Senate Bill 531 would give businesses right to pandemic reimbursement

JACKSON CO., Ore. — Oregon’s Senate Committee on veterans and emergency preparedness met to discuss Senate Bill 531 on Thursday. The bill essentially gives businesses the right to reimbursement due to the pandemic orders and closures. The Oregon state, Klamath County and Roseburg Chamber of Commerce all sent letters of support for public testimony.

Senate Bill 531 goes as far to say that a business could bring action against the state of Oregon for reimbursement. Jessica Gomez, the board chair for the Chamber of Medford and Jackson County says while it’s a great idea, she doesn’t believe it will pass. She said it would be an incredible amount of money.

“Our local businesses are really struggling and to hinge their bets on a bill that may not make it out of committee is really not a good place to be,” said Gomez. 25 letters were sent in support of the bill from businesses and chambers of commerce around the state.

Gomez says the Chamber sent a letter asking the Governor to lower our county’s metrics from extreme to high. She said the Chamber just wants businesses to be able to reopen.