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Hello Senate District 19 and beyond,
The 2024 session is finally here! After a legislative interim that included countless hours of meetings, mountains of emails, and hundreds of miles driven around the state, I am excited for all 90 legislators to get back into the Capitol and start passing bills to help improve our communities. There are significant challenges facing our state, but we've spent a lot of time over the past few months making sure we can effectively tackle them over these next 35 days. My colleagues on both sides of the aisle have worked together to come up with policy proposals that address what Oregonians have told us they are most concerned about. Now we have five weeks to hear directly from people in public meetings, openly debate bills, and cast votes to move our state in the right direction.
Both Republican and Democratic leaders agree on our top priorities for this legislative session: we must improve housing affordability, address homelessness, and combat the drug and addiction crisis. Not only do we agree on the problem, I know that we also agree on the solutions far more than we disagree. I hope we can lean into our agreements and all come together in good faith to pursue solutions that will achieve our collective goals.
Our even-year "short" sessions are a sprint, and I would encourage everyone to look for an opportunity to testify on an issue that you care about. When Oregonians come to the Capitol to testify, or testify remotely, we listen. You can research issues, track bills and sign up to testify at olis.oregonlegislature.gov. Legislators are best at our jobs when we are hearing directly from our constituents, so stay informed and stay involved. I hope to see you in Salem before March 10.
Over the past few weeks I tried to get out into the community as much as possible because I know I'm going to be spending many, many hours in Salem over the next 35 days. One of the highlights was my pre-session town hall with Rep. Jules Walters and Rep. Daniel Nguyen at OHSU, moderated by Mayor Rory Bialostosky. We had a great conversation prompted by a lot of smart questions from my neighbors around Senate District 19. I hope to hold another town hall after session ends and be able to report back on everything the Legislature accomplished.
 Speaking at my pre-session town hall with Rep. Jules Walters and Rep. Daniel Nguyen.
Westside Economic Alliance
I was glad to be able to join a few of my fellow legislators at the Westside Economic Alliance last month to discuss issues of business and economics ahead of the 2024 legislative session. Some of the topics we covered included funding for infrastructure and transportation, housing production, and community health. One of the responsibilities for the Legislature this session is to rebalance the budget and direct targeted investments into areas of need — a task we take very seriously.
 Always a fun time when I'm able to sit on a panel with Sen. Janeen Sollman and Sen. Elizabeth Steiner.
Meeting Kid Governor Zoya Shah
Your 2024 Oregon Kid Governor is Zoya Shah! Zoya is a 5th grader from Findley Elementary in the Beaverton School District and was sworn in during an inauguration ceremony in the Senate chambers on Jan. 25. Statewide leaders, students, teachers, and parents were all present to watch Oregon's seventh Kid Governor take office.
In her inauguration speech, Zoya spoke eloquently about the need for society to destigmatize mental health care, particularly for kids who also deal with anxiety and depression like adults. Zoya's platform was all about creating mental health awareness in kids; her campaign video can be viewed here.
I was grateful Governor Shah took a few minutes after her inauguration to stop by the Senate President's Office.
 I was thrilled to meet Oregon's newest Kid Governor Zoya Shah a couple weeks ago.
Lake Oswego Youth Leadership Council
One of the last meetings I had before session began was with the Lake Oswego Youth Leadership Council, who was able to visit Salem and take a quick tour of the Senate chambers. Accompanied by Lake Oswego Mayor Joe Buck, the leadership council helps students learn about how government functions at all levels, including local, state, and federal. I was incredibly impressed with the students who visited the Senate last week and I'm hopeful that their experiences in the youth leadership council lead them toward participating in public service at some point in their futures.
 Maybe one of these students will be standing up here as Senate President one day.
The Oregonian: Housing tops Oregonians’ list of concerns, new poll shows
A new poll commissioned by the Oregon Realtors shows that Oregon voters view housing costs and availability as the top issue facing the state.
KATU: Senate Democrats discuss short session priorities including Measure 110
Monday, February 5, is the first day of the 2024 legislative session. It's a short session, just 35 days long, and lawmakers have a lot of work to get done in a short amount of time.
OPB: In downtown Portland’s fentanyl crisis, Oregon leaders declare emergency
Multnomah County, the city of Portland and the state of Oregon are embarking on a 90-day experiment to address downtown Portland’s fentanyl crisis. Tuesday, the three governments jointly declared a fentanyl emergency, directing their agencies to work alongside each other on programs that connect people addicted to the synthetic opioid with treatment programs and to crack down on drug sales.
Oregon Capitol Chronicle: Local governments, nonprofits in Oregon win $60 million for rental support, social services
The Biden administration announced this week it’s awarding more than $3 billion to thousands of programs nationwide to fight homelessness.
If you would like to contact the Senate President's Office, send an email or call and either myself or a staff member will assist you. If you are a constituent coming to Salem and want to arrange a meeting, I'm always happy to meet, so please let us know well in advance as my schedule fills up quickly.
email: Sen.RobWagner@OregonLegislature.gov
phone: 503-986-1600
address: 900 Court St NE, S-201, Salem, OR, 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/wagner
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