"These paper boats of mine are meant to dance
on the ripples of hours,
and not to reach any destination."
-- Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)
As summer winds down, I want to give a quick update on the work of the Legislature and also let you know about a few upcoming events. I also want to encourage you to take my one-question questionnaire about the legislative session that concluded at the end of June.
For me, July and August have been months to re-connect with family and to savor late-evening light, wilderness hiking, and wider reading.
I was struck by the observation of columnist David Brooks that what gives a project meaning is our belief that it will shape the lives that will follow us: our children and our neighbor's children, and their children and grandchildren. I am a legislator because I believe that sometimes the work really matters. I believe our work this session on health care and the environment, for example, will impact generations (see below).
But the summer also reminded me that life's greatest miracles are not the product of lawmaking. Laws can't replicate the splendid rainforests of the Olympic Peninsula, the warm juice of an Oregon blueberry picked fresh from the vine, or the press of my daughter's head as she falls asleep against my chest.
The summer helped put my legislative work into perspective. And as it draws to a close, my focus shifts to the classroom, where I return to teaching in just a couple of weeks. Here, too, there are important projects. How will I help the new sixth-graders find their way into a tight-knit class? What is it really important for young people to know about South Asia?
With a great deal of help from my legislative aide, Christy Splitt, I will also work part-time during the interim to refine my legislative priorities and prepare for the 2010 and 2011 legislative sessions. Please contact us with suggestions, questions, or requests for help navigating state government.
Healthy Kids Oregon: Ensuring that all of Oregon's children have the health care coverage they need
The ongoing debate regarding federal health care reform has underscored just how significant it is that the Oregon Legislature passed several important reform measures into law in 2009. You can find out more about the overall health care reform package, including House Bills 2009 and 2116, here. You can also watch Rep. Chris Harker and me review the reform package by clicking here.
The most important of these changes will extend coverage to nearly all of Oregon's 116,000 uninsured kids. I want to be sure that you and yours know how to enroll children in the appropriate health care program. Please visit http://www.oregonhealthykids.gov to learn about the Healthy Kids Program and to sign up for coverage. As of today, children in families earning less than $40,792 per year are eligible for enrollment. Over the coming months, children with higher family incomes will become eligible to apply for a variety of options, including the Oregon Health Plan and premium assistance through KidsConnect. If you have questions or concerns, please get in touch with my office by hitting reply to this email and we will be sure to help steer you through the application process.
Bill Signings
Governor Kulongoski signed 905 bills into law this year, including the health care reform package mentioned above. For a handful of the hundreds, the Governor held bill signing ceremonies. These are opportunities to honor the people who worked to craft and pass the highest profile bills of the session. I was honored to be involved in two of them.
I have mentioned House Bill 2186 several times in this newsletter. This bill will establish the nation's second low carbon fuel standard, promoting Oregon energy independence and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation fuels. On July 22nd, I joined climate champions like Governor Kulongoski, Rep. Tobias Read, and a host of advocates in Eugene as a package of bills related to climate change, including HB 2186, were signed into law. The University of Oregon's Daily Emerald covered the event here.
"These policies will demonstrate, yet again, that the transition to a clean energy economy is also a transition to long-term prosperity for Oregon. For while our state is poor in oil and gas and coal, we are rich in sun, wind, waves, and biomass -- as well as the talent and ingenuity to harvest those resources. These bills create jobs by creating a clean energy future." -from my speech at the bill signing for House Bill 2186
On August 6th, I stood alongside Secretary of State Kate Brown and more than a dozen volunteers from the Oregon Bus Project and other advocacy groups as HB 2386, establishing an online voter registration system, was signed into law. You may know that Oregon has excellent voter turnout due to vote by mail, but we also have relatively low voter registration numbers and the 2nd lowest voter turnout among young people. We hope this bill makes it easier for Oregonians to register to vote and keep that registration up-to-date. The Salem Statesman Journal covered the bill signing here.
Three Upcoming Events
On Friday, September 11th, the City Club of Portland hosts the second of two Friday Forums wrapping up the legislative session. I will appear with a panel of newer legislators, including Reps. Tobias Read, Jules Bailey, and Chris Garrett, as we review the work of the Legislature. This event takes place at the Governor Hotel at 614 SW 11th Avenue in Downtown Portland from 12:15 to 1:15pm. More information is available at the City Club website by clicking here.
Then, on Monday, September 21st, I will join our state senator, Jackie Dingfelder, and the representative to the north, Michael Dembrow, at a Town Hall Meeting, from 6:30 to 8:00pm. Mark your calendar and stay tuned for further details.
Hope that you can make it to one or both events to learn more about our work in the Legislature.
Finally, the Portland Office of Neighborhood Involvement and the Portland Police Bureau are sponsoring a drug take-back event Saturday, August 29, 2009, from 10 - 4 pm at Eastport Plaza Shopping Center in Portland. This is an excellent opportunity to safely rid homes of unwanted drugs and ensure that they are disposed of properly. The drug turn-in event is free, and anyone can anonymously hand in prescription drugs for safe disposal.
In the meantime, I hope that you enjoy these last weeks of summertime. If you can spare a moment, I hope that you will click here to take my one-question questionnaire about the work of the 75th Legislature.
As always, please be in touch anytime.
State Representative Ben Cannon
900 Court St NE
Salem, OR 97301
rep.bencannon@state.or.us
http://www.repbencannon.com/
(503)236-3351
