BAKER CITY — U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., had an online town hall for Baker County residents on Tuesday, March 16, and federal COVID-19 aid was a major topic.

Julie Huntington, a member of the Baker School Board, asked Merkley about a possible extension for businesses to apply for loans under the Payroll Protection Program, a key part of last year’s CARES Act.

“I’m afraid there’s going to be many people who are in need of that PPP process that just will not have the time or the resources to actually get an application in by that 31st March (deadline),” Huntington said.

Merkley said he would check on the issue. He said the PPP program has been changed many times, and that the most recent federal aid package includes more money for the program.

“I thought there were some details on this particular refunding of PPP that was designed to try to make sure that the small businesses were able to get the money rather than it being sucked off by a few larger businesses,” Merkley said. “But I didn’t hear anything about whether the application period was extended or not.”

Bryan Tweit, Baker County’s contracted economic developer who is part of the county’s economic recovery team during the pandemic, asked Merkley about assistance for renters in the new package.

“There is a significant amount of funding for rental assistance which is intended to enable people to pay their rent and therefore money gets into the hands of a landlord,” Merkley said.

He didn’t have details about how that portion of the relief funding will be disbursed. The senator also said homeowners making mortgage payments is another issue.

“I am very concerned about mortgage payments because the downside of giving a forbearance period is that families who missed three or four or five months under the forbearance now may be facing, well, you’ve got to pay it all at once or you lose your house,” Merkley said. “So we’re hoping the mortgage companies will really work hard to restructure those loans and put the missed payments on the back end of the loan but that requires some significant effort.”

Priscilla Lynn, president of Saint Alphonsus Medical Center-Baker City, asked Merkley about funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay for workers at vaccination clinics.

Lynn said the Baker County Health Department is doing “a great job” with the resources it has for vaccinations.

As of Wednesday, March 17, Baker County had the second-highest vaccination rate, per 10,000 residents, among Oregon’s 36 counties.

Merkley said information about health care resources in the new relief bill are available on his website, www.merkley.senate.gov/

The senator said the new relief package includes money to help states provide health coverage, including COVID-19 treatments, to uninsured residents.

Merkley said one of the chief goals with the new law is to accelerate the nationwide vaccination effort, which is done at no cost to people who are inoculated.

River Democracy Act

Ken Alexander of Unity asked Merkley about Senate Bill 192, also known as the River Democracy Act. It would add reaches of dozens of streams to the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and Alexander said he’s concerned streams in the Burnt River basin, which flow through highly mineralized areas, are included in the bill.

“What that does is it prevents any future mining or prospecting on those rivers, and I’m concerned about the process going ahead of how you’re going to investigate what rivers really belong in this bill,” Alexander said.

Merkley said Oregon’s other senator, Ron Wyden, compiled the list for the bill based on nominations he received from residents across the state.

“There’s a map of all the river segments, there’s more details about a number of concerns that were raised,” Merkley said.

He said he supports the bill, and he offered to connect Alexander with Wyden’s staff.