This week, I advocated for Senate Bill 1579 on the floor of the House. This bill, which I co-sponsored, establishes a $15 million Economic Equity Investment Program to provide outreach and resources to disadvantaged Oregonians. It is designed to help them buy a house, become an entrepreneur, or grow their existing business. It will help to open the door of opportunity to those who do not have the benefit of intergenerational wealth.  

Video of Floor Speech  

This short session, we made investing in our schools a priority. The result was a $300 million package to address the staffing crisis in our schools, create summer learning opportunities, and support wild-fire impacted school districts.  

Addressing Oregon’s Education Workforce Shortage: the funding package includes a significant investment in Oregon’s education workforce to increase the number of teachers, substitutes, and other school staff. This bill will set up a new recruitment and retention grant program while also reimbursing substitute teachers and instructional assistants for the cost of their training.   

Summer Learning Opportunities: we also created grants for school districts and community organizations to provide summer learning programs and activities. These grants will be directed through three specific investments: 

• Summer K-8 Enrichment Grants, funding enrichment activities, academic learning, and mental health support for kids. 
• Summer High School Academic Grants, supporting summer school programs that help high school students stay on track for graduation. 
• Summer Community Activity Grants, helping our community partners provide new or existing summer activities such as day camps, park programs, and tutoring.  

Supporting Wildfire-Impacted School Districts: The devastating 2020 wildfire season burned over a million acres and destroyed thousands of Oregon homes and businesses. Many of the families who were displaced by these fires have been unable to return home. As a result, several of the school districts in these wildfire-impacted areas experienced a sharp drop in enrollment, which resulted in a considerable decrease in their overall funding. The education package sends additional resources to these school districts to ensure stable funding as their communities rebuild.  

You can follow me on Facebook at: State Representative Sosa to watch the livestream and stay in touch with my office. 

I hope to see you there! 

As always, you can contact my office with any questions or feedback at Rep.NathanSosa@Oregonlegislature.gov or by phone at (503) 986-1430. I look forward to hearing from you!