 * “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
—Helen Keller
The 2023 session is in full gear, and we’re looking forward to resuming our reports to you through this newsletter. I say ‘we’ because this year my two legislative aides, who ably support everything I do in this office, will be teaming up with me to write the newsletter (which makes us about as big as the newsrooms of some local papers these days).
Unless you’ve called my office, or attended one of our online or in-person Town Halls, you may not know them yet. So meet Andrew and Sarah…
Andrew Baker: Andrew began working for Senator Golden in May 2020. Before this, he received both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Oregon. Andrew enjoys rooting for the Oregon Ducks and Chicago’s sports teams. He is currently expecting his first child with his wife any day.
Sarah Settimo: Sarah grew up in southern Oregon and feels honored to be serving her community in Senator Golden's office. Sarah attended Oregon State University and double majored in Political Science and Religious Studies. When Sarah isn't in the office she enjoys gardening, backpacking/hiking with her dog, drinking tea, baking bread, and knitting.
Here’s the format we’ll try out this session:
- Up top we’ll have a scenic photo of the Rogue Valley that one of you sends us—as long as you keep sending them. I hope you will, because I need help straightening out my Senate colleagues who go on and on about having the most beautiful district in Oregon. As if. Since the Rogue Valley also has some of Oregon’s best photographers, this is a chance to set the record straight.
- A “What’s up” section, where Andrew and Sarah will list a few consequential bills moving through the process.
- A “What’s stirring” section, where I’ll take some time and space to reflect on issues or developments I find promising, worrisome, perplexing or simply weird.
- A “What do you think?” section, where I’ll ask for your take on an issue or upcoming vote where it’s easy to see merit in both the ‘pro’ and ‘con’ arguments.
- The “Resources” section we’ve always had to take you to online information that might be relevant or useful for you.
So let’s give this a try.
In a long legislative session, thousands of bills are proposed, touching on every aspect of our lives. Many will not become law, but many will, far more than can be highlighted in this section. Our goal is to discuss the big priorities of session, and then highlight a few noteworthy bills moving through committees. This session, Senate Democrats set out the following agenda:
- Addressing Homelessness and Tackling Housing Affordability
- Strengthening Community Safety and Justice for all Oregonians
- Promoting Economic Opportunity and Protecting Oregon Workers
- Ensuring Access to Affordable Healthcare and Caring for Oregonians
- Supporting a Clean and Sustainable Environment and Protecting Against Wildfires
- Supporting Oregon’s School Workforce and Students
- Safeguarding Democracy and Ensuring Efficient Government
Here are some bills that are currently on our minds.
Wildfire: With eleven bills submitted that revise the wildfire program created with SB 762 in 2021, we’ve forged agreement that publication of the next draft of the wildfire map should wait until after the Legislature finishes the session; a good summary is here. Our main wildfire bill, SB 509 is designed to get the “community risk reduction” part of the program—landscape improvement, defensible space, home hardening—back on track. We’ll report more on this when it comes up for public hearing.
Housing: A number of bills will be discussed as the state continues to tackle housing affordability and homelessness. Governor Kotek declared a state of emergency and is requesting millions in additional resources. Additionally, there are many policy bills that will be discussed. One, SB 799, had a hearing this week. SB 799 requires landlords to extend the “notice to pay” window from 72 hours to ten days after an eviction notice is posted, increase the notice period for evictions, and postpone evictions up to 60 days if a person is applying for rental assistance.
Guns/Measure 114: Measure 114, the ballot measure narrowly passed by voters in November, remains in limbo as multiple court cases progress. As it moves through the courts, we will continue to provide updates. This hasn’t stopped additional gun legislation from being proposed this session, however. Attorney General Rosenblum is advocating for HB 2005, a bill that bans the sale, manufacture, and possession of ghost guns.
Semi-conductors: This session, there is a Joint Committee on Semiconductors. The committee is weighing incentives to boost Oregon’s semiconductor industry with an eye on capturing a share of the billions allocated by the federal government in the CHIPS Act.
Prescription Drug Prices: In the past two sessions we’ve taken aim at the exploding price of some prescription drugs. This article on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) makes it clear we have more work to do.
Natural Climate Solutions (SB 530): Creates a program to help our state sequester as much carbon as possible on our forested and agricultural lands.
Right to Repair (SB 542): Will reduce electronic waste and save people hundreds of dollars a year by allowing them to repair their own electronics.
 Photo by: Gino Santa Maria/Shutterstock
Divesting from fossil fuels
I’m a chief sponsor of HB 2601, which prevents Oregon public pension and local government funds from making new investments in fossil fuel companies. Passage of this legislation would add Oregon to the worldwide movement of institutions that have pulled roughly $40 Trillion out of the fossil fuel industry.
The contradiction we’re facing here gave rise to the short video at the top of this page.
Two things are happening at the same time: 1) We are striving every way we can, struggling to clear fierce political obstacles, to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate chaos and its effects, like the mega-fires threatening our communities every summer, and 2) the Oregon Treasury is investing billions of dollars from Oregon taxpayers into oil, gas and coal companies, which fund more drilling, more fracking, more pipelines and refinery capacity, new investments that give the traditional energy industry more reason to fight the transition to clean energy. If there’s a better example of violating the First Rule of Getting Out of Holes—Stop Digging!—I don’t know what it is.
The counter-argument is that the Treasurer’s “fiduciary responsibility” is to maximize investment returns at all times, with no consideration of social, environmental, health or ethical impacts. If that sounds to you like the mindset that got us into some of our modern messes, and make them so hard to clean up, you aren’t alone.
But even if you accept the “let’s keep investment separate from morality” premise, there’s a strong financial argument for moving Oregon’s portfolio away from fossil-fuel stocks: relative to fossil-free funds, they’re faltering.
Oil, coal and gas equities have staggered over the last decade, with total returns lagging far behind the S&P fossil-free index. The recent spurt in fossil stock prices triggered by the war in Ukraine, along with the broad expectation that their medium-to-long-term future is grim, suggests that “fiduciary duty” and the goal of better aligning our policy and investment priorities point to the same conclusion: sell now.
HB 2601 doesn’t go so far as to require that. It says that no new fossil investments will be made going forward, and sets a cautious timeline of twelve years to divest from what we have now. It also calls for more transparency from the Oregon Treasury, which keeps an unusually high percentage of its investments shielded from public view. The central question this part of the bill poses is whether Oregonians have a right to know what investments their tax-dollars are funding.
Some of my colleagues who care about climate change tell me that this measure concerns them: who are we to put our judgment above that of investment professionals? Well, we’re a group of elected officials who understand that business as usual, particularly Wall Street business, has made us so dependent on the fossil fuel industries that our planet’s smoldering before our eyes. We are people convinced that business as usual has to change.
I don’t know if we’ll have the votes to pass HB 2601. But we can’t stop shining light on the way Oregon public investments undermine the climate objectives we claim to hold.
Have you heard that phrase before? Read it, perhaps, at the top of this newsletter?
The wave of incoming emails as session begins gives me an excuse to talk about that principle in action. Mostly they are form letters like the ones you get from advocacy groups who want you to contact your legislator. And if I’m the legislator you’re contacting, that’s fine—I want to know what the people of District 3 think on the big issues.
But I’ll be blunt: when it comes to the more contentious issues, particularly on the environment or social/economic justice, sending form emails isn’t enough. The truth is that the outcomes of the big issues are in your hands as much as ours. That’s what came to mind when I read half a dozen copies of the same email seeded by a coalition of conservation groups. “I am writing you today,” they began, “to urge you to support the full package of [our] priorities for a Healthy Oregon.” A list of six specific bills followed. At this point I’m pretty sure I’m in for all six.
While it’s nice to know my judgment lines up with that of some of my constituents, I’m not who they need to convince. Their ambitious agenda will succeed only if a lot of Oregonians stay actively engaged to effectively contact legislators—some of whom won’t initially lean toward their priorities—at key moments in the process. One of the goals of this newsletter is to make that a little easier.
The best tool for knowing how and when to have your say is OLIS, the Oregon Legislative Information Session. It’s a clear guide for following legislation and knowing which committees and legislators to contact to have an effective voice in our decisions. Here are some useful links to help you become familiar with OLIS:
If navigating that page proves tricky, call and Andrew or Sarah will lend a hand.
We have a challenging session ahead of us. Please do what you can do to move us towards the outcomes you want to see.
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One bill guaranteed to ignite argument this session would give people incarcerated in county jails, corrections centers, and prisons the right to vote. The idea shocks and offends some people, who hold that you forfeit this basic right when you commit a crime. They feel strongly about it, which isn’t hard to understand.
But there’s another public interest at stake. One of the core failures of our corrections system is the number of people who cycle in and out of it for decades, re-offending again and again because they can’t integrate back into their communities. That’s in large part because of the barriers they face as “ex-cons” in finding jobs, housing and other building blocks of a successful life.
Anything we do to stigmatize them as less worthy than the rest of us—and taking away their vote is one example—reduces their chances for success on the outside. That might be okay if our only goal were to punish them. But it undermines the goals of making communities safer and tamping down the need for more and more prison cells. Those goals call on us to make it easier for people coming out of jail and prison to become self-sufficient, peaceful members of their communities, and I’ll bring that lens to any vote I cast on this bill.
That’s it for this first newsletter of the 2023 session. We’ll stay in touch, and hope you will, too. For real-time conversation, we’re aiming to host an online Town Hall from my office in Salem on the third Tuesday of every month at 5:30pm, beginning on February 21st. Hope to see you then,
 Senator Jeff Golden, Oregon Senate District 3
Contact us at 503/986-1703
- Jackson County Community Long-Term Recovery Group has done an excellent job putting together a list of resources. You can visit their resource page here.
- OWEB is now accepting online applications for the Spring 2023 Open Solicitation Grant Offering. Grant applications are due May 1, 2023, by 5:00 pm and must be submitted via OWEB's online grant application. Click here for more information about this opportunity and more.
- If you have not yet signed up for Citizen Alerts, follow this link to sign up.
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