Category: In the News

Senators introduce $50 billion bill to address child care

Oregon’s Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley joined Senator Patty Murray of Washington State on Thursday, to introduce a bill that would address “the child care crisis worsened by coronavirus” in Oregon and across the country, by creating a $50 billion Child Care Stabilization Fund.A release said the legislation, called

Wyden, Merkley: Defense Dept. must not use military to suppress protests

WASHINGTON (KTVZ) — Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., sent a letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, voicing grave concerns over Donald Trump’s threat to invoke the Insurrection Act in response to nationwide protests seeking justice for George Floyd and

Wyden, Merkley Press For College Students in Need to Have Access to High-Speed Internet

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today joined with colleagues in urging congressional leadership to include funds in future legislation that ensures college and university students with the greatest financial need in Oregon and nationwide have access to high-speed internet during the COVID-19 pandemic.  “Even before the

5M allocated for COVID testing in rural Oregon

U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden have announced that $5 million in federal funding will be distributed to 102 rural health clinics in Oregon to help boost their coronavirus testing capacity. The funding was part of a $25 billion fund for increased testing included in the Paycheck Protection Program

U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley Turns Up the Heat on the Oregon Employment Department

U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) sent a pointed letter this afternoon to Kay Erickson, director of the Oregon Employment Department. Merkley’s letter comes after a May 27 hearing in front of the Oregon House Business and Labor Committee in which Erickson revealed the agency was even further behind paying out benefits than

‘Inexcusable blunder’: Senate Democrats demand action against Great Lakes for credit score mishap

Senate Democrats are demanding action against a student loan servicer for reporting inaccurate payment information for millions of student loan borrowers, hurting their credit scores. In a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Senate Democrats Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Tina Smith

Democrats urge DeVos to punish student loan firm for emergency relief blunder

Democrats are urging Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to take “immediate and aggressive action” against a student loan company that incorrectly dinged the credit reports of nearly 5 million borrowers whose payments were automatically suspended under the CARES Act. POLITICO first reported last week that the Trump administration was rushing to fix errors

Senate Dems press DOJ over coronavirus safety precautions in juvenile detention centers

Thirteen Democratic senators, led by Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), on Tuesday, wrote a letter asking the Justice Department for details on what precautions are being taken against the coronavirus in juvenile detention centers. The senators, in a letter to the DOJ’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention,

Merkley, Wyden announce $5 million for rural health clinics, increasing testing

Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden recently announced that $5 million in federal funding will be distributed to 102 rural health clinics throughout Oregon to help boost their coronavirus testing capacity. The funding was part of a $25 billion fund for increased testing that Congressional Democrats insisted on

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