26 Trial Lawyer • Fall 2022 this legislation would harm their lowincome customers. When it was time for public testimony, I walked on jello legs to the podium, where I was positive the microphone was picking up the sound of my pounding heart. In a trembling voice, I told the committee what happened to Seamus and about the secondary trauma of dealing with insurance companies trying to take our settlement. Afterward, members of the committee sat in stunned silence, a few of them wiping tears. The bill passed out of committee on a party-line vote. As I was leaving, Rep. Shemia Fagan, who chaired the committee, found me in the hallway and gave me a hug. Later that evening, Rep. Kotek (who by then was speaker of the House but no longer my representative) called me to thank me for my testimony, and to tell me it was likely to change votes. The next day, I watched via livestream as the bill passed in the House with five Republicans on board, including Rep. Duane Stark. He had voted no in committee the previous day and spoke movingly about his change of heart, which was inspired in part by remembering a car crash that left his father paralyzed when he was a child, and how the auto insurance settlement helped his family stay afloat. Finding advocacy Once the stacking bill became law, I started thinking about trying to pass a Make Whole bill that would apply to health insurers. In 2018, I saw a chance to try. Democrats in Oregon had secured supermajorities in both state houses in Oregon, plus the governorship. Also, crucially, my twins had started elementary school, and their increasing independence meant I had more time for political advocacy. At the suggestion of Sen. Shields, I emailed OTLA Political Director Arthur Towers, asking for his advice. He met me for coffee near my downtown office, where he told me which committees MakeWhole would likely be assigned to. He told me to make lists of committee members and prioritize meeting with them. He explained “legislative days” where I could make appointments with lawmakers and their staff. He told me to gather cosponsors. He told me to get a Republican or two on board. I scribbled notes as he talked, grateful for these straightforward instructions. My state senator, Lew Frederick, agreed to sponsor the bill, and his chief of staff, Troy Duker, showed me how to make a one-pager to distribute to legislators. I spent several days in Salem, moving from office to office in 15 minute appointments, telling countless lawmakers about the worst day of my life. My one-pager included a picture of Seamus grinning hugely while standing ankle deep in a mountain lake, taken 2 months before he died. With few exceptions, lawmakers were supportive. I even gained a Republican chief sponsor in Sen. Brian Boquist, whose politics could not be further frommy own. Talking to his wife, I learned they had also lost a child, proving that every once in awhile, our shared humanity triumphs over politics. As the 2019 legislative session went on, the MakeWhole Bill (SB 421) gained steam, but progress was agonizingly slow. There was a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where I was joined by Neil Jackson from OTLA and Sen. Shields, who provided supporting testimony. It passed out of Judiciary and then, for reasons I didn’t understand, it was sent to the Senate Rules Committee, where I had to testify again. Each time there were several days between the testimony and the votes, providing lots of time for my anxiety to spiral. Throughout the process, I was surprised there was no publ ic-facing opposition from health insurers — I never encountered them during my lobbying days, and they did not testify in Make Whole Law Continued from p 25
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