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Hello Friends,
Oregon’s
2017 legislative session officially adjourned on the early afternoon of Friday, July
7. It was my first ever session serving as a freshman senator, and it was a
very educational and eye-opening experience.
As
of early July, the attorneys in Legislative Counsel had produced 4,871 bill
drafts, which resulted in 2,827 measures being introduced. Approximately 3,754
amendments were drafted for those bills, 655 of which were enrolled in the days
before we ended the session.
What’s
worth noting is that, contrary to popular perception, the vast majority of the
bills we passed were not controversial. Many were the products of work groups
or interim committees that met for months before the session with stakeholders
to solve simple problems. Most were passed out of committee, the House and the
Senate on unanimous, bipartisan votes, and consisted of technical fixes and
other slight legal adjustments.
On
one hand, it would be easy to disparage over what didn’t get done in Salem over
the last five months. Nothing was done to address the long-term financial
shortfalls in the state’s Public Employees Retirement System (PERS). Even
though we passed an $8.2 billion education budget that was an 11 percent
increase over that of the 2015-17 biennium, some school districts are having to
make cuts at the local level. That is because their contributions to PERS
continue to grow over time, diverting resources away from paying teachers and
providing smaller class sizes for our students. This problem will only grow
worse over time if we continue to not do anything about it.
I
worked throughout the entire session in bipartisan fashion, with Senators and
Representatives from both parties, on helping to craft revenue reform. Those
efforts ultimately faltered, but I will continue to study this issue in the
coming months and collaborate with others to try to come up with a system that
is stable and adequately meets our citizens’ needs.
On
the other hand, funding was secured for several projects throughout the district
that I represent in the Senate. They include $6 million for capital
improvements at Southern Oregon University’s Central Hall, $1 million to
restore Medford’s Holly Theatre, $750,000 for the Harry and David Baseball Park
and $2 million for the Family Nurturing Center Rogue Valley Children’s Relief
Nursery.
A
comprehensive, statewide transportation package was also approved, and I
supported it. Jackson County will be set to receive a total of $56 million in
funds from now until 2027. The City of Ashland will receive $4.9 million in
that same time period. Jacksonville’s share will be $699,100, Medford’s will be
$18.7 million, Phoenix will receive just over $1 million and Talent will
receive around $1.5 million.
The
Legislature will not convene again until the week of Sept. 18 for a round of
interim committee meetings. That will be followed by more meetings the week of
November 13.
I
plan to hold town hall meetings in Medford, Phoenix and Talent in the coming
weeks and will announce the details as soon as they are finalized. It’s an
honor serving you in the Oregon Senate.
Yours truly,
Sen. Alan DeBoer
Senate District 3
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1703
Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, S-421, Salem, Oregon 97301
Email: sen.AlanDeBoer@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/deboer
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