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Hello friends and neighbors,
The 2024 legislative session has adjourned! And I’m proud to say this was one of the most productive short sessions I've been a part of since joining the Legislature in 2017. With the short legislative session lasting only five weeks, it was clear we needed to be thoughtful and focused in what issues we took on – the main goals of the session were to pass major packages addressing housing and homelessness and our addiction crisis. We were able to accomplish that and much more this session.
There’s a lot to share, so read on for my recap of the session, news about an upcoming joint town hall with other Eugene area legislators, and an update about my new role in Salem!
Join me and State Representatives Nancy Nathanson, Paul Holvey, and Charlie Conrad, along with State Senators Floyd Prozanski and James Manning for a joint legislative town hall on Saturday, March 23rd from 3-5 pm at Harris Hall (125 E 8th Ave, Eugene). We’ll share highlights from the 2024 legislative session and answer questions about the legislature’s work. You can RSVP or submit a question in advance here. We hope you can attend! |
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Statement on Election to Speaker
At the end of the 2024 legislative session, I was elected by my colleagues to be the next Speaker of the House of Representatives. After I was sworn in, I gave a speech about the new role, the state of our democracy, and the work ahead – you can view the full speech here.
I’m deeply honored to take on the role of Speaker. It’s my commitment to serve the people of Oregon with respect, common sense, and collaboration as we continue to tackle the biggest issues we’re facing across this state.
I’m so grateful to former Speaker Rayfield for the tone and the expectations that have been set over the two years that he led our chamber. I think that’s been one of the secrets to the House’s success—a culture of mutual respect and a genuine appreciation for each other’s humanity. In the House, we get stuff done, we celebrate each other’s victories, and we empathize with each other’s losses. I thank Speaker Rayfield for fostering this culture of respect—and I know that same spirit will continue.
We have a lot of work ahead of us. In 2025, we’ll be tasked with assembling a transportation package that will keep Oregonians—and our economy—moving. We’ll have continued work on housing and homelessness, and more to do to address the addiction crisis. I am incredibly proud of what we accomplished in the 2023 and 2024 sessions, but I know how important it is that we start laying the groundwork for next year’s session now.
I’m grateful for the trust and confidence you’ve placed in me as your representative in Salem, and I’m truly excited to serve as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUfo1nlUgnM
Oregonians have been crystal clear about what they wanted legislators to address this session: homelessness and housing affordability; improved behavioral health and addiction services; and safer communities. I’m proud to say that we met the moment and delivered real results on those issues and more. Here are my thoughts on some of the bills we passed in 2024.
House Democrats gathered together to take a quick selfie during the final days of the 2024 session!
Investing in Housing Production and Homelessness Prevention
Our state is in the midst of a housing crisis – the state’s analysis indicates that due to years of not building enough homes, we are about 140,000 homes short of what’s needed for current residents in Oregon. In recent years, the total number of homes built in Oregon has averaged about 20,000/year; if we maintain the status quo, it will take about 7 years of building to catch up. The impact of our lack of homes is clear – it makes housing less affordable, it drives homelessness in our state, and it makes it more difficult for people to live near where they work.
The housing package from this session includes a number of important policies, including:
- We created a new revolving loan fund to make interest-free loans to local governments to help finance production of affordable housing and moderate income housing projects. The fund was seeded with $75 million
- Cities that meet specific criteria will be allowed a one-time, modest expansion of their Urban Growth Boundaries for the purposes of building housing. To be eligible for the expansion, cities must demonstrate a need for both need for both housing and land to meet the housing need. Cities with populations less than 25,000 can expand by 50 acres, while cities over 25,000 people can expand by 100 acres. In the Metro area, the cap is 300 acres.
The legislature also made significant and wide-ranging investments directed at the immediate housing needs of Oregonians, building on the resources the Legislature has committed toward housing production and support in recent legislative sessions.
Homelessness Prevention and Response — $108 million
- Emergency shelters, Project Turnkey sites and navigation centers ($65 million)
- Homelessness prevention services, through Oregon Eviction Diversion and Prevention and Eviction Prevention Rapid Response Programs with 30% set aside for culturally responsive organizations ($34 million)
- Urban League of Portland for homelessness prevention services ($7 million)
- Support for the furnishing of reused household goods to low-income residents through Community Warehouse ($1 million)
- Education and support of tenants at risk of rent increase or possible eviction through Seeding Justice ($1 million)
Housing Infrastructure and Production — $123.5 million
- Direct allocations to cities for 44 infrastructure projects across the state to support shovel-ready housing production, including $6 million to the city of Eugene for infrastructure related to the Crow Rd area ($94.3 million)
- Land acquisitions for affordable housing ($29.25 million):
Other Housing Investments
- Individual development accounts for first-time homebuyers ($5 million)
- Maintain and expand capacity for 27 recovery housing projects ($18 million)
Healthy and Safe Homes – $24.5 million
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Residential Heat Pump Fund to provide incentives for the installation of energy-efficient, modern heating and cooling in residential buildings ($4 million)
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Healthy Homes Program for home repairs and improvements to lower energy usage and make homes safer for low-income Oregonians ($15 million)
- Providing air conditioners and air filters for at-risk Oregonians, available on an emergency basis ($3.5 million)
Responding to the Addiction Crisis and Improving Community Safety
In 2020, voters passed Measure 110 (the Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act), which decriminalized possession of small amounts of drugs. Oregonians who voted for this measure sent a clear message that our state should take a public health approach to addiction and should make it easier for people to get treatment.
Since 2021, the legislature has been tracking the implementation of the measure and the outcomes we are seeing – I believe there are clear areas where the measure could be improved. We responded this session by passing the Oregon Drug Intervention Plan (HB 4002 and HB 5204), which gives law enforcement and community treatment providers the tools they need to confiscate hard drugs, keep people safe, and connect people struggling with addiction to treatment.
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This sweeping package invests $211 million in shovel-ready projects and programs to expand behavioral health treatment capacity, apprenticeships and training for behavioral health workers, Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) in jails, addiction prevention programs and education, deflection-to-treatment programs, drug courts, and criminal justice system capacity.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the Oregon Drug Intervention Plan:
- First and foremost, it will expand access to addiction treatment. People who are ready for treatment need to have access to it. So the package will help us build more facilities and train more behavioral health workers
- Second, people who are struggling with addiction need to be connected to services and treatment, especially those who are using drugs on our streets. For some people, outreach workers and peer support are what they need to get started on the path to recovery. Others may benefit from the involvement of law enforcement and the criminal justice system. The package would make drug possession a misdemeanor again, which means that when law enforcement encounters someone with small amounts of drugs, they can intervene.
- Third, the package will make it so that people who are in jail or prison, for whatever reason, can have access to treatment through medication — the most effective way to treat opioid addiction
- Fourth, we’re addressing the supply of drugs in our community by cracking down on drug dealers and giving law enforcement the tools they need to confiscate drugs in public.
- And finally, and perhaps most importantly, the proposal will invest in addiction prevention, especially with our youth. The best way to truly break this cycle is to prevent it from happening in the first place.
This was a major package of legislation, and I’m all too aware that establishing new processes and expanding programs can come with challenges. The legislature will need to keep a watchful eye on the implementation and outcomes as these new laws go into effect. However, I believe HB 4002 is a solution that preserves the public health approach that voters approved in Measure 110, while creating new pathways that meet people struggling with addiction where they are and get them on the road to recovery.
Campaign Finance Reform
I’m incredibly proud to have introduced and been the lead legislator negotiating HB 4024, which to campaign finance law in Oregon for the first time in decades. This bill puts limits on campaign contributions, increases transparency, and helps level the playing field for everyday Oregonians.
HB 4024 is the result of years of work by advocates, campaign experts, and legislators alike. It’s because of all that diligent work that we were able to reach an agreement between representatives of labor organizations, business groups, community organizations, and campaign finance experts. It represents good faith compromise in the best Oregon tradition. Everyone came to the table willing to shed their entrenched positions and find common ground on the best policy possible for Oregonians.
All that being said, HB 4024 does not create a perfect campaign finance system – I strongly believe that until the Citizens United ruling is overturned, there is no such thing as a perfect system. But I believe this bill represents the right balance of transparency and limits.
Investing in Oregon’s Future
While housing, homelessness, community safety, and addiction made most of the headlines during the 2024 session, the legislature also passed some meaningful policies in the areas of education, health care, supporting working families, and the environment. Read on for a few highlights.
Summer Learning – Studies have shown that well-crafted summer learning programs can address the “learning loss” that occurs over the summer months – low-income student in particular can benefit from math, literacy, and social-emotional instruction programs over the summer. HB 4082 creates a Summer Learning Grant Program within the Oregon Department of Education to fund summer learning programs around the state. The legislature funded the program with $30 million in this budget cycle.
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Supporting All Oregon Students – The Legislature has led the way in creating student success plans so that every Oregon child has the support they need to succeed. In recent years, students in foster care have had a significantly lower graduation rate to their peers. HB 4084 extends the success plan model to students in foster care to close the graduation rate gap. SB 1532 creates a statewide student success plan for Oregon immigrant and refugee students to help them adapt to their new homes and schools and thrive in Oregon.
School Bus Safety – School buses are equipped with mechanical “stop arms,” which extend and flash to let drivers know to stop for school children entering or exiting the bus. HB 4147 allows school districts to use cameras on stop arms to record drivers who fail to stop and to share footage with law enforcement.
Increasing Access to Healthcare
Regulating Pharmacy Benefit Managers – Pharmacy Benefit Managers are companies that help manage prescription drug benefits on behalf of health insurers and other payers. They operate in the middle of the prescription drug supply chain, acting as brokers between payers, drug manufacturers, and pharmacies. They influencing drug availability, pricing, and pharmacy reimbursements—meaning they have a great deal of power over how much Oregonians pay for prescriptions. This session, we passed HB 4149, which will mean PBMs are better-regulated in our state.
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Capping the Cost of Insulin - In recent years, the cost of insulin has skyrocketed 55%. This increase is making life harder on Oregonians living on tight budgets, especially seniors living on a fixed income. SB 1508 caps the price of insulin at $35 and prevents Oregonians with chronic illnesses and disabilities, who are covered by Medicaid and the Oregon Health Plan, from facing higher costs.
Reducing Costs for Patients – Often, drug manufacturers offset the price of high-cost drugs through a “co-pay assistance” program, in which they cover part of the patient’s cost. HB 4113 will reduce patient costs by requiring insurers to count all payments made by or on behalf of a patient toward the price of a covered drug when calculating the patient’s out-of-pocket maximum. In short, drug manufacturer discounts are now required to be considered out-of-pocket costs on behalf of the patient.
Protecting Access to Health Care – When the PeaceHealth hospital here in Eugene closed, Rep. Nancy Nathanson got to work on HB 4136, which will protect access to healthcare services. The bill will make it easier for nurses licensed in other states to practice in Oregon and it requires a partnership with the Oregon Health Authority and Lane County to fill much of the gap left by the departure of PeaceHealth.
Growing our Economy
Offshore Wind – There has been significant interest in recent years in building facilities that will generate electricity through offshore wind turbines. HB 4080 requires the Department of Land Conservation and Development to create an Offshore Wind Roadmap, and it creates strong labor standards for offshore wind projects. These labor standards will ensure that the jobs created in this sector are good-paying family wage jobs, continuing the expectations we established with our 100% Clean Energy Bill.
Semiconductor Workforce Supports – This session, the legislature continued our work to expand the semiconductor industry here in Oregon and to help prepare more Oregonians for jobs in this sector. HB 4098 provides funding for a program to provide childcare to apprentices and journey workers on semiconductor construction projects. HB 4154 will help build the semiconductor workforce by providing funding to Oregon universities to provide education, training, and research.
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Support for Oregon’s Working Families
Childcare Investments – Building on our work to expand access to Employment Related Day Care (childcare subsidies for working families), this session we invested an additional $171 million in ERDC to provide childcare to thousands more kids across Oregon. This access to safe, high-quality care will enable parents to participate more fully in the workforce, benefitting families as well as our state’s economy.
Family Financial Protection Act – SB 1595, the Family Financial Protection Act, will protect families from predatory debt collection practices by making it illegal for collectors to knowingly go after debt that doesn’t exist or is more than they’re owed. The bill increases the amount of income and asset value that is protected from collection so that struggling Oregonians are able to make ends meet.
Right to Repair – SB 1596 will make it easier for consumers to repair their own technology by requiring that manufacturers make available manuals, tools, and parts to diagnose, maintain, repair, or update certain electronic devices. This is good for consumers and also good for the environment, as it will reduce the amount electronic waste being generated.
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Combating the Climate Crisis
Electric Vehicle Rebates for Low-Income Oregonians – The Charge Ahead Program at DEQ provides rebates for Oregonians to purchase electric vehicles. Because of high demand, the program closed applications in May of 2023. To supplement that fund and support more low-income Oregonians, HB 4109 included the creation of the Charge Ahead Zero-Emission Incentive Fund within the Charge Ahead Program. This fund provides low-income Oregonians with expanded EV rebates and puts the state in a better position to pull down additional federal funds.
Treasury Divestment from Coal Companies – The Oregon Investment Council and the State Treasurer are responsible for managing the state’s investment portfolios that state workers depend on for retirement. HB 4083 directed the Oregon Investment Council and the State Treasurer to transition state investments away from thermal coal companies, with safeguards to protect against monetary losses.
Protecting Oregon’s Coastal Wildlife and Communities – Oregon has five protected marine reserve areas, and Oregon’s Marine Reserves Program was created over a decade ago to conserve the habitats and support scientific research within those areas. Based on recommendations from a ten-year study from OSU, HB 4132 directs state agencies to develop an adaptive management plan for Oregon’s marine reserves and ensures coastal communities benefit and participate in the program.
Whether in session or out, my office and I are always here to help! Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need assistance navigating local or state government services or to share your thoughts and ideas on the issues facing our community and state.
Yours truly,
 Capitol Phone: 503-986-1414
Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, H-295, Salem, Oregon 97301
Email: Rep.JulieFahey@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/fahey
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