The sunset has begun on the 76th Legislative session; next week it will conclude. The greatest accomplishment of this Legislature was passing the K-12 education budget first, giving certainty to local school districts. History will show the 2011 Legislature set the precedent: education can be Oregon’s priority. This milestone is especially important as the Legislature [...]
Last week the Senate passed House Joint Memorial 25 urging President Obama and the U.S. Congress to renew the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000. Do not be distracted by the title, the Memorial asked the federal government to allow rural Oregon to harvest our timber which is directly connected to Southern [...]
Oregon is unique among the western states. We are the only state west of the Mississippi with highway and interstate speed limits less than 70 miles per hour. Even along the Interstate-5 corridor, we are the odd state out. I want to bring Oregon into line with our I-5 neighbors, who both have speed limits [...]
What do philanthropy and diabetes have in common? Two things: a Senate bill and Harold Schnitzer, who sadly passed away this week. Senate Bill 787 uses the same platform of the mental health telemedicine bill to extend services to people with diabetes (Telemedicine is a bill I worked to pass for six years which allows [...]
On the heels of the Enron debacle the 2005 Oregon Senate passed a political bill to “send a message” to Oregonians: The state would not allow out-of-state corporations that owned Oregon utilities not to pay taxes. At the time, Portland General Electric was owned by Enron. It made great political speech and allowed politicians to [...]
Unanimously the Oregon Senate passed the K-12 education budget first! I could not be more proud. A hearty round of thanks goes to Rep. Richardson and Rep. Buckley for their bi-partisan leadership on the budget committee. This is the first time this century the Legislature has funded education first, rather than last. This year superintendents, [...]
By the time this is published, the committee on redistricting will have completed field hearings for redistricting in Medford, Grants Pass and Klamath Falls. Redrawing the lines of representation is important; it affects who represents you in the State House, State Senate and U.S. Congress. The term gerrymandering is closely known as a form of [...]
Yesterday the Senate Revenue Committee heard my bills to reduce capital gains taxes. What makes this noteworthy is my friend Senate President Peter Courtney joined me. There is bi-partisan support to reduce capital gains taxes in Oregon, allowing more money to be spent in Oregon’s economy. Oregon is tied with Hawaii for having the dubious [...]
What if I told you that the Oregon Legislature takes six months to pass the budget and it is based on a guess? Well, that is the truth and that guess is the May revenue forecast. Last week the Senate Revenue Committee heard my bills, Senate Bills 595 and 596, which fundamentally improve state government [...]
Last summer when I drafted a bill to require public employees to contribute to their own health care I had no idea this topic would become a national debate. To me it is only fair. My bill requires all senators, all representatives, all judges, the governor and all other state employees to contribute to their [...]
