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Rep.SarahFingerMcDonald@oregonlegislature.gov
Hello Friends,
I was sworn into office on January 13, 2025 - 343 days ago. I knew that I was about to start a legislative session, chemotherapy for colon cancer, and I just hired a stranger who I interviewed at Starbucks to run my legislative office. I jumped in. Learned A LOT. Met SO MANY people. Did some good, important work. Faced some frustrations. My first session both happened very slowly, drive after drive to Salem, meeting after meeting, bill after bill, day after day, and then suddenly it ended. It feels like yesterday, and it feels like history as I brush myself off and gear up for session 2. This time I am more prepared, but I can’t imagine how we make it through a session in 5 weeks.
Mostly, as I think about the last year, I am immensely grateful. I am grateful to have work that makes a difference even while the world feels like it’s on fire. And I am especially grateful for the people who make it possible for me to serve District 16 – my amazing, supportive family, my staff (more about them below), my colleagues, all the legislative staff, and you, my constituents who have trusted me to represent you. Thank you!
How It Started
It was humbling to walk onto the House floor for the first time to be sworn in and that feeling hasn’t left me. I was nervous that first day. I felt like a freshman on the first day of class. Between the parliamentary procedure, committee rules, chamber rules, caucus rules, and learning about a few thousand policy concepts, it's like drinking from a fire hose. Luckily, like in college, people are there to point the way while new members get their feet under them.
And that's how it started. You can’t be brave unless you’re scared, and you can’t be strong without facing adversity. I’m a mom and a cancer survivor. Being a legislator isn’t the hardest thing I’ve done but it is among the most important.
There are 2 people who made me look good as I found my legislative feet:
Daniel Balm - the stranger I hired to be my Chief of Staff.
Dan hails from Washington State and started working in Oregon politics in 2006. His first Legislative Session as a Chief of Staff was in 2007 and he worked in local government for a few years. He's generally responsible for what you see from this office.
Not only is he exceptionally helpful to me, but he's a great cook and an avid cat lover! He also gets bored on the weekends sometimes and responds to constituents.
Pictured here, sitting behind another member's desk, no doubt "playing stern". Don’t let him fool you though. He’s actually very nice and helpful.
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Grace Corcoran - my Second LA during session. Fun fact - her boyfriend was the actual Oregon Duck at the time!
Despite her questionable academic loyalty, we hired Grace because of her amazing skills and work ethic.
Grace joined us from Wisconsin. She has now spread her wings and flown away to the Senate, where their large offices are sure to make her lonely and want to return to our cozy House office. We miss her.
Here she is on UO lobby day, with her partner.
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If I showed up on time, in the right room, with the documents and research I needed and clear thoughts in my head, it is because of these two people. Thank you Dan and Grace!
Housing - Adair Village
Priority #1 - Housing.
As you all know, Corvallis is a vibrant college community with beautiful rolling hills, and lots of hiking trails, but not enough housing. Our housing market is tight and prices out of reach for many young families. The supply has not kept up with the demand and everyone in our community feels the impact:
- · Oregon State University needs affordable housing for educators and administrators.
- · Good Samaritan needs affordable housing to attract top healthcare talent.
- · The community needs affordable housing to live in!
- · The Corvallis School District needs affordable housing, both for employees and to bring more students into our district.
The thing is, we can't just snap our fingers and create housing. We can reduce some burdens to make it easier to build, but it takes time for laws and rules to change and for the effects to trickle down to developers. One way to speed things up is with direct appropriations from the State Government. And that's what I asked for when we identified that Adair Village could build 1000 units of housing if they could get a grant to upgrade their wastewater infrastructure.
So, I dropped a bill asking for $4M for the city. And with the help of my staff, Representative Elmer, and legislative leadership - we got the $4M and now Adair Village is on their way to building those 1000 units. I am excited to help bring 1000 units of family housing into the Corvallis School District.
Also, huge shout out to Pat Hare, City Administrator for Adair Village for his vision in that community.
Coffin Butte - We Have Their Attention Now
 Priority #2 Coffin Butte
2025 was a challenging year for us, but 2026 might be a challenging year for Republic Services and Coffin Butte.
Coffin Butte is easily the top local issue in our community. I began the year knowing that the state had to do more in this area. Years of complaints by the community were not getting the attention the deserved, and in January my office started engaging with DEQ about the status of the landfill and the many alleged violations. We were quick to engage with them and soon realized that we needed a more formal look at the problem.
So, I dropped House Bill 3794 which would create a task force to identify solutions to our waste after Coffin Butte closes. Our residents have done enough. Before we ship our waste to another district we can do better to reduce what ends up in a landfill. The task force will begin to meet in earnest at the beginning of 2026, and is comprised of subject matter experts, environmental advocates, private haulers, and local and state elected leadership. The goal is to identify what to do with a million Oregonians' garbage after Coffin Butte closes next decade.
Getting the task force created was no easy task. We had a County Commissioner try to send the bill to a new committee to adopt an amendment that wasn't related. We had a lobby group try and amend the bill in the Senate by misrepresenting our position on it, and load the task force with private haulers, and we had to educate 89 elected officials on what happens after they roll their garbage bins to the curb.
Summer Stuff
 I thought I smelled like poo for two days after this tour
As we started nearing the end of session, I knew that I wanted to stay busy and continue to pound the district with tours and events. Living here is one thing, and being on the school board was another, but there is much more to learn and consider as a Representative. Under the current Administration and with our housing and budget woes, I knew it wouldn't be a summer of sunbathing. Instead, I ended up smelling like poo.
The Benton County Solid Waste tour was fascinating, but very smelly. I've talked in more detail about my visits this summer, but it was exciting to spend time in the community touring:
The Portland Warzone
Adair Village
Benton County Crisis Center
Bulk Handling Systems
Chintimini Wildlife Refuge
Corvallis Multicultural Literacy Center
Corvallis-Benton County Public Library
Good Samaritan
The Jen-Hsun Huang and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex
OSU Lews-Brown Horticulture Farm
OSU Tallwood Design Institute
Stone Soup Corvallis
Sweeney Farms
Tillamook Boardman Processing Facility
Benton County Solid Waste
I also held two town hall events. One with Majority Leader Rep Bowman and Rep David Gomberg and another with AG Rayfield and Senator Gelser Blouin. Combined, well over 300 of you showed up to those events to engage and advocate. These events are tremendously important for elected officials, so thank you for coming out!
A Dumpster Fire with Executive Privilege
We started the year hoping that Trump 2.0 would be different than Trump 1.0, but it seems we were shipped a Beta version full of bugs. Instead of making America great, Donald Trump immediately malfunctioned, resulting in him pardoning January 6th insurrectionists, grifting us with a meme coin, building his own army, setting it out to attack minorities, creating the Department of War, eliminating the Department of Education, creating a warzone, asking for the Nobel Peace Prize, appointed himself king, gave himself a parade, faked out the nation with DOGE, destroyed scientific research, demolished a third of the White House, tried to starve his citizens into submission, threatened to hang political opponents, told a reporter "Quiet, Piggy", murdered a few more people...and I just don't have the time to keep listing the things. My apologies if I've left your favorite off the list.
The piece of this disaster that makes me proud is Oregon’s response. Oregon's leaders have responded to these acts by standing up and standing between Oregonians and their President. This spring and all year long, AG Rayfield, Governor Kotek, the Oregon Legislature, the Secretary of State, and staff and elected leaders from all over the state have decried the authoritarian tactics and hateful discourse from the most prestigious office in our nation. And Oregonians in Corvallis, Portland, Newport, and across the state have shown up to peacefully protest, speak at townhalls, and fight authoritarianism with joy. We’ve set an example of how to bring the fight.
The Big Ugly Bill will pillage $15 billion from Oregonians. This announcement follows a preliminary and comprehensive analysis by the State of Oregon’s Chief Financial Officer in coordination with impacted state agencies upon the passage of Trump’s budget.
HR1, passed by U.S. Republican politicians, takes Oregon’s federal tax dollars away from critical programs and hands a giant tax break to billionaires at the expense of children, families, and communities. The money that helps Oregonians see a doctor or put dinner on the table for their family is now going into the pockets of those who do not need it.
Trump’s $15 billion cut to Oregon will affect health care access and food security and environmental stewardship. Federal funding supports 1 in 3 Oregonians on the Oregon Health Plan for health care and 1 in 6 who rely on food assistance. Reducing these resources will force hard choices in the years ahead. We’ll work tirelessly to protect essential programs, but the reality is, Oregon can’t make up the difference alone. We are going into the 2026 short session planning for hard budget cuts and looking for sources of revenue.
If you're still on the fence: take a look (Yikes!) at what one of Trump's colleagues said about the bill: "Well, we all are going to die," Republican Sen. Joni Ernst on Trump's Big Beautiful Bill.
As I look ahead to 2026, the short session, an election year, and then another long session, here's what I'm focused on:
- · Standing up against Authoritarianism
- · Building resiliency within our community and state
- · Working on practical legislation that is achievable
- · Education - Higher Education and K-12
- · Protecting our water, farmland, forestland, and air from climate change and pollution
Balcony (Plug-in) Solar - This concept is mirrored after the bi-partisan legislation that unanimously passed out of Utah earlier this year. Widely adopted in Germany and other parts of Europe, these systems can be as simple as a solar panel being plugged into an outlet, or a more complex system with a battery. Designed to plug in to a GFCI or 220W outlet, these panels can offset growing electrical costs and reduce greenhouse emissions.
While the concept prepares regulatory framework necessary to adopt the technology at the state level, both the national electric code needs to be changed and the technology needs certification by Underwriters Laboratories. For a better understanding of how this technology could work, and the barriers we still have to overcome, check out this Wired article from earlier this year.
Notification when Ice is on Campus - We've all been seeing the news of schools going on lockdown because of ICE activity on or adjacent to school property. Turns out "ICE doesn't target schools" was a total lie and we’ve started to see activity around the schools in our district.
Woodburn School District reinforces student protections after alleged local ICE activity | Woodburn Independent
ICE agents outside Oregon middle school asked to leave by school staff | kgw.com
Families, staff return to school across Oregon, some under fear of ICE arrests
As a reminder, we have a moral and legal obligation to teach any child that shows up to school. Using that obligation, and children, to target members of our community is unconscionable. That's why my second bill for 2026 will require schools (K-12 and higher ed) to notify parents, students, and faculty if ICE is present on school property. This would apply to sports fields, parking lots, and every inch of school grounds.
New Laws That Start January 1st
Protecting Consumers and Household Stability
House Bill 3167 - the Fan Fairness and Transparency Act, requires ticket sellers to disclose all fees upfront; prohibits speculative ticketing, where resellers list tickets they do not actually own; and ensures clearer labeling so buyers understand when they are purchasing from a secondary marketplace.
Senate Bill 688 - ties utility profits to performance metrics, allowing the public utility commission to require that investor-owned power companies meet certain performance targets if they want to raise rates. Those targets can include reducing costs, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and ensuring low-income Oregonians aren’t cut off from power.
Already in effect is House Bill 3546 which creates a new classification for high industrial energy users including data centers and cryptocurrency and requires them to pay their share for electricity use and costs.
Senate Bill 426 - holds developers and contractors accountable when construction workers serve on a project but don’t get paid. The provisions will help prevent wage theft and improve transparency in Oregon’s construction industry.
House Bill 3521 - gives prospective tenants more protections for getting back a deposit they put in before signing a rental agreement. Beginning Jan 1., landlords must return the deposit if the potential tenant finds serious problems that make the home not habitable.
House Bill 3378 - requires landlords to give tenants options for safely locking and unlocking a rental home’s doors without relying solely on an app on the tenant’s own mobile phone. Beginning Jan. 1, landlords will have to offer alternatives like an access code, fob, key card, or another physical key.
Senate Bill 430 - prohibits extra costs like “convenience charges” or “service fees” from being tacked on to online purchases without warning. Under this new law, anyone selling goods or services online to Oregonians must include required fees and charges in the price they advertise or display on a website.
Improving Access to Health Care
Senate Bill 605 - stops medical debt from going on your credit report. Beginning Jan. 1, medical service providers—like hospitals and clinics—are prohibited from notifying consumer reporting agencies that you owe money for your care or how much. The reporting agencies also are banned from including in your report any amounts they know or should know are medical debts. We will still be responsible for paying our bills but unanticipated medical costs won’t impact our credit scores.
House Bill 3064 - requires health plans regulated by the state to cover treatment of perimenopause, menopause, and post menopause. The health plans include individual and family plans, small business plans, and plans overseen by the Oregon Educators Benefit Board (OEBB) and the Public Employees' Benefit Board (PEBB). Beginning Jan 1., such plans must pay for services like hormone therapies, osteoporosis prevention and treatment, and hormone therapies. This 53-year-old woman thinks this is great and thanks our neighbor Rep. Boshart Davis for bringing the bill forward.
Senate Bill 1137 - requires health insurance plans to cover breast reconstruction surgery that uses a patient’s own tissue for reconstruction, instead of implants. The plans must pay for this form of breast reconstruction under the same or better terms and conditions they have for reconstruction procedures with implants.
Protecting Personal Safety
House Bill 2299 - strengthens Oregon’s laws against non-consensual intimate image distribution. Beginning Jan. 1, the definition of such images expands to include AI-generated deepfakes. The bill creates first- and second-degree offenses, elevating the crime to a felony for repeated violations and extending protections to all victims of intimate-image abuse.
Senate Bill 548 - raises the state’s legal minimum age for marriage from 17 to 18 years old. Until now, 17-year-olds could officially marry in Oregon when they had one parent or guardian’s permission, and the young person’s own consent was not required (!). Raising the minimum marriage age strengthens legal protections against sexual exploitation
Senate Bill 537 - sets a precedent for workplace safety in healthcare, aiming to protect those who care for us. The law strengthens penalties for repeat workplace violence and broadens protections and support for employees, aiming to protect those who care for us.
Tottenham - Recap and Look Forward
 Unrelated to Tottenham but we HAD to use this pic
There are things in our lives that prepare us for the work we do. Being a mother of teenagers prepares me to work with oppositional lobbyists. Five years of fighting cancer has made me tough and has given me perspective on what is truly important and an understanding that most of us are carrying burdens that no one can see. Being a Tottenham Hotspur fan (Premier League soccer team that my family supports. iykyk) has taught me to keep believing and hoping even when we are stuck in a 2 wins and 3 ridiculous losses loop. And I will forever be glad I’m not an Arsenal fan – I see you Rep. Ruiz.
As I said at the start of this long newsletter, I am grateful for the opportunity to represent District 16. Clearly, there are things I could not have anticipated about my service. It has been hard, and exhausting, and frustrating. It has also been rewarding, meaningful, critical, and, on many days, fun. I love learning and, wow, have I learned a lot. The people are the best part. Working alongside smart, devoted people gives me hope. And through the tough parts we got good work done for Oregon.
2026 will be even tougher and I’m ready.
Best wishes for a very Happy Holiday to all of you!
Yours truly,
 Representative Sarah McDonald
House District 16
email: Rep.SarahFingerMcDonald@oregonlegislature.gov I phone: 503-986-1416
address: 900 Court St NE, H-477, Salem, OR 97301
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website: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/mcdonald
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