The 2025 Legislative Session Begins!

And we're off! The 83rd Oregon Legislative Assembly was sworn in on Monday, and the Capitol is shaking off its months of empty hallways and rarely frequented offices, and becoming a bustling building once again as we embark on the fast and furious six months ahead. The Capitol has been abuzz with lawmakers, staff, lobbyists, and PC specialists working diligently to get everyone's office tech up to speed. The first glut of bills have been first read and officially introduced (more will come as we progress through session), committees officially begin their work next Tuesday, and our office is ready to dive in with both feet!  Governor Kotek was a part of the opening day festivities, delivering her State of the State address. Once again, housing, education, addiction, and climate issues rank among her top priorities for this Legislative Session, with a notable addition of addressing our growing transportation crisis. We hope her call for bipartisanship is sincere, but we do have some reservations given the not-too-distant past.

One not-strictly-legislative-but-much-more-fun part of this job is welcoming folks to their Capitol, especially the little ones! Unfortunately, between COVID-19 and construction, the building has not been "normal" since early 2020, which makes it more challenging to give kids a great experience when they visit--and instill a love of engaging with their Citizens' Legislature as they move into adulthood. With that in-mind, I hatched an idea. To add a little more “fun” for their visits, my office has added a little free library for kids to discover as they’re touring our halls. The Sweet Home Public Library and Friends of the Library have generously donated several large boxes of children’s books to stock it, and the reception from people in the building to help with this project has been overwhelmingly positive so far! We are even going through the trouble of registering it on the Little Free Library map in hopes of increasing awareness. Each book will come with a special stamp and a note of encouragement from a sitting Representative or Senator, so come grab yours today!

We are still combing through bills that were first read on Monday, but here are a few that have stood out so far:

SB 697 – Prohibits a person under 21 years of age from possessing firearms.

SB 429 – Institutes 72-hour waiting period to purchase any firearm. 

SB 78 – Restricts ability to rebuild after disasters, especially for wildfire victims.

SB 687 – Allows creation of a local fuel tax without a vote of residents.

SB 404 – Returns state managed Oregon and California Railroad Revested Lands to county management.

SB 702 – Bans any flavoring in products that contain nicotine.

HJR 8 – Imposes a statewide property tax to fund public safety.

This week we want to honor House District 11's incredible fire districts, which have mightily contributed to Oregon's countless firefighters, 30 water tenders, and 75 engines (and counting) that have deployed to the fires that erupted in the Los Angeles region last week.

Please join us in thanking Lebanon Fire District, Scio Fire District, Halsey Fire, Harrisburg Fire & Rescue, Sweet Home Fire District, and Jefferson Fire District for their heroic efforts!

Do you know of anyone in House District 11 who deserves to be acknowledged? Send us your nominations at Rep.JamiCate@oregonlegislature.gov

Our Tour of the District!

In a break from business as usual in Oregon's Capital, much of this week was spent on the road as Conner and I traversed all over House District 11! This annual check in was an exciting opportunity to have extended meetings with the mayors, city managers, city councilors, fire chiefs, police chiefs, and chambers of commerce that help make our wonderful local communities function. This was an opportunity to not only hear directly from our rural communities about the numerous challenges they face, but also to explore so many new exciting things on the horizon!

A hot topic of conversation for our cities were the various projects that they are hoping to get state funding for through Capital Construction funds in 2025. These can be anything from road improvements, new waterlines, or resources to support residential developments for our growing communities. Our first responders were sure to let us know the challenges they face in dealing with rising costs across the board with limited resources at their disposal. These problems include reimbursements for Ground Emergency Medical Treatment to aging fire engines.

All in all, the three-day adventure was a great success–though our batting average of remembering to take photos could use some (or a lot!) improvement! Until it does, you'll just have to use your imagination to picture multiple meetings in eight of our beautiful communities, and a bonus meeting thrown in to continue our efforts to find solutions for the ongoing preservation of the Calapooia River. It would be a lot of photos! Even without photographic evidence of all the smiling faces helping serve you, we want to extend thanks to all of the hardworking officials keeping House District 11 running for taking time out of their busy schedules to meet with us.

Tour stops included: City of Jefferson, City of Scio, Scio Fire District, City of Lebanon, Lebanon Fire District, Lebanon Chamber of Commerce, City of Sweet Home/Sweet Home Police Department, Sweet Home Chamber of Commerce, City of Sodaville, City of Halsey, Brownsville Rural Fire District/Halsey-Shedd Fire District, City of Brownsville, and City of Harrisburg/Tri-County Chamber of Commerce.

Teen Game Night Tonight in Sweet Home

The Sweet Home Public Library is proud to present Teen Game Night tonight from 6:00-8:00pm! All teens ages 13-19 are welcome to come enjoy laser tag, video games, board games, group games, and more. Snacks and drinks are provided!

Senior Bowling at Linn Lanes Next Tuesday

Join other seniors for an afternoon of knocking down pins next Tuesday, January 21st from 12:00-1:30pm at Linn Lanes in Lebanon! This exciting event is being coordinated by the Lebanon Senior Center, and for just $10 you can receive shoes, a game of bowling, and a burger basket with a drink. You will need to sign up no later than today, January 17th by calling 541-258-4919. Bowling starts at 12:00pm sharp, so don't miss out!

Small Business Grant Opportunity

Free Grocery Home Delivery

Do you or someone that you know need assistance with grocery shopping? The Pollyana Club of Brownsville wants you to know that they will deliver orders from the Wal-Mart in Lebanon for free to those around the local area who really need it! 

For more information, call Jimie Nousen at 503-734-9855.

The following write-up is by Scott Swanson, publisher and editor of Sweet Home's local newspaper since 1929, The New Era.

Why Local Newspapers Matter

It is no secret that newspapers are struggling.

We hear regularly of longstanding local news organs, some having served their communities for a century or more, giving up the ghost. And, regrettably, it's too true in House District 11.

As little as 20 years ago there were weekly newspapers serving Jefferson, Scio, Lebanon, Sweet Home, Brownsville and Harrisburg. Now, the only surviving newspapers in the district are The New Era in Sweet Home and Lebanon Local, a monthly.

There are a lot of reasons for this, the proverbial “thousand cuts.” They range from competition for local advertising, to out-of-state owners who seem to care little about serving their readers with quality journalism and a lot about maximized profits, to basic business ills that often seal newspapers' fate.

A recent report from the Oregon Journalism Project, a new nonprofit investigative journalism effort, notes how Craigslist, Meta and Google have sucked up dollars that not long ago supported local newspapers. “Across the country, this has driven local newspapers out of business or resulted in zombie newsrooms,” the report states, noting that more than “68% of our state’s incorporated cities, and three entire counties, now lack a local news source.” Once-prominent newspapers as the Oregonian, the Eugene Register-Guard, Salem's Statesman Journal and the Bend Bulletin are mere shadows of what they once were – thriving, prize-winners that kept politicians accountable with watchdog journalism.

A responsible local newspaper is essential in keeping a community informed, engaged and empowered. But when there isn't one and an election rolls around, and we wonder whom we should vote for, that's when the importance of a reliable local newspaper can really hit home. Even if you don't agree with everything you see, it's helpful to have it.

When a community loses its newspaper, it often experiences:

• Reduced transparency. Government that doesn't experience the scrutiny of the public – in this case through a news reporter in the room, can easily become more secretive about its movements, and may more easily sink into corruption and irresponsible use of public money.
• Lack of public engagement. It's challenging to participate responsibly in the democratic process when it's difficult to learn what is happening in the public arena. Lack of newspaper coverage can lead to more straight-ticket voting and lower voter participation.
• Diminished sense of community. Newspapers help foster a shared identity and understanding within a community: sports scores, social news, community happenings, academic achievements, talented people and their accomplishments, volunteerism, exceptional endeavors and successes, etc.
• Increased political polarization. Newspapers can and should provide diverse political viewpoints in a non-confrontational manner, which isn't what we're getting from social media and partisan media outlets on both sides of the aisle.

I've worked in newspaper journalism for 40-plus years and I've seen all of the above play out in real life. Communities that value their newspaper must do what it takes to support it. It's easy to take local news for granted, until we don't have it any more.

Drawdown Set for Detroit Dam

A major regional story that broke this week was the news that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is planning to drop Detroit Lake to the lowest water level in its history next fall. If this sounds familiar, similar (and more severe) drawdowns took place at Green Peter and Lookout Point Dams the past two years. These are aimed at saving endangered salmon, but have notoriously lead to unbelievably costly externalities to our local habitat and communities-- most notably in the killing off of over a million Kokanee and causing murky drinking water as treatment plants struggled to filter out the increased turbidity.

While not in House District 11, we are conscious of the hardships Detroit has been through since the 2020 wildfire season, and want to emphasize how many people downstream could also be impacted--most notably the city of Salem. We will continue to keep tabs on the situation, and the continued shift in management decisions being implemented across our region's dam infrastructure.

To read more about this plan, check out this article.

Record Number of House Bills Filed Pre-Session

You may have heard conversation regarding the record amount of legislation introduced so far this Session, and indeed, the rumors are true! As a legislative body, we seem to keep growing government, and many have said that we likewise need to grow our salaries to cover the added workload. However, Member salaries have gone up over 32% in just the four years I have served in the Legislature. These increases have been done quietly through cost of living adjustments approved by our presiding officers, and have left our salaries at $3,620 per month with an added per diem of $178 for each day we’re either in session or legislative days --or an average of over $60,000 a year for a two-year term of "part-time" work.

One thing is clear, no one is forcing lawmakers to introduce more and more bills every biennium, and instead of lamenting the need for higher salaries, perhaps it would be beneficial to reconsider introducing such a tremendous amount of legislation, and preserving the spirit of Oregon's Citizens' Legislature.

As I referenced last week, we're excited to announce the newest addition to Team House District 11, Ali Ruiz! Ali has worked in the Capitol for several offices in the recent past, and I always admired her people skills and desire to grow in this crazy workplace. This week was known as "organizational week" in the Capitol after Members were sworn in, and that was very much the case for our office as well. There are so many hoops to jump through when onboarding new staff!

In addition to holding down the fort while Rep. Cate and I were in district this week, Ali has begun working on combing through bills, familiarizing herself with the way we sort the email inbox, and getting some advocacy projects lined up for Rep. Cate's legislative proposals. Without further ado, I'll turn over the rest of this section to Ali!

- Conner

Hi everyone! My name is Ali Ruiz, and I am excited to be starting my 4^th Session--this time as one of Representative Cate’s legislative assistants! I have been in the building off and on for the past four years with different lawmakers. After taking a year off to be able to focus on my studies, I returned to the legislature for the 2023 Long Session, and have remained in the building ever since.

My goal for this session is to be able help Rep. Cate and Conner balance the ever-growing workload that ramps up during a long session. I will be primarily tasked with making sure that you, the constituents of House District 11, have your questions and concerns answered in a timely manner. Feel free to reach out to us if you run into issues with your state government, as that is one of the main functions in our office; helping our constituents resolve problems. We are here all week, every week! While I am most experienced with constituent work, I am also excited to be getting the chance to do some more policy work and grow my knowledge of how this office represents House District 11 in totality.

We will continue to keep you updated on all the behind-the-scenes of this year’s session--both the good and the bad!

- Ali

Kotek bill would expand where duplexes, triplexes could be built

The Oregonian

Gov. Tina Kotek is asking Oregon lawmakers to expand where and how “missing middle” housing such as duplexes and triplexes can be constructed. House Bill 2138 aims to build on one of Kotek’s major legislative accomplishments in her tenure as Oregon House speaker, when she championed a law in 2019 to allow middle housing in areas previously zoned for single-detached homes. The thrust of HB 2138 is to permit middle housing in more places, including on unincorporated land in urban areas.

Repairing Oregon’s roads and bridges could cost billions. Will lawmakers come up with a fix?

The Oregonian

What exactly the transportation package will include, how much it will cost and how exactly lawmakers want Oregonians to pay for it, however, remains unclear with less than a week to go before the start of the 2025 session. Some Republicans have criticized that ambiguity. But Democrats and transportation committee leaders say they will deliver specifics well ahead of the session’s end, still five months away...

Kotek’s State-of-the-State Address highlights homelessness, mental health support, student success

KPTV

Republican leaders responded, saying that spending more money is not going to fix Oregon’s education systems. Instead, they want to see families have more control over what goes on in the classroom. “For far too long, the conversation has been ‘What does the system need? What does the bureaucracy need? How much money is needed to continue to the status quo?’ That is not good enough for the kids, and not good enough for families and the future of our state,” Drazan said.

Big statewide property tax plan return. (HJR 6, HJR 8)

Oregon Catalyst

Last year, State Representative Paul Evans (R-Salem), submitted HJR 201 which would have created Oregon’s first ever property tax to go statewide and to be controlled by statewide politicians.  Over 1,200 people testified against the tax and less than a dozen testified in support of the tax. Representative Paul Evans is back with House Joint Resolution 6 and House Joint Resolution 8.

HB 2713: New income tax "surtax" to pay for lawmakers slush fund

Oregon Catalyst | Taxpayers Association of Oregon

State Representative Paul Evans, in addition to him submitting two statewide property tax bills, has also submitted an income tax “surtax” with HB 2713.

Opening Ceremonies Needed

Do you sing? Read poetry? Play an instrument? Pray? Then we have a job for you!

Every Floor Session in the House of Representatives starts with Opening Ceremonies, and is a great way to showcase the talents found across the state. Guidelines for Opening Ceremonies are below, but if you're interested in being a ceremonial part of the 83^rd Legislative Session, let me know! My office can help coordinate with the Chief Clerk's office to get you on the calendar.

Gearing Up for Session!

Looking Forward to the Year Ahead!

Interim Newsletter: December

Interim Newsletter: November

Signing Off for the Fall!

Capitol Phone: 503-986-1411
Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, H-381, Salem, OR 97301
Email: Rep.JamiCate@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/cate