PRESS RELEASE OREGON HOUSE DEMOCRATS

For Immediate Release   June 26, 2020

For More Information,  Contact:  Aaron Fiedler: 503-986-1904, aaron.fiedler@oregonlegislature.gov

Foreclosure and Eviction Protections Pass House

Ensures Oregonians can keep a roof over their heads, businesses can keep their doors open

SALEM, Ore. – As Oregonians across the state struggle with the economic downturn, the Oregon House passed foreclosure and eviction moratoriums today to protect homeowners, renters, and small business owners.

House Bill 4204A directs lenders to defer or forbear both residential and commercial mortgage payments during the pandemic emergency period until September 30, 2020, if a borrower is unable to pay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Deferred payments would be due at the end of the loan, at the same lending terms as in place during the emergency period.

“This is about protecting individual homeowners and small business owners who are struggling during this crisis,” said Rep. Paul Holvey (D-Eugene), who carried the bill on the floor. “This critical legislation will help individuals keep a roof over their head and keep our state’s small businesses open. This is one piece in helping stabilize our state’s economy as we work our way through this crisis.”

House Bill 4213A extends the moratorium on both commercial and residential evictions through September 30, 2020 and creates a six-month repayment grace period after the moratorium ends for tenants to repay their back rent accrued during the moratorium. During the repayment period, tenants may not be evicted for failure to repay their back rent, but they must keep paying their ongoing monthly rent. Negative credit reporting for non-payment of rent during the moratorium is prohibited, as is assessing late fees or other penalties for nonpayment during the moratorium period.

“We know for too many renters across Oregon, the fear of losing their home is very real – especially as unemployment claims continue to be delayed,” said Rep. Julie Fahey (D-West Eugene and Junction City). “This legislation will provide a small amount of certainty for all of the individuals and small businesses that are struggling to get by right now. We will continue to fight for working families and ensure they have the protections they need to weather this crisis.”

For Black, Indigenous and people of color communities, already disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, the issues with housing are even more acute. According to the Oregon Housing Alliance, due to wealth disparities and historic discrimination in housing policies and employment in Portland, three in four Black people rent their homes, and six in 10 Latinx people rent their homes.

“We have an obligation to our neighbors to ensure that everyone is protected during this unprecedented crisis,” said Rep. Courtney Neron (D-Wilsonville). “I'm committed to making sure that after the pandemic subsidies, main streets in towns and cities across Oregon still have thriving small business communities and families have a safe place to call home.”

House Bill 4204A passed 39 to 18, and House Bill 4213A passed 43 to 14. Both go to the Oregon Senate for consideration.

June 24, 2020

Per today’s special session, here are some of the highlights of HB 4213. It is in currently in flux and there may still be changes. There is a work session on the bill tomorrow sometime after 10 AM.

The bill will extend the eviction moratorium (emergency period) until September 30, 2020.  This period runs from 04/01/2020 to 09/30/2020.

If a tenant does not pay October's rent and going forward from 10/01/2020, a landlord may issue a 72-hour notice for non-payment of rent. All provisions of ORS chapter 90 are back in force except for Section 3 of the bill. 

Highlights of section 3:

A landlord may not issue any termination notice for non-payment of rent, charges, fees, utility charges or any other service charge or fee, as described in the rental agreement or ORS 91.090, 91.210 or 91.220, during the emergency period. This is called "non-payment balance".

A landlord may issue a notice to the tenant to come into a payment agreement for the rent, charges, fees, ETC. (non-payment balance) that have accrued during the emergency period. This does not include late fees as they are prohibited during the moratorium. Tenant has 14 days to respond. The period for the repayment is called the "grace period". This runs from 10/01/2020 to March 31, 2021. The penalty for a tenant that does not respond back to a landlord is a onetime penalty of 50% of the month's rent.

If the tenant’s one year of tenancy expired during the emergency period and a landlord wants to give a no cause termination notice, they may do so.

The date for giving the no cause termination notice is at the end of the emergency period, 09/30/2020.

All rent, charges, & fees after the emergency period expires, 09/30/2020, are due and must be paid as usual. If not a termination notice may be given.

If a landlord violates the provision of Section 3 in the bill, a tenant may recover 3 months’ rent plus actual damages and attorney’s fees.

Section 3 ends on 03/30/2021.

Of note in today's hearing, ORS 90-427 5 (b) was discussed at length and may be included in the final bill. This is where a rental unit is sold and the buyer is moving in with a 90-day notice with relocation money if it applies.

The -6 amendment was also discussed at length also. This amendment would provide money for rent (non -payment balance) that is not paid from 04/01/2020 to the end of the emergency period.

https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2020S1/Downloads/ProposedAmendment/18005

The following link is also a good read of the bill:
https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2020S1/Downloads/CommitteeMeetingDocument/223409 

Link to the bill:
https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2020S1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/HB4213/Introduced

Link to the -7 amendment:
https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2020S1/Downloads/ProposedAmendment/18011

Attached are the Advisory Agendas for the Joint Committee on the First Special Session of 2020 for 6/24 and 6/25.

J1SS.2020.06.24.10.00.AM.pdf

J1SS.2020.06.24.01.00.PM.pdf

J1SS.2020.06.25.10.00.AM.pdf

The First Special Session of 2020 Joint 2019-2020 Interim - Oregon Legislative Information System

Oregon State Legislature Building Hours: Closed Until Further Notice 1-800-332-2313 | 900 Court St. NE, Salem Oregon 97301

olis.oregonlegislature.gov

To Submit Testimony

j1ss exhibit email

A Draft Summary of LC 45 has been published ahead of the special session.
https://buff.ly/3ellFO6

More information, to add-on:

NEWS RELEASE

Wait there’s more!  One of things the release did NOT have was the links to the calculation form and instructions for borrowers doing the EZ that accompany both the EZ forgiveness application and the regular PPP forgiveness application.

All of this information is on the SBA website in different places. However to try and put it in one package, below are links to those documents on the website. They are:

• Loan Forgiveness Calculation Form
• Loan Forgiveness Application Instructions for Borrowers
• Loan Forgiveness Application for EZ
• Loan Forgiveness Application Instructions for Borrowers using EZ

All these documents are on the SBA website, so they are public information. I would suggest (just a suggestion), that as you distribute this information to concerned and interested groups you include the entire package by giving the regular EZ applications with the respective calculator and instructions, it will give people the full picture and provide more complete information.

See links below:

https://content.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2020-06/PPP%20Loan%20Forgiveness%20Application%20Instructions%20%28Revised%206.16.2020%29.pdf

https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2020-06/PPP%20Forgiveness%20Application%203508EZ%20%28%20Revised%2006.16.2020%29.pdf

https://content.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2020-06/PPP%20Loan%20Forgiveness%20Application%20Form%20EZ%20Instructions%20%28Revised%2006.16.2020%29.pdf

https://content.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2020-06/PPP%20Loan%20Forgiveness%20Application%20%28Revised%206.16.2020%29.pdf

Irene Gonzalez
Economic Development Specialist

Boise District Office

U.S. Small Business Administration
(208) 334-1673

Cell (202) 836-0104

irene.gonzalez@sba.gov

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NEWS RELEASE

SBA and Treasury Announce New EZ and Revised Full Forgiveness Applications for the Paycheck Protection Program

WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Small Business Administration, in consultation with the Department of the Treasury, posted a revised, borrower-friendly Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness application implementing the PPP Flexibility Act of 2020, signed into law by President Trump on June 5, 2020.  In addition to revising the full forgiveness application, SBA also published a new EZ version of the forgiveness application that applies to borrowers that:

• Are self-employed and have no employees; OR
• Did not reduce the salaries or wages of their employees by more than 25%, and did not reduce the number or hours of their employees; OR
• Experienced reductions in business activity as a result of health directives related to COVID-19, and did not reduce the salaries or wages of their employees by more than 25%.

The EZ application requires fewer calculations and less documentation for eligible borrowers.  Details regarding the applicability of these provisions are available in the instructions to the new EZ application form. 

Both applications give borrowers the option of using the original 8-week covered period (if their loan was made before June 5, 2020) or an extended 24-week covered period.  These changes will result in a more efficient process and make it easier for businesses to realize full forgiveness of their PPP loan. 

Click here to view the EZ Forgiveness Application.

Click here to view the Full Forgiveness Application.

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration makes the American dream of business ownership a reality. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow or expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.­

Irene Gonzalez
Economic Development Specialist

Boise District Office

U.S. Small Business Administration
(208) 334-1673

Cell (202) 836-0104

irene.gonzalez@sba.gov

Contact: Andrea Dominguez, Chief of Staff 541-889-8866

6/19/2020

Oregon House District 60 Newsletter Issue #14 District News and Coronavirus Updates

Friends,   Earlier this week, Governor Brown announced she would be convening the Oregon Legislature for a Special Session beginning on June 24. The policy agenda is a compilation of 25 policy bills to address police accountability and the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic. The Governor has the authority to call the legislature into special session under Article V, Section 12, of the Oregon Constitution.    My hope is that we can use this special session to balance Oregon’s budget, review and weigh potential cuts to vital Oregon services, pass necessary and time sensitive policy tweaks and fixes, and deal with other negative effects of the Coronavirus closures.   Clarification on Malheur County COVID-Related Death Last week, I shared that Malheur County had its first “COVID-related” death. I apologize for any confusion, alarm, or anger that reference caused, and I appreciate those who reached out to me with concerns. We’ve since been informed the gentleman died from a separate accident and it was only found after his passing that he tested positive for COVID-19. I referenced this as “COVID-related” because that is how it is being reported by the Oregon Health Authority.    In listening to your concerns and upon receipt of this new information, my office reached out to the OHA for clarification as to why this is classified by OHA as a “COVID-related” death. Here is the response we received:   “As a public health agency, we are not in a position to determine a cause of death; that is appropriately left to a medical examiner or a doctor caring for the patient. So, for public health statistics, we record whether an illness is associated with a death, even if perhaps it is not the cause. Thus, the numbers we publish technically mean that there was a death of a person who had a COVID-19 infection.   Falling off a ladder or being in a car crash are fairly obvious cases where the infection might not be the cause of death. However, it gets more complicated if a person had, say, a heart ailment; was the ailment or the infection the true cause? As I said, public health agencies leave that to the individual’s doctors and simply record it as a COVID-19-related death.   The technical definition of a COVID-19-related death is: For community: death of a confirmed or probable COVID-19 case within 60 days of the earliest available date among exposure to a confirmed case, onset of symptoms, or date of specimen collection for the first positive test; or someone with a COVID-19-specific ICD-10 code listed as a primary or contributing cause of death on a death certificate For hospitalized: death from any cause in a hospitalized person during admission or in the 60 days following discharge AND a COVID-19 positive laboratory diagnostic test at any time since 14 days prior to hospitalization.”   My sincerest apologies for how this information was relayed, and my deepest thoughts and prayers are with this gentleman’s family and loves ones. House District 60 Coronavirus Update:

Unemployment Update The Employment Department Director has stepped down, and a temporary Director has been appointed. Several legislative assistants from other agencies have been dispatched to assist in working through the backlog of individuals waiting for unemployment and PUA benefits. This has helped streamline the process and get benefits out quicker to those who have been waiting the longest. If you are still having trouble with your unemployment claim, please contact my office and we will do our best to help.   DMV Update Due to the closure for several months of the Oregon DMV offices, they are working through a backlog as well. The DMV is reopening 38 offices statewide. To schedule an appointment, click here . Please note, all services that can be done online will not warrant an in-person appointment. Also, only a few offices are currently being allowed to conduct driving tests including offices in Coos Bay, Bend, Ontario, La Grande, and Klamath Falls. Other sites will be added soon.   OHA announces funding opportunity for Community Based Organizations The OHA has announced funding opportunities for Community Based Organizations (CBOs) throughout the state of Oregon to support three areas of work as part of the COVID-19 response. CBOs are central to the success of this work to integrate methods, tactics and strategies that are most responsive to the needs of people of color, people with disabilities, immigrant and refugee communities, tribes, migrant and seasonal farm workers and LGBTQIA+ communities.   The specific work areas include community engagement, education, and outreach; contact tracing; and social services and wraparound supports.   To learn more or get details on information sessions in English and Spanish, please visit https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ERD/Pages/COVID-19-Funding-Opportunity.aspx .   During these challenging and ever-changing times, please know we are here to help whenever and however possible. Our district office in Ontario is open for walk-in traffic again, but we do ask that you respect social distancing measures since my Chief of Staff, Andrea Dominguez, does have a compromised immune system. You can reach my office via phone at 541-889-8866 or via email .   Stay safe. Representative Mark Owens House District 60 Frontier Oregon—The Best Part of the State

Covid-19 Rental Assistance

1. Applicants must complete an application that is available at the drop box located at the front of the building – 915 SW 3rd Ave. One will be mailed to you, if requested.
   • Fill the application out completely
   • Sign the form
   • Provide information regarding COVID-19 – job loss, income reduced, etc.
   • Provide wage information and back up documents
   • Provide information regarding rental arrearages
2. Completed application is required, confirmation that need arises from COVID-19.
3. Drop the application off at the drop box, mail it, or call a Housing Advocate at 541-889-9555 to make arrangements.
4. A Housing Advocate will review the application and connect with each person to discuss additional or missing information. This may be via phone contact, text, or other means agreed upon.

For more information, please go to the Community in Action Website

June 16, 2020

Salem, OR—Governor Kate Brown will convene a Special Session of the Oregon Legislature at 8:00 am Wednesday, June 24, 2020 to take up proposed legislation to improve police accountability and address the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are at a unique moment in America,” Governor Brown said. “I am calling a special session to take up two urgent issues facing our state: the COVID-19 pandemic and police accountability. Several pandemic-related policies that I have implemented via executive order, including the temporary eviction moratorium and protecting CARES Act payments from garnishment, should be codified in statute. And the public’s call for significant police reform is too urgent to wait until the next regular legislative session. It’s imperative that the Legislature take action on these issues right away.”

Governor Brown is convening the special session under her authority pursuant to Article V, section 12, of the Oregon Constitution.

The Governor added, “I expect to call a second special session later in the summer to rebalance our state’s budget. In the meantime, I will continue pressing Congress to support the state and local governments that are reeling from the economic downturn. Unless the federal government takes action, states like Oregon could be forced to make significant cuts to schools, health care, and senior services.

“In the meantime, I am finalizing a list of $150 million General Fund savings for this biennium, to be released by the end of this week as part of my efforts to put Oregon’s budget on better footing.”

Friends,

I hope this newsletter finds you in good health and spirits. We have all had to make sacrifices for the safety of ourselves and the safety of others that have had tremendous impacts on our communities all across Oregon. I have been working with my colleagues in the legislature, as well as your local elected leaders, to make our return to normal life as swiftly and safely possible.

Reopening Oregon Phase 2 – What Does it Mean?

On Friday, June 5th the first wave of counties entered into Phase 2 of the reopening process. This means more restrictions have been lifted as a result of COVID cases staying steady over the course of at least 21 days. Although shifting into Phase 2 won’t be returning back to Pre-COVID life, we will start to see more people enjoying meals in restaurants, returning to churches and places of worship. We will also see places like movie theaters, bowling alleys and arcades starting to open up with social distancing guidelines in effect. One thing that I worked on closely with my colleagues was making sure that reopening recreational pools were included in Phase 2 as it is vital to many of the small communities in my district.

Reopening Oregon Phase 2 – What’s Next?

In a handful of press conferences, Governor Brown has outlined Oregon’s reopening in three phases. As I mentioned before, the majority of Oregon counties have now entered into Phase 2. The guidelines to enter Phase 3 is that there is some sort of vaccine or treatment for COVID-19. Given the fact that it could be 12-18 months before we have an FDA approved vaccine, I have been working with my fellow legislators and county commissioners to form a proposal to have a secondary lifting of guidelines under Phase 2. This would allow for larger gatherings than those that are allowed under Phase 2 as well as other shifts in guidelines.

Emergency Board Funding

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in Oregon, the Joint Emergency Board has met three times to provide relief related to the impacts the virus has had on all Oregonians. The first meeting followed the recommendations of the Coronavirus Response Committee. The following meetings were related to the distribution of Federal CARES Act funding that was allocated to Oregon. One major highlight for Senate District 30 in Emergency Board funding is the Rural Hospitals Grant Program which was approved on Friday, June 5th. These funds will help struggling hospitals who were hit particularly hard as a result of the COVID pandemic. Here are a list of notable allocations from the Emergency Board:

• $75 million to support rental assistance, housing stabilization and mortgage assistance (in addition to $25 million in Hardest Hit money for foreclosure prevention).
• $10 million in additional support to the Oregon Worker Relief Fund which supports Oregonians who are not otherwise eligible for unemployment benefits.
• $15 million to support individuals having difficulty paying their utility bills.
• $3.5 million to expand access to affordable telephone and broadband service for low-income households.
• $4 million to support survivors of domestic violence.
• $25.6 million to enhance behavioral health services for people impacted by COVID-19, with a focus on communities of color, our federally recognized tribes, and vulnerable populations.
• $30 million in assistance to help child care providers stay in business.
• $20 million to support the Rural Broadband Capacity Program to support safe distancing practices by connecting schools, health care providers and businesses.
• $50 million for rural hospital stabilization grants.
• $10 million to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) for small businesses.
• $3 million in technical assistance to minority- and women-owned businesses.
• $1 million for 211 to maintain referral services during the pandemic.

Changes at Oregon Employment Department

One of the biggest frustrations during this pandemic has been the unacceptable handling of Unemployment Insurance claims since the shelter in place order began in March. On May 31st, Governor Brown effectively removed the Director of the Oregon Employment Department and replaced them with David Gerstenfeld, Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Division Director. Since this shift in leadership, we have seen immediate progress to process the claims backlog that has been building for months. If you are still having issues with your UI claim, please reach out to your legislators as we now have direct contact with assigned Employment Department liaisons and can try to help speed up the process for you.

Virtual Town Hall – June 18th at 5:30pm (Pacific)

On Thursday, June 18th I will be hosting another Community Conversation with Rep. Mark Owens and Rep. Daniel Bonham. The past four conversations we have hosted have been a great opportunity for us to engage with you in a time where we are discouraged to host in-person meetings. If you are interested in participating in the conversation, please register here.

As always, I am here alongside and in service to you to answer any questions you may have about COVID-19 or anything else. Please contact my office if we can do anything to assist you during this time.

Warm regards,

Lynn P. Findley Oregon State Senator, District 30

CONTACT SEN. FINDLEY

Salem Office

900 Court St. NE, S-403

Salem, OR 97301

Phone: 503-986-1730

Sen.LynnFindley@oregonlegislature.gov

District Office

(Temporarily Closed)

252 B Street West

Vale, OR 97918

Hours: Monday- Friday 8:30am-4pm

Phone: 541-473-4029