip Shields, City Commissioner Dan Saltzman, County Commissioner Jeff Cogen and Rep. Lew Frederick

For a Community Safety Open House and Town Hall

Learn where to turn for help. Learn how to help others.

Thursday, November 19, 6-8 pm

Jefferson High School Cafeteria

5210 N. Kerby

Oregon's property crime rate is the lowest it's been since 1966. The violent crime rate is plummeting too. Portland was just rated the third safest city in America. But all this good news doesn't matter if crime is happening on your block or in your neighborhood.

For over 14 years, Sen. Chip Shields has been working to make our community safer. He founded Better People, a N/NE Portland nonprofit employment and counseling program for former offenders that reduces recidivism -- the rate at which offenders return to crime. He and his spouse Shelda Holmes were foster parents. He has co-chaired the Public Safety Subcommittee of Way & Means in the Oregon legislature since 2007 where he successfully defended Multnomah County gang enforcement and services funding and expanded help to domestic violence survivors. He has served on the Mayor's Gang Taskforce.

At any given moment, dozens of community organizations and government agencies are working to address and prevent crime in our neighborhoods. From organizations working to make foster homes true homes of healing, to after school programs keeping kids out of trouble to gang outreach workers making a difference on the street - it's important to know what resources are available to help you and to help prevent crime on your block.

For one evening, you're invited to learn how to prevent crime in your neighborhood:

The Community Safety Open House

We are bringing community safety partners together in one room to share what they are contributing to community safety and to answer your questions on where to turn for help. Light refreshments will be provided.

When: November 19th, 2009 from 6 to 8

Where: Jefferson High School Cafeteria, 5210 N Kerby Avenue

Hosted by: State Sen. Chip Shields
City Commissioner Dan Saltzman, Commissioner of the Portland Police Bureau
County Commissioner Jeff Cogen, District 2 - N/NE Portland
and State Representative Lew Frederick - N/NE Portland


Participating organizations:
Emmanuel Community Services (ECS)
Brothers and Sisters Keepers Inc. (BSK)
Center for Family and Adolescent Research
Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO)
LifeWorks NW
Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA)
Northwest Family Services
Oregon Youth Authority
Portland Police Activities League (PAL)
Portland Police Bureau - GREAT Program
Portland Police Bureau - North Precinct Neighborhood Response Team
Portland Police Bureau School Resource Office Program
Multnomah County Department of Community Justice -- Adult and Juvenile Divisions
Resolutions Northwest

FYI Chip shields is our new state Senator and Lew Frederick is the new state Rep for HD43