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To contact me, please click here: Rep.AnnaScharf@oregonlegislature.gov
Dear Friends,
What a crazy and exciting week this has been in the political world, with President Trump's inauguration and the 2025 Oregon Legislative Session officially under way.
I had the privilege of receiving a Congressional invitation to attend President Trump's inauguration - a once in a lifetime opportunity - until the inauguration was moved indoors. Then I found myself waiting in a line, outside, for over five hours, in the freezing cold, only to end up missing the inauguration altogether. Still, I was thankful for the opportunity to witness the energy throughout the streets of DC, share the experience with my daughter and to see so many other local elected officials from Oregon and HD 23 in attendance.
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In case you missed it, President Trump signed a number of executive orders affecting the federal workforce, US energy and natural resource policy, DEI initiatives, immigration, public health, etc. You can find a summary of his executive orders here.
Back in Oregon, Legislatively, my calendar is filling up quickly. Between being on four committees, House Floor sessions, and caucus meetings, it unfortunately leaves me with very little time for other meetings. However, I have amazing staff that are willing to jump in and take meetings and are able to help should you be in the building and I am not available.
As always, I hope you are able to use this newsletter as a resource throughout this session and please reach out with any questions.
Sincerely,
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 Anna Scharf
State Representative - HD 23
 2025 Oregon House Republican Caucus
WELCOME TO THE 83rd LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
As we begin the 83rd Legislative Assembly, please join us in Salem to advocate for common sense solutions and demand government accountability. The House Republican Caucus, and I, desires a government that works for you, that is accountable and responsible with your tax dollars.
We are focused on finding ways to make Oregon more affordable, improving the educational outcomes in our schools, returning tools to our law enforcement officers to help make our neighborhoods safe again, make it less regulatory and more affordable to build houses, and hold state agencies accountable in how they accomplish these tasks and spend your tax dollars in doing so.
How to Get Involved
Your voice and input on the legislative process is vital. I want to ensure you have the tools to make your voice heard. Here's a few ways you can participate.
Testifying Before Committees
You can testify in person or remotely during committee hearings. To register:
- Visit OLIS (Oregon Legislative Information System) at olis.oregonlegislature.gov
- Find the committee meeting or bill you're interested in by using the navigation menu on the top right
- Click the "Register to Testify" button
- Fill out the registration form
Registration closes 30 minutes before the meeting starts. For remote testimony, you'll receive an email with a link to join the meeting. Be sure to join at least 5 minutes early. You can find more detailed step-by-step instructions here.
Submitting Written Testimony
If you can't attend a hearing or prefer to submit comments in writing:
- Go to the bill's page on OLIS
- Click on the committee assigned to the bill
- Use the link on the committee's page to submit your testimony online
Written testimony can be submitted up to 24 hours after the start of the meeting. You can find more detailed step-by-step instructions here.
Last week, Governor Kotek gave her State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature. During that time she outlined her priorities for the 2025 Legislative Session and acknowledged some the challenges our state is facing. While the Governor claims that our state is making progress, the reality is that our schools continue to fail our kids despite historic record financial investments greater than many others states, prices on everyday goods from groceries to fuel continue to increase, and crime, drug addiction and homeless continues to plague our communities.
I stand with House Minority Leader Christine Drazan and Senate Minority Leader Daniel Bonham in this video, outlining priorities that I believe would benefit ALL of Oregon.
Unfortunately, Governor Kotek's speech lacked a compelling vision and demonstrated an inability to tackle the challenges Oregonians elected her to solve. Oregonians deserver measurable outcomes.
As she closed her speech on her Oregon goals and her Oregon values, she made sure to once again divide the state politically. “…and in these uncertain times in Oregon where we safeguard our values and take care of each other regardless of the Federal landscape.” Her way of saying we must “Trump proof the State”. President Trump only lost in Oregon by ~320,000 votes to Harris. That is ½ the population of Portland. Maybe she should rethink “Trump proofing” the state with your tax dollars and start representing all Oregonians instead of just ½ of the population of Portland.
HOW IS OREGON DOING?
Oregon is increasingly becoming unaffordable with our cost of living being 31% higher than the national average. Taxes are too high for most families and the Governor’s approach to regulations and growing government – not your paycheck – is only making our state more expensive.
I have already seen legislation introduced this session by the Majority party that proposes increases and changes to property taxes, changes to the Corporate Activity Tax, transportation taxes (gas tax, tolling, pay per mile) and Executive orders such as the most recent one Governor Kotek did that adds unnecessary costs to construction projects across the state.
These proposals are not the answer. We need to invest in businesses, not punish them. We need to reduce regulations and allow the free market to be competitive in bidding on projects, and we need to reduce the size of government overall.
Our homeless crisis continues to grow with no end in sight. Despite record spending on homelessness, Oregon’s homeless population grew by 13% just last year with more than 23,000 of our neighbors living on the streets. Homelessness must be rare and temporary, but Governor Kotek has settled for a status quo that has made homelessness permanent and chronic.
Next week, the 2025 Point in Time (PIT) count date will be conducted. The count is part of a state and national effort to identify the number of individuals experiencing homelessness. It collects basic data such as age, race, gender, sex and veterans’ status.
Continuing to throw funding at homelessness and not seeing results needs to stop. The PIT count should be telling us why people are becoming homeless, and those problems should then be solved; addiction, economy, mental health, etc.
However, there is also a portion of the homeless population that regardless of resource and available housing, continues to choose the homeless lifestyle.
Our schools aren’t producing outcomes for our kids. Oregon has amazing teachers; I am blessed to have a son who is a teacher. He, like other teachers across our state, are dedicated to teaching our kids and preparing them to be successful adults. However, the Governors approach puts the Department of Education at the center of the conversation instead of the student and the parents (the taxpayers).
With nearly $11B going to our schools during the last biennium, the answer is not just a funding conversation. More money is not the only answer. We need families and our local school districts to have more control over our kids’ education. We need to hold our schools accountable to producing results at the local level.
This year, we will fight to expand school choice, restore graduation requirements, preserve local control, and expand summer learning opportunities.
This session will be long and challenging at times, but I continue to hold out hope that common sense will eventually prevail, and the Legislature will realize that it is the third branch of government, independent of the Executive branch. It is my hope the Legislature will act in a way that creates opportunities for all Oregonians, solves the problems that Oregonians actually care about, and passes agency budgets that work in a responsible, accountable and transparent way with your hard-earned tax dollars.
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1423
Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, H-387, Salem, OR 97301
Email: Rep.AnnaScharf@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/scharf
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