January 12, 2025 • 30 mins
Oregon Republican U.S. Representative Cliff Bentz details some of what President-elect Trump's spending bill could mean for Oregon. A Right to Repair law is now in effect in Oregon. Flu season in Oregon is reaching its peak.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Local Voices. I'm brad Ford this week. What
will President elect Trump's budget priorities mean for Oregon? The
Right to repair law in Oregon is now in effect,
but don't expect changes for a while, and flu season
is near its peak. We'll get an update from the
Oregon Health Authority. President elect Trump returns to the White
(00:25):
House January twentieth, with Republicans and the majority for both
the House and Senate. That could give Republicans the ability
to move legislation at the top of their agenda. Oregon
Republican Representative Cliff Bentz joins us on Local Voices. How
do you see the first few months of President Trump's
second term rolling out?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
I think the first day he's probably going to design
any number of executive orders, reversing a lot of what
President Biden had done. Exactly what will be on the list,
I don't know, because obviously I'm not part of the
White House team. But there will be a bunch of
executs of orders. So we can anticipate that the Big Bill,
(01:04):
that the Big Beautiful Bill, as he calls it, is
indeed a work in progress, but it is anticipated that
he would like to have that bill come out in
early April, and that that's what we've been targeting here
in the House over the past couple of weeks. And
the work that that's going to take is going to
(01:27):
be considerable, and we've been we've been literally working on
it last year, on the reconciliation approach to this bill.
And of course the listeners, your listeners probably are as
unfamiliar with reconciliation as was I up until about a
(01:47):
year ago when we've started to talk about it. And
it means that it takes only fifty one votes in
the Senate instead of the sixty votes that it otherwise
would take and to avoid the folks standing up and
(02:11):
talking until the bill finally dies. So the reconciliation device
means that all of our Republicans here in the House
would have to vote for it. I think we have
one vote to spare, perhaps depending upon the day, because
we're waiting for certain people who were appointed two or
asked to work for the Trump administration. They've left and
(02:34):
their replacements have not yet been elected. And so I
think right now the Democrats have two hundred and fifteen members,
and I think we have two hundred and seventeen, and
so we could pass something with one person on the
Republican side saying no. So it's a very very close, close,
(02:57):
closely balanced group of folks here in the House. But
assuming we can get everybody going in the same direction,
then the Reconciliation bill would pass, we hope, across the
floor with all but one of us voting for it,
and then it would go to the Senate, and if
they all agree, at least fifty one of them, then
it will It would make its way through the Senate,
(03:19):
and then the President electromp would sign it. That's the
plan on the Reconciliation bill. The Reconciliation Bill is limited
to matters that affect spending, so policy matters aren't allowed
in it. So and the type of spending is limited
to mandatory spending, not discretionary. So there's a lot of
rules that apply, and getting this bill put together is
(03:42):
very complicated.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Do you see some Democrats supporting that bill or will
that be something that Republicans will work toward.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
If history is any indication, no, there won't be any
Democrats joining us in this in the House. That when
faciliation was used during the first two years of the
Biden administration, that we're no Republicans joining, and I think
that's been the case in the past. I haven't gone
(04:12):
back to check. So this is going to be almost
for sure, and all Republican effort in the House and
then all Republican effort in the Senate.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Now, at the end of the last year, we heard
of the you know, the bill that was necessary to
extend the government shutdown. Is this reconciliation bill? Will that
will that solve that problem? Will that keep the government
funded through the end of this period, which would be
what September?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
The fiscal year ends at the end of September and
begins on October first. The short answer is, if President
Trump has his way, yes, because he's asking that the
debt ceiling be increased so that there's none of the
starting and stopping that we saw over the past couple
(05:02):
of years. And so the debt ceiling should be a
part of the reconciliation bill, the increase in it. What's
happened is the I'll say the many of us are
very anxious if we're going to increase the debt ceiling,
that we have real measurable reductions in spending that accompany
(05:28):
that increase in the debt ceiling. There are things built
into our budget that are going to go up. A
good example would be so Security in medicare. Those two
budget items are going to increase because so many people
from the Baby boom generation are retiring, So those expenses
(05:49):
are going to increase. And thus policy made long before
most of us got here, way for probably all of
us got here, are going to drive an increase in
the total amount of spending. Those programs. Social Security and
medicare are not on the list to be reduced, and
(06:11):
so the reductions have to come from other places. And
exactly how big those reductions are is being debated right now.
What form they're going to take is being debated right now.
But the debt ceiling, the President wants that included in
this great, big, beautiful bill.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Are you able to say what areas might see cuts?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
I'm going to say that most areas are going to
see cuts, and by most areas I mean kind of
across the board. Each one of the committees has been
asked to find spending reductions that fit within the reconciliation format,
because again, discretionary spending is not allowed to be addressed
(06:54):
inside this bill. Mandatory spending is what you have to
address inside a reconciliation vehicle. So you're going to see
each committee look at that the type of spending that
it has jurisdiction over that falls inside the mandatory spending space,
and they'll be making suggestions for reductions on those spending.
(07:18):
The one where most of the money is spent is medicaid,
So you're going to see different ideas regarding streamlining of
Medicaid front and center. And in point of fact, to
the committee that I was disappointed to Energy and Commerce
as jurisdiction over medicaid. And so we spent literally four
hours in the last couple of days in committee discussing
(07:42):
those types of reductions. Those reductions are still in the
talking stage. We were presented with a bunch of different concepts.
Those won't have to be finalized for about a month,
but that certainly is a focus of the discussions over
the last couple of days.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Now, Oregon receive some waivers to expand medicaid. Is that
something that could be affected if there are reductions in medicaid?
Is that one of the things that's being discussed.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yes, there are different parts of the Oregon waiver that
would be affected one way or another. I want to
make it clear that these are reductions, not bills that
would get rid of these kind of things. And so
people have to understand that the amount of money that's
(08:33):
being spent in these spaces is exploding and that has
to be slowed down. We are spending roughly two trillion
more a year here in the United States than we
have revenue. So we get about four and a half
trillion dollars coming in the door, and we're standing about
six and a half trillion dollars out and that cannot
(08:53):
go on. Have a that's about a two trillion dollar
a year increase in our deficit, which is already thirty
six trillion, And rad to put this, put this in
terms that reflect why this can't go on. The interest
on our thirty six trillion dollar debt is approaching, if
not passed, one trillion dollars a year. So already of
(09:18):
our six trillion dollars in expenses, one trillion is interest,
and that isn't buying anything, it's paying rent on the
money that we've already spent. And so we've got to
slow this down. As you see interest rates go up,
and they most assuredly have they've come down some, but
they're still high is because we're borrowing so much money.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
One bill that you've worked on is the Klamate Basin
Water Users Bill. President Biden recently signed it. What will
that bill do?
Speaker 2 (09:50):
So fifteen years ago, in two thousand and ten, it
became apparent that the four Lower Climate River dams were
probably going to be removed, and it took fifteen years.
But in point of fact, those four dams have now
been breached, and that means that the two dams that
(10:12):
remain that were above upstream from those four dams are
now subject to the fish passage requirements that didn't apply
before the four lower dams were taken out because they
didn't have fish passage and thus no fish were presenting
at those two upper dams. Our laws require that if
you have a dam in the river and fish present
(10:33):
at the dam, you've got to have passage that lass.
Those laws were passed years ago, and then well, of
course in twenty ten, this you could see this coming.
And so the deal that was made is that the
ranchers and farmers would acknowledge the fact, not necessarily agree,
but acknowledge that these dams were in all probability coming
(10:55):
out but that they should not the farmers and ranchers
be held liable for the repairs to the names of
these two dams, of the Link River Dam and the
Knot Dam, and those two dams need lots of repair
work and they need fish passage. And the idea all
fifteen years ago was that the farmers and ranchers would
(11:16):
not be held liable for that. That was never that
never moved from the written form into the statutory form.
And thus there was much fear that those agreements would
never be followed. And so I introduced legislation earlier this
year in the House. Senator Widen introduced legislation. It was
(11:38):
somewhat different than mine over in the Senate, and I'm
happy to say that we got my bill passed, and
then Senator Wyden stepped in and made sure it got
through the Senate and the President signed it. This a
week or so ago. The idea is to hold the
farmers ranchers harmless from expenses they had no reason to
have to ever be held responsible for, and they had
an agreement saying so.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Now another Billy you and Senator Widen have been working
on is the Owayhee Canyon Lands Bill. What would the
legislation do and what's your priority.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
So my priority is to keep the land and the
communities around that land safe. And it's a huge space.
It's in the county I've lived in for many, many years,
my home county. The Home county is about six million
acres in size. And the Iswayhee Canyon Lands Bill that
Center Widen and I've been working on would take a
little less a fraction less than a million acres and
(12:27):
make it into permanent wilderness. And this is designed to
protect the land along the Hawayhe River. The river itself
in a corridor a half a mile wide of over
two hundred and twenty miles of that river are already
protected under the Scenic Rivers Act, and then there are
judicial measures in place to prevent cattle from going on
(12:52):
the river. Now, so that land is protected and has
been for twenty five years. Many environmental organizations say otherwise,
but they're wrong, and so the but the fact of
the matter is making this into wilderness, will the land
alongside the river will expand those areas that are that
are that are protected and make those protections permanent. And
(13:14):
I must say I've got to give credit to Senator
to widen for the amazing amount of work he and
his staff is to have done, in conjunction with my
staff's work and many others locally, to put together the
bill that he and he Senator Wright and I have
now agreed upon him and we'll be uh, we'll be
dropping that bill here in the next couple of days.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
I hope former Representative Lori Chavez Draimer is President Elect
Trump's choice for Labor Secretary. I have you've been able
to talk to her about her nomination and what her
priorities are. I know you can't speak for but.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
I talked to her just yesterday. I hadn't spoken to
her and some time. I'm very, very pleased that President
Trump has reached out to former Congressman chev As Dreamer
to take on this job of Labor Secretary. I think
she'll do a great job her. I think reason for
having been selected was that she had taken some pretty
(14:09):
aggressive positions, positions I don't necessarily share the fact that
I don't on certain bills having to do with unions,
and I think that drew for her the support from
the Teamsters and other unions. And I think the Teamsters
reached out to the President of President elect Trump and said, hey,
(14:31):
we think that that Laurie Scheves s Hrimer understands unions
and is at least willing to talk to us. Because
I think that's one of the reasons according to Laurie
and why she reached out. She wanted to be able
to sit down at the table with unions and try
to try to work with them. And I think that
the President elect Trump saw that and that's why he
selected her. I think her her ideas it will be,
of course, to fulfill whatever the president wants. She would
(14:54):
be working for him, and they, I think want to
build on the work that President Trump did with unions
that resulted in him being supported implicitly by unions. So
good on her forgetting the appointment. And she's one of
the first people from Oregon in years in years to
be on a presidential candidate cabinet, and I'm just so
(15:16):
pleased that it's her.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
What would you like Oregonians to know as we head
in a President elect Trump's second term in the White House.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Well, I think President Trump was elected because he promised
to shake things up, and I think you're going to
see some substantial change and I think a lot of
people are very worried about our deficit, and very worried
about the border, and very worried about the challenges that
crime and inflation present. And they believe that President Trump
(15:43):
will do something about it, and we here in the
House are here to help him attack those huge, huge issues.
And so the tax cuts that he put into place
back in twenty seventeen are coming up. Many of them
are going to expire at the end of the day
this year, and we'll be doing our best to try
to keep our economy solid by extending some of those,
(16:09):
if not most, of those tax cuts. And so I
just think that everyone should look forward to change in
a better economy, and we'll be working with the President
to accomplish that.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
That is Oregon Congressman Cliff Benscliff, thanks for joining us
on Local Voices.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Thank you for the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Oregon's new right to repair laws now in effect. Charlie Fisher,
executive director of OSBORG, joins us on Local Voices. Charlie,
what does the right to repair law do?
Speaker 3 (16:37):
The kind of core behind rite to repair is pretty simple.
It's about making it easier for people to fix their stuff.
Consumers will be able to request from manufacturers of certain products,
access to replacement parts, tools, and any documentation so like
(16:58):
a manual or software needed to install the parts and
get the device fully functioning again. So, you know, our
hope is that it will make it easier for people
to keep their things going instead of having to buy
new and you know throw out what they had, saving money,
producing the amount of e waste going to the landfill,
(17:19):
and you know, overall just kind of taking back the
concept that we should be able to do what we
want with what we own.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Are there businesses that are exempt from the law.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Yeah, there aren't any businesses that are exempt, but the
you know category of products that are covered is relatively
nearro so, so a couple of things. It applies to
what we call consumer electronic equipment. So that's basically anything
that has a computer chip in it, and so that's computers, tablets, phones,
(17:53):
but also appliances again to the extent that they have
like something digital component to them. And then there's there's
a time limit or what we call a look back
period for you know, older devices. So for phones, it's
any phone that was first manufactured July first of twenty
twenty one, and then for all the other products that
(18:17):
I talked about, it's any product that was first manufactured
after twenty fifteen. So the idea being, you know, these
older products are sometimes you know, manufacturers don't have access
to the manuals still, or they don't sell a part.
So we just wanted to say, right, it's only going
back to a certain date. But then looking forward, you know,
I think that'll become less relevant as we move into
(18:39):
the future, where twenty fifteen is in twenty twenty one specifically,
or you know, just kind of further in the past.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
So the law took effect on January first. When do
companies have to comply?
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Yeah, so they're required to comply on January first. The
enforcement by the Attorney General will not go into effect,
I believe until twenty twenty seven. So basically, you know,
we're expecting companies to comply, but there isn't going to
be any enforcement action on them for a couple of years.
(19:12):
Just in cases you were saying, you know, there's some
there's the need to figure out compliance. I will say
though that you know, what the law requires is it
doesn't require companies to make anything new. It's really about
to the extent that they currently offer repair services. So
you know, you think about like Best Buy, you know,
geek Squad or the Apple Store. You know, the kinds
(19:36):
of information that are given to those technicians to work
on a particular product, and the access to the parts
and tools, those all now have to be made available
to us as owners of the product, and then to
third party independent repair businesses. So and the second thing
is there are a number of states, including California, that
(19:56):
have already passed right to repair laws that are pretty
similar to ours, with some key differences. So this isn't
a new thing for companies. They've already been getting ready
to comply or currently are complying in other states. So
I don't think that it's going to be too difficult
for them to or it shouldn't be to comply with
the law starting January first.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Does a lot of detail how the companies make the
repair information available. Do they have to post it on
their website for example.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
It's not prescriptive in the sense that they have to
do this or that, But what it does say is
that they can't create artificial barriers to make it harder
for someone to get access to the parts, tools and information.
Then it would be like if they went to whatever
the authorized repair provider is. So essentially they just can't
create barriers that are intended to make it difficult for
(20:46):
people to get access. But it doesn't say it has
to be in line or has to be you know,
in any other form.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
They just have to be able to have it available
in some manner. Yeah, right, Why is it important to
have a law like this?
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Great question.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
It's important for a number of reasons. I mean, you know,
we estimate that Orgonians discard over one and a half
million phones every year, and you know those go in
a variety of places, but some of them are randing
up in the landfill, and so, you know, just reducing
(21:20):
the amount of phones that people are discarding because they
can't use them anymore is important for reducing the amount
of e waste that's being generated, which, by the way,
E waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the
world right now. It's also about saving folks money. You know,
if you can keep your phone or computer working for
another year or two instead of having to buy a
(21:43):
new one, you know, that's going to be a pretty
significant savings, especially if it's only not working because the
company won't give you access to the things you need
to get it up and running again. And then you know,
just from an energy perspective, almost the majority already of
the energy associated with u with a phone comes from
(22:04):
its manufacturing and from transportation, so very little actually dealing
with the usage, so the charging and all that. So
you know, if you're able to extend. We estimate that
if every orgony extended the life of their phone by
just a year, it would be the equivalent of removing
eighty one hundred cars off the road in terms of
carbon emissions. So it's just a variety of reasons why
(22:28):
this is important. But again, you know, like I said
at the beginning, it's really fundamentally about bringing us back
to this principle that should be common sense that when
you own something, you should be able to do what
you want with it, and companies shouldn't be able to,
you know, force you to go to there repair people
or just buy a new device. If the parts and
(22:51):
information are right there, they just won't give them to you.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
Yeah, I would think, you know, with cell phones, probably
broken screens and batteries that don't hold a charge anymore,
probably two of the you know, the biggest repairs that
need to be made on phones and being able to
you know, looking at the price of some phones now
over one thousand dollars, being able to fix your phone
and keep it instead of go out and buy another
phone just makes sense.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
Yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
If people want to learn more about this, what can
they do?
Speaker 3 (23:17):
Yeah, well, so we actually just published a guide at
ospurg dot org. That's ospi rg dot org that is
focused on showing you number one, how to get access
to parts, tools and information from manufacturers, and then two
what to do if they don't comply, So that means
filing a complaint with the Attorney General. So that's available
(23:39):
on our website at osburg dot org.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
That's Charlie Fisher with OSBERG and details on Oregon's new
right to repair law that took effect on January first.
Hospitals are seeing a lot of patients with cases of flu.
Doctor Paul sees Lack with the Oregon Health Authority says
cases are on the rise.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
Well, one of the things I tell people is that
every season is a bad influenza season. Virtually every season
we see hospitals filling up with patients to overflowing. Even
in sort of an average influenza year, and this year
is no exception. Hospitals are fairly full right now. It
is looking to be an influenza A season as opposed
(24:19):
to a B season, at least in the early stages
of it, and a little over half of the cases
are the H three and two, which is the worst type,
a little over half of the influenza a's, but just
looking at numbers of hospitalizations in the Triconty area, I
would say it's an average influenza season.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
So far.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Two juveniles have died from the flu this year. Is
that common?
Speaker 4 (24:45):
No. In most seasons we have no influenza deaths among
persons under eighteen years of age. Children, they are relatively
low risk for dying from influenza, although every season we
do see children being hospitalized with influenza. That's one of
the reasons that vaccination is recommended for everybody six months
(25:08):
of age and older. It's more common for the very
young children to be hospitalized with influenza, but everybody's at risk.
Influenza is a virulent virus. You don't have to be
immune compromise in or to get it, but the people
who end up in the hospital with it are disproportionately elderly,
young children, and people with chronic underlying conditions. The season
(25:35):
isn't over yet. In fact, it may not even be
halfway over, although I will say that the numbers of
positive tests that we're getting sort of indicate that we
may be peaking around now. In other words, influenza is
really out there being transmitted in high quantity right now.
So if you haven't been vaccinated, we would definitely recommend
(25:58):
that you get vaccinated. But there are probably ten or
twelve weeks of influenza season left to go. There's a
lot more flu to be had, so we would definitely
recommend protecting yourself against it.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
How effective is the vaccine this year?
Speaker 4 (26:14):
CDC produces interim estimates of vaccine effectiveness sort of midway
through the season, but I don't expect it until February.
Really too late to make your decision. We definitely recommend
that you get vaccinated. They do check whether it looks
like the vaccine is a good match to circulating strains,
(26:35):
and so far, all of the H one n ones
and all of the influenza b's that they've tested today
have been a good match to the vaccine strain. The
influenza A H three N two is less of a
good match. I believe they're saying that fifty six percent
of the strains that they have tested to date that
are H three N two are vaccine strains and the
(26:59):
rest of have shown some mutation away from the vaccine strain.
So overall, it looks like maybe seventy seventy five percent
or so of circulating strains of influenza are good match
to the vaccine. You know, although we would hope for
one hundred percent match, and you know, and sometimes we
(27:19):
get matches that are, you know, well into the ninety
percent range, you know, this is still probably about a
seventy five percent match, which is which is not bad.
I mean, I certainly got my flu shot this year,
and you know, we'll wait to see what the actual
vaccine effectiveness is when CDPC produces their estimates, But in
(27:39):
all likelihood, you're going to be better off with the
vaccine than you are without it. You know, the number one,
two and three way to protect yourself from influenza is
to get vaccinated. It is the single best method that
we have, and you know, we we would typically make
all the routine respiratory disease protection messages, stay home with
(28:01):
you're sick. If you're sick, try not to expose other people,
cover your cough, wash your hands frequently. All of those
should be observed routinely, I think. But on top of that, vaccination.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Vaccination rates are down. How much of a problem.
Speaker 4 (28:17):
Is that our influenza vaccination rate this year a year
to date is down about four percent from where we
were last year. About twenty six percent of Oregonians have
been vaccinated to date according to our Immunization Registerry records.
We wish it were everybody getting vaccinated, everybody six months
of age and older. So we can really do a
(28:38):
lot better in that regard, and I would urge my
fellow citizens to get to get vaccinated, So please do that.
The difference between influenza A and B, Yes, A tends
to be more severe. If we have a B year,
we tend to see fewer hospitalizations, particularly among adults. I
(28:59):
think the reason is that influenza B doesn't mutate as
much as influenza A does. And so you know, the
influenza B strains that we see this year tend to
be very similar to the ones that we've seen in
previous years, and we have more immunity against them, whereas
the A strains tend to drift, you know, and which
is one of the reasons why we have a new
(29:19):
vaccine out there every year. They tend to change a
little bit to evade our immunity. Influenza A and in
particular H three and two always hit harder and especially
the elderly.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
That's doctor Paul sees Lak with the Oregon Health Authority
with an update on the flu season. He says there's
still time to get a vaccine and have it be
effective against flu and COVID. Thanks for listening to Local Voices,
I'm brad Board. You can hear past episodes on the
iHeartRadio app under the podcast tab. Local Voices is a
public affairs presentation from iHeartRadio.
Welcome to Local Voices. I'm brad Ford this week. What
will President elect Trump's budget priorities mean for Oregon? The
Right to repair law in Oregon is now in effect,
but don't expect changes for a while, and flu season
is near its peak. We'll get an update from the
Oregon Health Authority. President elect Trump returns to the White
(00:25):
House January twentieth, with Republicans and the majority for both
the House and Senate. That could give Republicans the ability
to move legislation at the top of their agenda. Oregon
Republican Representative Cliff Bentz joins us on Local Voices. How
do you see the first few months of President Trump's
second term rolling out?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
I think the first day he's probably going to design
any number of executive orders, reversing a lot of what
President Biden had done. Exactly what will be on the list,
I don't know, because obviously I'm not part of the
White House team. But there will be a bunch of
executs of orders. So we can anticipate that the Big Bill,
(01:04):
that the Big Beautiful Bill, as he calls it, is
indeed a work in progress, but it is anticipated that
he would like to have that bill come out in
early April, and that that's what we've been targeting here
in the House over the past couple of weeks. And
the work that that's going to take is going to
(01:27):
be considerable, and we've been we've been literally working on
it last year, on the reconciliation approach to this bill.
And of course the listeners, your listeners probably are as
unfamiliar with reconciliation as was I up until about a
(01:47):
year ago when we've started to talk about it. And
it means that it takes only fifty one votes in
the Senate instead of the sixty votes that it otherwise
would take and to avoid the folks standing up and
(02:11):
talking until the bill finally dies. So the reconciliation device
means that all of our Republicans here in the House
would have to vote for it. I think we have
one vote to spare, perhaps depending upon the day, because
we're waiting for certain people who were appointed two or
asked to work for the Trump administration. They've left and
(02:34):
their replacements have not yet been elected. And so I
think right now the Democrats have two hundred and fifteen members,
and I think we have two hundred and seventeen, and
so we could pass something with one person on the
Republican side saying no. So it's a very very close, close,
(02:57):
closely balanced group of folks here in the House. But
assuming we can get everybody going in the same direction,
then the Reconciliation bill would pass, we hope, across the
floor with all but one of us voting for it,
and then it would go to the Senate, and if
they all agree, at least fifty one of them, then
it will It would make its way through the Senate,
(03:19):
and then the President electromp would sign it. That's the
plan on the Reconciliation bill. The Reconciliation Bill is limited
to matters that affect spending, so policy matters aren't allowed
in it. So and the type of spending is limited
to mandatory spending, not discretionary. So there's a lot of
rules that apply, and getting this bill put together is
(03:42):
very complicated.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Do you see some Democrats supporting that bill or will
that be something that Republicans will work toward.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
If history is any indication, no, there won't be any
Democrats joining us in this in the House. That when
faciliation was used during the first two years of the
Biden administration, that we're no Republicans joining, and I think
that's been the case in the past. I haven't gone
(04:12):
back to check. So this is going to be almost
for sure, and all Republican effort in the House and
then all Republican effort in the Senate.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Now, at the end of the last year, we heard
of the you know, the bill that was necessary to
extend the government shutdown. Is this reconciliation bill? Will that
will that solve that problem? Will that keep the government
funded through the end of this period, which would be
what September?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
The fiscal year ends at the end of September and
begins on October first. The short answer is, if President
Trump has his way, yes, because he's asking that the
debt ceiling be increased so that there's none of the
starting and stopping that we saw over the past couple
(05:02):
of years. And so the debt ceiling should be a
part of the reconciliation bill, the increase in it. What's
happened is the I'll say the many of us are
very anxious if we're going to increase the debt ceiling,
that we have real measurable reductions in spending that accompany
(05:28):
that increase in the debt ceiling. There are things built
into our budget that are going to go up. A
good example would be so Security in medicare. Those two
budget items are going to increase because so many people
from the Baby boom generation are retiring, So those expenses
(05:49):
are going to increase. And thus policy made long before
most of us got here, way for probably all of
us got here, are going to drive an increase in
the total amount of spending. Those programs. Social Security and
medicare are not on the list to be reduced, and
(06:11):
so the reductions have to come from other places. And
exactly how big those reductions are is being debated right now.
What form they're going to take is being debated right now.
But the debt ceiling, the President wants that included in
this great, big, beautiful bill.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Are you able to say what areas might see cuts?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
I'm going to say that most areas are going to
see cuts, and by most areas I mean kind of
across the board. Each one of the committees has been
asked to find spending reductions that fit within the reconciliation format,
because again, discretionary spending is not allowed to be addressed
(06:54):
inside this bill. Mandatory spending is what you have to
address inside a reconciliation vehicle. So you're going to see
each committee look at that the type of spending that
it has jurisdiction over that falls inside the mandatory spending space,
and they'll be making suggestions for reductions on those spending.
(07:18):
The one where most of the money is spent is medicaid,
So you're going to see different ideas regarding streamlining of
Medicaid front and center. And in point of fact, to
the committee that I was disappointed to Energy and Commerce
as jurisdiction over medicaid. And so we spent literally four
hours in the last couple of days in committee discussing
(07:42):
those types of reductions. Those reductions are still in the
talking stage. We were presented with a bunch of different concepts.
Those won't have to be finalized for about a month,
but that certainly is a focus of the discussions over
the last couple of days.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Now, Oregon receive some waivers to expand medicaid. Is that
something that could be affected if there are reductions in medicaid?
Is that one of the things that's being discussed.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yes, there are different parts of the Oregon waiver that
would be affected one way or another. I want to
make it clear that these are reductions, not bills that
would get rid of these kind of things. And so
people have to understand that the amount of money that's
(08:33):
being spent in these spaces is exploding and that has
to be slowed down. We are spending roughly two trillion
more a year here in the United States than we
have revenue. So we get about four and a half
trillion dollars coming in the door, and we're standing about
six and a half trillion dollars out and that cannot
(08:53):
go on. Have a that's about a two trillion dollar
a year increase in our deficit, which is already thirty
six trillion, And rad to put this, put this in
terms that reflect why this can't go on. The interest
on our thirty six trillion dollar debt is approaching, if
not passed, one trillion dollars a year. So already of
(09:18):
our six trillion dollars in expenses, one trillion is interest,
and that isn't buying anything, it's paying rent on the
money that we've already spent. And so we've got to
slow this down. As you see interest rates go up,
and they most assuredly have they've come down some, but
they're still high is because we're borrowing so much money.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
One bill that you've worked on is the Klamate Basin
Water Users Bill. President Biden recently signed it. What will
that bill do?
Speaker 2 (09:50):
So fifteen years ago, in two thousand and ten, it
became apparent that the four Lower Climate River dams were
probably going to be removed, and it took fifteen years.
But in point of fact, those four dams have now
been breached, and that means that the two dams that
(10:12):
remain that were above upstream from those four dams are
now subject to the fish passage requirements that didn't apply
before the four lower dams were taken out because they
didn't have fish passage and thus no fish were presenting
at those two upper dams. Our laws require that if
you have a dam in the river and fish present
(10:33):
at the dam, you've got to have passage that lass.
Those laws were passed years ago, and then well, of
course in twenty ten, this you could see this coming.
And so the deal that was made is that the
ranchers and farmers would acknowledge the fact, not necessarily agree,
but acknowledge that these dams were in all probability coming
(10:55):
out but that they should not the farmers and ranchers
be held liable for the repairs to the names of
these two dams, of the Link River Dam and the
Knot Dam, and those two dams need lots of repair
work and they need fish passage. And the idea all
fifteen years ago was that the farmers and ranchers would
(11:16):
not be held liable for that. That was never that
never moved from the written form into the statutory form.
And thus there was much fear that those agreements would
never be followed. And so I introduced legislation earlier this
year in the House. Senator Widen introduced legislation. It was
(11:38):
somewhat different than mine over in the Senate, and I'm
happy to say that we got my bill passed, and
then Senator Wyden stepped in and made sure it got
through the Senate and the President signed it. This a
week or so ago. The idea is to hold the
farmers ranchers harmless from expenses they had no reason to
have to ever be held responsible for, and they had
an agreement saying so.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Now another Billy you and Senator Widen have been working
on is the Owayhee Canyon Lands Bill. What would the
legislation do and what's your priority.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
So my priority is to keep the land and the
communities around that land safe. And it's a huge space.
It's in the county I've lived in for many, many years,
my home county. The Home county is about six million
acres in size. And the Iswayhee Canyon Lands Bill that
Center Widen and I've been working on would take a
little less a fraction less than a million acres and
(12:27):
make it into permanent wilderness. And this is designed to
protect the land along the Hawayhe River. The river itself
in a corridor a half a mile wide of over
two hundred and twenty miles of that river are already
protected under the Scenic Rivers Act, and then there are
judicial measures in place to prevent cattle from going on
(12:52):
the river. Now, so that land is protected and has
been for twenty five years. Many environmental organizations say otherwise,
but they're wrong, and so the but the fact of
the matter is making this into wilderness, will the land
alongside the river will expand those areas that are that
are that are protected and make those protections permanent. And
(13:14):
I must say I've got to give credit to Senator
to widen for the amazing amount of work he and
his staff is to have done, in conjunction with my
staff's work and many others locally, to put together the
bill that he and he Senator Wright and I have
now agreed upon him and we'll be uh, we'll be
dropping that bill here in the next couple of days.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
I hope former Representative Lori Chavez Draimer is President Elect
Trump's choice for Labor Secretary. I have you've been able
to talk to her about her nomination and what her
priorities are. I know you can't speak for but.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
I talked to her just yesterday. I hadn't spoken to
her and some time. I'm very, very pleased that President
Trump has reached out to former Congressman chev As Dreamer
to take on this job of Labor Secretary. I think
she'll do a great job her. I think reason for
having been selected was that she had taken some pretty
(14:09):
aggressive positions, positions I don't necessarily share the fact that
I don't on certain bills having to do with unions,
and I think that drew for her the support from
the Teamsters and other unions. And I think the Teamsters
reached out to the President of President elect Trump and said, hey,
(14:31):
we think that that Laurie Scheves s Hrimer understands unions
and is at least willing to talk to us. Because
I think that's one of the reasons according to Laurie
and why she reached out. She wanted to be able
to sit down at the table with unions and try
to try to work with them. And I think that
the President elect Trump saw that and that's why he
selected her. I think her her ideas it will be,
of course, to fulfill whatever the president wants. She would
(14:54):
be working for him, and they, I think want to
build on the work that President Trump did with unions
that resulted in him being supported implicitly by unions. So
good on her forgetting the appointment. And she's one of
the first people from Oregon in years in years to
be on a presidential candidate cabinet, and I'm just so
(15:16):
pleased that it's her.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
What would you like Oregonians to know as we head
in a President elect Trump's second term in the White House.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Well, I think President Trump was elected because he promised
to shake things up, and I think you're going to
see some substantial change and I think a lot of
people are very worried about our deficit, and very worried
about the border, and very worried about the challenges that
crime and inflation present. And they believe that President Trump
(15:43):
will do something about it, and we here in the
House are here to help him attack those huge, huge issues.
And so the tax cuts that he put into place
back in twenty seventeen are coming up. Many of them
are going to expire at the end of the day
this year, and we'll be doing our best to try
to keep our economy solid by extending some of those,
(16:09):
if not most, of those tax cuts. And so I
just think that everyone should look forward to change in
a better economy, and we'll be working with the President
to accomplish that.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
That is Oregon Congressman Cliff Benscliff, thanks for joining us
on Local Voices.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Thank you for the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Oregon's new right to repair laws now in effect. Charlie Fisher,
executive director of OSBORG, joins us on Local Voices. Charlie,
what does the right to repair law do?
Speaker 3 (16:37):
The kind of core behind rite to repair is pretty simple.
It's about making it easier for people to fix their stuff.
Consumers will be able to request from manufacturers of certain products,
access to replacement parts, tools, and any documentation so like
(16:58):
a manual or software needed to install the parts and
get the device fully functioning again. So, you know, our
hope is that it will make it easier for people
to keep their things going instead of having to buy
new and you know throw out what they had, saving money,
producing the amount of e waste going to the landfill,
(17:19):
and you know, overall just kind of taking back the
concept that we should be able to do what we
want with what we own.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Are there businesses that are exempt from the law.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Yeah, there aren't any businesses that are exempt, but the
you know category of products that are covered is relatively
nearro so, so a couple of things. It applies to
what we call consumer electronic equipment. So that's basically anything
that has a computer chip in it, and so that's computers, tablets, phones,
(17:53):
but also appliances again to the extent that they have
like something digital component to them. And then there's there's
a time limit or what we call a look back
period for you know, older devices. So for phones, it's
any phone that was first manufactured July first of twenty
twenty one, and then for all the other products that
(18:17):
I talked about, it's any product that was first manufactured
after twenty fifteen. So the idea being, you know, these
older products are sometimes you know, manufacturers don't have access
to the manuals still, or they don't sell a part.
So we just wanted to say, right, it's only going
back to a certain date. But then looking forward, you know,
I think that'll become less relevant as we move into
(18:39):
the future, where twenty fifteen is in twenty twenty one specifically,
or you know, just kind of further in the past.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
So the law took effect on January first. When do
companies have to comply?
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Yeah, so they're required to comply on January first. The
enforcement by the Attorney General will not go into effect,
I believe until twenty twenty seven. So basically, you know,
we're expecting companies to comply, but there isn't going to
be any enforcement action on them for a couple of years.
(19:12):
Just in cases you were saying, you know, there's some
there's the need to figure out compliance. I will say
though that you know, what the law requires is it
doesn't require companies to make anything new. It's really about
to the extent that they currently offer repair services. So
you know, you think about like Best Buy, you know,
geek Squad or the Apple Store. You know, the kinds
(19:36):
of information that are given to those technicians to work
on a particular product, and the access to the parts
and tools, those all now have to be made available
to us as owners of the product, and then to
third party independent repair businesses. So and the second thing
is there are a number of states, including California, that
(19:56):
have already passed right to repair laws that are pretty
similar to ours, with some key differences. So this isn't
a new thing for companies. They've already been getting ready
to comply or currently are complying in other states. So
I don't think that it's going to be too difficult
for them to or it shouldn't be to comply with
the law starting January first.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Does a lot of detail how the companies make the
repair information available. Do they have to post it on
their website for example.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
It's not prescriptive in the sense that they have to
do this or that, But what it does say is
that they can't create artificial barriers to make it harder
for someone to get access to the parts, tools and information.
Then it would be like if they went to whatever
the authorized repair provider is. So essentially they just can't
create barriers that are intended to make it difficult for
(20:46):
people to get access. But it doesn't say it has
to be in line or has to be you know,
in any other form.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
They just have to be able to have it available
in some manner. Yeah, right, Why is it important to
have a law like this?
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Great question.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
It's important for a number of reasons. I mean, you know,
we estimate that Orgonians discard over one and a half
million phones every year, and you know those go in
a variety of places, but some of them are randing
up in the landfill, and so, you know, just reducing
(21:20):
the amount of phones that people are discarding because they
can't use them anymore is important for reducing the amount
of e waste that's being generated, which, by the way,
E waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the
world right now. It's also about saving folks money. You know,
if you can keep your phone or computer working for
another year or two instead of having to buy a
(21:43):
new one, you know, that's going to be a pretty
significant savings, especially if it's only not working because the
company won't give you access to the things you need
to get it up and running again. And then you know,
just from an energy perspective, almost the majority already of
the energy associated with u with a phone comes from
(22:04):
its manufacturing and from transportation, so very little actually dealing
with the usage, so the charging and all that. So
you know, if you're able to extend. We estimate that
if every orgony extended the life of their phone by
just a year, it would be the equivalent of removing
eighty one hundred cars off the road in terms of
carbon emissions. So it's just a variety of reasons why
(22:28):
this is important. But again, you know, like I said
at the beginning, it's really fundamentally about bringing us back
to this principle that should be common sense that when
you own something, you should be able to do what
you want with it, and companies shouldn't be able to,
you know, force you to go to there repair people
or just buy a new device. If the parts and
(22:51):
information are right there, they just won't give them to you.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
Yeah, I would think, you know, with cell phones, probably
broken screens and batteries that don't hold a charge anymore,
probably two of the you know, the biggest repairs that
need to be made on phones and being able to
you know, looking at the price of some phones now
over one thousand dollars, being able to fix your phone
and keep it instead of go out and buy another
phone just makes sense.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
Yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
If people want to learn more about this, what can
they do?
Speaker 3 (23:17):
Yeah, well, so we actually just published a guide at
ospurg dot org. That's ospi rg dot org that is
focused on showing you number one, how to get access
to parts, tools and information from manufacturers, and then two
what to do if they don't comply, So that means
filing a complaint with the Attorney General. So that's available
(23:39):
on our website at osburg dot org.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
That's Charlie Fisher with OSBERG and details on Oregon's new
right to repair law that took effect on January first.
Hospitals are seeing a lot of patients with cases of flu.
Doctor Paul sees Lack with the Oregon Health Authority says
cases are on the rise.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
Well, one of the things I tell people is that
every season is a bad influenza season. Virtually every season
we see hospitals filling up with patients to overflowing. Even
in sort of an average influenza year, and this year
is no exception. Hospitals are fairly full right now. It
is looking to be an influenza A season as opposed
(24:19):
to a B season, at least in the early stages
of it, and a little over half of the cases
are the H three and two, which is the worst type,
a little over half of the influenza a's, but just
looking at numbers of hospitalizations in the Triconty area, I
would say it's an average influenza season.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
So far.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Two juveniles have died from the flu this year. Is
that common?
Speaker 4 (24:45):
No. In most seasons we have no influenza deaths among
persons under eighteen years of age. Children, they are relatively
low risk for dying from influenza, although every season we
do see children being hospitalized with influenza. That's one of
the reasons that vaccination is recommended for everybody six months
(25:08):
of age and older. It's more common for the very
young children to be hospitalized with influenza, but everybody's at risk.
Influenza is a virulent virus. You don't have to be
immune compromise in or to get it, but the people
who end up in the hospital with it are disproportionately elderly,
young children, and people with chronic underlying conditions. The season
(25:35):
isn't over yet. In fact, it may not even be
halfway over, although I will say that the numbers of
positive tests that we're getting sort of indicate that we
may be peaking around now. In other words, influenza is
really out there being transmitted in high quantity right now.
So if you haven't been vaccinated, we would definitely recommend
(25:58):
that you get vaccinated. But there are probably ten or
twelve weeks of influenza season left to go. There's a
lot more flu to be had, so we would definitely
recommend protecting yourself against it.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
How effective is the vaccine this year?
Speaker 4 (26:14):
CDC produces interim estimates of vaccine effectiveness sort of midway
through the season, but I don't expect it until February.
Really too late to make your decision. We definitely recommend
that you get vaccinated. They do check whether it looks
like the vaccine is a good match to circulating strains,
(26:35):
and so far, all of the H one n ones
and all of the influenza b's that they've tested today
have been a good match to the vaccine strain. The
influenza A H three N two is less of a
good match. I believe they're saying that fifty six percent
of the strains that they have tested to date that
are H three N two are vaccine strains and the
(26:59):
rest of have shown some mutation away from the vaccine strain.
So overall, it looks like maybe seventy seventy five percent
or so of circulating strains of influenza are good match
to the vaccine. You know, although we would hope for
one hundred percent match, and you know, and sometimes we
(27:19):
get matches that are, you know, well into the ninety
percent range, you know, this is still probably about a
seventy five percent match, which is which is not bad.
I mean, I certainly got my flu shot this year,
and you know, we'll wait to see what the actual
vaccine effectiveness is when CDPC produces their estimates, But in
(27:39):
all likelihood, you're going to be better off with the
vaccine than you are without it. You know, the number one,
two and three way to protect yourself from influenza is
to get vaccinated. It is the single best method that
we have, and you know, we we would typically make
all the routine respiratory disease protection messages, stay home with
(28:01):
you're sick. If you're sick, try not to expose other people,
cover your cough, wash your hands frequently. All of those
should be observed routinely, I think. But on top of that, vaccination.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Vaccination rates are down. How much of a problem.
Speaker 4 (28:17):
Is that our influenza vaccination rate this year a year
to date is down about four percent from where we
were last year. About twenty six percent of Oregonians have
been vaccinated to date according to our Immunization Registerry records.
We wish it were everybody getting vaccinated, everybody six months
of age and older. So we can really do a
(28:38):
lot better in that regard, and I would urge my
fellow citizens to get to get vaccinated, So please do that.
The difference between influenza A and B, Yes, A tends
to be more severe. If we have a B year,
we tend to see fewer hospitalizations, particularly among adults. I
(28:59):
think the reason is that influenza B doesn't mutate as
much as influenza A does. And so you know, the
influenza B strains that we see this year tend to
be very similar to the ones that we've seen in
previous years, and we have more immunity against them, whereas
the A strains tend to drift, you know, and which
is one of the reasons why we have a new
(29:19):
vaccine out there every year. They tend to change a
little bit to evade our immunity. Influenza A and in
particular H three and two always hit harder and especially
the elderly.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
That's doctor Paul sees Lak with the Oregon Health Authority
with an update on the flu season. He says there's
still time to get a vaccine and have it be
effective against flu and COVID. Thanks for listening to Local Voices,
I'm brad Board. You can hear past episodes on the
iHeartRadio app under the podcast tab. Local Voices is a
public affairs presentation from iHeartRadio.
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