Replies to this message are sent to an unmonitored mailbox.
To contact me, please click here: Rep.MarkGamba@oregonlegislature.gov

Hi folks,

Many of you know I recently had major ankle surgery. The recovery has gone well but I have been sorry to be not able to do our regular Constituent Conversation events. I am finally ready to resume those! See the graphic below for the two upcoming ones.

Committee Gavel

I am excited to report that the Speaker appointed me as the next chair for the House’s Climate, Energy, and Environment Committee. Climate change is not only the defining issue of all time, it is one of the top issues people care about in House District 41 and it’s the main reason I entered politics in the first place. As our state is ablaze with record wildfires and we suffer from yet another heat wave, the need for bold action is literally inescapable. My team and I are already hard at work lining things up so we can have a successful legislative session next year. See below for more on that.

Data Centers

The alarmingly rapid rollout of data centers across the country, and especially here in Oregon, has drawn a tremendous amount of attention. Oregon is a very desirable state for these companies due to several factors: 1) Most states offer an exemption of their sales tax to draw development; we not only do not have a sales tax, but we also offer property tax exemptions on top of that. 2) Access to hydroelectricity allows these companies to progress towards their clean energy goals. 3) 16 of the main undersea fiber optic cables for internet connectivity come through the Pacific Ocean and land in Oregon. 4) Oregon has a relatively colder climate than states like Arizona and Texas, which means it costs less to keep the computers cool and functional.

The data center boom has happened so rapidly that our state regulations have just not kept pace. At this point we are all aware of some of the harmful impacts these facilities can have on our communities including in power and water use, noise and other pollution, and even in the most basic levels of transparency we ought to be able to expect from large users of our electrical grid. We passed the POWER Act last year to ensure regular ratepayers are not shouldering the financial burden to power these buildings; however, the people of Oregon are making it abundantly clear that they expect our legislature to take further action. With all of that said, more of today’s modern society is inextricably reliant upon the functions of data centers than most people realize. As one example, those smart phones we all carry around in our pockets every day would only be able to do two things without data centers: make phone calls and tell time (maybe).

Our legislative session does not begin until January but I am already hearing about several bills that will be introduced, including at least one outright ban on new data centers. My team and I are also working on a proposal to resolve and protect against all of the issues they raise while still allowing for their operation (if they can meet all the requirements). There will be much more conversation in the coming months. Stay tuned.

Pictured: As Co-chair, I presided over the January meeting of the Joint Committee on Transportation Oversight

Legislative Update

It is still subject to change but I have decided the list of legislative concepts I plan to introduce in January. Most of these have a tremendous amount of context and detail that I simply cannot cover in this medium. I am generally opposed to doing “messaging” bills or concepts that are more window-dressing than actual solutions. If you have questions about any of these, please reach out and/or attend one of my upcoming Constituent Conversations to talk about it. These are not listed in any particular order.

1. Creating a Transmission Authority to prevent rolling blackouts in the next 8 years
2. Increasing accuracy of revenue projections with Revenue Forecast Modernization Act
3. Banning rental application screening fees
4. Ending corporate spending in elections
5. Allowing cities to require more energy-efficient building codes
6. Requiring EV chargers in new multifamily construction so renters have access
7. Creating rules that will make any new data centers good neighbors. 
8. Giving ODOT internal legal counsel to speed projects and prevent ballooning costs
9. Requiring environmental impact analysis for all major transportation projects
10. Enabling ODOT to hire expert civil engineers instead of relying on expensive consultants
11. Tying Oregon’s minimum wage to housing costs so that no worker is forced into homelessness
12. Utilizing property tax changes to incentivize more infill development
13. Allowing projects that are rebuilding transmission infrastructure to choose to go through the EFSC process, instead of just the local process
14. Allowing farmers to take advantage of both environmentally friendly and also profitable agrivoltaics technologies
15. Modernizing our land use system to recognize climate change and the need for clean energy and transmission projects, and putting them on equal footing with other goals 
16. Creating a mapping process to identify important lands that we want to protect and thereby identifying spaces where clean energy could be safely sited 
17. Defining Grid-scale batteries in Oregon law and how they relate to our land use system.
18. Creating a non-relative caregivers’ affidavit in order to protect the lives of children whose parents were kidnapped by ICE
19. And, if all of that wasn’t enough, we are looking to revolutionize the housing industry in an effort to produce housing units at scale that the average working class family could afford to own

Thanks for reading and for being engaged. I hope to see you at an upcoming Constituent Conversation event. If you have thoughts or questions, please send them directly to my office as we do not receive responses to this newsletter address. You can reach me at Rep.MarkGamba@oregonlegislature.gov.

All my best,

Mark Gamba

Capitol Phone: 503-986-1441
Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, H-477, Salem, Oregon 97301
Email: Rep.MarkGamba@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/gamba​