Today, the Joint Emergency Board or E-Board met to prioritize Portland over suffering Oregonians by voting to change what the Coronavirus Relief Funds(CRF) can be used for by giving over $100 million to the Department of Administrative Services (DAS), a government agency, over local governments.

In committee, Senate Republican Leader Fred Girod (R-Stayton) pointed out how the May E-Board meeting specifically set aside CRF funds for local governments after the city of Portland and Multnomah and Washington counties were given $247 million directly from the federal government.That same month, a letter from Governor Brown included how the remaining CRF funds“should be prioritized for jurisdictions that did not receive CRF funds directly from the federal government last month.

”A report from the Legislative Fiscal Office (LFO) in May laid out a framework showing local governments and tribes should receive $415 million of the CRF, and a portion should be used to purchase personal protection equipment (PPE). Nowhere does it say they are responsible for purchasing Portland or Multnomah and Washington counties’ PPE.

“Governor Brown is prioritizing DAS, her personal slush fund, over suffering Oregonians,” said Senator Girod. “The local government CRF should not be used to pay for the city of Portland and Multnomah and Washington counties’ PPE because they received a generous $247 million from the federal government,in contrast to the $76.3 million distributed to local governments.”

Senator Girod continued, “This is another example of Governor Brown putting Portland first over the rest of the state.”


--Ben Fisher

Post Date: 2020-08-20 11:09:26

Last Update: 2020-08-20 12:15:10