Kotek In The News

The Oregon House of Representatives could take steps to abolish a law allowing landlords to discriminate against low-income renters who receive a federal rent subsidy, if Democrats win majority control in the November election, Portland city Commissioner Nick Fish said Tuesday.

PORTLAND - Hayden Island neighbors are tired of waiting.  

SALEM – Oregon House Republicans today rejected a bill to train health care professionals in cultural competency, an effort to reduce the costs of health care and provide better care for Oregon’s growingly diverse population. SB 97-A failed on the House floor by a 30-30 vote, with all Democrats supporting the measure and all Republicans opposed.
 
State Rep. Tina Kotek said the defeat of the measure clearly shows a lack of understanding of the issues facing health care professionals and their patients.

“We applaud Governors Gregoire and Kitzhaber for their clear commitment to the project and their focus on keeping the project moving forward towards securing federal funding. The announcement today of a bridge design selected for its viability, expediency, and cost effectiveness indicates their careful approach at delivering the best possible project to the people of Oregon and Washington. ”
--Senator Bruce Starr, Senate Committee on Business, Transportation and Economic Development
 

 
“The recommendation of the Bridge Review Panel released yesterday correctly emphasizes the necessity of identifying a bridge design that reduces risk, cost and environmental impact to the fullest extent possible. We support the Governors' call for an expedited review of the Panel's report by the Oregon and Washington Departments of Transportation. The project must stay on track.”
--Representative Tina Kotek, Co-Speaker Pro Tempore

The House majority whip in 2009, Kotek had a good term. She ranked high in our “Good, Bad and Awful” survey, and Capitol colleagues called her smart, serious and hardworking.

Oregon faces a deepening crisis in delivering mental health care to its citizens.

People suffering from a mental illness are likely to die 25 to 35 years earlier than the general population. Rural communities struggle to find enough primary care providers, let alone qualified mental health care providers. Our state hospital is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for inadequate treatment and care for the most acute patients suffering with a mental illness.

SALEM – The House today passed SB 1045, the Job Applicant Fairness Act.  SB 1045 will restrict job related credit checks, making it easier for qualified job applicants to get back to work.  House Democrats’ top priority during the February special session is to create jobs and help families struggling because of the recession.  The Job Applicant Fairness Act is part of that effort.

SALEM -- Children in state foster care -- even kids younger than 4 -- are being prescribed powerful antidepressant and antipsychotic drugs.

State lawmakers want to make sure those kids get more attention. On Wednesday, the Oregon House unanimously endorsed a bill that will require oversight of the children and their psychiatric medications.

"Oregon should not be part of the problem of over-medicating anymore," said Rep. Tina Kotek, a Portland Democrat and sponsor of House Bill 3114.

The Oregon House passed two broad health reform bills Monday that are designed to contain costs, create a new health agency and add thousands of uninsured adults and children to the state health plan.

Legislators and health care advocates said the bills represent Oregon's biggest leap forward in health reform since it enacted the Oregon Health Plan 15 years ago.

"This will put Oregon on the map for health care reform," said Rep. Tina Kotek, D-Portland.

SALEM — Without anything near the political heat or debate that went into writing Oregon's 2007 domestic partnership law, the House on Monday passed a bill making what were described as "minor changes."

SALEM -- House Democrats pledged Thursday to work on legislation that would get tough on both the metal thieves who are dismantling everything from cemeteries to school bleachers and the scrap dealers who buy the stolen goods.

Every week communities across Oregon are hit by metal theft: cars stripped of their catalytic converters, irrigation systems dismantled, and telephone lines stripped of their wires, said Rep. Tina Kotek, D-Portland, during a news conference Thursday.

Three bills were introduced in the House on Thursday aimed at curbing the problem.