Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Welcome to June! The days pass by quickly and it’s hard to believe we are halfway through the year. That means school has officially ended for Oregon students and summer is on its way. I hope your month is off to a good start and that you are able to schedule time to relax and savor the longer days of summer ahead.
Last month brought the first round of legislative interim days since the 2024 short session ended in March. This publication provides a recap of the topics discussed in my committees, highlights from the revenue forecast, and the events and activities I have had been honored to attend in the district and beyond.
Once again, thank you for following along and taking time from your busy day to read this update. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office. I welcome the opportunity to serve you in any way, whether it is through the legislative process or through personal assistance with state government.
Sincerely
 Rick Lewis
State Representative
House District 18
Oregon’s Christmas Tree District
In this Issue:
View previous newsletters here.
On May 29th, the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis released the June 2024 Economic and Revenue Forecast. The quarterly forecasts provide vital information that legislators rely upon in balancing the state’s budget and for making critical future investments to serve Oregonians.
While forecasters report that Oregon’s economy continues to see stability and steady growth, inflation and historically high interest rates continue to impact Oregonian’s livability. As a member of an interim budgetary subcommittee, I will continue to support policies that show fiscally responsible and sustainable budgets that serve and protect Oregon families. |
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Here are some of the key takeaways:
- Oregon’s Revenue Forecast is generally stable compared to the March 2024 Forecast.
- Projected General Fund Revenues are up $535 million for the remainder of the 23-25 biennium and down $304 million for the 25-27 biennium resulting in a net increase in available resources of $231 million.
- Oregon is on the cusp of an estimated $580 million kicker for the 25-27 biennium which is included in the projections and is the main reason projected revenues are down next biennium.
- Increases in revenue are primarily caused by increased returns now that we are past tax filing day.
- The record kicker return to Oregon taxpayers means Oregon is seeing less money coming in from year-end tax payments.
- Economic Growth is expected to return in 25-27 as we move out of the pandemic economy.
- Oregon Income Tax withholdings reflect solid labor market gains, but there is concern about the sustainability.
- Corporate Income and Excise Taxes continue to be strong as they have nearly tripled in the past five years. They may finally be cooling down but have not come back down to earth yet.
- Oregon is seeing increased revenues from the interest rates on public sector reserve funds in the high interest rate environment.
- Forecast for revenues from Marijuana has once again been amended down due to the oversaturation of the market leading to lower revenues. While there is an increase in usage among individuals, sales remain flat.
- Federal Monetary Policy is still working to curb inflation. There was some progress that has since stalled, so rates are now expected to be higher for longer. A soft-landing scenario is still the most likely, but risk remains.
- Economic Growth remains strong, but inflation is still too high.
- Increased International Immigration is starting to have an impact on the tight labor markets.
- There has not been an increase in high-skilled worker visas.
- The Congressional Budget Office is reporting a significant difference in US international Immigration from the Census primarily due to their inclusion of “other foreign nationals”.
- Specifically for Oregon, the population forecast remains close to unchanged.
- Population growth has been a key reason for Oregon’s economic expansion.
- Labor Force Participation is recovering to the point that you would expect once you adjust for demographics and the retiring baby boomers.
- While Oregon’s productivity is strong, employment in the manufacturing sector is on the decline. This is different than what is being seen in manufacturing compared to the greater US. Oregon is seeing job loss in transportation equipment, metals/machinery, wood products, food, and other durables and nondurables. Employment continues to grow in the Computer/Electronic space.
- Oregon has seen wage growth on an average per worker basis, but wages still sit below the US average.
- Lower income households and lowest income jobs have seen increased wage growth this cycle. Average income is growing faster than prices in Oregon, but we do have a blind spot on some of the inflationary data specific to Oregon.
- Oregon continues to have sizable reserves in both the Education Stability Fund and the Rainy Day Fund.
Find a summary of the forecast here.
On May 29, the Joint Interim Subcommittee on Public Safety met for the first interim meeting since the 2024 short-session. We received reports and moved budget requests from the following agencies to the Joint Emergency Board for consideration.
Watch a replay of the committee and access meeting materials here.
The House Interim Committee On Emergency Management, General Government, and Veterans held an information meeting to hear an overview and after action of the January 2024 winter storm from various state and local agencies. We also received an update on the Roseburg Veterans Home from the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs, and were provided a 2024 wildfire update and forecast from the Oregon State Fire Marshal.
Watch a replay of the committee and access meeting materials here.
Watch a replay of the committee and access meeting materials here.
In late May, the Speaker of the House appointed me to serve on the Task Force on Community Safety and Firearm Suicide Prevention. The Task Force was created with the passage of SB 1503 in the 2024 session.
The task force includes a bipartisan group of four legislators and 13 community members, including: a representative of a state public health agency; a representative of a community-based firearm safety and protocols program; a behavioral health professional or provider; an adult behavioral health provider; a psychologist who works with youth; a tribal representative from a suicide prevention program; a representative of law enforcement; and a professional who works in veterans’ mental health. The first report from the task force will be due to the Legislature in September.
Although my hope would be that we would focus on suicide prevention in general rather than only suicide by use of a firearm, this does not appear to be in the cards. I look forward to participating on the task force and bringing a focus on suicide prevention and resource allocation with a focus on behavioral health intervention rather than the method used.
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Undoubtedly, the 2025 Session will bring a focus on transportation policy and how we will address the costs and challenges to fund roads and other transportation infrastructure. These are likely to be difficult discussions and the Joint Committee on Transportation has scheduled a 12-stop Transportation Safety and Sustainability Outreach Tour to hear from Oregonians about how the Legislature can ensure Oregon has a safe, functional, and efficient multimodal transportation system now and into the future. Members of the joint committee will engage with local communities about the structural challenges facing the statewide transportation system and discuss various remedies, including how to provide stable and sufficient funding of the Oregon Department of Transportation.
Each stop will include opportunities to gather input from key stakeholders, including members of the public as well as local community leaders, elected officials, and business leaders.
Members of the public interested in testifying can register in person starting 30 minutes before the meeting begins. The committee will also hear remote testimony if time permits, which the public can register for on the committees webpage here. Written testimony can also be submitted to the committee by email to JCT.exhibits@oregonlegislaturegov. The first meeting took place in downtown Portland on June 4th. You can view a replay of the meeting here.
Tuesday's meeting took place in Tillamook and a replay of the meeting is available to view online here.
Below are the next dates and locations coming to an area near you:
- Albany - Tuesday, July 16
- Eugene - Wednesday, July 17
- Coos Bay - Wednesday, August 7
- Medford - Thursday, August 8
- Ontario - Wednesday, August 28
- Hermiston - Thursday August 29
- Bend - Thursday, September 12
- The Dalles - Friday, September 13
- Happy Valley - Thursday, September 26
- Hillsboro - Friday, September 27
Locations for the above meetings will be posted on OLIS here.
On Memorial Day (May 27), I attended the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs Memorial Day Ceremony at the Oregon World War II Memorial located in Wilson Park on the Salem Capitol grounds, to honor and remember the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country.
Also on this day, the142nd Wing out of Portland Air National Guard conducted Memorial Day flyovers for ceremonies at locations throughout northwest Oregon and southwest Washington. Their powerful fighter jets were heard and seen flying directly over House District 18’s Calvary Cemetery in Mount Angel at 10:57 a.m.
The Portland Air National Guard Base employs 1,500 Airmen who provide an economic impact of nearly $500 million to the region. The 142nd Wing defends our homeland with F-15 Eagle fighter jets, guarding the Pacific Northwest skies from northern California to the Canadian border through their Aerospace Control Alert mission as part of Air Combat Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Their mission is to provide unequaled, mission-ready units to sustain combat aerospace superiority and peacetime tasking any time, any place in service to our nation, state, and community.
On June 7th, I was proud to join Mayor Freilinger, City Manager Misley, City Councilors, and members of the public for the grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony for the Silverton Civic Center. It was an honor to be invited to speak and participate in the event.
The vision of the Civic Center has been in the works for well over a decade. As the former Silverton Police Chief, City Manager, Mayor, and now as your State Legislator, I have had the honor and privilege to be a part of this dream becoming a reality. In the 2021 session, I was able to secure ARPA funds to help support this project and I’m excited to see it come to fruition.
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The Civic Building is the heart of the Silverton community’s essential services and brings the center of operations and emergency services into alignment with the community’s resiliency goals. The Civic Center houses the police department, emergency operations center, city council chambers and city hall and has been built to meet current seismic and other regulations regarding police buildings. This is an important update to the City’s infrastructure that will serve our community for generations to come.
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A big thank you to City Councilor Marie Traeger, for organizing this event that included the Silverton Children’s Choir and the Oregon National Guard who posted the colors.
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On June 14th, I had the honor of participating in the Norvin D. Brockett Fallen Hero Memorial Highway Sign dedication ceremony in Prineville.
For some history that got us here...
During the 2021 session, the Oregon State Legislature passed HB 2700 to allow roadside signs to be placed in honor of service members who had been designated as Prisoners of War or Missing in Action and who had been positively identified by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting agency. This identification is primarily done through DNA. HB 2700 modified existing law at that time to allow families of these military veterans to place a roadside memorial sign to honor their veteran if the body was recovered, positively identified, and returned to Oregon. HB 2700 passed both chambers and was signed into law in 2021.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Defense whose mission is to recover American military personnel listed as prisoners of war or missing in action from designated past wars and conflicts, from countries around the world. Over 1,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen have been recovered in Vietnam, most from the north, with more than 1600 still unaccounted for. Nearly 1,000 have been recovered from WWII with 72,000 still unaccounted for. 450 have been recovered from the Korean War with more than 7600 still unaccounted for. In all, more than 82,000 veterans remain missing from all wars combined since WWII with 75% of those missing in the far east. Included in that number are about 41,000 presumed lost at sea.
Now for the rest of the story…
Since the passage of HB 2700, an unfortunate unintended consequence surfaced. Four words incorporated into statute as a result of HB 2700 resulted in at least one family not being eligible for a sign to honor their loved one. Those four words are “and returned to Oregon”.
In order to correct that wrong, the Legislature passed HB 2144 in the 2023 Legislative session. That bill simply deleted those four words, “and returned to Oregon”. A service member who was listed as MIA from Oregon who met all of the criteria in law from HB 2700 was recovered, positively identified, but was not returned to Oregon. Army Corporal Norvin Dale Brockett’s remains were flown directly to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia where he was buried with full military honors. HB 2144 corrects this travesty.
It is likely that over time, others will be added to the list of those who never touched down in Oregon while enroute to their final resting place and they will join the family of Army Corporal Norvin Dale Brockett of Powell Butte, Crook County, OR.
Corporal Brockett was 18 years of age when he died during the Korean War. His remains and those of 54 other servicemen were turned over by North Korea in 2018 after being listed as MIA for nearly 70 years. He was positively identified and accounted for by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency in August, 2019. In December, 1950, Corporal Brockett was listed as MIA after his unit was attacked by enemy forces at Chosin Reservoir, a battle that historians of the Korean War will immediately recognize.
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I want to thank Retired Lt. Colonel Dick Tobiason of the Bend Heroes Foundation for bringing this situation to my attention, allowing us to pass a very simple yet so important bill to right this wrong. Through this road sign dedication we are righting that wrong and honoring the service and the sacrifice of a military hero and his family.
Army Corporal Norvin Dale Brockett entered the United States Army from Oregon and served in Battery A, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division. His unit was a part of the 31st Regimental Combat Team during the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir in Korea. CPL Brockett went missing in action during the fighting south of the reservoir on December 6, 1950. He died at some point following his disappearance although the exact details of his loss will be forever unknown. In 2018, the North Korean government repatriated boxes containing the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War, including one box of remains which had been recovered near where the 31st Regimental Combat Team fought at Chosin Reservoir. Among those that were subsequently positively identified through DNA testing were those of CPL Brockett. After more than 70 years, Norvin came home to the country for which he paid the ultimate sacrifice.
On this day, it was is indeed my honor as Vice Chair of the Oregon House Committee on Emergency Management, General Government and Veterans to present to the family of Norvin Dale Brockett signed parchment originals of HB 2144 passed in his honor.
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Congratulations to the graduating class of 2024. Your hard work, dedication, and perseverance have paid off. You now stand on the brink of exciting new opportunities. Best wishes for success and happiness in all your future endeavors.
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1418
Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, H-385, Salem, Oregon 97301
Email: Rep.RickLewis@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/lewis
Replies to this message are sent to an unmonitored mailbox.
To contact me, please click here: Rep.RickLewis@oregonlegislature.gov
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