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Accomplishments of the 2007 Session
 

More Affordable Health Care

 

 

Ensuring every Oregonian has affordable healthcare:

 

ü      SB 329- The Healthy Oregon Act created the Oregon Health Fund Board that will finalize a three year effort to develop a comprehensive plan that will lower costs and improve coverage for every Oregonian.

 

Giving consumers greater power by requiring hospitals to disclose information to the public:

 

ü      SB 337- Requires hospitals that self-insurers (like OHSU and Kaiser Permanente) to report instances of mal-practice to the Board of Medical Examiners.

 		  

ü      HB 2524- Requires hospitals to report prevalence of hospital-acquired infections to the Office for Oregon Health Policy and Research and to make those annual reports available to the general public.

 

Making prescription drugs more affordable through bulk purchasing:

 

ü      SB 362- Allows under-insured individuals, small businesses, and employee organizations to lower the cost of their prescription drugs by participating in the Prescription Drug Pool.

 

 Requiring insurance companies to expand coverage:

 

ü      HB 2700- Ensures employee health insurance plans cover prescription contraceptives in drug benefit packages.

 

 

Stronger, More Accountable Schools

 

Record-high investment in K-12 schools:

 

ü      HB 5020 & HB 5021- This funding will help lower class sizes, hire additional teachers, and continue to support innovative programs like ASPIRE, which helps prepare students for life after high school.

 

Demanding audits to make sure our money is spent in the classroom, where it counts: 

 

ü      HB 3141- Audits business practices of all school districts and tracks outcomes in order to develop a model that will guide school districts to the best and most efficient practices.

 

ü      SB 384- Limits exit packages for school administrators, commonly referred to as golden parachutes.

 

ü      SB 426- Cut down on administrative costs by pooling health insurance plans.

 

Making sure our young people are prepared whether they go to college or straight to a job:

 

ü      HB 5019- Enrolls 3,000 new students into the Head Start early childhood Education program to set a foundation for learning at a young age. 

 

ü      HB 5012- Invests $2.7 million for targeted career training education and workforce development programs. 

 

ü      SB 334 & HB 5044- Expanded eligibility and award amounts for college opportunity grants by implementing the Shared Responsibility Model.

 

Teaching values like integrity, self-discipline, and responsibility:

 

ü      HB 2584- Created a task force that will develop a specific plan to improve the way we teach our children about civics and managing their personal finances.

 

Rick renewed Oregon’s commitment to our brightest students by reviving the talented and gifted program (TAG), which was eliminated almost entirely from our school system during the last major recession.

 

 
Senator Metsger speaking about TAG

Fiscal Responsibility

 

Just as your family must save money for a rainy day, so should the state of Oregon:

 

ü      HB 2707- Created the Oregon Rainy Day Fund with a reserve of $275 million to help protect against the negative impacts of the next economic recession.

 

 

A Safer Community

 

 

Cracking down on sexual predators that prey on children:

 

ü      HB 2843 & HB 3515- Helps protect our children from online sexual predators with severe penalties for online sexual corruption, furnishing sexually explicit material to a minor, and using the Internet to lure minors.

 

Cracking down on illegal immigration:

 

ü      SB 578- Rick co-sponsored the bill, which makes human trafficking a crime that is punishable by a fine of $250,000, and or 10 years in prison.
 

Putting more state troopers on our highways:

 

ü      SB 5533- Adds 100 new troopers to the force and expands forensics divisions.

   

   

Protecting Your Pocketbook

 

Giving people tools to protect themselves from identity theft:
 

  
  “The common thread in all his legislative work is Metsger's desire to protect the interests of ordinary people: consumers, ratepayers, low-income borrowers and injured workers.”  
 

October 18th, 2006

  

ü      SB 583- Requires consumers be notified of breeches of their sensitive information and gives citizens the ability to freeze their own credit if such a breech occurs or if they believe they have been a victim of identity theft.

 

Putting an end to legal loan sharking:

 

ü      HB 2204 & 2871- Caps car title and payday lender’s interest rates to not exceed 36%.

 

Fighting against false advertising and sham sales:

 

ü      SB 684- Rick wrote and passed the law that put a stop to the endless going out of business sales that go on for years and years.

 

 

Helping Farmers

 

 

Preserving family owned farms, woodlands, and fisheries:

 

HB 3201- Eliminates estate tax (also known as the death tax or the inheritance tax) from farms, nurseries, woodlands, and fisheries with annual sales under $250,000.

 

Helping farmers become energy independent:

 

HB 3201- Extends tax credit for alternative energy devices to include wind generators.

 

Reinvigorating agriculture to meet the needs of the 21st Century:

 

HB 2210- Provides tax credits for growing crops that are specifically for the purpose of producing energy, such as ethanol that is grown in corn for the production of bio-diesel.

 

Protecting farmers from equipment theft:

 

HB 3026- requires metal recyclers to keep detailed records in order to track down the criminals responsible for the rising theft of irrigation pipes, sprinkler heads, and other equipment that is essential for a farm to operate.

 

Senator Metsger's speech on metal theft

 

Standing Up For Us

 

 

Protecting your right to privacy:

 

ü      SB 117- Allows the Oregon Department of Justice to enforce the federal Do Not Call Registry in response to a lack of enforcement by the federal government.

 

ü      SB 863- Allows people to opt out of receiving political pre-recorded phone messages by signing up on the federal Do Not Call Registry. 

 


Senator Metsger testifying on robo-calls 

If you would like to put your phone number on the Do Not Call Registry, (Click here).