It was June and I had brought lilies from my garden. My whole team was still "working bills" and I was managing committee meetings while the atmosphere was dense with construction noise and anxiety over the Senate shutdown. The last two weeks were intense, but the last two days were a frenzy.

Now the 2023 legislative session is one for the books: an unprecedented Senate Republican walkout for weeks, nearly 3,000 measures introduced, and 21 new House members finding their way.  

The legislative session ended just hours short of the constitutional limit of 160 days. The walkout meant a partial shutdown. Legislators often felt dismayed and frustrated; still, many of us never lost hope that somehow the political stalemate would be solved. Our work teeing up bills paid off. I was with those who showed up every day doing the important work for Oregon and you all, my neighbors and constituents and friends.

Out of nearly 700 bills passed, there is much omitted from this report, like "the potato bill" naming it the official state vegetable and banning the use of TikTok on state-owned devices. In this issue I provide an update on legislation that I wrote, carried, or shepherded through committee hearings and voting and invite you to join us for a Town Hall meeting. Later this summer I'll report on other local events and meetings.

If you missed my latest e-news, here's the link to Spring 2023 and Summer 2023

Final six weeks of a legislation session:

shutdown, uncertainty, and a rocky end

A chaotic session that ended better than it might have

The final two weeks of session were chaotic, after enough Senate Republicans returned on June 15 to ensure a quorum to conduct business. Their 42-day walkout ended with policy changes negotiated over bills covering the reproductive health and gender-affirming care bill and gun violence prevention. Several policy ideas that had died in committees were brought back to life by adding them to bills still available in remaining committees, including House Revenue and Joint Tax Expenditures. My colleagues and I powered through those final days with additional public hearings and work sessions enabling bills to move quickly. This photo: Rep. Fahey and I joined Senators Manning and Prozanski in the Senate chamber on the morning that we heard the walkout would be ending.

Ultimately, the legislature did accomplish many important things for Oregonians. The May revenue forecast revealed an increase in the state’s estimated general fund revenues, allowing the legislature to make record breaking investments in education, social, and economic programs to tackle affordable and emergency housing and homelessness, community safety and emergency response; improve early learning and K-12 education, higher education, childcare, and behavioral health and addiction services; and attract federal investments adding to Oregon’s drought resiliency and water infrastructure, broadband buildout, and expanding the showcase semiconductor industry to plan for Oregon’s future. 

I took these pictures when guided with hard hat and safety vest through the construction area. Every day construction was going on below and around us during public hearings, committee deliberation, and floor debates. At times we had to pause briefly because the audience was unable to hear comments from presenters or legislators. We carried on even though it added actual noise (including jackhammers) to the more ordinary stress of the "political noise."

Hundreds of bills, and Bipartisanship

Out of nearly 3,000 bills introduced by legislators or state agencies, including nearly 100 budget bills, less than a quarter (653) passed both chambers.

Big debates get the attention. Agreement doesn't usually make the news.

Of 653 bills passed, 572 were substantially bipartisan with 5 or more Republican votes. Only 5% were “party line” votes. A couple of my bills had Republican chief co-sponsors: Pharmacy Benefit Manager reform and modernizing the Strategic Investment Program offering economic incentives to business. As a committee chair I am responsible for selecting and scheduling bills for public hearings. Of all those scheduled, nearly half (23 of 55) had a Republican chief sponsor.

What we got done

Urgent issues and top priorities

Affordable housing and homelessness, mental health and addiction treatment, and community safety were always at the top of the list. We accomplished important work investing in Oregon’s semiconductor industry, drought resiliency and critical water infrastructure, energy efficient buildings, and increasing the workforce for child care and education. Although the debate was intense, we took action to protect health care providers from retaliation and litigation for providing necessary medical intervention to protect women in difficult pregnancies and for providing their patients gender-affirming health care services. And we toughened gun safety laws to crack down on illegal, unregistered weapons, or "ghost guns." Here is a summary of some of the major legislation with more detail than would fit in this enews.

My key bills and funding priorities

I started the session with 24 bills. More than half passed outright or were added to other bills to streamline process in the final weeks. You can read floor speeches and testimony on each of the bills on my legislative webpage. The photo above shows my team (l-r Ellie, Spencer, Aden, and Olivia) reviewing the status of our bills on our "bill board."

$$$ Eugene Springfield area legislators met a few times during the session to discuss issues common to the area, and the many funding requests we had been receiving from local agencies, the cities and Lane County. Here are some noteworthy allocations included in the final state budget:

• Behavioral Health Stabilization Center, Lane County Public Health ($5 million)
• Building renovations for UO's 129-year old Friendly Hall ($65.8 m) and for LCC Science, Math, Engineering ($8.1 m)
• Civic Park (Kidsports), completing the stadium grandstand ($5 m)
• Ollie Court, 81 units of new affordable housing co-located with a childcare center ($11.3 m)

Cybersecurity Canter of Excellence

Cyberattacks hit public agencies, private businesses, and individuals daily. Malicious actors are demanding ransom payment in exchange for access to stolen data. Oregon school districts, cities, and businesses aren't just vulnerable – they are being attacked. Just a couple months ago Curry County was offline and out of commission for a couple of weeks, and they have still been unable to restore all their data. Oregon has more than 7,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs. I worked for nearly four years crafting and advocating legislation to set up a Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (CCOE) to protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from cyberattacks. This year, it passed! The CCOE will be administered by the state’s three largest universities – OSU, PSU, and UO – who will coordinate efforts with Oregon’s other universities and community colleges to expand the workforce and provide services for local governments, schools, libraries, and special districts. This photo shows an historic moment: three major universities in a first-ever collaboration for a jointly delivered program for Oregon. HB 2049

Keeping cybersecurity secrets safe

The City of Eugene received a public records request from a media outlet last year, seeking access to the city’s cybersecurity insurance contract. That contract includes highly sensitive information related to the protection and preservation of critical city records. An exception in current law regarding public records and sensitive information wasn’t completely clear. I helped the City pass legislation to update public records law, like those in Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Vermont and Washington, to prevent sensitive information included in cybersecurity contracts from being made public and available to malicious actors. HB 2490

The CPA workforce

Workforce shortages frustrate business (and customers, clients, and patients) in so many industries. Accountants, too. The Oregon Society of Certified Public Accountants showed me how Oregon’s CPA licensing process was out of step with the rest of the country and getting in the way. This legislation can reduce the time to enter the profession by up to 18 months, by allowing students to sit for the CPA exam during their final year of baccalaureate coursework and decreasing the requirement from 150 course hours to 120, matching other states. The legislation will help make Oregon more competitive for retaining CPA candidates while maintaining important quality standards for CPAs. HB 2523

K-12 school accountability measures

The state measures school quality and student success predominantly on data points that might be called “outputs” (like math, reading, language arts test scores) graduation rates, and attendance. I worked with educators and school counselors to draft legislation that will result in a better picture of the student experience and school quality. The survey data should help schools and policy-makers know where to focus efforts to improve it – like access to food, sufficient time for lunch and recess, access to web-based resources, and involvement in extracurricular activities. Oregon’s school districts will participate in the Student Educational Equity Development survey and the Student Health Survey starting in the 2024-25 school year.  Only aggregated data will be reported; no one will have access to individual student responses. HB 2656 

Early learning and child care workforce

Early learning and childcare facilities face a workforce shortage, yet experience barriers to hiring a qualified workforce able to get certified under current agency processes. The lack of certified workers means local agencies like Relief Nurseries are limited in offering services to children and families who need them. I worked with Relief Nurseries to develop legislation to untangle bureaucracy that’s getting in the way of certifying workers who have legitimate and trusted courses and degrees from other countries. These bilingual professionals are needed to provide children with culturally specific early education. A better certification process will also help reduce classification and pay inequities. Bill supporters included APANO, Oregon Food Bank, Our Children Oregon, PCUN, and Family Forward Oregon. HB 2504

Financing tools for affordable housing

Three of my bills were aimed at building and preserving affordable housing. I worked with Network for Oregon Affordable Housing (NOAH) and Square One Villages to get the exact right language and help navigate the legislative process. The updates to statute were included in our final tax and revenue policy omnibus bills.

Over the next 10 years, housing use restrictions for more than 7,500 units of affordable housing will end, and many properties will become unrestricted, market rate housing. Thousands of Oregonians are already facing the uncertainty of eviction with nowhere to go they can afford. The legislation provides a tax credit incentive for private owners to sell their rent-restricted property to an affordable housing provider who agrees to preserve and keep it affordable for 30 years. Read testimony submitted by Network for Oregon Affordable Housing.

Limited-Equity Cooperatives (LEC) are an innovative financing tool used to build multi-family housing where residents share in ownership. SquareOne Villages identified statutory and tax code fixes to support this financing tool that they have used successfully in Eugene. Read testimony from SquareOne Villages. 

Charitable events: Another red tape untangled

I helped untangle another legal barrier that in a nutshell prevented a nonprofit group from helping another nonprofit group. UA Local 290 Plumbers and Steamfitters was hosting a food drive at their apprenticeship center to help families in need during the pandemic. They had to cancel their event because of a Catch-22 between federal regulations and the state’s property tax exemption law. If they hosted the food drive, they’d lose their nonprofit status. This legislation fixed that. HB 2507

Returning renter screening fees

Renters searching for a place to live in Oregon face several barriers in finding suitable housing, including a severe housing shortage, high rents, and coming up with deposits and fees. Application fees are generally required to rent a house or apartment, and often a renter must fill out multiple applications before securing a place to live. Often each adult has to pay the fee for screening (or background check), costing a family hundreds of dollars to apply for several places in the hopes of securing one. This legislation ensures a fair process requiring the return of rental application fees in a reasonable time when the place is already rented and their screening wasn't done. A bill I proposed in a previous session would have created a portable or reusable application to streamline the process and reduce cost, but the industry strongly opposed it. I am working with a bipartisan work group to bring back a solution for a future legislative session. HB 2680

Coordinated emergency response

Urban Search and Rescue, or USAR, is a multi-hazard discipline needed for a variety of emergencies or disasters. USAR equipment and training help firefighters’ response to catastrophes and natural disasters, for example people trapped in a collapsed structure or by floodwater or landslide. The legislation provides a framework for the Oregon State Fire Marshall to work with local, state, and federal agencies on funding and delivering a statewide program with several teams around the state prepared to assist communities without the equipment or training for these technical rescues. The photos show pictures of USAR equipment and training that includes confined space, trench, rope, and water rescue. HB 2484

Several of my bills got hearings and made it part way through the process. A few were sent to Joint Ways and Means but failed to get funding, including incentives for modernizing 9-1-1 call centers and improving passenger rail service.

The big disappointment was my bipartisan bill to reign in abusive business practices of Pharmacy Benefit Managers, the "prescription drug middle men." We were going to adjourn on Sunday June 25 in the late afternoon and this bill was finally on the list for a Senate vote. The final couple of hours were not easy for me and my office as we watched HB 3013 die on the Senate floor after it passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support, 53-4. We scrambled to save the bill through parliamentary reconsideration, running back and forth between the House and Senate chambers and my office. One other bill died that day as well, HB 3414, a comprehensive bill to tackle the housing shortage that included a voluntarily “opt-in” provision for cities to expand their Urban Growth Boundary one time to develop affordable housing projects, still subject to strict environmental, affordability, and building standards.

Quick and Timely

Homeowner assistance

Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) resumed accepting new applications for the Oregon Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) on Aug. 2. Funds are available to support about 500 additional eligible homeowners. The program offers federal temporary COVID-19 emergency mortgage relief intended to support homeowners who have experienced severe financial hardships due to the pandemic. It provides funding for past-due mortgages and other housing expenses, as well as ongoing payment assistance, to a limited number of homeowners with low to moderate incomes. The HAF will focus on homeowners in active foreclosure and those traditionally underserved by mortgage markets. Homeowners can learn more about eligibility requirements and, if eligible, apply online.   

Certified housing counselors are available to help homeowners for free to explain budgeting tools and evaluate options such as modifications, adding deferred payments to the end of a mortgage, or the HAF. Housing counselors can help homeowners communicate with their mortgage servicers. Search the full list of free certified housing counselors by county here. Homeowners are also advised to contact their mortgage servicers and lenders directly to see what types of mortgage assistance and foreclosure prevention programs are available. Homeowners who communicate with their lenders and servicers have some additional protections and usually have more time to figure out their options. 

Paid Leave Oregon starting in August, September

Paid Leave Oregon covers paid family leave, medical leave, and safe leave for working Oregonians. Employees who need to take time off for important life events can apply for benefits starting Aug. 14, 2023. Reasons can include caring for themselves or members of their family during the birth of a child, or after birth, adoption, or placement of a child in their home through foster care; caring for themselves or a family member during a serious health condition; or if they or their child experience sexual assault, domestic violence, harassment, or stalking. Employees can now go to the employee overview page and find many resources including a guidebook.

Town Hall

At this Town Hall meeting we’ll be sharing our thoughts on the 2023 legislative session,

highlighting what we got done and answering questions on the issues facing our communities.

If you'd like to submit a question in advance, you can fill out this form.