In just a few moments, the supplemental session will conclude. It looks like we will beat our self-imposed one-month deadline by several days. I don't have strong feelings about the idea of annual sessions, but overall I think this experiment was a success.

We took small steps on mortgage lending. We offered aid to disaster victims in Columbia County. We will aid homeowners facing foreclosure, seniors being kicked out of long term care facilities. We also invested in a number of important infrastructure improvements.

Here are some of the key bills passed by Oregon House Democrats that you should know about:

For Seniors:

A $12.2 million budget allocation to improve access to adult foster home care, assisted living centers, relative care and in-home care such as Oregon Project Independence.

For Children:

HB 3631 requiring retailers to remove unsafe and recalled toys from their shelves.

A budget allocation for community health care delivery grants aimed at test projects to provide health care to children ($500,000) and additional staff to protect children in foster care ($7.3 million).

SB 1066 authorizing up to $350,000 from the State School Fund to be used to improve Talented and Gifted Education (TAG) programs.

For Homeowners:

HB 3630 making changes to foreclosure laws allowing for more complete notification to homeowners facing foreclosure, ending "rescue mortgage scams and placing restrictions on both foreclosure consultants and "equity purchasers."

SB 1064 placing restrictions on mortgage loan originators and requiring mortgage bankers and brokers to file an annual report concerning their activities.

HB 3603 placing limits on prepayment penalties and requiring full disclosure of yield spread premium fees (passed House, in Senate upon adjournment)

A $1 million budget allocation for low-income housing

For victims of disasters:

HB 3605 giving the Governor authority to disallow insurance companies from cancelling insurance policies following a natural disaster.

HB 3606 allowing the state to waive a one-week waiting period to provide unemployment benefits to people who lost their jobs due to natural disasters (also depends on federal waiver).

HB 3608 allowing for the state to participate in the Pacific Northwest Emergency Management Arrangement along with State of Washington, Idaho and Alaska, the province of British Columbia and the Yukon Government.

A budget allocation of $500,000 to help local governments with disaster loans to aid in the rebuilding of communities suffering natural disasters.

For Public Safety:

Following the approval of 110 State Trooper positions last session, the House approved a budget allocation of $485,000 and position authority to allow Oregon State Police to continue hiring troopers to get to 24-7 coverage on Oregon highways as quickly as possible.

SB 1087 increasing penalties for people convicted of various property and drug crimes, and authorizing increases in drug and alcohol treatment.

HB 3638 changing procedures for person in prison to be eligible for Alternative Incarceration Program; disallowing participation by people convicted of violent crimes and increasing participation by non-violent offenders.

For Agriculture:

SB 1067 allowing for water storage projects across Oregon under the Agriculture and Community Water Act to explore opportunities to store water from the Columbia River, Umatilla Basin and other parts of Oregon.

HB 3601 establishing a position in the Department of Education to work with schools, local farmers and the Oregon agriculture Department to establish the Oregon Farm-To-School Garden Program to aid in getting local produce into local schools for student meals. Unfortunately funding for this will have to come from the Emergency Board.

For living-wage job growth:

HB 3619 expands a highly popular program from last legislative session by increasing the amount of credit offered from $20 million to $40 million for those businesses involved in environmentally sound energy manufacturing.

For the Environment:

HB 3612 requiring state agencies to reduce energy usage by 20% by the year 2015.

For Improved Government Accountability:

SB 1099 establishing the Committee on Performance Excellence to make recommendations to the Legislature and the Governor on ways to improve state agency performance.

As always, I appreciate your comments that help guide my efforts and voting. Please keep them coming.

I hope to see you at my March 8th Town Hall on Education at the PCC-Cascade Student Center. It's 10:30 - noon at 715 N. Killingsworth.

Best,

Chip