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To contact me, please click here: Rep.AnnaScharf@oregonlegislature.gov
Dear Friends,
This was another long and full week of House Floor sessions. The next few weeks will continue with even longer ones as we race to meet the constitutional Sine Die (adjournment) date of June 29th. I hope you find the below update helpful - there is some great information this week about some hot topics in the building.
Please join me in honoring the graduating class of 2025! My office sent out graduation cards to all high schools in House District 23 who were able to share their student graduates' names. Congratulations to Falls City High School, Dayton High School, Dallas High School, Western Christian High School, Perrydale High School, and Newberg High School on your high school success and I wish you all the best in the next chapter of your life!
I hope you all have a great weekend. As always, please reach out to my office with any questions or concerns.
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 Anna Scharf
State Representative - HD 23
HB 2037 - Protecting Women's Sports
My colleagues and I forced a vote on the House Floor to protect women’s sports, locker rooms, and bathrooms. HB 2037 would ensure that only biological women participate in women’s sports and are able to enter women’s intimate spaces such as locker rooms. As expected, the vote failed along party lines, despite hearing the stories of over a dozen young female athletes who were present for the vote.
Joining me from House District 23, Newberg High School track and field athlete, Sophia Carpenter who had a personal story to share. Sophia has been a high jumper for six years and was forced to complete against biological males in the State Track meet just last weekend. The emotional trauma ruined what should have been a highlight of her athletic career. Sophia is just one of many of the young women who proudly stand up to protect women's sports.
The U.S. Department of Education has recognized June as “Title IX Month” to honor and celebrate the achievements made by female athletes across our country. The Oregon School Activities Association’s (OSAA) current policy violates federal law and Title IX protections that prohibit biological males from competing in women’s sports. Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex for schools that receive federal funding. A statewide poll commissioned by House Republicans revealed that 69% of Oregonians oppose OSAA’s current policy allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports.
You can watch my remonstrance on this subject here.
Pictured with my colleagues and the amazing female athletes, current and past, that joined us on the floor and in the gallery (top). My two nieces were able to join me on the floor as well. Both of these young women are past stand out softball players (bottom left). Sophia is standing up against unfair competition and the preservation of Title IX. I was proud to stand with her and honor her with both a courtesy and a remonstrance (bottom right).
SB 916 - Getting Paid to Strike
This past Wednesday, the House passed Senate Bill 916, a bill that fundamentally changes the way our state handles labor disputes. If signed by the Governor, Oregon will have the most generous system in the country to pay striking workers.
While supporters claim this bill “levels the playing field” for workers, the reality is far more troubling. SB 916 doesn’t just help workers in need; it incentivizes more frequent and longer strikes, putting students, parents, and local businesses at risk. School districts, already stretched thin, will now be forced to reimburse the unemployment fund every time staff walk out, diverting critical resources away from classrooms and student success. This is money that should be supporting our kids, not subsidizing labor disputes.
Superintendents from around the state were united in opposition to this bill because they understood the risks it poses to our kids' education. Something that our GAPS superintendent wrote me stood out: "We do not have schools to provide jobs--we have schools to educate kids."
We broke the House of Representatives record with the number of floor letters on this bill. A floor letter is a way for members to submit written materials into the House record. Nearly all these floor letters were from local Oregon businesses and school districts opposing this bill.
Republicans offered common-sense alternatives, like requiring unions to use their own strike funds before tapping into taxpayer-supported unemployment insurance. Unfortunately, those ideas were rejected.
I spoke strongly against this bill. You can watch my floor speech here.
House Republicans introduced HB 3982, which preserves operations and maintenance that are key to core functions at ODOT. Essential services across the state, but especially critical in rural Oregon, such as plowing roads, painting fog lines and filling potholes. The bill stabilizes ODOT and avoids raising the cost of living.
The roots of Oregon’s working-class community run deep, and this bill reflects where they are. Oregonians don’t want to pay more in taxes and fees for government services they should already be getting. They want potholes filled, snow plowed, roads and bridges maintained. By cutting spending on non-essential programs, this bill will put ODOT on more solid ground than it is today without raising taxes.
On May 25th, the Republican leaders of the House and the Senate had an op-ed published in the Oregonian talking about Republican’s consistent focus this session on prioritizing the core mission of repairing and maintaining roads and bridges, without raising taxpayer dollars. You can read the whole article here.
This legislation follows that core mission and seeks to rebuild Oregonians’ trust in ODOT by refocusing their priorities without asking Oregonians to pay more. With a state budget that has doubled over the last decade alone, we reject the premise that politicians must make life more expensive for Oregonians if we want to fix potholes, plow the snow and keep our streets safe.
HB 3982 Facts:
- Prevent a projected $0.60 increase over ten years to Oregon’s hidden gas tax (Clean Fuels Program).
- Redirect over $134 million of current spending on climate initiatives towards critical functions.
- Redirect $38 million in funding for passenger rail service towards critical functions.
- Redirect the payroll tax over two years to provide truckers with a tax credit on future tax bills, repaying them for years of unconstitutional overpayments.
- Adopt recommendations from the managerial review of ODOT, including the creation of the Major Projects Office.
- Modernize fuel taxes and regulations to reduce tax evasion and facilitate easier compliance.
LEAKED: DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP PLAN TO ADD BILLIONS MORE IN TAXES IN POORLY CRAFTED TRANSPORTATION PACKAGE
Yesterday, we received a copy of the Democrats’ transportation plan (HB 2025) from an anonymous whistleblower, which calls for a dozen tax and fee increases to fund ODOT.
HB 2025 Facts:
⛽️ 37.5% increase to the gas tax
📃 $70+ to Title Fees
📃 $50+ to Registration Fees
🚗 2% sales tax on new cars
🚘 1% additional car sales tax
💸 0.2% increase to payroll taxes
📍 NEW per mile driven tax (RUC)
Read all about it the full proposal here. As this journalist puts it, the proposal "empties Oregonian's wallet to fill the tank."
The main focus of the Democrat’s transportation package is on public transit and bikes, and less on solving the problem for the vast majority of Oregonians who drive their own car to work or for the trucks that deliver ultimately EVERYTHING we consume. They continue to argue most “Americans don’t drive”. This is an Oregon transportation package, not an America transportation package.
If you believe the argument that public transportation is widely used, here’s the actual facts: public transit ridership was HIGHER before the Legislature passed a tax on your wages. In 2018, Oregon transit agencies provided about 130 million rides. Today, it’s closer to 100 million. Despite a near 450% increase in funding from the payroll tax, transit agencies are serving fewer riders than before.
If Portland, Salem and Eugene want to keep funding empty buses, they can ask their city councilor or county commissioners. But workers in places like Falls City, Klamath Falls, Coos Bay, and La Grande shouldn’t have to foot the bill.
Oregonians can’t afford billions in new taxes. Throwing more money at a broken system feels like what Oregon does best, but it is time to STOP. No amount of money is going to fix ODOT’s management crisis. This week, the Oregonian reported on "a lack of feedback, trust and communication from the agency’s top executives." The culture at ODOT needs to change, and that isn't really something you can put into statute. You can't legislate culture, and you can’t fix it by just throwing more money at it either.
HB 3982 is a much better option that holds ODOT accountable to its core mission and protects families from tax increases by reprioritizing funding instead of asking Oregonians to pay more and get less.
Protect Oregon Agriculture - Say NO to SB 1153
As a fierce advocate for Oregon’s farmers and ranchers, I’m deeply concerned about Senate Bill 1153—a bill that threatens the future of water use in Oregon agriculture. Here’s why we must stand together and speak out:
SB 1153 is a solution in search of a problem. There’s no evidence that current water transfers are harming our rivers or streams. Yet this bill would impose vague, undefined standards and sweeping environmental mandates that even the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) isn’t equipped to handle.
It undermines innovation and efficiency. Water transfers are the only practical way for producers to adapt to drought, crop rotations, irrigation improvements, and conservation upgrades. SB 1153 puts those adaptive tools—and our ability to feed Oregon—in jeopardy.
It bypasses a fair, transparent process. This bill was introduced without consulting the agricultural community. Our voices have been ignored, and the legislation continues to move forward behind closed doors.
It’s inequitable and inconsistent. Municipal water systems are exempt, but farmers, ranchers, and rural communities are targeted. That’s a double standard we can’t accept.
It adds more bureaucracy and litigation risk. OWRD is already backlogged. SB 1153 will only create more delays, more lawsuits, and stall vital conservation projects.
It lacks a fiscal analysis. New mandates, no cost transparency. That’s not responsible policymaking.
Our livelihoods, our rural communities, and our food supply are at stake.
Take Action NOW:
Contact Democrat legislators and urge them to OPPOSE SB 1153.
I was happy to join my colleagues from the Labor and Workplace Standards Committee in penning a letter to the joint Ways & Means committee urging them to fully fund BOLI. Multiple times this session we heard from people and from BOLI themselves about the backlog of cases and the time it takes to get them investigated and closed, if ever.
We also heard about unregistered labor contractors in the construction and ag community and the lack of BOLI’s ability to do enforcement on them. Again, they deserve to have the tools to do their job.
While I am not interested in growing government, I am concerned that we are underdelivering on promises made to workers when they were told they have a place to get help. In addition, the intent of the letter was also not to suggest giving BOLI resources to do proactive enforcements over complaint investigations.
I appreciate the partnership with Rep. Elmer (R-McMinnville) and Rep. Boshart-Davis (R -Albany) on this important topic as budgets get finalized.
 
This time of session is contentious and full of stress. So, being able to find a little humor is a must.
State Rep. Lucetta Elmer (R-McMinnville) and I share Senate District 12, and we served on the House Committee on Labor & Workplace Standards, and the House Committee on Early Childhood and Human Services together this session. Someone captured this picture of us after a recent meeting. It was wonderful to see there are times of happiness amidst the frustration
I'm grateful for Rep. Elmer's friendship and hard work this session to try and stop bad policy from passing. HD 24 is lucky to have her. We often say we make a good team.
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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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