SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Gov. Kate Brown is calling Oregon lawmakers back to the Capitol for a one-day special session, asking them to approve hundreds of millions of dollars to aid people and communities struggling with the pandemic and the effect of this summer's devastating wildfires.

Some of the bills expected to be discussed include renter and landlord relief, a restaurant bill that will allow to-go cocktails, school liability protections and an additional allocation to the state's Emergency Fund.

In a statement Tuesday Brown said the Legislature would convene Dec. 21 and consider $800 million in relief funding.

"Oregon families are struggling with unemployment, housing, food insecurity, and paying their bills — and those most impacted are the same people who are often left behind, including rural, Black, Indigenous, Latino/Latina/Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Tribal communities," the Democrat said in a statement.

Since the start of the pandemic in Oregon, more than 95,000 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed and 1,161 people have died. Shutdowns and restrictions imposed because of COVID-19 have also caused widespread job losses and business closures.

Deadly wildfires in late summer also burned about 1,500 square miles across the state and destroyed more than 2,000 residences.

Advocates for housing implored lawmakers to extend an eviction moratorium, saying up to 40,000 households faced eviction.

“We hope that lawmakers are planning to take action to extend the eviction moratorium and create a landlord compensation fund to ensure that COVID doesn’t bring a lifelong economic setback for Oregon working families,” Alison McIntosh of the Oregon Housing Alliance, sad in a statement.

One of the main proposals that lawmakers have been discussing this month is a $200 million package for landlord and tenant relief — providing $50 million for rental assistance to tenants for the months ahead and $150 million to small landlords for previously unpaid rent.

For weeks lawmakers and residents have been urging the governor to call for a special session, but some people thought that would occur virtually rather than in Salem.

The governor, Senate President Peter Courtney and House Speaker Tina Kotek had all signaled support for the state's first “catastrophic” legislative session, making it possible for the session to be remote.

While Kotek said she would have “preferred to conduct business remotely” she believes the Legislature “must meet as soon as possible and as safely as possible to get critical support to Oregonians in need.”

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Cline is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.