Education
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici of Beaverton, who sits on the House Education and Labor Committee, is a leading voice for child care, having set up her own advisory panel on the issue. She said the current system was broken even before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic forced many day care centers and homes to curtail the number of children they see — or even close down entirely.
"These are challenging systems to navigate. We've been doing this for more than three years. We know we need benefit navigators to help students to do that," Mark Mitsui, president of Portland Community College, said during a conference call with Bonamici. "Federal agencies are great, but they do not have the capacity to weave each other's benefits around students when they most need it to get the education and training they need."
Yamhill County will receive more than $300,000 from the federal government this year as part of a program designed to replace some funding lost by the curtailment of logging on public lands in Oregon, Idaho and Washington decades ago. The Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program funnels money for schools, roads, law enforcement and other essential services. It is paid to 31 of Oregon's 36 counties, which lost billions of dollars when the federal government significantly reduced logging in the state in the 1990s.
The Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program funnels money for schools, roads, law enforcement and other essential services. It is paid to 31 of Oregon's 36 counties, which lost billions of dollars when the federal government significantly reduced logging in the state in the 1990s. All told this year, $39.3 million will reach Oregon counties, according to a release from U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, who co-authored the SRS legislation in 2000, as well as U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley and U.S. Reps. Peter Defazio, Suzanne Bonamici and Kurt Schrader.
"Our rural communities need support to recover from the coronavirus pandemic and build back better, and the millions of dollars in SRS payments for Oregon's counties will make a meaningful difference," Bonamici said. "This funding will help pay for essential services and support the schools, roads, and public services that are so important to rural Oregon. I will continue advocating for more resources to help all of our communities thrive."
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley along with U.S. Reps. Peter DeFazio, Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici and Kurt Schrader said today that 31 Oregon counties will receive about $39.3 million in Secure Rural Schools (SRS) payments for schools, roads, law enforcement and other essential services.
On March 16, Bonamici and New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman reintroduced Massachusetts Democrat Katherine Clark's Child Care is Infrastructure Act. The legislation establishes loan and grant programs for childcare facilities and early childhood educators to stem the childcare crisis in Oregon and around the country.
For Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark (D-MA), Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), what comes next is the Child Care is Infrastructure Act, a bill they recently reintroduced. This bill marks a turning point when we move beyond months of focusing on relief and short-term damage control, and start recognizing the importance of child care as a fundamental part of our long-term economic recovery.