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East County Voices
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Friends,
On Monday, July 8, Oregon’s 77th Legislative Session adjourned and I’m proud of what we accomplished. This first session has been very busy, but I couldn’t have done it without you. Many of you wrote or called in to share your opinions on the many bills that came before the legislature. Your efforts to improve the future of our community are vital and I hope you will continue to stay in touch while we are out of session.
Looking back on this session and the legislation that was passed, I’m proud of what we were able to accomplish in my first term. Below are just a few of the highlights for this session.
Prioritizing Education
We were able to reverse years of massive cuts to our schools. With an increase of $1 billion for K-12 education this biennium, we made the largest investment ever in Oregon’s public schools and began our way back to fully funding our education system. We also redirected corporate tax refunds to increase funding for community colleges and House Bill 3149, which I sponsored, will seek practical solutions for increasing childcare options for community college students.
Increased Transparency and Accountability
We passed an unprecedented audit of TriMet. The audit will examine the operations and finances of TriMet and make recommendations that will give riders, TriMet, and the legislature the information we need to make necessary improvements that will help riders across the Metro area. We also closed loopholes for out-of-state banks and cracked down on offshore tax shelters.
Click here to read the editorial by the Oregonian on the TriMet audit.
Protecting families and communities
We expanded foreclosure relief to help struggling Oregonians keep their homes. Seniors who were in danger of losing their homes were added back into programs that will allow them to keep their homes and Oregonians were protected from unfair health insurance rate hikes with our new rate review process.
These are but a few of the accomplishments we made this session. I’m looking forward to hearing from you at my next Community Town Hall with Senator Laurie Monnes Anderson on Thursday, August 8 at 6:30pm in the Gresham Library. If you can’t make it, please feel free to contact my office at any time. It’s been an honor to serve you this session.
Community Town Hall with Sen. Monnes Anderson and Rep. Gorsek
When: Thursday, August 8 at 6:30pm
Where: The Gresham Library, 385 NW Miller Ave. Gresham, OR 97030
Sincerely,
Rep. Chris Gorsek
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900 Court St. NE, H-485 Salem Oregon 97301