Winter Message from our House Rep. Tina Kotek

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

I hope this newsletter finds you well and enjoying the holiday season. I am honored to have been re-elected to serve you for two more years. Thank you.

With the campaigns behind us, my colleagues and I are focused on preparing for next year's legislative session. As you may have learned by now, the election left the incoming Oregon House of Representatives tied with 30 Democrats and 30 Republicans. Oregon's Constitution does not provide rules for this situation, so a bipartisan negotiating team has been meeting to create a shared governance model that will allow us to get the business of the people completed in the four-month time frame we have set for ourselves.

The Legislature's job is to balance Oregon's budget - projected to have a $3.5 billion hole - while protecting Oregon's most vulnerable and the vital services we all depend on. This challenge will test us and the state. We must also create jobs and help the state's economic recovery. I look forward to working with my Republican colleagues to find solutions to our shared challenges.

Save the Date! Join Me for Coffee and Conversation on January 8th

Coffee and Conversation with Rep. Kotek
Saturday, January 8, 2011
9:30 a.m. to 11:30
Arbor Lodge New Seasons Market (Deli Seating Area)
6400 North Interstate Avenue

I hope you'll join me and your neighbors on Saturday, January 8th to talk about the upcoming legislative session and other important issues. We will meet in the deli seating area of the Arbor Lodge New Seasons Market from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The Legislature will convene the following Monday, so we'll have a timely conversation. So, please mark your calendars and join the conversation in the new year!

Preventing Foreclosure- Funds Available!

The Hardest Hit funds Oregon received from the federal government to help homeowners avoid foreclosure are now available. The Oregon Homeownership Stabilization Initiative starts its first program this Friday, December 10th. The Mortgage Payment Assistance program will help 5,000 unemployed or financially distressed homeowners in Oregon pay their mortgage for up to one year. You can fill out the application and learn more at the Oregon Homeowner Help website.

Bill Ideas in the Works

While the main focus of the legislative session will be passing budgets and protecting essential services, I am nonetheless working on a few pieces of legislation in response to constituent concerns. They include addressing public safety concerns at problem bars and taverns, protecting manufactured home community residents from unfair costs, and removing barriers for people with criminal histories from applying to work for the state. Here's an update on the first issue:

I have heard from many of you since I was first elected that we need to do more to curb problems that arise when local bars have repeat noise and violent offenses. Currently, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) can't do much to stop them unless the problem location meets a very high threshold of "serious and persistent" incidents. Over the past year, I have worked with Senator Jackie Dingfelder (NE Portland), the City of Portland, and others to revisit this issue once again. Our legislative package this year will seek to provide:

* Better upfront protections against problems, such as more efficient guidelines for who cannot get licensed by the OLCC so we can stop problems with poor ownership before they begin;
* Enhanced ability to confront licensees if there is a problem, such as giving cities the option to temporarily suspend operations at a licensed location for up to 72 hours if a particularly dangerous crime has occurred there; and
* Public safety expertise to the OLCC, by designating a spot on the five-person Commission for a law enforcement officer in order to bring a crucial public safety perspective just as there is a current designation for someone from the food and alcoholic beverage retail industry.

As always, I look forward to your feedback and assistance on this bill and others affecting our district.
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.

From Tina Kotek - our state representative

Representative Tina Kotek D-North/NE Portland District 44 Phone: 503-986-1444 900 Court St. NE, H-281, Salem Oregon 97301 District Office: 503-286-0558 Kenton Firehouse, 2nd Floor Email: rep.tinakotek@state.or.us Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/kotek E-Newsletter July 1, 2009 Dear Friends, The Oregon State Legislature adjourned Monday night, closing out a productive session during a challenging time for our state and the country. We finished a day ahead of schedule, and I'm proud of the work we did to maintain and create jobs, protect vital services, and move the state towards economic recovery. I look forward to spending more time at home and catching up with individuals and community groups in the district. There's always more work to do and problems to solve. I hope you will join me at my upcoming town hall to debrief about the session and discuss ways I can be helpful to our community in the months ahead. Wednesday, July 15, 7:00 p.m. Session Wrap-Up Town Hall Kenton Firehouse, 2209 N. Schofield Street I will also be attending the following neighborhood association meetings: St. Johns NA, Monday, July 13, 7:00 p.m., St. John's Community Center, 8427 N Central Street Arbor Lodge NA, Thursday, July 16, 6:30 p.m., Kenton Firehouse, 2209 N Schofield Street Overlook NA, Tuesday July 21, 7 p.m., Kaiser Town Hall, 3704 N Interstate Ave Session Highlights from My Office We passed hundreds of bills this session, ranging from a variety of minor technical things to some major policy initiatives. I personally worked hard on dozens of bills and spent a good deal of my time focused on the Department of Human Services budget as the co-chair of the human services budget subcommittee. As the Majority Whip for the House, I also played an integral role in managing how bills moved and how we worked in a bipartisan fashion on the House floor. Here are a few of the bills I considered priorities this session: Health Care Reform and Expanded Access to the Oregon Health Plan (HB 2116 and HB 2009): I served on the House Health Care Committee, where we did the bulk of the work to craft bills to increase access to health care by enrolling an additional 80,000 kids and 35,000 low-income adults in the Oregon Health Plan and create the Oregon Health Authority and implement cost-containment strategies to reform health care in Oregon. Nutrition Information for Consumers (HB 2726): I led the fight to require chain restaurants across the state to post calorie information on menus and menu boards and provide additional nutrition information to consumers to empower them with the information needed to make healthier choices. School Nurses (HB 2693): I sponsored a bill to implement task force recommendations to improve the availability of school nursing services across the state, including establishing timelines for the state to achieve the national nurse-to-student ratio (1 nurse for every 750 students) over the next decade. Neighborhood Livability (HB 3201): I co-sponsored a bill with Rep. Sal Esquivel from Medford that would have allowed the Oregon Liquor Control Commission to exercise greater enforcement authority over serious or persistent problems with licensed bars and taverns. The bill passed the House, but died in a Senate committee, so I hope to bring this bill back in the future. Foster Children and Psychotropic Drugs (HB 3114): I passed a bill that addresses the overmedication of children and youth in foster care by requiring a mental health assessment before the prescription of any new psychotropic medication and an annual review for children under 6 and youth who are taking more than one psychotropic drug. Metal Theft (SB 570): My bill dealing specifically with catalytic converter theft was addressed in the bipartisan comprehensive bill that strengthens protections against metal theft by clarifying the role of scrap metal dealers in reporting suspected stolen metal and keeping records of transactions, banning cash payments which incentivize metal theft with immediate reward, and increasing the tools that law enforcement has to combat the growing problem in our communities. Farm-to-School and School Gardens (HB 2800): I worked with co-sponsor Rep. Brian Clem from Salem to seek additional investments in farm-to-school and school garden programs in Oregon. Although our bill did not make it out of the budget committee, we were successful in making sure the statewide positions in the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Education were not eliminated so we can keep momentum on this important initiative. Facing the worst economy in generations, the Legislature was tasked with prioritizing essential services: health and human service programs, education, and public safety. My colleagues and I focused on passing smart policies that improve the quality of life in Oregon. We asked big corporations and households making over $250,000 a year to contribute their fair share in taxes, minimizing the burden for working families while protecting the small businesses that will be the engine of our economic recovery. And we combed the budget for ways to do more with less so we could make your tax dollar go further. I hope you are pleased with the work we accomplished in Salem. Thanks for reading and please let me know your thoughts. Best wishes,