Who’s Hot and Who’s Not in Oregon Politics: Family Forward Oregon, Ted Ferrioli, Peter Courtney

Email to a friend Permalink

Friday, June 19, 2015

Douglas Fasching, GoLocalPDX Contributor

Every Friday, GoLocalPDX breaks down who's rising and who's falling in the world of Oregon politics. Check out who made the lists this week

HOT:

Family Forward Oregon

Led by co-founder and Executive Director Andrea Paluso, FFO has been working tirelessly behind the scenes this legislative session with the goal of making working families in this state more economically secure. Two of the bills they have focused most of their attention on are about to become law. Senate Bill 454 will allow workers across the state to accrue sick time. The bill also protects employees from retaliation or discrimination for the use of sick time. House Bill 2960 will establish the Oregon Retirement Savings Fund Board and directs the board to create a retirement savings plan accessible to all Oregonians. So, in the future, when you are home with a sick child and you know you won't lose your job for taking a day off, you know who to thank along with your representative. Unless, of course, your representative is a republican , then just thank these guys.

Senate Minority Leader Ted Ferrioli 

For being in the minority, Senator Ferrioli has been very influential this session. His concerns regarding local control of marijuana related businesses almost derailed the entire agreement between city lobbyists and the legislature and he gets the credit for the success of House Bill 3011. HB 3011 would allow nighttime motorists in the state's rural areas to pump their own gas even if a gas station is still open. No one thought that would ever happen in Oregon. His influence coupled with his willingness to work across the aisle got this done. Nice work. I would expect nothing less from a graduate of Grant High School. 

Midge Purcell

House Bill 3025 or as it has been called, the 'Ban the Box' bill would bar most employers from asking about criminal convictions on initial job applications. Employers would still be able to perform background checks and raise the criminal history question during interviews. The co-sponsor of this bill, the Urban League of Portland has been represented in Salem by Director of Advocacy and Public Policy Midge Purcell. Her tireless efforts have not gone unnoticed and much of the credit of this bill becoming law can be attributed to her. Well done, Ms. Purcell. 

NOT:

Portland School Board

Talk about some shady shenanigans.  The current Portland School Board had some unfinished business  before the new Board took over on July 1st. Sometime last week a resolution was added to the agenda for Monday's meeting  that would have extended the end date of Superintendent Carole Smith's contract from 2017 to 2018. Her contract was just renewed less than a year ago and along with her extra years she got a 28% raise to boot. There was no public discussion, no mention of it at all. If it weren't for some alert parents, this would have gone through with no notice whatsoever. Luckily it was noticed and removed from the agenda. Let's hope the new Board doesn't feel the need to be besties with Superintendant Smith like the last one was.

Senator Peter Courtney

House Bill 3517 is a good bill. It authorizes the Oregon Health Authority to provide medical assistance to low income children if there are available funds in the budget to do so.  The bill costs nothing. The House passed it. Senate Republican leadership supports it. The votes are there in the Senate to send this bill to the Governor to get signed into law. Then why is this bill dying a slow death in committee? For the answer to this question you will have to ask Senate President Peter Courtney. Rumor around the Capitol is that he doesn't want this bill to move forward because it might hurt some Dems in the next election. I'm sure the kids this bill will help take comfort in knowing their interests are being looked out for down in Salem.

Senator Peter Courtney

History has been made. Never has one person deserved, nay earned 2 spots in the Not Column in one week. When he is not busy allowing bills to die that would help low income children, he is focusing his energy on killing bills that would allow the legislature to impeach public officials charged with misconduct. House Joint Resolution 31 would ask voters to approve a constitutional change to reflect what is done in the federal government and other states. Currently the only way to remove an elected official is through a recall vote, a process that can't begin until six months after an official's term has begun. Good luck with that. This bill has support in the Senate and passed in the House 47-12. That does not appear to impress Senator Courtney. It is no wonder that he was voted "Most Likely To Kill A Bill" at the end of session Sine Die celebration.

---

Related Slideshow: The Eight Political Types

Related Articles

• Who’s Hot and Who’s Not in Oregon Politics: Kate Brown, Racial Profiling, Women’s Rights
• Who’s Hot and Who’s Not in Oregon Politics: Knute Buehler, Rose City Baseball, Portland Taxis
• Who’s Hot and Who’s Not in Oregon Politics: Medical Marijuana Users, Tobias Read, Sara Ryan
• Who’s Hot and Who’s Not in Oregon Politics: Kate Brown, Lars Larson, Clean Fuels
• Who’s Hot and Who’s Not in Oregon Politics: Kate Brown, Allen Alley, Amanda Fritz

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

Email to a friend Permalink