Shortly before our short session began, I joined House Speaker Julie Fahey and House Majority Leader Ben Bowman in an annual pre-session media availability. 

Our House leadership panel was asked about session priorities, transportation funding, affordability, and immigration enforcement. You can watch the entire event here. 

For some quick highlights of the above conversation, you can watch a recent news segment from KGW.  Democrats have said that Republicans are invited to the table.  But this is like being invited to a table that is already set and the menu is already prepared.  And if you have a food allergy, there is nothing you can eat.  You can watch the 4 minute segment here.

Last week, House Republicans announced our top priorities for the session: affordability, public safety, and education. 

Oregon families are feeling the impact of rising costs and a state government that keeps asking for more of their money without delivering results. As I've said before, Oregon doesn't have a money problem, it has a priority problem.  My goal is to put forward policies to help ease financial burden, protect businesses, and grow our economy. 

Our legislation includes the following: 

Affordability 

• House Bill 4051: Creates a program for deferred loans to first-time home buyers, allowing them to get their foot in the door without being overburdened by closing costs. 

• House Bill 4129: Caps Oregon’s Clean Fuels Program – eliminating an extra 22-cent per gallon tax at the pump. 

• House Bill 4109: Repeals Oregon’s first-in-the-nation law allowing striking workers to receive unemployment insurance. 

Public Safety 

• House Bill 4151: Increases the penalty for swatting, or making a false police report in an attempt to get police to respond, from a misdemeanor to a felony. 

• House Bill 4045: Requires communications companies doing business in Oregon to respond to search warrants within 72 hours when the underlying crime involves stalking or domestic violence. 

Education 

• House Bill 4133: Allows Oregon access to additional education tax credits and expands Workforce Pell Grants so that students and their families can choose a learning environment that best serves their needs. 

I’d encourage you to explore the site and find ways to get involved. Make the government work for YOU. Here is a step-by-step on how to register to testify or submit written testimony.  

I know it can feel like the inner workings of Salem are so far detached from your day-to-day life, but the government is here to serve you, and I want you to feel connected with your state government.

There is a committee meeting on the state budget and proposed budget reductions this Tuesday, Feb. 3rd, at 5 p.m. 

You can sign up to testify using the steps on the graphic provided: Let your State Representatives know how you want your tax dollars spent! 

Refer to these steps if there is any other proposed legislation that you are interested in providing either in-person or written testimony on. A few agendas are posted now, but many more will be posted in the coming days.

Register to testify! 

• If there is a bill you are particularly passionate about, you can register to testify either in support or opposition to the bill.  

• Advance registration is required! Registration closes 30 minutes before the hearing is scheduled to begin.  

• To register, go to https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025R1, select the “Bills” icon on the top right corner of your page, enter the bill number, and select “Register to Testify.” Or, call 1-833-588-4500.  

• You will want to fill out the “Public Testimony​ Registration Form.” 

• You will receive an email confirmation with an option to join Microsoft Teams if you can not testify in person.  

Submit a Written Testimony!  

• If you prefer not to testify in person, you can also submit written testimony in support or opposition to a bill.  

• To submit written testimony, follow the same steps as you would to register to testify in front of the committee, but you will select “Submit Testimony” and fill out the “Written Testimony Submission Form.”  

• Written testimony must be submitted up to 48 hours after the committee meeting start time. 

Testifying on a bill gives you a voice in Oregon’s Legislature. The voice of the people is the cornerstone of democracy, so let yours be heard today.  

There has been a lot of concern about the transportation bill.  At the beginning of January, an anonymous source leaked a 1935 Oregon Attorney General judicial opinion to a Willamette Week reporter. This opinion threw a wrench into Governor Kotek’s plan to repeal the transportation tax package during the short session to avoid a controversial ballot measure coinciding with the gubernatorial election in November.  

Despite the signature sheets expressly stating that the referral would be on the November ballot, Democrats recently announced that they plan on moving it up to the Primary election in May.  

What would that mean and why does it matter?

While this would give the legislature more time before the 2027 session to work out a long-term solution for ODOT’s budget woes, it also gives fewer Oregonians a say in the process, and there is nothing stopping those important conversations from happening right now. Governor Kotek has already expressed a desire to continue these conversations to work towards a more sustainable 2027 Transportation Package. 

This feels like another attempt to silence Oregonians from weighing in on this issue. Democrats realize the power of disenfranchising voters, and they are rightfully scared. The momentum that this gas tax has garnered has the potential to rally voters behind Republican candidates in November.  

Story Night President Jessica Campbell presented me with a desktop plaque and flowers.  The quote on the plaque reads,

We tell our stories, and a drop of truth lands on the dry ground.  The ground sings back.  Alone, that would be the conclusion to the story- dry ground absorbing one small raindrop.  But another story is told, and another drop wets the ground.  And another.  Then another.  

And slowly, beautifully, powerfully, the stories carve a pathway through, and that pathway becomes a trickle where others with painful stories refresh themselves.  Before long, this trickle becomes a stream that heals the nations. - "We Too" by Mary DeMuth

Stories matter, both within our communities and at the Capitol.  Many of the bills that come through the Capitol begin because someone told his or her story.  As your representative, I am here to listen to you and your story.