2010 Legislative Session Adjourns

The Oregon Legislature has just adjourned it's 2010 supplemental session.  It balanced the state's budget using a technique called "sweeps," sent a ballot measure to the voters asking them to approve annual legislative sessions, extended unemployment insurance benefits for those who can't find jobs and passed a bunch of policy bills on a very tight schedule.

DRO will send out a full wrap-up analysis of the session, but here is a quick look at some bills that were passed.

• Senate Bill 991:  Need to take a break from child-rearing chores?  You can sign parental authority over to a respite worker by means of a Power of Attorney.
• Senate Bill 999:  If you are an armed service member or veteran, you can get a break on that crime you committed that others can't.  Diversion from certain criminal penalties will now be yours as thanks for your service.
• Senate Bill 1046:  Tired of having to find a doctor to prescribe psychiatric medications for you or your children?  Oregon has become the first state to allow psychologists to prescribe meds without the supervision of a doctor.
• House Bill 3618:  People who provide home and community support services to folks with developmental disabilities, mental illness and medically fragile children  will have their names collected by the state and be eligible for workers compensation insurance.  They will also have the option of joining home care workers in the Seniors and People with Disabilities sector who have opted to collectively bargain for wages and benefits through SEIU.
• House Bill 3626:  School kids will be getting vision screening thanks to this bill.
• House Bill 3631:  Health insurers can no longer treat injuries resulting from sexual violence as pre-existing conditions.
• House Bill 3634:  Victim of a crime?  You now have a legal right to notice and participation in post-conviction proceedings.
• House Bill 3642:  Physician Assistants can now practice medicine under the supervision of a physician's group, not just a single named doctor. 
• House Bill 3659:  There's a new high-risk pool for Oregonians who cannot find health insurance coverage.
• House Bill 3664:  Extends OHP coverage to age 21 for kids who are in foster care at age 18.

You can check out these and all the other bills at: http://www.leg.state.or.us/bills_laws/