This is Public Health

The opportunity to live a healthy life is a human right. Every Oregonian deserves to live in a safe and healthy place with access to the resources and information they need to actively participate in decisions that affect their wellbeing. Those places are created and protected by public health.

A passion for prevention drives our work. As public health professionals, we educate about nutritious food and physical activity and ensure all Oregonians have access to  healthy options where they live, learn, work and play. We inform them about the dangers of tobacco, alcohol and drugs, and teach them how to improve their children’s health. We advocate for, and help write the policies that make our streets, buildings, parks, schools and neighborhoods safe and active for everyone regardless of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or income status.

2023 Legislative Session Has Begun

Racism is a Public Health Crisis Part 3

The Oregon Health Equity Task Force has worked hard over the past three years and were able to pass:

• HR 6, which declared Racism a Public Health Crisis in Oregon; and
• HB 4052, which enabled the Task Force to develop long-and-short term strategies to address this critical issue by creating more effective pathways to improve health outcomes for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Oregonians.   You can read the history of HB 4052 and the Oregon Health Equity Taskforce here.

And while the passage of both gave us reason to celebrate, they also marked an important inflection in Oregon public policy with more work ahead.  And it is why we are reaching out for your support to ensure HB 2918 and HB 2925 pass this legislative session.

• HB 2918 will provide the $4 million necessary to continue funding the mobile health pilot program, providing anti-racist and culturally and linguistically responsive health care to improve outcomes of Oregonians impacted by racism.
• HB 2925 will:
  • extend the timeline for affinity group task forces convened by The Oregon Advocacy Commissions Office and community-based organizations to meet, discuss, research and make policy recommendations that improve health outcomes of communities of color, across the state;
  • extend the timeline for OHA to develop recommendations on how to fund intervention programs, designed to prevent or intervene in the health conditions that result in inequitable and negative outcomes; and
  • be extended to June 2026 instead of ending in June 2023, to honor the time and lived experiences of community members contributing to the implementation of HB 4052, the work of and funding for the affinity group task forces. 

By completing the 2023 endorsement form, you and/or your organization will demonstrate your unwavering public support for these bills that advance community-vetted changes to designed to dismantle structural racism.  We have made significant progress on implementation of HB 4052, and the bills in the 2023 session will continue to push the progress forward.  

ACTION ALERT!
A public hearing has officially been posted for HB 2918 & HB 2925 in the  House Committee On Behavioral Health and Health Care  on March 1, 3:00 pm, Hearing Room F! View the agenda here.

HB 2918 & 2925 One-Pager

Read more legislative updates here.