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To contact me, click here: Sen.BruceStarr@oregonlegislature.gov
Welcome to a new edition of Bi-weekly Clips, where we cut through the noise to bring you news that matters most to our state, nation and our lives. My predecessor Senator Brian Boquist did an incredible job building out this newsletter and my goal is to honor that legacy and continue to bring you news analysis that matters.
This first newsletter will cover the month of February in its totality, but as I settle in, I plan to continue the bi-weekly news clips format this community is accustomed to receiving.
Empowered residents are critical to our republic. This newsletter will serve to empower readers through a focus on facts, news that matters, honest analysis, and common-sense solutions for Oregonians. As always, it is an honor of my lifetime to serve the great state of Oregon.
 OREGON NEWS
OregonLive. 2/20/2025. “Economist warns of Portland ‘doom loop’: A year ago, local economist Mike Wilkerson described Portland’s image as a “dumpster fire.” On Thursday, he cast himself as a skunk at a picnic when he warned the city could be on the verge of entering a “doom loop.” Wilkerson said Portland’s population trends, job growth, leasing activity and new housing construction suggest the city’s economy is in dire shape.Policies matter. Portland has been viewing itself as a test tube for extreme liberal policies for years and now we are seeing the results. From open market lawlessness, to rising crime, to stifling economic decisions - people and businesses are fleeing the city in droves - now earning the city the title of a “doom loop.” Unless the city changes course, this downward spiral is doomed to continue.
Statesman Journal. 2/9/2025. "ODOT Revenue Crisis: Billions Missing, More Taxpayer Money Needed: HB 2017 funding is estimated to miss the $5.3 billion target by $200 million over the first decade. ODOT has cited a projected decline in gas tax collections, limitations on where money can be spent and inflation as the main causes of its revenue crisis."
Oregon’s Department of Transportation is in financial freefall, with a $1.8 billion annual shortfall and a history of mismanaged funds. Despite collecting billions in taxes and fees, lawmakers are now considering yet another funding package to bail out the agency. Bottom line, we don't have a funding problem, we have a spending problem. With recent audits exposing waste and inefficiency, Oregonians should demand accountability first before more tax dollars disappear. Without spending accountability measures in place, it would be like refilling a car with a hole in the gas tank.
Fox 12 Oregon. 2/12/2025. "Battle Ground Takes a Stand: City Bans Homeless Camping: The city of Battle Ground passed a ban on homeless camps on public property."
Battle Ground has banned homeless encampments, prioritizing public safety and quality of life for law-abiding residents. This comes after the recent Supreme Court ruling siding with these decisions and providing legal cover for local municipalities. For too long, frivilous lawsuits hung over local cities and law enforcement - tying their hands from any meaningful action. Before this critical ruling, the West Coast had become a haven for lawlessness in these camps. This affected residents, businesses, schools, tourism and more. I applaud this action and look forward to seeing more of it across our state.
OregonLive. 2/11/2025. "Oregon Board Rejects Governor’s Push for More 'Harm Reduction' Spending: A state board overrode a request from Gov. Tina Kotek to spend the entirety of Oregon’s national opioid settlement money over the next two years on harm reduction services and supplies, preserving funding for drug treatment and prevention programs.” In a rare victory for common sense, a state board rejected Gov. Kotek’s request to funnel all of Oregon’s opioid settlement funds into controversial “harm reduction” programs--many of which enable addiction rather than fight to end it. Harm reduction programs are like putting a band aid on a disease – they don’t work. They simply maintain addiction, serve as a cash cow for government contractors, and give those struggling with addiction no path to sobriety.
KOIN. 2/11/2025. “Oregon Lottery Warns of Unclaimed Winnings: The Oregon Lottery is sending their final warning for four winning Powerball tickets that haven’t been claimed yet. Three of the Powerball tickets, each winning $50,000, were sold in Portland in the 97217, 97219 and 97214 zip codes. The last Powerball ticket, which won $100,000, was sold in Brooks in the 97305 zip code.” As the state lottery reminds winners to claim their prizes, Oregonians should remember just how much of their ticket money is siphoned away by the government. Not to be outdone, Oregon takes some of the highest percentages of taxes from lottery winners, which checks out in relation to our overall tax climate. We are highly taxed off of our work, our deaths, our businesses .. why wouldn’t we be taxed out of our luck too?
KATU Portland. 2/14/2025. Multnomah County Extended Emergency as Cold Weather Exposed Homeless Crisis: Nearly 1,000 people took refuge from the winter storm in the emergency warming shelters in Multnomah County on Thursday. The county opened eight shelters to allow homeless individuals the opportunity to escape the dangerously cold temperatures.” Multnomah County continues its never-ending crisis mode as its failing policies keep people on the streets. People living in these types of conditions is a humanitarian crisis and as long as local leaders are turning a blind eye to this, they are accepting human suffering. I would be interested to know what the price tag is for these local emergency shelters. Leaders should focus on long-term reforms that prioritize law enforcement, treatment, access to resources and accountability over endless government spending and patchwork policy making.
KOIN. 2/10/2025. “Four Arrested in Burglary Spree: Four people are facing numerous charges, including racketeering, in connection with a string of nearly 40 burglaries around Oregon that targeted Asian American homeowners, according to authorities.” Our law enforcement is incredible. As your representative, I will continue to highlight their phenomenal work, support all efforts to keep them fully funded and be a voice of reason against our state’s soft on crime policies.
Statesman Journal. 2/11/2025. “More Details Emerge on Salem City Manager Keith Stahley's Sudden Resignation: Salem City Manager Keith Stahley abruptly resigned after less than three years in the job. Salem City Council voted unanimously to accept his resignation Monday evening. Stahley submitted his resignation letter on Sunday. Per the terms of his contract, Stahley will receive a total of eight months' severance and is entitled to a payout of accrued leave for a sum of $255,845.” Another government official bites the dust as Salem faces mounting budget issues. With over a $13 million dollar shortfall, this makes sense. This is the issue with government -- they have no problem mismanaging our hard-earned tax dollars, only to receive no recourse, consider taking more of our money through raising taxes AND now the manager gets a six figure payout on top of it all. This would never work in the private sector, but here we are. Our officials need to be held accountable for these management failures from the top down.
NATIONAL NEWS
The Hill. 2/7/2025. "Trump Administration Suspends Costly Biden-Era EV Charging Network: The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on Thursday announced the suspension of a Biden-era electric vehicle (EV) charging network, the latest in a series of moves by the Trump administration to gut its predecessors’ energy and environmental moves."
In a victory for fiscal responsibility, the Federal Highway Administration has put the brakes on Biden’s bloated EV charging network. With taxpayer dollars being funneled into inefficient green energy schemes, the Trump administration is taking action to prevent more government overreach and reckless spending. Americans shouldn’t be forced to subsidize an industry that should stand on its own or attract private investment.
NBC News. 2/11/2025. "American Teacher Freed from Russian Prison Thanks to Trump’s Leadership: An American teacher held by Russia for 3½ years for a minor medical cannabis infraction was back on U.S. soil Tuesday night after his release earlier in the day, officials said. Marc Fogel, 63, who had been sentenced to 14 years in prison, shook hands with President Donald Trump in a light snow outside the White House after his return to the U.S. and safety."
Another example of President Trump doing more in the past four weeks than the previous administration has done in the past four years. U.S. teacher Marc Fogel is finally home--thanks to President Trump’s decisive action. Unlike the previous administration, Trump’s team prioritized Fogel’s release without making dangerous concessions to foreign adversaries. Another example of Trump putting American citizens first and restoring strength to our nation.
BBC. 2/11/2025. “Legal showdown looms as Trump tests limits of presidential power: In the first weeks of his second term, President Donald Trump has wasted no time in flexing his political muscle. That much is clear. Since taking office in January, he has ordered the suspension of all new asylum claims, cancelled refugee resettlement, frozen government hiring and spending, gutted agencies established by Congress, moved to ban gender transition care for teenagers and offered a buyout deal for hundreds of thousands of federal workers.” To be clear, President Trump is doing exactly what the majority of the country elected him to do. He was mandated by our country to turn our nation around and he is not wasting anytime acting on this promise. With four years left in his presidency, President Trump isn’t afraid to shake up Washington, and his first weeks in office have made it clear: the era of weak leadership is over. His executive orders in the past month have covered policies that have been weakening our nation over the past four years – out of control spending, the overburdening of our systems, rampant lawlessness and more. What has been exposed these past few weeks alone is troubling and cannot be ignored. While the media focuses on fact checking, legal standing and smoke and mirrors – these actions will be some of the most important our nation has ever seen.
Fox News. 2/17/2025. “Conservative portion of blue state looking to break off and join neighboring red state: Oregon's ideological fault lines exposed during the anti-police riots of 2020 are again coming to the fore, as the Greater Idaho movement looks to sever the conservative geographic majority of the state from the urban progressive movement.” The movement for some areas to break away from Oregon and join Idaho is gaining momentum – and can you blame them? The fight to realign state borders highlights the growing dissatisfaction with Oregon’s extreme policies and the push for governance that better represents rural values. Due to residents moving from cities or neighboring states - more moderate residents are feeling left behind. This movement is happening across the nation, with more people fleeing western (California, Oregen etc.) and eastern states (New York) for more politically balanced states that prioritize affordability, safety and quality of life over fringe issues.
BBC. 2/7/2025. “NCAA changes transgender athletes policy after Trump ban: The governing body for US college sports, the NCAA, has banned transgender women from competing in women's sports. According to the NCAA's updated participation policy, only "student-athletes assigned female at birth" will be allowed to take part in collegiate competitions. The policy change came the day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order preventing transgender women from competing in female categories of sports.” After years of allowing biological men to dominate women’s sports, the NCAA has finally been forced to reconsider its transgender athlete policies. This odd chapter in American history is still mind boggling to me. Our daughters, sisters, friends were under attack at every level. For a movement who spent the whole election touting women’s rights, science and women’s empowerment – this policy seemed contradictory. This extreme agenda has had devastating consequences – our girls have lost out on championships, potential scholarships and have lost motivation due not being able to measure up to biological males in their sport. I am glad to see this step back to sanity on this issue.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NPR. 2/17/2025. “European leaders scramble ahead of Trump's Ukraine summit with Putin: "Their worst nightmare has come true," he says. "They see that the Trump administration is going to bypass them and try to strong-arm Ukraine in negotiating a deal with Russia to end the war." European leaders are rattled as President Trump refuses to blindly follow their lead on Ukraine and other security issues. Trump is prioritizing a diplomatic solution that serves American interests first. The truth is, this war has been a cash cow for an defense contractors and has even resulted in kickback for politicians. While our veterans suffer, our residents are experiencing homelessness and we fight child poverty – we are siphoning billions of our taxpayer money to this war. Diplomacy does not mean we are the nation’s piggy bank.
U.S. Department of Defense. 2/11/2025. “Defense Secretary Discusses Force Posturing in Africa, Europe: When asked whether visiting Africom on his first overseas trip as defense secretary should be taken as a sign that U.S. strategic aims in Africa are changing, Hegseth pointed to the threat posed by China in that region.” The U.S. is showing its commitment to military strength and proactive defense, rather than the appeasement strategies of past administrations. This entails not turning a blind eye to China’s empire building. From buying U.S. farmland, to having a presence in other countries, China has showed that it will not play by international rules. Establishing boundaries and rules of engagement is the only path forward to a secure balance domestically and abroad.
CBS News. 2/12/2025. “Record cocaine haul found hidden inside a stone crusher in Luxembourg: Luxembourg authorities seized almost a ton of cocaine hidden in a stone crusher "of Colombian origin" in a record bust for the small European state.” While Democrats push for lax border policies and soft-on-crime approaches at home, drug cartels are expanding their operations worldwide. With the introduction of fentanyl into virtually every substance at this point, the drug crisis can no longer be ignored. Fentanyl has turned this crisis from a crisis of addiction to a crisis of mass destruction. The world can no longer turn a blind eye to this criminal enterprise.
The Guardian. 2/19/2025. “Hamas offers handover of all hostages to Israel if next phase of ceasefire agreed: Hamas has said it is ready to release all its remaining hostages in a single exchange if the ceasefire agreement with Israel moves forward to a second phase next month. The offer came as the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, signaled his readiness to talk about a second phase of the Gaza ceasefire after an extended delay, by appointing one of his closest advisers, Ron Dermer, a US-born cabinet minister and former ambassador to Washington, to lead the Israeli delegation to the talks.” Unlike other Western leaders who cave to pressure and negotiate with terrorists, Netanyahu refused to negotiate from a position of weakness. As a reminder, earlier this month, Netanyahu threatened to end the ceasefire in Gaza should his citizens not be released. This was met with gaslighting from Hamas and parts of the international community blaming Israel for not keeping the peace. Go figure. But, like clockwork, as the pending deadline from Israel loomed, Hamas came back to the table. Peace through strength. It was what is needed in our nation and worldwide.
Fox News. 2/12/2025. “Trump says Russia agrees to 'immediately' begin negotiations to end war in Ukraine: President Donald Trump said he had a "lengthy" call with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, which included the Russian leader agreeing to "immediately" begin negotiations over the war in Ukraine.” In a major diplomatic breakthrough, President Trump has convinced Vladimir Putin to begin negotiations to end the Ukraine war. This is yet another example of Trump’s ability to achieve peace and stability where career politicians have failed. In case you haven’t recognized a theme, setting boundaries through strength and a commitment to peace works. Our nation is respected again, and when we establish ourselves as a pillar of strength, the world takes notice. And, we are all safer for it. There is a reason that Trump’s first term showed some of the most peaceful times our international community has ever seen.
PARTING THOUGHTS
The theme this month is prioritizing our citizens first. Whether it is locally, statewide, nationwide or internationally - we need to take care of our residents, that is our job.
This happens through sound policy decisions that makes our residents lives better, seeking solutions to our everyday problems, utilizing our tax dollars for our taxpayers and establishing clear boundaries with our nation's partners.
Like any situation in life -- you can still be compassionate, while establishing healthy boundaries and not allowing yourself to be taken advantage of. This is the era we are in as a nation.
I hope you will continue to subscribe to this newsletter and join me in my search for truth and intellectual honesty -- locally, nationally and abroad.
Stay informed. Stay engaged. Our state and nation is a future worth fighting for.
Your voice in Salem,
Bruce Starr
Oregon State Senator, District 12
email: Sen.BruceStarr@oregonlegislature.gov I phone: 503-986-1712
address: 900 Court St NE, S-303, Salem, OR, 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/starr
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