 * “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
We’re officially organized
The Oregon Legislature convened in regular session today for the first time since the 2024 short session ended last March. Today was mostly ceremonial: election of Rob Wagner as Senate President and Julie Fahey as House Speaker (a formality, since Democrats, who control both chambers, nominated them to those posts weeks ago), swearing in of Senators and Representatives elected last November, a State of the State Address by Governor Kotek to a joint session of the Legislature in the House Chamber. She told us to expect continued focus on the conjoined challenge of houselessness/mental health/substance abuse, along with a lot of attention on revamping transportation and wildfire funding.
Tomorrow has a few more preparatory meetings on tap, and Wednesday is an all-day meeting, likely the last, of the work group that’s spent months trying to figure out how to fund our wildfire programs going forward. Then I’ll head home until next week, when the session gets fully underway with a full plate of committee meetings.
In the 2025 session I’ll continue to chair the Senate Natural Resources and Wildfire Committee and serve on the Energy and Environment Committee. My new assignment is a seat on the Senate Rules Committee, which later in the session acts as a kind of gatekeeper that decides which remaining bills do and don’t advance to the Floor for a vote. I’m looking forward to taking that on.
Our wildfire obligation
What won’t change is my #1 task in Salem: doing everything in my power to get our wildfire programs on solid financial ground. That’s what the special workgroup meeting Wednesday is all about. Whatever funding sources the group recommends to the Legislature in coming weeks, the path to passage is steep, because so many other needs are competing for every imaginable dollar. But one grim fact is that the horrific events in Los Angeles may have improved the odds. A tragedy that immense, triggering painful memories of Oregon’s 2020 wildfire season, has a way of focusing the mind on how much is at stake.
Southern California has steadily served as a kind of preview of coming attractions for most of this century. The combination of intensely hot and dry conditions, fanned by the notorious Santa Ana winds, blew up hillsides around L.A. for years. We were distant spectators with little thought that we might be watching our future. Over about twenty years, those explosive wildfire conditions crept steadily north through California, an almost straight line through Santa Rosa, west Redding, Paradise and Weed. They crossed the state line and fueled a catastrophic set of Labor Day fires in 2020.
What I take away from all of that is a sense that what we’re seeing happen right now in Los Angeles is exactly where we’re headed unless we take smart, bold, sustained action. That means more consistent high-level funding than we’ve invested before, and that in turn will take raising revenue in ways taxpayers may not like. The haunting images from Southern California remind us that we can’t turn away. I’m currently preparing a couple of funding proposals in case the work group’s recommendations fall short. Stay tuned.
 Flooding in Vermont, the first state to pass the Climate Superfund bill.
Who should pay?
The funding conversation is about sustaining quality programs to fight and prevent future fires. But what do we do about the staggering amount of damage we’ve already experienced? They far exceed what state government (even California’s) can bear. That fact is partly responsible for triggering a “Polluter Pays” proposal that’s taking hold nationally. The central idea is that the fossil fuel industry, which demonstrably knew decades ago about the long-term impacts of its products and spent tens of millions of promotional dollars to pretend otherwise, should pick up a significant amount of the bill.
That’s the premise of SB 682, the Climate Superfund Bill I’m introducing this session. A well-framed opinion piece this weekend in the Bend Bulletin, here, provides good context for what will be another uphill climb. (And the momentum for this polluter-pays approach is going fast. Just as we were preparing to send this newsletter out today, this came to my inbox.)
Let’s get together
I’ll be talking about why I’m taking on these and other projects at my first 2025 Town Hall. We’ll be at the main branch Medford Library, 205 South Central Ave at 5:15PM this Thursday, January 16. Please join us. I’d like to hear what’s on your mind.
 Senator Jeff Golden, Oregon Senate District 3
Civics Bee:
The 2025 Civics Bee is an initiate aimed at encouraging young Americans to engage in civics and contribute to their communities. 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students are encouraged to submit an essay to this year's Civics Bee. Learn more here.
New Laws:
On January 1st, Oregon had new laws go into effect. You can read about them here.
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