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Greetings!
Welcome back to another issue of my House Calls newsletter. I have been hard at work in the Oregon Senate pushing several important bills through the legislative process. At this late date in session, many bills that have already passed through the House chamber are now in the Senate, and this newsletter will focus on them. First and foremost, I am excited to announce the passing of two important health care reform bills that will revolutionize Oregon's healthcare system. Other important bill updates include House Bill 2001, a transportation stimulus bill and House Bill 2726, which will require nutritional information to be displayed on restaurant menus. Finally, I have added a piece about sine die and what that means in our legislative process. | |
House Bills 2009 and 2116:
Creation of Premier Health Care System
Oregon legislators approved two historic health care bills, which expand coverage to nearly every child in Oregon, plus another 60,000 adults. House Bill 2009 streamlines the administration and regulation of Oregon's health care services; HB 2116 finances the expansion of health care coverage and creates an estimated 3,600 new jobs. Upon implementation, Oregon will enjoy the highest rate of coverage for children in the country, at approximately 95%. Working in tandem, these two bills improve the quality of Oregon's health care system and reduce health care costs for all Oregonians. Oregonians will be proud to host a world-class health care system.
As a family physician in my non-Senate life, lowering health care costs and improving the quality of health care for all Oregonians has been a primary goal of my political career. Last session I worked with then Sen. Ben Westland (now State Treasurer Westlund) to co-author Senate Bill 329, The Healthy Oregon Act, which provided the foundation for what is now HB 2009. The Healthy Oregon Act created the Oregon Health Fund Board and tasked them with making recommendations for health care reform to the 2009 Legislature. HB 2009 is the legislation that reflects the Health Fund Board's recommendations.
House Bill 2116 is a health care revenue bill. Senator Betsy Johnson, Representative Mitch Greenlick, Representative Mary Nolan and I worked with hospitals, managed care organizations and insurance providers to renegotiate the terms of the 2003 provider tax rate. This tax is used by Oregon and 19 other states to match with federal funds to expand and improve health care for low-income citizens. The state's largest hospitals and managed care organizations that serve Medicaid recipients will contribute, and the federal government matches $1.66 for every Oregon dollar to help pay for the program.
Analysts from across the state agree that all hospitals, on the aggregate, will see their contribution returned to them through the increased Medicaid reimbursement rates negotiated in the package, coupled with increases in patient revenue and reductions in uncompensated care. While only the 25 largest hospitals in Oregon pay this tax, rural and community hospitals will enjoy the same benefits.
Most importantly, all Oregonians will benefit from lowered health care costs as a result of these bills. Right now, 10-15% of health care insurance premiums pays for the cost of health care for those without insurance coverage. HB 2116 allows us to expand coverage to 130,000 Oregonians who are currently without coverage, which means less cost shifted from the insured to the uninsured. Furthermore, those newly insured Oregonians will now have access to primary and preventative care services. By accessing primary and preventative care, patients are more likely to be treated early, when treatment is cheaper, instead of in the emergency room when the ailment is advanced, where treatment is much more expensive.
I am proud that Oregon will once again be a leader in reforming our broken health care system, and I am grateful to all of those who worked so hard with me to get these historic bills through the legislative process. I look forward to building upon what we have established with HB 2009 and HB 2116 this session and continuing to improve upon our health care system for the health of all Oregonians. |
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HB2649 and
HB3605:
Revenue Package
Oregon's
revenue structure is flawed. Legislators, with the help of economists, are
required to make assumptions for two years out about how much the government
will collect in taxes. During a recession, tax revenues are reduced due to high
unemployment, which changes those assumptions. Meanwhile, while we are taking in
less money, the state spends more on safety-net programs. As it currently
stands, the state simply doesn't have the resources to keep our school year
intact, our courts open, and to take care of our most vulnerable seniors and
children.
As Oregon's families tighten their budgets in the
face of the worst fiscal crisis in 75 years, the Legislature has had to do the
same by cutting spending by almost $2 billion. To balance those program and
service cuts, we're also asking big corporations and the top 2.5 percent of
earners to pay more to maintain core services, like education, health care and
public safety. These were tough decisions, but our thinking was that middle
class families and small businesses have been hardest hit by this recession, and
we couldn't place additional financial burdens on them.
It might be helpful for you to know that there was no
disagreement from the state's business groups that Oregon needs to raise
taxes to avoid gutting essential services. The Oregon Business Association and
the Oregon Alliances of Business Associations/AOI both put forward their own
plans on how to raise corporate and personal taxes. The legislature's plan is
friendlier and raises the least amount of revenue of the three plans.
This revenue package is based on fairness. We will raise
the $10 corporate minimum tax, which hasn't changed since 1931, in a way that
protects small businesses. Businesses with Oregon sales of less than $500K (19,498 of
32,892 businesses) will pay $150. Corporations enjoying over $100M in Oregon sales will not pay
more than one-tenth of one percent (0.01%) of those sales as the corporate
minimum. Households earning more than $250,000 a year will pay $10.8% on the
income over $250,000, but the rate on income beneath that will not change.
Businesses and family households with net income under $250,000 will not be
affected by this plan, and this is 97.5 percent of
Oregonians.
I do have one reservation: These are unusual decisions
made in unusual times. I would prefer that these revenue packages were
temporary, sun setting in four years when the worst of this is expected to be
over. But the House of Representatives authors revenue packages and must concur,
or agree, to any amendments offered by the Senate. When many of us voiced an
interest in adding language reflecting a temporary nature to these increases, we
were informed by the House that it would not concur. But further negotiations
between the House and Senate did produce an agreement that after 2013, revenue
produced from these increases will be deposited into Oregon's Rainy Day Fund,
a savings account that protects critical public services during economic
downturns. Because this amendment addresses one of the long-term problems with
our state's fiscal structure, coupled with the fact that the entire state would
come to a standstill on June 30 without a sanctioned budget, I voted for these
revenue bills as currently written.
I was elected to represent the best interests of
Oregon, and
that means that I am sometimes required to make decisions less than popular with
my constituents. This revenue package is the right decision for our state and
its inhabitants.
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HB 2001: Transportation Stimulus
I am happy to announce the passing of House Bill 2001. This bill is estimated to create 23,000 jobs in Oregon during its first five years of implementation through projects to repair and modernize our aging roads, highways, bridges, and public transportation systems. These jobs will get Oregonians back to work while also addressing issues that have long plagued our state. HB 2001 is the most environmentally progressive transportation package in Oregon's history, containing several provisions that will help Oregon work toward statewide targets to reduce greenhouse gases. These include increased funding for transit, passenger rail improvements, and bike and pedestrian projects.
The projects specific to Jackson County residents include improvements to Highway 62 between the North Medford interchange and Vilas Road, and Interstate 5 at Fern Valley Road interchange. Over $1 million has been allocated for these two projects and both are scheduled for completion by 2013. |
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HB 2726: Nutritional Menu Labeling
The Senate recently voted to approve House Bill 2726, which will require major food chains in Oregon to provide nutritional information with their menus. As a physician, I am happy to see this legislation pass because it enables people to make informed choices about what they eat. Posting calories on menus will help fight the state's growing obesity epidemic and the related health problems of diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
News stories regarding this legislation have appeared in several newspapers. I have included links to those stories below:
Menu-labeling bill wins OK from Oregon lawmakers Forbes - New York
Law requires calorie counts on the menu
KVAL - Eugene, Oregon
Restaurants must post calories on menus
The Oregonian - Portland, Oregon
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Sine Die Adjournment
As promised a few issues ago, I wanted to provide an explanation of what sine die means as we are fast approaching it this session. The definition of sine die in the Merriam-Webster dictionary means, "without any future date being designated." In terms of our legislative process, sine die is the term used to designate the adjournment of the legislative session. This means that both the House and the Senate have voted on all bills introduced and that the biennium's budget has been balanced. Once this has been done the Senate and the House can properly close their proceedings and officially end the session.
In Oregon there are several traditions that are followed when it comes to sine die. The honor of officially closing the session with a concurrent resolution is alternated back and forth between the House and the Senate. Since the Senate adopted the resolution for the special session last year the House will close the session this year. Though the resolution will be carried by the House this session, legislators will meet in their respective chambers in case there is additional information that needs to be discussed. After both chambers have adopted the sine die resolution the double doors at the back of each chamber are opened so that the Senate President and the Speaker of the House can see each other and simultaneously bang their gavels, officially closing the session. It is somewhat of a tradition not to sine die until the wee hours of the morning, which requires staff to stay and sleep at the Capitol in order to be ready at any moment to adjourn the session, but in recent years, sine die has occurred at more reasonable hours.
*A special thanks goes to Judy Hall, Secretary of the Senate for her help in obtaining specific details on the traditions of sine die.*
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For Your Information
The Gratitude Campaign
Many people find themselves at a lost for words when trying to express their gratitude to the men and women of the armed services returning from war. I recently received a video demonstrating an appropriate way to show respect to these returning veterans and I wanted to share it with you. Thank you to all the men, women and their families that are sacrificing for their country. We are all greatly appreciative.
Visit The Gratitude Campaign website to watch the video and join me in saying "Thank You" to the men and women who serve our country.
For constituents who have lost their job or had a severe decrease in income and are required to pay child support the Department of Justice has created the Oregon Child Support Program to handle the processing of these claims. Please visit the Department of Justice's website for additional information. Scam Alert: Attorney General John Kroger is warning consumers about a Web site that is being used to rip off consumers who try to buy an iPhone from it. The Web site is: CHUL8804.com. It offered a new iPhone 3G 16GB for $465, and the ad requested payment with a Green Dot MoneyPak card. The scammer took the money, but never sent the phone.The Oregon Department of Justice is seeking to shut down the Web site. Consumers should be on alert if asked to pay for products in advance with Green Dot prepaid cards or wire transfer services, especially if they have not purchased from the vendor before. To join the Oregon Scam Alert and receive information regard other scams please sign up at the Department of Justice's website. |
Listening to Our Community
It is only with your input that I can continue to advocate for the needs of our communities. Please do not hesitate to contact my office with any questions, comments, or requests for assistance. As always, my staff and I are eager to help in
any way we can.
In Salem:
In Medford:
2859 State Street, Suite 101
Medford, OR 97504
Phone: (541) 282-6502
Fax: (541) 282-6520
E-mail: info@alanbates.net | |
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In health,
Dr. Alan Bates | |
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