It's over. Now what's next?

Friends & neighbors,

Yesterday the 2013 Legislative Session came to a close.

No session is easy, and this one was no exception. At the end of the day, we were able to balance Oregon’s budget, achieve landmark legislation, and pass thousands of big and small bills.

My highest personal priority was education and passing a state budget that significantly increased school funding; we passed a budget that boosted K-12 funding by over $1 billion – putting the K-12 budget at $6.75 billion for the next biennium. This reinvestment in education will help to stop constant layoffs and reduce our unacceptable class sizes. We still have much more to do, however.

• Saves families money by increasing college credits in high school – Senate Bill 222
• Restructures Oregon’s higher education governance to allow our universities to reach their potential – Senate Bill 270
• Helps Beaverton save money by opting out of ESDs – Senate Bill 529
• Requires insurance companies to cover autism treatment – SB 365
• Creates study of Pay it Forward, Pay it Back; a new tuition model that would result in zero debt for new students – House Bill 3472
• Steers more kids into technical training after high school – Senate Bill 498
• Helps small businesses by streamlining regulatory hurdles – House Bill 3459
• Protects our environment by expanding Oregon’s world renowned bottle recycling program – Senate Bill 117A
• Ends the cruel and indefensible practice of horse tripping – Senate Bill 835

Something we weren’t able to work on much is fixing our extremely volatile tax structure, which continue to be the most volatile in the United States. This is perhaps one of the biggest problems Oregon is not facing.

 Although we were able to spark a statewide conversation about our broken tax code, we now need to pave a path forward. Whether it’s closing more tax loopholes, instituting a carbon tax, or working on a progressive consumption tax, I’m certain of one thing: something has to change if we want to end this constant boom and bust cycle that results in teacher layoffs, tax inequities and tax uncertainty.

I sponsored legislation to restructure our tax code from top to bottom, cutting income and property taxes by 50% and replacing them with a consumption tax. It would be revenue neutral for Oregonians. Yet it would raise nearly a billion dollars a year more by taxing tourists and people who don’t report their income.

This is something I will continue to work on.

I'm having a wrap up event on July 17th to debrief the session, answer questions, and begin the discussion about what we should work on going forward. I hope to see you there.

2013 Legislative Session Wrap-up
with Representative Tobias Read and Representative Jeff Barker
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
7:00 – 8:00 PM
Beaverton City Library
12375 S.W. Fifth Street, Beaverton

Thank you for the continued honor of serving you in the Oregon State Senate.

Best,