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04-27-2024 4:14 am • PDX and SEA Weather
MLK Breakfast
“We have had several discussions over the last months about the impacts of state funding, or the lack thereof, on our ability to do county programs,” chair Jessica Vega Pederson, said. “We also know from our recent general fund update that we’re going into several years of continued deficit because our revenue is not keeping up with our expenses. So lobbying for and winning opportunities to support the essential services and programs that we provide here at the county is going to be key to our success, and having that partnership at the state is going to be really important.”
Jeston Black, director of government relations at Multnomah County
In introducing the county's 2024 state legislative agenda last week, Jeston Black, director of government relations at Multnomah County, outlined some of the county’s greatest potential issues in 2024 as ballot Measure 110, which decriminalizes the possession of small amounts of hard drugs and is meant to divert users into treatment programs; behavioral health capacity and funding; public safety and community corrections funding; housing and homelessness; addiction and housing production.
“The legislature created a joint committee on addiction and community safety earlier this fall to really be responsive to a lot of the conversation around Ballot Measure 110,” Stacy Cowan, senior state policy manager for Multnomah County, said. Cowan noted that the first priority is support for a ban on the public consumption of illicit drugs – which would address one of the biggest criticisms of Measure 110’s impact.
“A statewide ban is incredibly important to make sure we have consistency across jurisdictions,” Cowan said.
Asked later by Commissioner Lori Stegmann for clarification on such a ban, Cowan said, “The language absolutely matters. (We’re) obviously coming into this with the value of not wanting to criminalize addiction but needing to address the public use of drugs…
"We will be paying really close attention to ensure that it strikes the right balance.
“There’s a lot of conversation about what happens to someone who’s cited, and I think that’s an important piece where we can weigh in and talk about the importance of having options for individuals and a lot of different offramps that don’t necessarily just include putting somebody in jail.”
Black stated they expected the joint committee to present at least one bill addressing public use of illicit substances, among other legislative efforts to fine-tune Measure 110.
“That committee is still deciding whether they’re going to do one omnibus bill or whether they’re going to do a smattering of bills,” Black said.
The second priority regarding Measure 110 is state resources for treatment linked to the possession of controlled substances, Cowan said.
“We know outcomes have been impacted due to the lack of treatment options, and this is important as the legislature weighs expanding treatment courts,” she explained.
The third priority, support for reducing barriers to prosecute drug delivery, “is needed to address a court of appeals decision from 2021 overturning years of past precedent, and this would really assist law enforcement in holding drug dealers accountable,” Cowan said.
Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards cited the recent case of alleged fentanyl ringleader Luis Funez, arrested multiple times and found to be in possession of millions of doses of fentanyl, but who was released from jail after booking and subsequently failed to show up to court. Measure 110 opponents point to how recent reforms have made it harder to hold alleged drug dealers, although in this case, law enforcement has been criticized for bungling the booking process and failing to hold Funez in custody, as Funez allegedly possessed far beyond the threshold amount of fentanyl needed to be jailed.
The fourth priority is improving coordination between the local mental health authorities, community corrections officers and behavioral health resource networks.
Black emphasized the need for expanded investment in state and local behavioral health systems, starting with reimbursement rates for aid and assist services, which provide mental health treatment for individuals determined to be unable to aid and assist in their own defense in court cases.
“Folks who cannot aid and assist in their own defense are either sent to the state hospital for restoration or put in community for local restoration,” Black said. He said that due to Senior U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman's July decision ordering the state hospital to speed up its admittance process, as well as “just an elevated increase in acuity in our community,” the behavioral health department reported nearly a tripling in caseload for aid and assist services.
“There has not been state funding to match that increase in caseload,” Black said.
“There also has been a big need to look back at how much services cost when you’re providing them to folks who are in restoration services for aid and assist.”
The second priority is expanding the behavioral health workforce, Black said, “whether through expanded credentialing of folks who historically have not been able to get credentialed because of prior drug use or interaction with the justice system, as well as investments in higher ed so that they can expand their programs and produce more folks for the workforce.”
On the state level, the county will prioritize a push to increase state residential capacity, largely by investing in nonprofits doing the day-to-day work of providing behavioral health care.
Black also emphasized the need to expand “super siting” for future residential and secure facilities.
“This has been a much-needed addition in the shelter space, where if a facility meets certain fire, life, safety and other standards, they can skip over some of the permitting process and land use laws so that we can get them in place quicker,” he said.
The county will continue to focus on the shortage of public defenders, which by some estimates leaves 2,000 Oregonians without representation at any given time.
Cowan said the county is supporting the legislature as it concludes work from the previous session on equitable funding for educating students in detention facilities.
Finally, she said, “We’re working in partnership and collaboratively with others around a statewide ask of $16 million to help counties get through to the next budget cycle without having to make drastic cuts to our parole and probation staff and programming.”
The county will push for increasing investments in supporting and transitional housing services, Cowan said, and invest in supporting shelters that would otherwise close due to one-time funding.
In homelessness prevention, the county will push for weatherization services, energy and rent assistance, “and other eviction prevention tools to ensure that we don’t lose ground to help stabilize individuals and families,” she said.
In the evergreen push for increased housing production, the county will also prioritize investments in infrastructure improvements for water, sewer, stormwater and transportation.
“In the space of protecting services for our most vulnerable, we have four priorities: funding for the county assessment function funding assistance program,” Cowan said. “Supporting efforts to modernize our state medical examiner program; we’re especially interested in efforts to improve timeliness of information and data.”
Another priority? “Funding for a statewide system of services to support immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers and newcomers to Oregon.”
Finally, the county asks the state for funding to support case management services for older adults and those with disabilities.
Black said the county would like to see a statewide landlord registry, and expanded version of a system that already exists in Portland.
“It will help landlords with training and understanding all the laws that impact tenants now, and just have a better idea of what is out there in the rental market,” he said.
The county will also prioritize broadband access.
“We need to make sure the conversation around broadband isn’t just about running lines out to the rural parts of the state, but also understanding there are many folks in urban areas who don’t have access to broadband, either through the price of broadband or the accessibility in their neighborhood.”
Cowan stated that in the short session, the county has advanced two environmental priorities: funds to support the Urban Flood Safety and Water Quality District, and a bill to fund and study DEQ recommendations “on the statewide impact of toxic inhalants in the event of a catastrophic earthquake.”
“I appreciate us focusing on when and how state policy is the better place to solve some of these issues that we face,” Commissioner Jesse Beason said. “(With) the landlord registry – I think that’s the right level to be setting that policy. On the asylum work, that’s also the right place to be having this conversation. And I think even though I have mixed feelings about whether and how a public ban (on illicit drug use) rolls out, it’s also best to have a statewide framework for that work to be happening.”
