Friday, June 15, 2007

Dear Friends,

What a week! Every day has seen major legislation brought before the House floor, sometimes with good results, sometimes not so good. In spite of a terrible cold and cough, I feel elated with this morning's passage of the Clean Indoor Air Act, finally protecting all Oregon workers from secondhand smoke. This week we also passed budgets with record reinvestments in K-12 education and Head Start. The week's big disappointment came with the Healthy Kids Plan. The House tried twice to assure health care coverage for all Oregon's children, but both times, big tobacco interests defeated the bill. The Healthy Kids Plan is not dead yet, and the Senate is working on their own proposal to send a Healthy Kids referral to the ballot.
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SB 571C - Clean Indoor Air Act
After years on working to protect people from secondhand smoke and as a chief sponsor of this year's effort, I am delighted to report that today we passed SB 571C, expanding Oregon's Clean Indoor Air Act.

Oregon's Clean Indoor Air Act, first passed in 1981 and amended in 2001, contained conspicuous workplace exceptions. Senate Bill 571C, as passed today, expands Oregon's indoor smoking ban to include bingo halls, bowling alleys, bars, tavern and restaurants. ÂÂ

The medical evidence is clear. Exposure to secondhand smoke kills. Adults exposed to secondhand smoke have an increased risk of lung cancer, heart disease, and asthma. Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at greater risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory infections, ear problems, and more severe asthma. Expanding Oregon's Clean Indoor Air Act protects Oregonians from the dangers of secondhand smoke. It makes economic sense as well, with fewer missed days of work and lower health care costs.

I've heard from wait staff, musicians, health professionals, and others, all advocating for this expansion. Today we join twenty other states guaranteeing a smokefree workplace for our citizens.

Education Budgets
Kids won big on the House floor this week with a record investment of $6.245 billion in K-12 education and significant increases in Oregon's Head Start Program. Three budgets-the State School Fund, the School Improvement Fund and the Department of Education Budget -- were approved with wide bipartisan support.

After years of disinvestment, the $6.245 billion K-12 budget represents a turnaround for education in Oregon with immediate effects felt throughout the state. Districts will be able to hire new teachers, add back programs, run a full school year and decrease class sizes starting this fall. The Department of Education Budget includes $39 million to fund Oregon's pre-kindergarten Head Start Program, a proven effective program to get our young children ready to learn.

Through letters, emails and personal visits, constituents spoke loud and clear. Class sizes are too big; textbooks are out of date. With this budget, we can begin to restore vital programs and services in our local schools.

HB 2967, SB 3 and SJR 4 - the Healthy Kids Plan
The Healthy Kids Plan continues to be under consideration. Oregon Healthy Kids Plan would assure all Oregon's children access to health care. HB 2967 was the vehicle this week in the House. It contained many of the same provisions as the original bill, but HB 2967 contained a referral to the voters to let the citizens of Oregon directly voice their opinion. Twice this week HB 2967 was defeated in the House by Republicans and big tobacco.

The Senate took up the battle, today passing SB 3 and SJR 4, the two legislative components of the Healthy Kids Plan. SB 3 contains the substance of the plan, providing health care coverage for Oregon's kids, and SJR 4 refers the plan to the voters for approval in November. Now these measures move to the House for consideration.

I am tired of this political gamesmanship. Oregon's 118,000 uninsured children need health care coverage and should not be pawns of the tobacco industry. I hope you will contact friends and relatives across the state asking them to contact their own legislators urging support for the Healthy Kids Plan.