Fall Winter 2017

The Oregon Caregiver Fall/Winter 2017 www.ohca.com 20 PROFILE Tell us about your background. What inspired you to enter public service and what sustains you to keep working in the legislature? My introduction to public service in Oregon was as a policy advocate. I joined the staff of the Oregon Food Bank where I worked to educate the public and legislators about ways to eliminate hunger. After that, I served as the policy director for Children First for Oregon, working primarily on health insurance and family stability issues. I was first elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 2006, representing portions of North and Northeast Portland. Since 2013, I have been honored to serve as Speaker of the House. I believe every Oregonian should have an opportunity to be healthy, safe, and successful and that state government plays a unique role in supporting public policies that promote these outcomes for all Oregonians regardless of background. Before serving as Speaker of the House, you were co-chair of the human services subcommittee. How is Oregon doing in serving our seniors and people with physical disabilities? What more would you like to see Oregon accomplish in this area? Oregon was recently recognized by AARP as 4th in the nation for long term care services and supports for older adults, primarily because of our nation- leading work on family caregiver support and choice of setting and provider. However, there are still areas for us to improve upon. For example, AARP also ranked Oregon 27th in the country for quality of care. This past session we partnered with long term care providers and senior advocates to pass a landmark piece of legislation to improve the quality of senior care by establishing quality metrics for community based care, increasing training standards for direct caregivers, and enhancing the oversight and accountability of underperforming facilities. I would also like to see future efforts improve the availability of low income housing for seniors and people with disabilities. The 2017 Oregon Legislative Session recently adjourned. What are you most proud of coming out of this last session and what were missed opportunities? In the face of significant challenges, I am proud of the work we did to improve people’s lives—especially when it comes to their health care. We passed a critical funding package that will preserve health care for people who rely on the Oregon Health Plan, regardless of their citizenship status. We also increased funding for Medicaid long term care services to support workers and the tens of thousands of seniors they care for daily. We passed a comprehensive transportation package, continued our work to end profiling by law enforcement, and helped working families by approving the strongest equal pay law in the nation. Representative Tina Kotek (D-N/NE Portland) POLICY MAKERS “ “The most serious threat to Medicaid funding right now is Referendum 301. If Medicaid opponents gather the necessary signatures, the Healthcare Protections Bill would be placed on hold until voters weigh in during a special election in January.” — Speaker Kotek Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek represents House District 44 in North Portland. During the 2017 legislative session, Speaker Kotek played a key role in the passage of House Bill 3359, and she is an OHCA Legislative Champion.