By DJ Kelley
The following are notes taken from the Feb. 17 COIN meeting, including the interview with Rep. Janelle Bynum conducted by Laura Allen, along with the remainder of discussion, including the Legislative Team’s report presented by Debi Ferrer. and discussions of No Kings 3.
Also, watch the video of the COINversation with Rep. Janelle Bynum.
COINversation with Rep. Janelle Bynum
Rep. Janelle Bynum spoke first. She has had four town halls so far this year: one with Sen. Jeff Merkley, two with Sen. Ron Wyden. The message difference from last year to this year from her constituents is “Impeach the bastards!”
The Department of Homeland Security has centered on bravado, “protectionism” rather than “protect people.”
The $75 billion budget for ICE is a lot. What should we be doing with our money? This is a larger budget than the entire prison system.
There is no compromise this time in Congress regarding the ICE camps. What can we do?
They want “warehouse space for humans” – we need to pressure the owners of these properties, to encourage them to not enter in agreements with ICE.
People need to listen for info about where ICE might be trying to locate. Realtors, property managers, etc are the people who will know early on.
Is the Newport location the only one currently being looked at? Deschutes County had been a possible location, but not at this time now.
DHS is moving detainees multiple times, and they refer to this as “moving bodies” not humans. Bynum believes this happens for several reasons: to keep detainees from contacting their families when they are local, or contacting an attorney; and each move may be counting them again [to meet arrest quotas and claims] each time they are relocated.
The Democrats have put demands on the table – no masking, no kidnapping, humane facilities. They disagree on the “how” to apprehend.
There is a caution at this time about passports being blocked, which is not confirmed yet.
The SAVE Act is a “poll tax” and the House passed it. Red syates have fewer passport holders than blue states, so it will impact the red states disproportionately. Student ID is not acceptable, but you can use a hunting license to vote. Bynum doesn’t expect this to pass the Senate.
Among the things Bynum mentioned about voting:
- Be sure to have a family voting plan.
- Train groups on how to watch polling places/ballot drop sites/ballot counting.
- Printers of the ballots need to be watched.
There is a K-30 plan: a K-12 plan combined with an 18–30 (-year-old) plan.
The 18-30 plan is for those that are in the 18-30 age group who are “launching” on their own. This “launch” occurs later for this group now than it did in the past because of the economy. This age group needs more mental health access, teacher recruitment, housing programs, and jobs as apprentices and builders.
The Fix Our Forest Act is misnamed, and Bynum voted for it. The tribes like it, but environmentalists don’t.
To help her make decisions for the people she represents, contact counts. This is important for how she votes.
Next for COIN
The next meeting for COIN is Feb. 3. The topic is “Food Insecurity.”
Legislative Update
Debi Ferrer gave the legislative update. The current legislative session ends March 6.
Debi shared this link in the meeting chat, a list of some bills “right now we need help with…bills we need you to make phone calls about.”
[For similar information with more detail, check Debi’s Legislative Action Alerts on this website.]
A few of these she highlighted [there are more in the document she linked]:
- SB 1570 – Healthcare without Fear is for hospitals and clinics. They must have a judicial warrant to release medically stable patients. (“Contact your state senator and urge them to vote YES on SB 1570.”)
- SB 1546 – AI in mental health needs requirements to companion with safeguards to protect minors. (“Contact your state senator and urge them to vote YES on SB 1546. Senate vote is scheduled for Wednesday Feb 18.“)
- HB 4138 – LEAVA Act – for all officers: no masks, clear ID, and information about who they are and represent. (“Contact your state representative and urge them to vote YES on HB 4138.“)
- HB 4018 – COIN vehemently opposes to the 84-page amendment to the original single page bill. It reverses campaign finance reform gains made just two years ago, and now we must fight it again. No date for a vote yet but “will likely be sometime in the next few days.” (“Contact your state representative and urge them to vote NO on HB 4018“)
Laura Allen added “plugs” for two other bills:
- (HB 4134) 1.25% for Wildlife supports wildlife and habitat conservation, and is to be mainly paid by visitors to Oregon (via transient lodging tax). It has wide bipartisan support, but is still at risk not to pass. “It would be super important to pass this…please call your representative.” (Even if it passes, Oregon would have the third-lowest transient lodging tax in the country.)
- SB 1541 – Make Polluters Pay. (“Contact members of the Joint Ways and Means Committee (look them up here) and urge them to vote YES for SB 1541. “)
Debi reiterated how easy it is to make these calls, and the importance of the short time left to influence this session; don’t be intimidated.
No Kings 3 Map
Terrie Martin of the COIN Leadership Team mentioned that (National) Indivisible released its map of No Kings 3 events on March 28. She urged groups to check the map, as your group and/or event might not be registered, as she discovered about her own. Teresa Safay, also with the COIN Leadership Team, said she has heard from others surprised not to be on the map, emphasizing to double check that. (“National might be having a bit of Mobilize issues.”)
New Groups in COIN
DJ Kelley of the COIN Comms Team introduced the updates to the COIN Local Groups list, naming nine new or newly-listed groups. She urges groups to share information for the newsletter, as the Comms Team is anxious to highlight them and their activities.
Reminders About the Newsletter
Susan Williams of COIN Leadership and Comms Team reminded everyone to sign up for the current newsletter, if they had not signed up since before December 2025. (The newsletter, The COIN Chronicle, began anew with a clean list of new subscriber signups Dec. 30, without harvesting older contact lists.)
More on No Kings 3
Terrie Martin discussed the importance of planning for No Kings 3, after No Kings 2 had much larger turnout than the first No Kings protest. She emphasized the importance of choosing the right space, and invited attendees to bring up questions and concerns.
Planning for safety volunteers and preparing them is “huge.” She expects her event in Jackson County (with ORD2 Indivisible) to require a hundred people in the areas of safety team, traffic team, de-escalators, and first aid.
Ruth Harshfield of We The People – Tigard shared planning aspects of the Tigard event. She has gotten signups to help out during smaller weekly rallies on Saturdays.
Teresa Safay reviewed the No Kings host toolkit from Indivisible that outlines necessities of planning these events. Lots of trainings and information are available.
Susan Williams reported how Dunes City Indivisible is banding with other groups in the Florence area, such as Florence ORganizes and the Democratic Club, for No Kings 3 and events preceding the big rally.
Insurance Questions
The question of insurance for groups arose, as some venues require it to host events.
Teresa Safay pointed out that identifying as “political” can make it hard to insure an event via online shopping, unlike a description such as “community gathering” or “benefit concert” or whatever else can accurately apply. (Of course, a big public event like No Kings is not going to be insured like a smaller event within a venue.)
Terrie Martin also suggested that “civic education” is just as accurate as “political” to describe many Indivisible events.
Sometimes, a group must shop for either another venue or a different insurance option if politics poses issues.
Terrie also added a story about turning her group into a folk dance class, temporarily, in order to qualify for an event space. “You get creative.”
DJ Kelley is a member of the COIN Comms Team, and the leadership team of Dunes City Indivisible.