Oregon Legislature: 5 things to watch this week
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Here are five things to keep an eye on at the Oregon Legislature this week:
IMMIGRANT TUITION
After an emotional debate last week, a House committee is expected to advance a bill allowing illegal immigrants who graduate from Oregon high schools to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities.
Similar measures have failed in the House twice before after passing the Senate, but the effort seems likely to succeed this year. It has support from many Democrats and some Republicans.
Proponents say young people shouldn't be priced out of higher education because their parents made a decision to immigrate illegally. Critics say the state shouldn't subsidize tuition for people who can't legally work in the United States.
COLUMBIA RIVER BRIDGE
The long effort to build a new Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River accelerates as a legislative committee nears a vote.
Oregon has to chip in $450 million for the project, which would also get money from Washington state, the federal government and tolls paid by motorists. Legislative leaders want Oregon to act quickly to give Washington lawmakers time to figure out their own funding plans.
Legislators heard many hours of testimony on the issue last week — from critics who say it's a waste of money, and from proponents who think it will ease bottlenecks while creating quite a few construction jobs.
The most recent proposal would allow the state to sell bonds for the project. They'd be repaid initially from existing funds at the Department of Transportation, but there could be a new tax or fee created in the future.
SMOKING
Lighting a cigarette with a kid in the car could get far more expensive than the price of a pack of smokes.
A Senate committee on Thursday takes up a bill making it illegal to smoke in a car with a minor. A first offense would land a ticket for up to $250. A third could cost $1,000.
Proponents say children are especially vulnerable to the harmful effects of secondhand smoke and shouldn't be exposed to it when they're trapped in a car.
CHILD PROSTITUTION
In the battle against child prostitution, police and child-welfare advocates are shifting toward treating underage prostitutes as victims rather than criminals while cracking down on pimps.
The House Judiciary Committee looks at three bills Monday that would move the state further in that direction.
One measure would require pimps — people who recruit children to work as prostitutes — to spend more time on parole after they get out of prison. Another would allow the state to take child prostitutes into protective custody while allowing the minor to use their age as a defense to prostitution charges.
FACEBOOK
A House committee will consider making it illegal for your boss to force you to become Facebook friends or a Twitter follower.
The measure would also make it illegal for employers to require workers or job applicants to provide the company access to social media accounts.
The Associated Press reported last year that some companies and government agencies were going beyond merely glancing at a person's public social media profiles, asking instead to log in as the job applicant and have a look around.
Sub-standard health and no palative care care within rural grant funded health care providers is rampant in rural Oregon, and the provider of these so called low cost care facilities are robbing the taxpayers blind. Once they get their grants they spend it as they want. And if any individual patient calls them on these discrepancies they summarily dismiss them.
Experienced it first hand.
Another topic that we should be concerned about is the accountability and transparency of Coordinate Care Organizations (CCO) like DCIPA controlled Umpqua Health Alliance (UHA) that are using taxpayer money to provide health care to the poor.Senate Bill 412 requires that CCO's hold their board meetings in public and House Bill 2133 would require their budgets to be approved by the legally mandated Community Advisory Councils (CCA).Although neither of these bills go far enough to make sure that those who use our tax dollars have some public accountability,they are at least a start and it is good to know that at least two of our state legislators get it.Unfortunately neither of them are from our community, where the CCO here may be the least willing to be accountable to anyone but the people who make money off our local Medicaid dollars:the principals of Douglas County Independent Practice Association (DCIPA).
Although right now CCOs only control Medicaid money, the future may see them control public employee medical benefits, as well as Medicare money.It is not in our best interest to have any monopoly have such power over our health care, even one owned by doctors.Contact your legislators and let the know you want them to support these bills and want even more accountability and transparency with these or any health care scheme that uses taxpayer dollars.Â