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To contact me, please click here: Rep.TomAndersen@oregonlegislature.gov
Friends,
Thank you for supporting my work in the Oregon State Legislature.
I am pleased to share that the 2024 Short Session was a great success! Our Legislature passed 115 bills, including many significant policy and budget bills that are very important to South Salem and the entire State of Oregon. Here is a summary from news reports on OPB, the Capital Chronicle, and the Oregonian. Coverage for Salem, specifically, can be found from the Salem Reporter and Statesman Journal.
Key Accomplishments
- Adopted Measure 110 Reform in HB 4002, which prioritizes treatment, with criminal penalties only as a last resort. The bill gives health care providers and law enforcement the tools they need to keep people safe and save lives. Supplementing HB 4002, the Legislature also approved $211 million for addictions treatment.
- Delivered over $20 million for Salem area projects including over $12 million for groups which provide addictions treatment services in Salem and $3 million for the new YMCA social services and resource center in downtown Salem; helped the City of Salem reach an agreement with the State for a $2 million payment to manage state property.
- Allocated $376 million to address homelessness and build more housing (SB 1537 and SB 1530).
- Passed Climate Crisis policy bills, including Offshore Wind (HB 4080), Green Energy Battery Storage (HB 4015), Coal Divestment (HB 4083) and $15 million for the Healthy Homes grant program & $4 million for the Rental Heat Pump program (SB 1530).
- Passed bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform (HB 4024).
We still have much work to do, including breaking through the logjam to pass HB 4072, which was my bill that would have, through a payment in-lieu of taxes (PiLT), required the State to reimburse the City of Salem for uncompensated police, fire and emergency services. You can find my testimony on that bill here. While we didn’t get a long-term PiLT solution this session, the State did negotiate a $2 million payment to the City of Salem to help get the City to the 2025 session, where my work on this matter will continue. Also, with the 2025 Session just ten months away, I will keep pushing for changes to our civil commitment laws to better serve individuals who are in the midst of a mental health crisis – I began this process with hearings on my bill HB 4074. See my testimony here.
I look forward to seeing you in the neighborhood soon!
Onward and upward,
 Tom
Representative Tom Andersen, HD-19
Email me: rep.tomandersen@oregonlegislagure.gov
Call my office: 503-986-1419
 The Oregon House Democratic Caucus celebrates Sine Die on Thursday, March 7, 2024. See if you can find me!
Measure 110 Reform
HB 4002 and HB 5204: These bills address the untenable status quo that was created by passage of Measure 110 — dedicates $211 for critically important addictions treatment services and gives law enforcement the tools they need to restore community safety. As we implement these reforms, I have emphasized that we must prevent racial disparities in our criminal justice system and access to addiction treatment.
Housing and Homelessness
SB 1537: While I voted against an earlier version of SB 1537 (HB 3414 in the 2023 Session), I supported this version of the Governor’s bill because it retains local control of Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) decisions, sets a production floor of 30% for affordable housing, and reduces the allowable size of any local UGB acreage expansions. Additionally, SB 1537 is strengthened by its companion bill, SB 1530, which funds critical housing investments.
More than $20 Million of Specific Investments that Benefit Salem, including:
- Approximately $2.5 million of addictions treatment services funding to help find local efforts to “deflect” individuals arrested for public drug use out of the criminal justice system and into the healthcare system.
- $150,000 for repairs to Eco-Earth Globe in Riverfront Park.
- $750,000 for the Center for Hope & Safety to provide safe refuge and support to victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and human trafficking.
- $11.5 million for addictions treatment provided by Bridgeway Community Health.
- $650,000 to Iron Tribe Network for Marion County to purchase an addictions treatment home to support long term recovery from addictions.
- $3 million for the Family YMCA of Marion and Polk Counties to develop a centralized social service and resource center, which includes affordable housing, at the former Statesman Journal location in downtown Salem.
- $400,000 for the Vietnam War Memorial on Oregon State Capitol Grounds.
Climate Crisis and Environmental Protection
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HB 4132: Protects and funds the preservation of Oregon’s five Marine Reserves.
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HB 4083: The Coal Act – divests Oregon state investments from coal to align with Oregons’s commitment to address the climate crisis and invest in the economy of the future, not the past.
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SB 1596: Right to Repair – allows Oregon consumers to repair their electronic devices which limits toxic landfill waste, reduces pollution, and saves consumers money.
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HB 4080: Provides a roadmap for the development of offshore wind in Oregon and supports strong local coastal communities, including fair labor standards. Brings together labor, environmental, commercial, Tribal, and local groups to ensure that development is transparent, robust, and inclusive.
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HB 4015: Supports development of battery storage facilities for renewable energy projects and monitors fish reintroduction projects with Tribal partners.
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SB 1561: Monsanto Settlement Funds – In 2022, a settlement was reached between the State of Oregon and Monsanto for $698 million, the largest environmental settlement in the state's history. SB 1561 uses this money to establish the Environmental Restoration Fund for environmental remediation work.
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SB 1530: $15 million for Healthy Homes grant program to support essential home repairs like radon and mold abatement and $4 million for the Rental Heat Pump program.
- $32 million for the continuation of state sponsored energy assistance programs and $500,000 for the development of Oregon's Comprehensive Climate Action Plan.
 Oregon State Bar Board of Governors 2024 Legislative Reception: Left to Right (Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Meagan Flynn; Representative Andersen, Jessica Maxwell Andersen; Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum).
Gun Violence Prevention
As we all should be, I am deeply saddened by the recent senseless shooting in Bush Park. The tragic loss of life and injuries are hard to understand and I want to share my heartfelt condolences for the families who have been impacted. Thanks to our Salem law enforcement partners who responded quickly and professionally to restore community safety. As South Salem community members, we all must work to push for changes that can prevent this kind of tragedy. During the 2025 session, I will again actively support legislation that addresses the proliferation of guns in our community. We simply cannot stand on the sidelines while this crisis continues.
HB 4072/PiLT:
Unfortunately, we did not accomplish everything I had hoped for in our 32 day Session — most notably we were not able to pass my legislation, HB 4072, the “Payment in Lieu of Taxes'' (PiLT) concept. This was a bipartisan effort to ensure that the State pays its fair share for the essential fire, police and emergency services provided by the City of Salem. Currently, all State properties and buildings in Salem are tax exempt (the State owns ~7% of all the land within City limits). HB 4072 would have required the state to reimburse approximately $5.6 million to the City of Salem for these services. The bill received a very positive hearing in the House Committee on Revenue during the session. However, the City of Salem did receive a one-time payment of $2 million that can be used as a springboard to a more formal PiLT concept. Along with my elected colleagues Mayor Hoy, Representatives Diehl and Mannix, and Senator Patterson, who joined me in support of this bill, I will bring another PiLT bill in the 2025 long session when there will be more funding available for this critical program.
HB 4074 – Civil Commitment
If a person is a demonstrated danger to themselves or others, often family members, they can be civilly committed for treatment. Too many of our siblings, sons, daughters, and parents are not getting the care they need. Our current civil commitment system is not working because the legal standard for civil commitment is too high. We must recalibrate the current civil commitment “time window of evidence” used to determine if a person is a danger to self or others. Currently, in order to civilly commit someone so they can receive needed treatment, a judge must only consider if that person is a danger to self or others only in the immediate moment, regardless of past actions. Judges cannot consider specific recent events, including attempted suicides or threats to others, to determine whether or not to civilly commit. We must lower this high bar to expand treatment access. This is only one piece of the puzzle. A recent study suggests Oregon needs 3,000 new adult residential mental health beds, at an estimated cost of at least $500 million, to make up for decades of underinvestment in treatment. I look forward to continued work in the 2025 session to expand bed access.
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Representative Andersen celebrates his birthday at a surprise party with constituents and friends on February 24.
Yours truly,
Representative Tom Andersen
House District 19
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1419
Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, H-479, Salem, Oregon 97301
Email: Rep.TomAndersen@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/andersen
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