 My Committees:
This session, I will serve as the vice chair of the Behavioral Health and Health Care Commitee and the Joint Ways and Means – Human Services Subcommittee.
Oregon’s healthcare system is facing several major obstacles— from general accessibility, to affordability, to developing a sustainable workforce. My committee assignments provide an excellent opportunity to help tackle these problems head on.
My Bill Sponsorship for 2023 Legislative Session:
HEALTHCARE:
- Oregon has a severe shortage of nurses, so my bills will increase the nurse training workforce pipeline in 3 ways:
- Provide incentives for more nurse educators in both college and clinical settings.
- Join the Interstate Licensure Compact so it is faster to obtain a license in Oregon.
- Rural tax credits for healthcare providers to recruit and retain medical personnel in our smaller, more rural communities.
- Hospitals need more flexible nurse staffing requirements to allow for regional differences in size and scope of their service areas.
- Coordinated Care Organizations (CCO’s) need long term stability and capacity to deliver medical and dental care to Medicaid patients regionally.
- Expand our Medical Coordination Centers to quickly find the facility in the continuum of care that will best care for patients in crisis.
ENVIRONMENT:
- Directing the DEQ to study disposal sites for the discarded waste of renewable energy.
- EV batteries, Solar panels, Wind turbines all have a life span and there needs to be careful consideration regarding the impact on our landscape and cost to their disposal.
TAXES:
- The Estate Tax exemption is too low and often leaves families with the only option of selling the family businesses and property to pay the taxes.
- The Corporate Activities Tax (CAT) needs revision. Businesses of all sizes are taxed on GROSS receipts. This is a sales tax to business on gross sales without exception for overhead. Businesses that had weak profits or losses for the year may still owe tax. This is a big deterrent to growing business in Oregon.
My Legislative Priorities:
- Create tax incentives for businesses to invest in Oregon communities.
- Protecting our Natural Resource Economy and advocating for active forest management.
- Fight illegal grow operations and address fentanyl crisis. Reform Measure 110.
- Stand up for Oregonian’s Second Amendment Rights.
- Workforce Development in Healthcare to recruit and train our future workforce.
- Relieving constraints on zoning and land use red tape to jumpstart housing development.
- Responsible fiscal policy that reduces overall economic burden on families. Ensuring government is getting measurable results.
To follow along this session, please click here https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/goodwin/Pages/default.aspx to sign up for my newsletter.
JUST IN: The process to sign up to testify before a committee has been changed.
You must register in advance to provide in-person or virtual testimony during a committee. Registration closes one hour prior to the scheduled start time of the meeting.
There are three ways to register:
- Look up the committee meeting agenda on the Oregon Legislative Information System (OLIS) website and follow the testimony registration link on the agenda. The system will send you an email with a registration meeting link and instructions for delivering your verbal/video testimony using the Microsoft Teams platform.
- Look up the committee or subcommittee meeting agenda on the OLIS website and call the listed toll-free number. The phone system will provide you with a phone number and access code to call into the meeting and deliver your verbal/audio testimony.
- On the day of the hearing, come to the public access station at the State Capitol building to deliver your testimony via a publicly provided laptop, there will be Committee staff on-hand to assist you. Please note that this option is intended for those who do not have internet access or an available phone.
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Click this link for more information.
 Decades after lobbying for Oregon Farm Bureau, Greg Addington returns to lead it Oregon Capital Chronicle … He has served on the commission two times for a total of three years, with a break in 2020 when he worked for Breese-Iverson. Breese-Iverson said she hired Addington because of his experience with water issues and in navigating tough negotiations. “He’s just a person with compassion, and I think it shows in his relationship building abilities,” she said. “That’s the thing that I think people will really resonate with as they get to know Greg around the state.”
Thousands of bills await reading in 2023 Oregon legislative session — and more are expected KOIN6 Oregon House leaders plan to discuss their top priorities for the 2023 legislative session at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. House Speaker Dan Rayfield, House Republican Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson and House Majority Leader Julie Fahey will speak at the event.
Capital notebook: Lawmakers vs. jackhammers Oregon Capital Insider For the first time since the COVID-19 state of emergency declared by former Gov. Kate Brown closed the capitol to the public in March 2020, the Legislature plans to hold do nearly all business - hearings, meetings, floor sessions - in person. On Monday, both the Senate and House revised and largely dropped rules regarding pandemic protocols that included holding most hearings online and limited the number of people in the building and in the larger 60-member House event required shifts of lawmaker coming onto the floor so as not to create a terrarium effect for the virus.
Oregon allows public schools to hide official use of neo-pronouns 'fae/faer/faers' from parents Fox News The Oregon Department of Education released guidance this month that included starting a process to potentially implement a "gender support plan" immediately after a student shares he or she is gender diverse. "Schools should engage in student-led support planning for name and pronoun changes. Once the school and student have decided on a supportive action plan, the school should immediately take action to implement the plan," the Oregon transgender policy handbook said. If a student discloses they are trans, the school may or may not include the child's parents in the implementation of a "gender support plan" for the students, which includes aspects of a social gender transition.
Tweet about homelessness in Portland goes viral: 'They are loving us to death' KATU If you're on Twitter, there's a good chance you've seen it. A tweet about homelessness in Portland has touched a nerve around the world, viewed nearly 8 million times and with thousands of likes and retweets. It features a woman named Wendy who lives in a tent in Old Town. A man asks her what it's like being homeless in Portland, and she replies, "It's a piece of cake, really. I mean, that's why we've got so many out here. They feed you three meals a day. You don't have to do (expletive) but stay in your tent or party. If you smoke a lot of dope, you can do that."
Gov. Tina Kotek, Oregon lawmakers sworn into office with promises of change, unity Statesman Journal House Republican deputy leader Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis, R-Albany, expressed her desire to solve the problems outlined by Kotek and the importance of bipartisanship. She also called the moment "ironic." "For much of the past decade, Tina Kotek was among the most powerful politicians in the state. She bears as much responsibility for the situation we find our state in today as anyone else," Davis said. "Nevertheless, I’m committed to working with the Kotek administration to solve the challenges we are facing as a state. We must move forward. Together." The House Republican Caucus sent a letter to Kotek following the ceremony congratulating Kotek on her inauguration and expressing its "sincere hope" that the governor’s office and legislative assembly can work together. They also highlighted priorities, including addressing homelessness, fiscal responsibility, community safety and the need to support law enforcement.
Oregon Democrats working without super majority for first time in 4 years KOBI Republican Representative Kim Wallan said, “I don’t know of any republicans today who are interested in raising taxes when people are really feeling the pinch of inflation.” Wallan said she will be focusing on homelessness and bringing jobs to Southern Oregon. She said she’s looking forward to meeting and working with more than 20 new members of the legislature.
Oregon passed a farmworker overtime law. According to California workers, their state's law has cost them KGW A new law took effect in Oregon this month, one that begins a five-year process of mandating that farmworkers receive overtime pay after working a certain amount of hours per week. In this first year of the law, the threshold is 55 hours per week — anything worked above that must be paid time and a half. That threshold is set to gradually drop over the next few years until it's in alignment with other full-time work. In 2025, it goes down to 48 hours. By 2027, it will be 40 hours. This applies to all of the 85,000 or more farm workers across Oregon, who have not been entitled to overtime pay for more than 80 years.
OR House Minority Leader Looks Ahead To 2023 Session KBND The 2023 Legislative session begins with a new Governor and Senate Presiden, and a House Speaker who has been in place less than a year. House Minority Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson (R-Prineville) is optimistic about the change, "With the new Governor, we can find some places to work together to try to do things that have real impact for the homeless situation in Oregon, and we can have some real impact with the lack of law enforcement that we’ve seen in just the last couple of years." She adds, "I do believe that we will have conversations as we go, and I maybe hesitantly say ‘better conversations’ than previous Republican leaders and Speakers have had in the more recent past. But even in that, we’re going to find some places where we don’t agree with what’s happening."
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1402
Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, H-386, Salem, Oregon 97301
Email: rep.ChristineGoodwin@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/goodwin
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