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To contact me, please click here: Rep.VirgleOsborne@oregonlegislature.gov
Hello Friends,
We are almost to the end of the 2025 session. Here are some moments from the past week and valuable community insights to help you stay informed.
~ Virgle
Poll Shows Voters Aren’t Worried About Oregon Roads and Don’t Want to Pay to Fix Them
Willamette Week
- Roads and traffic are pretty far down the list of what Oregonians say is the most important problem facing Oregon today. Homelessness (17%), government mismanagement (14%), and housing affordability (10%) ranked far higher on the list than roads and traffic (3%), which ranked behind 12 other categories.
- Voters seem reasonably content with the state’s major roads and highways, with 65% rating them “good” and just 34% ranking them “poor.” Voters are less happy with local streets, with 55% saying they are “good” and 45% saying they are “poor.”
- Voters strongly oppose a 10-cent increase in the gas tax. That tax, currently 40 cents per gallon, would increase to 50 cents beginning January 1, 2026, under HB 2025, and to 55 cents on January 1, 2028. A committee has already formed to refer the measure to voters should HB 2025 pass, as Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. Two-third of voters also oppose a key component of the bill: indexing the gas tax so it increases with inflation starting in 2029. That would effectively mean an automatic increase in the gas tax every year, although that increase is limited to 4% annually...
...At Friday’s meeting, state Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis (R-Albany), co-vice chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation Reinvestment, voiced concerns about the substance of the bill and the process by which it was developed, which Boshart Davis said included little Republican input. Some male Republicans, including co-vice chair Sen. Bruce Starr (R-Dundee), raised equally forceful objections, but only Boshart Davis’ concern appeared to provoke co-chair Sen. Chris Gorsek (D-Gresham). Gorsek yelled at Boshart Davis, prompting her to announce from the dais she would file a Rule 27 workplace conduct complaint against Gorsek for treating her differently from her male colleagues.
That in turn caused seven House Republicans to boycott Monday’s session in support of Boshart Davis. The House can operate without the seven. (House rules require 40 of 60 members to be present.) At 2:47 pm, Gorsek told OJP that he would step down from the committee he co-chaired. “To allow for the committee’s focus to remain on completing the Oregon Transportation Reinvestment Package this session, I have offered my resignation from the Joint Committee on Transportation Reinvestment effective immediately,” Gorsek said in a text message. “I support the compromise that’s being offered from the House, and I look forward to voting in support of it on the Senate floor.”
11 Oregon Republicans boycott floor session, call for reprimand of Democrat who raised voice at colleague
The Oregonian ~ In response to the incident, House Republican Leader Christine Drazan of Canby asked Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, to remove Gorsek from his committee assignments; initiate a vote to censure the lawmaker; require a building wide notification prior to Gorsek entering the Capitol; and require him to undergo workplace harassment and anger management training. “This behavior is not only abusive, it weakens our democratic institutions and has no place in our Capitol,” Drazan said in a press release. Wagner did not respond to a request for comment.
The 11 House Republicans cited Gorsek’s behavior, as well as Democrats’ rushed process to move House Bill 2025 forward, as the main reasons for their walkout. “Friday’s spectacle laid bare the dysfunction in Salem,” seven of them said in a press release Monday morning. “The public deserves better than rushed, closed-door deal-making, silencing dissent and shouting down legislators...”
...“We’re here to say that is not good enough for Oregonians,” Drazan said. “What you saw between Senator Gorsek and Rep. Boshart Davis is the exact representation of how Oregonians are being treated by this Democrat supermajority, and we’re protesting or boycotting. We’re standing up against it, and we’re demanding better.” Unlike some previous walkouts, which Republicans have used as a tactic in recent years to deny Democrats a sufficient quorum to hold any votes, Monday’s boycott included only about half of House Republicans. The 11 who walked out are: Reps. Court Boice of Gold Beach, Virgle Osborne of Roseburg, Dwayne Yunker of Grants Pass, Alek Skarlatos of Winston, Boomer Wright of Reedsport, Darin Harbick of McKenzie Bridge, Darcey Edwards of Banks and Ed Diehl of Stayton, Anna Scharf of Amity, Boshart Davis and Drazan.
WATCH: Oregon Sen. Gorsek resigns from committee after clash over House Bill 2025
KPTV ~ Oregon state Sen. Chris Gorsek resigned from the Joint Committee of Transportation following a clash in session over House Bill 2025.
LISTEN: INSIDE DOUGLAS COUNTY 6.20.25
KQEN ~ Live in studio, State Representative Virgle Osborne talks about what’s happening as the legislative session concludes in a few days.
Sutherlin City Manager issues public apology concerning Sutherlin Blackberry Festival, Oregon HB 3962
Sutherlin City Manager issues public apology concerning Sutherlin Blackberry Festival, Oregon HB 3962 | News | nrtoday.com
College scholarship awarded to local high school seniors
College scholarship awarded to local high school seniors | Briefs | nrtoday.com
I want to congratulate Ashley Palm (Sutherlin High), Brooklyn Bartram (Sutherlin High), Sylvia Eckman (Roseburg High), Owen Miller (Roseburg High) and Nilisha Patel (Roseburg High) on their scholarship awards. I am excited to see students like yourselves representing our district and state.
I extend my best wishes for your continued success in the future.
Yours Truly,
 State Representative, House District 2
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1402
Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, H-375, Salem, Oregon 97301
Email: Rep.VirgleOsborne@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/osborne
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