|
Hello Friends,
The 2025 legislative session is officially underway! It’s been a busy few weeks here in Salem – read on for highlights from our opening day, my thoughts on the work ahead of us for the next 4+ months, and more.
Monday, January 13th marked the opening day of the 2025 legislative session. Opening day is a special moment for legislators, particularly our new members who took the oath of office for the first time, and celebrated the moment with their family, friends, and loved ones.
It's an incredible honor to be starting my fifth term representing my constituents in House District 14 and to have been elected by my colleagues to continue serving as the Speaker of the House during the 83rd legislative assembly. The Speaker traditionally addresses the Chamber at the start of a session to offer their thoughts on what the legislature should prioritize in the months ahead and to set the tone for their leadership in the House. You can watch my opening day address here.
|
It’s also tradition for the Speaker to give each member of the House a gift to commemorate the start of the session. My gifts to members were wooden toy vehicles from the Oregon Wooden Toy Company, a small business in Eugene. They were a nod to the work we will do on transportation this session and to the importance of the wood products industry in our state.
I want to thank Don and Kim Gilbert from the Oregon Wooden Toy Company for working with my office on the gifts!
In the 2025 session, the legislature will remain focused on the most pressing challenges Oregonians are facing: cost of living, housing, homelessness, healthcare, and improving our K-12 schools. This session, I’m committed to protecting what makes Oregon special, improving the lives of Oregonians, and keeping us moving forward.
Fighting for an Affordable Oregon
Legislators have heard loud and clear that cost-of-living concerns are top of mind for Oregonians right now. While there are national or global factors we can’t influence at the state level, we can and will make a difference on some big-ticket items, including housing, health care, and utilities.
-
Housing: We will continue our work to build more homes in Oregon to help make housing more affordable, including by investing in affordable housing construction, and working with the Governor to meet the ambitious goals she has set for production.
-
Health Care: This session, we will take up additional legislation on prescription drug prices. We will also renew our Medicaid financing system to ensure Oregonians don’t lose access to critical care, and providers have the resources they need to serve the broader community. One in three Oregonians are covered under the Oregon Health Plan, including half of all children. Getting this right is important for them, but it’s also about funding and supporting our broader healthcare system, including access to maternity care.
-
Utilities: We will consider making changes to the rate-setting process, and we will work to ensure that as data centers and other large users increase the demand for electricity, they are paying their fair share and not shifting costs onto residential customers.
Making Government Work
Oregonians want their government to deliver on its basic functions – an education system that prepares students for college or a career, a safe and resilient transportation system, and an addiction treatment and mental health system that supports those who need it. Whether at the DMV or applying for veterans’ benefits, Oregonians deserve to feel confident that our government systems are efficient, accountable, and effective.
One of the most important responsibilities of the legislature is ensuring we have sufficient and stable funding for our schools, but these investments can’t be a blank check. In past sessions, we’ve made record investments in our public schools, but we also must focus on policies that ensure student outcomes in our K-12 schools are improving and that we have concrete, evidence-based plans to get there. This session, we’ll consider proposals to change how we determine funding for our schools and how we hold districts accountable for achieving results.
We will also recommit to our responsibility as a legislature to ensure our government is working for Oregonians. That means making sure that our state agencies are functioning, using taxpayer dollars wisely, and are accountable to the people of Oregon. This requires legislative oversight and holding agencies accountable. We will ensure public funds are improving outcomes and delivering results.
Keeping Oregonians Safe
Every Oregonian has the right to be safe in their community. We must hold people who commit crimes accountable and support victims of crime. We will ensure that our streets and sidewalks are clean and protect Oregonians from the threat of gun violence. As we continue to confront the climate crisis, we’ll evaluate state funding for wildfire prevention and emergency preparedness while building healthy and climate-resilient communities.
Protecting Basic Rights and Freedoms
Based on what we saw during the first Trump presidency and the first few weeks of his second term, we know there will be times over the next four years when the values we have as Oregonians are at risk. In the first Trump administration, we took action when we needed to protect our state's values like when we passed the Oregon Environmental Protection Act. We also codified Oregonians’ reproductive rights so that everyone has the freedom to decide whether and when they want children, based on what is best for them. This session, we will take action when needed to defend every Oregonian's constitutional rights and basic freedoms.
Legislative Preview with Capitol Press Corps
At the start of each session, legislative leaders host a press conference with reporters who cover state government issues. It was great to share the dais with Democratic Leader Ben Bowman, and Republican Leader Christine Drazan to share our goals and vision for the 2025 session. |
|
 |
There is a significant overlap between the priorities Leader Bowman and I talked about and those laid out by Leader Drazan – making Oregon more affordable, fixing our schools, addressing homelessness, making it easier to build houses, and holding state agencies accountable.
I think that’s good news – and a signal that both parties are listening to what Oregonians want us to work on. My Republican colleagues may sometimes have different ideas about how we get there, but we can all agree that we need to deliver this session for the people we serve.
Think Out Loud
I also recently had the opportunity to join OPB’s Think Out Loud program alongside Republican Leader Drazan. I want to thank Dave Miller and all the folks at OPB for hosting us! You can listen to the interview or read a transcript of our conversation here. |
|
 |
Sitting down with KATU
 |
|
Senate President Wagner and I joined KATU’s Your Voice Your Vote with host Steve Dunn. We discussed our priorities this session and how we can work together to deliver results for Oregonians. You can watch our interview here. |
Since Trump took office, we've seen unprecedented chaos and confusion out of Washington, D.C. I know that many Oregonians are feeling a significant amount of anxiety right now as President Trump begins his second term. We know there will be times when the values we have as Oregonians are at risk, and I'm grateful that Gov. Kotek and Attorney General Dan Rayfield have taken action against some of the most blatantly unconstitutional measures, like trying to change the laws about who is or isn't a citizen. Thanks to coordinated legal action, the orders freezing funding for federal services and programs that Oregonians rely on were blocked (and later rescinded) and Oregon families can continue receiving vital services like Head Start, Medicaid, and SNAP.
At the state level, we’re ready to stand up and push back when needed. We will defend Oregonians' rights and protect critical programs. I appreciated this opinion piece by Ezra Klein, which helps put into context the first few weeks of the administration.
Eugene City Club
In mid-January, I had the opportunity to present to the Eugene City Club with my Republican colleague, Representative Lucetta Elmer (HD 24, McMinnville & Yamhill County). We shared our perspectives on the big topics the legislature will take on during the 2025 session and answered questions from the audience about our work. I want to thank everyone at Eugene City Club for putting on a fantastic event, and Rep. Elmer for joining me on stage. You can watch a recording of the event here.
|
Joining KLCC's Oregon on the Record
 |
|
Late last month I had the pleasure of joining Michael Dunne on KLCC’s Oregon On The Record. We had a great conversation about the work ahead of the Legislature in 2025 – you can listen to that interview here. |
Recapping the Joint Pre-session Town Hall
The weekend before the session began, Rep. Lisa Fragala (South Eugene), Rep. Nancy Nathanson (North Eugene), Rep. John Lively (Springfield), Sen. James Manning (West & North Eugene), Sen. Floyd Prozanski (Eugene & Springfield), and I participated in a joint hall to preview the 2025 session.
In recent years, we’ve hosted these events in Lane County’s Harris Hall, but this year we had the chance to use the City Council Chambers in Eugene’s new City Hall, located right on the Willamette River.
From left to right: Eugene Mayor Kaarin Knudson, Sen. Floyd Prozanski, Rep. Lisa Fragala, me, Rep. John Lively, Rep. Nancy Nathanson, and Sen. James Manning.
We had an incredible turnout, with more than 100 members of the community attending – people asked thoughtful questions about the legislature's work and encouraged us to take action on many different issues. A big thanks to everyone who attended the event, to my fellow legislators for participating, to newly sworn-in Mayor Kaarin Knudson for moderating, and to the staff at the City of Eugene for hosting us!
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office if you need help navigating local or state government services or if you have thoughts about bills for the 2025 legislative session. Your input is valuable as I consider what to prioritize in the coming months.
Yours truly,
 Capitol Phone: 503-986-1414
Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, H-271, Salem, Oregon 97301
Email: Rep.JulieFahey@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/fahey
Replies to this message are sent to an unmonitored mailbox.
To contact me, please click here: Rep.JulieFahey@oregonlegislature.gov
| 
