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Hello Friends and Neighbors,
Time is flying by...this Saturday (April Fools' Day) marks the halfway point of the 82nd legislative session. Tuesday, April 4 marks the last day to hold a work session in committees in the chamber of origin (except for Rules, Revenue, and Joint Committees and Ways & Means). With that said, we are not fools to believe that we will actually adjourn session on June 15th. The constitutional Sine Die is marked as Sunday, June 25, which gives the legislature additional days to vote on proposed bills. There is still much work to be done before we return to our districts.
On another note, while Spring officially began on March 20, the weather still feels like Spring is still to come. For baseball fans around the country today is Opening Day of the 2023 Major League Baseball season. While the idea behind Opening Day implies that all 30 MLB teams will play a game that day, since 1968, there has not been a single Opening Day on which all teams played, until today.
As a parent and grandparent, my thoughts and prayers are for the students, teachers, and families whose lives were changed forever on Monday. Our children and grandchildren deserve to be safe while in school. As a legislative body, our budget reflects our priorities. If one of our priorities is student safety, then this body should have taken action to address the important matters immediately.
Yesterday, House Republicans pulled every bill in the Safe Schools Package to the House floor that committee chairs failed to schedule for public hearings. While every bill had bipartisan support, the required majority wasn't met. Oregon students deserve better.
 Earlier this week, Columbia County elected officials gathered together for dinner and the opportunity to get to know each other. This was the first quarterly dinner since pre-COVID and it was a sincere pleasure to engage with county commissioners, port commissioners, city mayors, economic development teams, our county Sheriff, district attorneys, and more. We all share a common mission...to serve our communities.
 Click here to watch my full testimony on our priority bill HB 3581 relating to courthouse funding and expansion. Currently state process only allows for the building of a new court facility or for the remodel of other buildings that are NOT courthouses. Our bill addresses this gap in current law and allows additional options and flexibility for counties statewide.
My staff and I are here to help you! If you have a problem, question or comment, please feel free to email me at rep.brianstout@oregonlegislature.gov. I do ask you to PLEASE include your phone number and your address. This allows me to call you to follow up or ask any questions I might have. Your address lets me know that you're a constituent. I get hundreds of emails every week, but I always make sure that constituents get top priority. If you'd prefer, you can call us at 503.986.1431.
If you'd like to visit me in Salem, you're always welcome to come by! If you drop by without an appointment, I'll do my best to meet with you, but to ensure that I don't have any other commitments, please call or email first for an appointment. That way I can make sure to give you my undivided attention.
To stay connected, please follow me on Facebook or sign up to receive my e-newsletters, as they are published, by emailing me or calling my office.
Thank you so much for this opportunity to be your State Representative.
Sincerely,
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 Representative Brian Stout
House District 31
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1431
Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, H-380, Salem, Oregon 97301
Email: Rep.BrianStout@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/stout
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