Dear Friends,

I hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather during these last few weeks of the summer. Many of you, I’m sure, are looking forward to the fall, with the start of the school year and lots of community happenings. It was great to visit with folks at my town hall meeting in July and at neighborhood association meetings for St. Johns, Arbor Lodge and Overlook. I am planning visits to Cully, East Columbia and Hayden Island in the weeks ahead.

A couple of weeks ago Senator Margaret Carter announced that she will be resigning as the state senator for North and Northeast Portland to assume new responsibilities at the Department of Human Services. I applaud Senator Carter for her years of service and know that she will continue to be a champion for Oregon’s most vulnerable in her new job. The nominating process to fill the vacant Senate District 22 seat officially begins tomorrow. I will not be seeking the appointment because I believe I can best serve you by continuing to serve as a member of the House leadership and as co-chair of the human services budget subcommittee, working to protect public services just when Oregonians need them the most.

I look forward to using this time away from Salem to get up-to-date on issues that concern you and discuss ways I can be helpful to our community during these challenging times. Please don’t hesitate to keep in touch.

While the Oregon economy looks to be on the mend, the recovery will be slow. Many neighbors are faced with the continuing financial stress of unemployment and underemployment. Several people have called our office in search of help finding employment search tools, job training resources, and unemployment benefits information. Here are a few resources that may be useful to you: 

WorkSource Oregon

WorkSource Oregon is a statewide resource created to connect businesses and workers with the resources they need to succeed.  WorkSource helps Oregon's unemployed and underemployed get connected with the employers that are right for them, find the jobs they're looking for, and get trained for jobs they want. 

WorkSource Oregon 

Unemployment Benefits Extension

The Legislature passed a bill this year to extend unemployment benefits for 12 more weeks, starting October 1st, unless the federal government passes an extension first. The extended unemployment benefit is 50% of regular unemployment. We are waiting to see what happens at the national level. Extension information will be available soon at WorkSource Oregon sites throughout the Oregon.

On the Portland Community College job training resource website you can access the Capital Career Center, the Steps To Success program, the Building Futures program and much more. Retraining displaced workers is a large part of the PCC program.

^{Job Training Resources at PCC} 

During the legislative session I was proud to serve on the House Health Care Committee, where we did the bulk of the work to craft bills to increase access to health care by expanding insurance coverage to an additional 80,000 children and 35,000 low-income adults (HB 2116) and create the Oregon Health Authority and implement cost-containment strategies to reform health care in Oregon (HB 2009).

The State and its community partners are ramping up now to enroll the first wave of uninsured children under the Healthy Kids initiative. Right now, children in families with incomes up to 185% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) ($40,792.50 for a family of four) can get covered. Beginning in October, coverage will extend to children in families up to 200% FPL ($44,100 for a family of four). And, beginning in January 2010, children in families between 200% and 300% FPL ($44,100 to 66,150 for a family of four) will be able to enroll in coverage with premium assistance and children in families above 300% FPL will be able to buy into the program at full cost.

No matter where your family fits in, applications are available today! Early applications help enroll children faster. Applications and information can be found at the Healthy Kids website.

We must all work together if we are to ensure that every child in Oregon has access to quality health care. If your community group wants to help, please consider becoming a Certified Application Assistance Organization or apply for an Outreach and Enrollment grant. These are opportunities for organizations to receive support from Healthy Kids for enrolling children in health insurance. Learn more about these opportunities here (PDF): ^{Healthy Kids Oregon}

Over the past year, many of you have had the pleasure of working with my legislative assistant Tiffany Reitter. Today is her last day in the office because she is moving on to new adventures, including getting married and taking some deserved travel time. Tiffany has done an excellent job for the residents of House District 44. Please join me in thanking her for a job well done.

Now, when you contact my office, you will be helped by my new legislative assistant, Alex Berke. Alex comes to us from a recent stint working for Representative Michael Dembrow during this past session. Please give her a hearty welcome and introduce yourself when you get the chance.

Thanks for reading and please let me know your thoughts.

Best wishes,