Friends,
I’m sorry to share today that we’ve had our first COVID-related death in House District 60, an older gentleman from Malheur County who died from an unrelated issue and was later found to have had COVID. My thoughts and prayers are with his friends and family as they process this loss.
Hopefully all businesses in HD 60 have seen an uptick in business as we have entered into Phase 2. Hopefully, church services were back last weekend. We continue to advocate for the new measures in Phase 2, which would allow for larger gathering sizes and hopefully allow us to plan for rodeos, fairs, and other outside activities this summer and fall. If you have ideas or suggestions that should be incorporated into our discussions, please share them with me.
Yesterday, the Governor and the Oregon Department of Education rolled out their
guidance
and recommendations for school reopening. We are still digesting all the information. We are thankful the school districts will be enabled to design their own reopening plans, this is a win for us as we advocated for flexibility for school districts and not a one-size-fits-all approach. I will continue to advocate for a normal school year, as our children cannot be left behind.
We are still awaiting an official call for a Special Session, but the dates are still unknown. I have personally spoken with the Speaker of the House (Tina Kotek) and Republican Leadership to discuss several issues in our district that might be able to be solved in the Special Session if they were included. These issues include a policy tweak for the Eastern Oregon Border Board, foreign exchange students, PACE insurance for school districts, local option marijuana taxes, a state-run meat processing plant inspection program, and other topics. I will continue to work on these issues, although some will likely not have any traction during the Special Session and will have to wait until next year.
House District 60 Coronavirus Update
House District 60’s current stats are as follows:
