 * “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
—Helen Keller
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To contact me, please click here: Sen.JeffGolden@oregonlegislature.gov
Hello and holiday greetings to all…
I’m just returning from Salem after the last set of 2024 Legislative Days to tee up the 2025 session, topped off by a three-hour special session yesterday. The Governor convened that session to meet a very specific need. Our state has been unacceptably tardy in paying the massive bills for fighting this year’s wildfires, which burned more Oregon acres—about 1.9 million—than any year on record. This means serious hardships for scores of private companies we rely on to support this immense effort, from firefighters to the meal and medical and shower vendors who support them in the field. Some are small rural operations with steep operational bills and loans to pay off themselves, and might not survive without quick action.
The measure we passed yesterday was purely fiscal; we approved the transfer of enough funds from reserves to the Departments of Forestry and the State Fire Marshal so that they can get money to our private-sector partners. Here’s a simple explanation.
What we didn’t do is address the systematic problem that has us running so late on our bills, or, more basically, where the money will come from to pay them—and to pay for the woefully underfunded programs we’ve developed to prevent community-destroying fires—in what’s certain to be severe wildfire seasons to come.
That crucial task is waiting on the report of a diverse 35-member workgroup that’s been meeting for months to identify the most viable funding sources outside the state general fund, which has paid the lion’s share of costs up until now. The hard fact is that it can’t anymore.
The exploding demand for services we’ll grapple with in coming months, from a worn-down, outmoded transportation system that relies on a rapidly dwindling fuel tax (a result of increasing ownership of EVs and more efficiency in the gas-powered fleet) to the ongoing costly campaign to house Oregonians and effectively treat drug addiction, has already started shrinking our wildfire budget just as our costs soar through the roof. As so many neglected and basic needs are coming to roost at the same time, the coming session has the look of a budgetary reckoning on a scale beyond any I’ve seen in my 52 years as an Oregonian. I’m pretty sure that progress reports on how we’re handling it will be a centerpiece of these newsletters throughout the 2025 session.
That’s why wildfire needs new funding sources. The workgroup has spent months sifting through dozens of alternatives. It’s tough work. Alternatives that might have a relatively easy path through the legislative process would raise little money, and the ones that would yield the amount we need—somewhere north of $300 Million per biennium—are steep uphill climbs. The cluster of increasing public costs (wildfire, transportation, housing, K-12 education and more) coincide with a steep increase in private costs for most Oregonians. It will take broad consensus that wildfire severely threatens our way of life to reach agreement. Many, maybe most, of the people I talk to are already there. Enough to move tax-shy legislators to vote for bills that might increase costs for Oregon families? We’ll find out.
My guess is that the outcome will hinge on whether taxpayers see any new costs as rational and fairly distributed. I have a bill in the works that I think scores highly in that department, but I want the workgroup to deliver its report (probably next month, in time to inform our decisions in the 2025 session) before I promote it. It’s a safe bet you’ll read about it soon in this newsletter.
I also want to talk directly with you about that and other pressing issues sometime near the legislative session’s January 13 kick-off. Look for details on our first 2025 Town Hall in our next newsletter. And if you have friends who you think would value these updates, please send them here and we’ll make sure they get the newsletter.
There’s one more thing I’d like you to know about today. It’s not about politics.
The Abundance Swap is back.
This Sunday, Dec. 15, at 1pm, please consider joining a few hundred of us at the Old Historic Armory on Oak Street in Ashland for the 21st holiday Abundance Swap. It’s a celebration of abundance, generosity and community. If you haven’t done this before, here’s all you need to know.
Hope to see you then! Either way, have a peaceful and rich holiday time.
 Senator Jeff Golden, Oregon Senate District 3
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