Oregon Unitarian Universalist Voices for Justice is a statewide advocacy network that mobilizes Unitarian Universalists and their congregations to work for public policies in the state of Oregon that embody our UU principles of justice, equity, compassion in human relations and global stewardship. 
Panelist will include:
OR Senators Deb Patterson, Jeff Golden & Lew Fredrick; OR Representatives: Julie Fahey, Tswna Sanchez, Rob Nosse, Pam March DID YOU MISS THE FORUM?
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You will also need this password to access the recording: vM4m&rWC forum Summary
by Mathias Quackenbush Wyeast Unitarian Universalist congregation Below, you'll find some notes I took in response to a number of legislators presenting on what has been done recently and what they hope to accomplish in the coming legislative session. It was cool to be surrounded by caring people and learn about the many changes we can make to make our part of the world called Oregon a better place in the coming year! You can reach out directly to the offices of any one of these legislators if you are particularly excited to support any one of these priorities! Rep. Julie Fahey- Housing -OR law center has resources and forms to help tenants assert their rights to be protected from eviction under the statewide moratorium. -Tenant-based rent assistance has been made available through local organizations statewide. -Landlord-based rent assistance, which will enable landlords to be compensated by the state for all back rent owed to them, will be available in the next month by application. -Looking at a moratorium on foreclosures and mortgage assistance via a program called "Hardest Hit." -Project Turnkey has been an exciting development: the state has been purchasing hotels to convert to emergency shelter and eventually to permanent housing for families in need (!) -Wildfire: sheltering and rebuilding
To do: address racial disparities in accessibility of home-ownership, e.g. through down-payment assistance. Supporting a more accessible Individual Development Account (IDA) program. Option for tenants to cooperatively purchase mobile home parks. Rep. Tawna Sanchez -Supports for kids aging out of foster care
Commission to look at implicit biases in the child welfare system- e.g., is racism often coded as neglect? Parents often say: "if I had the same allowance to raise my kids as foster parents get, I wouldn't have lost them in the first place." Something's wrong with that! Supports for people in long-term care facilities during COVID
Redistricting, Policing, roads/highways (Education and Ways and Means Committees) -Supporting the newly-passed Portland Police Oversight Board. -Changing education at the state police academy. "Resetting our system." Wraparound services for early child education. Rep. Janelle Bynum "Rethinking the concept of "riot" and "unlawful assembly" and how that is used to wield violence against peaceful protestors. What policies would support de-escalation between police and protestors? Maintaining accessibility of insurance for businesses in designated "riot areas." Brady--> avenue to remove a cop Pressuring the city of Portland to incorporate more accountability into police union contract. Rep. Pam Marsh- Ashland Southern Oregon lost 2500 housing units in the wildfires, including 1800 manufactured homes. While economy is still rough for many poor Oregonians, the state budget projections are actually looking very positive as there has been an extremely unequal recovery- most of those who pay significant amount of taxes are doing fine. Sen Jeff Golden Clean energy: different approach from 2019 clean energy jobs bill, which sparked resistance as it attempted to focus on 3 sectors at once. Proposal is to start by focusing on the electrical generation sector- especially easy for Oregon to convert this sector to clean energy because of our heavy use of hydroelectric power. Utility companies are "largely on board." -Emphasized the importance of climate legislation that addresses economic impacts on the poor. Talks about transitioning to wind and solar as "a move towards economic equity," as in contrast to fossil fuels these are smaller-scale, locally-generation "distributed power." Rep Rob Nosse- Public health -More equal medicaid reimbursement for telehealth services vis-a-vis in-person services, as adaptation to realities of COVID -Capping increases in the cost of healthcare. -A state public option may be possible- Washington just achieved this! -Focus on behavioral health, especially housing for people with mental illness. -Passage of drug decriminalization and psilocybin therapy initiatives are exciting developments for public health policy! In solidarity, Mathias Quackenbush, MSW (He/him)
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Needed: New Board Members
Have a passion for social and environmental justice, human rights, and democracy? Have you thought of joining the Board of Oregon Voices for Justice? Well, we are looking for new board members. Contact Board Chair: Chris Vogel. (uuvoices4justiceoregonlegnet@gmail.com) |
2020 legislative action
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Oregon UU Voices for Justice has four campaign areas -- Deepening Democracy, Human Rights, Economic Inequality, and Environmental Justice. At our annual conference in October 2017, we identified specific action items within each of these campaigns and people who are taking the lead on each. We have maintained those four campaigns since then.
Some of these campaigns will stay in touch throughout the year and organize via Zoom to continue the work started during the Annual Conference. If you have an interest in these campaigns, please contact the lead. Deepening Democracy - Lead: David Delk
Economic Inequality - Lead: Josie Koehne
Environmental Justice - Lead: Claudia Keith
Human RIghts - Lead: Kathleen McKinney
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