Good morning everybody!!

Multnomah County Board of Commissioners are voting to adopt the proposed budget today. Meeting starts at 9:30am

Follow along for updates and analysis. You can also watch the livestream here: https://bit.ly/2NlqB9J 

In case you missed it, here's an overview of some things proposed in the County's budget. This includes increases to the Sheriff's Office and the District Attorney's Office.

Find the full demands from Black & Pink and CNC here: https://linktr.ee/carenotcopspdx 
https://twitter.com/carenotcops/status/1275133217972998144?s=21 https://twitter.com/carenotcops/status/1275133217972998144

Curious what amendments County Commissioners have already proposed?

You can view them in full here: https://multnomah.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=3&event_id=2039&meta_id=148332

First graph are reductions to the budget. Second graph are additions to budget.

And to help with the confusion, acronyms of budgets we're focused on are Multnomah County Sheriff's Office (MCSO), District Attorney (DA), Department of Community Justice (DCJ)

Read the budget notes here: https://multnomah.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=3&event_id=2039&meta_id=148340

The budget notes seem inconspicious, but there are proposals for several briefings regarding policing and carceral programs in the County. This includes Electronic Monitoring. Most briefings must be completed by October.

Multnomah County Board of Commissioners meeting is starting! Commissioners are voting to approve attachments to budget right now.

No new amendments have been proposed.

The County just announced they received 16,000 public testimony. They thanked everyone who sent in testimony and those who testified at the budget hearings.

All attachments were unanimously approved. Final statements before the vote on the full package are starting now. Sharon Meieran is speaking now. She acknowledges the impact of George Floyd's murder on this budget process.

Sharon Meieran also highlighted the discussion around "reenvisioning" the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program. Defunding LEAD was an initial demand from Black & Pink. The program is still funded but there was a significant reduction. Meieran proposed this amendment.

Susheela Jayapal is making her final statement now. Echoes rhetoric of "reimagining public safety". Says this budget "doesn't reflect the magnitude of change" demanded by the community. Also thanks all the people who have emailed and says she is open to meet with public.

"I share the anger many in our community are feeling", Jessica Vega Pederson making her statement now. Similar to her colleagues, she also highlights cuts to Sheriff's Office and closure of jail dorms. Says "budget does not go far enough", however.

"Core of our work is our basic humanity", Lori Stegmann is speaking next. She thanks those who have contacted her office and spoke at budget hearings. Ends stament by reminding everyone "we have a long ways to go".

Chair Deborah Kafoury is up now. Says she is inspired by the protests going on. Says this moment calls for "a higher level of leadership". Echoing her colleagues, she also says this is not enough and there is more to do.

Chair Kafoury continues saying how important reenvisioning public safety is. She says "our community is literally crying out". Says budget begins to "make good" on those requests.

And with that, Multnomah County Commissioners vote unanimously to adopt the FY 2021 budget.

So what does this mean? Multnomah County Commissioners did make amendments to cut the Sheriff's Office and the District Attorney's Office budgets last week. These amendments did not go far enough, however, and many of the programs we identified to cut remain fully funded.