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To contact me, please click here: Rep.EmersonLevy@oregonlegislature.gov
On Thursday of last week, the Oregon Legislature adjourned the legislative session of 2024 a little after 8:00pm. My staff and I have had a few days to take a deep breath and try to absorb all that took place in those last days of the session, and as I reflect over the past weeks, it is also exciting, even humbling, to realize how much we were able to accomplish for our state and our district in such a short time.
You might wonder why we’ve been going at top speed for the past 35-days when the next session doesn’t begin until January 2025? Historically, in a strategy to prevent our Legislature from becoming a haven for stodgy career politicians, it was decided leaders would meet for only about six months in odd-numbered years, and for about six weeks in even-numbered years. We must carry out all the policy and budget work of the state in that limited time.
We set ambitious goals for ourselves this session, as the Legislature set out to tackle Oregon’s ongoing battle against fentanyl addiction, as well as our shortage of affordable housing and continued increase in unsheltered homelessness. Yes, we set that expectation of ourselves - to come up with real progress toward feasible solutions to those complicated human challenges in just 35 days - and I believe we did it! Our solutions are not complete, we are committed to continuing our work, and our solutions are the product of negotiations and compromises that left everyone feeling in agreement with some parts of the policy and disagreeing with other parts.
But what I am most proud of, looking back on this session, and what gives me the most hope going forward, was seeing my colleagues in the House and the Senate, and from all political perspectives, be willing to really dig into these complex issues and negotiate in good faith towards the solutions we reached. We engaged in discussions with respect and compassion, even when emotions ran high, embraced each other’s differences as strengths, and gave credibility to the experiences of people whom we rarely agree with on anything, made tough decisions, and took hard votes.
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I hope that anyone who has lost faith in government, or in the ability of our elected leaders to hold an impassioned, respectful debate on issues that deeply matter to real people will take the time to watch some of the floor debate over HB 4002, the (imperfect, first step to a) solution to the problematic roll-out of Measure 110 and its effect on Oregon’s addiction crisis. I hope high schools will show this debate in their government classes. It doesn’t show arrogant career politicians legislating down from on high to dictate new rules that will never affect them to people they will never meet. This debate shows doctors, EMTs, and community leaders raging at their helplessness to save people who come to them for help. It shows sisters, brothers, children, and partners grieving for the family fentanyl has taken from them. It shows leaders voting for legislation they have real concerns about and it shows leaders expressing their frustration that they can’t bring themselves to vote for this law that they wanted to be better. It shows that your elected representatives are just regular, hardworking, caring people doing their best, and in this floor debate, my colleagues who spoke showed themselves at their absolute best.
You can find the video of the floor debate on HB 4002 here, beginning at about the 54:00 minute mark. If you watch or show any of this video to students, send us an email to let us know!
Below you can find more information on what we are bringing home to Central Oregon this year. Thank you for reading, and as always, reach out with any questions or concerns. We are here to serve you.
Best,
 Representative Emerson Levy
House District 53
Bringing State Dollars Home to Central Oregon
In addition to tackling some of the state’s most difficult and far-reaching problems, which touch every one of our lives, Representative Levy also got to see the results of her work advocating for Central Oregon programs and projects over the course of the session. There are many, many more programs in our District that are deserving of state funding that we will continue to push for in the coming years. A few highlights of what Central Oregon is taking home this year:
- $379,750 to the High Desert Museum’s arts and cultural programming. We fought for a lot more, read about how things went down here.
- $1.5 million dollars to the Deschutes River Conservancy for improved water monitoring and measuring.
- $850,000 to Free on the Outside, Inc., an organization that provides housing and support to people in recovery, returning from incarceration, or who have experienced homelessness.
- $2.5 million dollars for Northpoint Vista mixed-income housing project in Redmond, includes approximately 450 units of affordable, workforce housing.
- $4 million dollars to Central Oregon Community College for renovation and expansion of CTE facilities at the Redmond campus.
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District 53, You Made Your Voices Heard This Session!
Our office received more than 1500 emails from constituents this session. It is really important to us to read and personally reply to every constituent email, as it plays a vital role in the process of shaping legislation and policy. In every email we receive from someone in our district, asking a question, or requesting that the Representative support or oppose a particular bill or funding request, personal histories and anecdotes are brought to the table. These give additional dimension and color that bring otherwise flat legislative language and statistics to life to illustrate how much is really at stake - even in bills that seem like small fixes.
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One example was the testimony of a Bend architect, whose story about not feeling she could marry her partner for fear she might get sued under a law that requires Oregon design professionals to pay for the defense of everyone else on a construction project (even if they had nothing to do with that part of the project) and even before the plaintiff proves anyone else is responsible for their damages, was heartbreaking.
Changing the law so that all parties to a construction contract are responsible for paying only for the legal defense of their own work, and only when required in the normal course of the legal process, stands to really change the day-to-day lives of architects, engineers, and surveyors. Professionals can take on more projects, like homeless shelters, without fear of having to pay to defend someone else’s mistakes.
Your perspective not only helps inform the Representative’s policy positions, but also, the bills she brought forward this legislative session were inspired by the advocacy of Central Oregon parents. Each legislator was permitted to bring only two policy bills forward during this 35-day “short” session. Representative Levy brought forward a Prescription Cost-Share Fairness Bill (HB 4113), and Trenton’s Law (HB 4103), a bill updating Oregon’s legal definitions of electric-assisted bicycles and bringing our statute in line with federal regulations that divide e-bikes into 3 classes based on features, capabilities, and modifiability.
Both Rep. Levy’s priority bills passed with bipartisan support, and are on the Governor's desk for signature.
Now, the Oregon Legislature is in what we call the “Interim”, which is Latin for “in the meantime”.
We will stop filling your inbox with weekly newsletters, and switch back to once a month (unless something really important comes up, and we just *need* to tell you). Thank you for reading!
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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