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Oregon’s Revenue Forecast came out yesterday, and it puts us in a good spot. Our plan since January has been to build a budget that maintains existing services and invests in housing, health care, good-paying jobs, and education- while at the same time setting ourselves up well for future needs. The revenue forecast affirms our plan to move forward with a responsive, sustainable budget. It’s more critical than ever that we use state dollars wisely and in a way that leads to real outcomes that help working families’ bottom-lines.
Wednesday was Armed Forces Day at the Capitol. The Oregon National Guard held a ceremony to recognize all military members. During the event, Governor Tina Kotek spoke, and State Senator James l. Manning Jr. read Senate Concurrent Resolution 2, which was recently passed and honors and recognizes service members of the Oregon National Guard. The event also included military equipment static displays, a howitzer salute by the Oregon Army National Guard’s Bravo Battery, 2-218 Field Artillery Battalion, and concluded with an F-15 Eagle flyover.
 
National Police Week! This week we are celebrating our law enforcement and honoring those who have fallen in the line of duty. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy designated May 15th to be Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week surrounding it to be National Police Week. Thank you to our brave and hardworking law enforcement in Central Oregon who work tirelessly to keep our community safe.
Let’s Talk Prescribed Fire: Also known as controlled burns, this refers to planned and controlled use of fire to help reduce the risk of wildfire, restore ecosystems that depend on fire and increase community and firefighter safety. The last few decades have shown us how essential of a role these low-intensity fires play in Central Oregon’s fire-dependent forest. Stay up to date on both prescribed fires and wildfires by signing up for alerts here. For more information on prescribed burning, go to centraloregonfire.org/ and for information specific to the Deschutes National Forest visit www.fs.usda.gov/deschutes.
Oregon House Votes to Break Down Barriers to Affordable Housing: This week we passed HB 2761, which expands Oregon Housing and Community Services' (OHCS) ability to fund affordable housing units within mixed-use or mixed-income housing developments. Recent estimates have shown that Oregon is more than 140,000 housing units short of meeting the current need. This is pricing families out of their homes and exacerbating the homelessness crisis. HB 2761 is one of many pieces of legislation this session that will help Oregon meet its housing needs.
10 Republican Senators have accrued 10 unexcused absences, holding up our democratic process and delaying our work to pass a robust budget. Oregon voters have made it very clear: walking out on the job is not acceptable. Oregonians voted overwhelmingly for Measure 113, which established penalties for legislators who have more than 10 unexcused absences. Our work can't wait. The House is showing up, getting things done, and following our constitutional duty to be in the State Capitol advocating for our constituents, debating and voting in full view of the public.
Events for the coming week include the Constituent Chat in Tumalo tomorrow at 11am, meet us at The Bite! 19860 7th St. Tumalo, OR 97703.
Also, Virtual Office Hours are being held on May 23rd from 3 to 4pm. You can RSVP by following the links below.
RSVP for Tumalo Event at The Bite on 5/20: https://bit.ly/LetsChatTumalo
RSVP for Virtual Office Hours on 5/23: https://bit.ly/VirtualHD53
 
We hope to see you there!
Have a fun, safe weekend.
Yours truly,
State Representative Emerson Levy
House District 53
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1453
Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, H-486, Salem, Oregon 97301
Email: Rep.EmersonLevy@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/levye
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