With a 30-30 tie in the House, a closely divided Senate, and a third term governor, no one expected the 2011 Legislature to produce much. But like my colleagues, I was committed to working together to move Oregon forward and I think we did that. We balanced the budget without raising taxes, and we slowed [...]
The 2011 Oregon Legislative Session ended Thursday, and the House co-governance model negotiated by the House Republicans and Democrats worked remarkably well. Under Oregon’s 2011 House co-governance model, the 30/30 Republican / Democrat split resulted in equal power sharing in all House capacities including Co-Speakers of the House, Co-Chairs of Ways & Means and all [...]
This session is one for the history books. Early on we approved SB 301, which allows Oregon small businesses to accelerate depreciation on equipment and free up capital to invest and hire workers. We passed HB 3000, which stimulates local production by giving preference to Oregon products when the state makes purchases. We approved SB [...]
From my perspective, the legislative session that adjourned Thursday resulted in mixed outcomes. We secured significant funding for all three of the regional universities that serve District 28. Oregon Institute of Technology received more than $33 million to consolidate their Wilsonville campus and to expand their geothermal electric generation project at the Klamath Falls campus. [...]
We have finally completed the legislative session, and while the economic recession that has slammed our state and our country is still being painfully felt, we have made progress on many fronts. If you had asked me six months ago if we would be able to maintain our programs for seniors and the disabled, create [...]
This session will go down in history as a session of compromise and bipartisan agreement. It will also go down with the understanding that we (Oregon) really have a governor who leads. I am a Republican and our governor is a Democrat, but I have to say that the governor has led us through these [...]
We’re still in session, and I had sincerely hoped we would be done by now with a fully bipartisan budget, negotiated and agreed to in good faith. We’re close to completing the work – -it’s down to a disagreement over the last $10 million, believe it or not, in a budget of $14.8 billion. We’ve [...]
I have no idea how long this session will continue. The only substantial budget remaining is for the Department of Corrections (DOC). The DOC budget had a $21 million hole that has been pared down to $18 million. The Legislative Fiscal Office has identified more than $25 million in 2011-13 savings resulting from unissued bonding. [...]
The Oregon Constitution requires the legislature to accomplish only two tasks. Our first responsibility is to hold a legislative session each year. The second duty is to balance the state budgets. This legislative session is rapidly reaching its concluding days. We have accomplished the first requirement to hold a Legislative session. Unfortunately, a number of [...]
This session the Oregon legislature approved two dramatic and landmark bipartisan changes to Oregon’s healthcare system. These two changes increase access to affordable healthcare for nearly all Oregonians and fundamentally transform the healthcare delivery system while improving quality of care. This change is possible because of the inherent opportunity facilitated by the current budget crisis. [...]
