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To contact me, please click here: Rep.AnnaScharf@oregonlegislature.gov
Dear Friends,
September Legislative Days will be held next week. Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend because I will be attending a Women in Government Medicaid Summit in Washington DC. Knowing that Medicaid will be a hot topic in 2027, I made the decision to go to DC to learn more about what the changes coming from the passage of H.R.1 really mean and get specific questions asked and answered firsthand from Federal officials.
Legislative committee meetings will all be recorded on OLIS so I will be able to watch them in the evenings and stay up to speed on my committee responsibilities. I was also able to connect with the Chairs of the committees ahead of time to provide suggestions for the agenda.
In addition, the deadline to pre-session file bills is also next week. Bills may still be filled and introduced during the long session, this is just the deadline that ensures bills requested are drafted on time to be 1st read on the first day of session.
My office is only pre-session filling a few bills. With thousands of bills introduced during the long session I felt it was important to make sure the bills I would be responsible for would be ones that had strong lobby support and/or an individual citizen or group of citizens willing to work the bill through the process. I anticipate I will once again have multiple committees so dedicating too much time to lobbying bills can lead to missing important issues moving in committees.
Here are just a few of the bill topics I am working on:
- Administrative Rule transparency – a bill I have run before that had favorable bi-partisan support but just could not quite get it done.
- Paid Leave Oregon fix
- Lobbying wait time reform – a bill I ran in 2025 that restricts certain individuals from lobbying. A practice that I believe is unconstitutional.
- Assisted Care facility payments due upon death
- Use of a mask when committing a crime
As always, please reach out to our office if you need help with a state agency or other matters.
Regards,
 Anna Scharf
State Representative - HD 23
Congratulations and best wishes for a great school year to all the students in HD23. Even if you do not have a student in school, I encourage you to look at the links to your nearby school. Attending a local HS Football game on Friday night can be a great way to meet people in the community and support amazing student athletes. In addition, school districts are often looking for volunteers in many capacities. You don’t need a student in the school to be involved in making a positive impact in a young person’s life. Below are links to the websites of each school district in & around HD23:
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I was honored to again be invited to speak along side Rep. Paul Evans at the Dallas and Monmouth/Independence Chamber – Good morning Polk County event. Being able to field questions from the business community about what is happening in Salem and how it affects them is an important aspect of serving HD23 that I don’t take lightly. The concerns and suggestions of the business community drive how we keep Polk County moving forward economically.
Thank you to all the business who attended and to the Chambers for putting together such a great event.
 SPARK is an amazing housing project in Newberg kickstarted by a portion of the $3M allocation I was able to secure in 2022. This public/private partnership is the first of its kind in the State and will put individuals, couples and families on the path of financial success and home ownership. The event raised over $300K that will help keep the project moving forward.
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It has been a few months since I was out to the HIVE construction site and construction is moving right along. HIVE is another housing project which has grown out of the $3M allocation from 2022. Its model is different from SPARK in that individuals will purchase the homes immediately rather than participating in a financial planning path to home ownership program. The houses are intended to help fill with workforce housing gap for individuals, couples and families in the Newberg Community. You can read more about it here.
DLCD also hosted a listening session to hear from community members regarding improvements to land use policies and programs that people think could make more land ready for economic development and expansion. The event was well attended and very productive.
It was my pleasure to have DLCD Director Brenda Bateman and her team tour the HIVE site as a part of their Newberg stop. Creatively solving Oregon’s housing crisis means we also need to look at the land use and zoning laws to see if there is room to improve them to get more housing into the market. HIVE is an example of an infill solution that highlights this opportunity.
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It was a pleasure to welcome members of the Oregon State Assessors and Tax Collectors Association (OSATCA) to the Capitol. I enjoyed being part of their tour of the building and hearing about the important work they do in communities across Oregon. It was a great opportunity to connect, share perspectives, and give these local leaders a closer look at the legislative process and their state government. Pictured with me are Valerie Patoine, Polk County Assessor, who helped organize the event, and John Swanson, incoming Polk County Commissioner.
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This will also be the last newsletter from my office until after the November 3rd election due to the election blackout requirement. Therefore, I wanted to make sure you all have the deadline dates in front of you so you do NOT miss the opportunity to exercise your right as a citizen to vote. |
Voting in Oregon is easier than anywhere else in the Nation so there is no excuse for NOT getting a ballot turned in. Elections matter and every vote DOES count!
Also, I highly recommend dropping your ballot at a secured ballot drop off location instead of mailing it. However, if you need to mail it, make sure you take it inside the post office and request that it be post marked. Many local post offices DO NOT postmark envelopes, and they are not postmarked until they reach Portland where the central sorting is done. This could mean that your vote would NOT count. Also, it can take well over a week for a letter to get from one end of HD23 to the other (Dallas to Newberg). So again, I highly suggest secure ballot drop-off locations.
Links to how to find those in Polk and Yamhill Counties are listed below along with other important dates.
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September 19th - Last day to print and mail ballots to military and overseas voters.
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September 21st - First day the county clerk may provide, in person or by mail, a ballot to a voter who will be away during an election.
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October 5th - First day to mail ballots to voters with a non-Oregon mailing address who are not military or overseas voters.
- October 13th - Last day to register to vote.
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October 14th - First day to mail ballots & last day to distribute county voters' pamphlet.
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October 16th - Last day to mail ballots to voters without daily mail service.
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October 20th - Last day to mail ballots & last day to distribute county voters' pamphlet.
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October 29th - Last day counties required to mail absentee, reissued or replacement ballots
- November 3rd - Election Day, ballots must be post marked by this day for ballots to be accepted.
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November 10th - Last day to receive valid postmarked ballots by mail.
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Monday, September 14, 2026 , 9:00am-8:00pm
Tuesday, September 15, 2026, 9:00am-8:00pm
Wednesday, September 16, 2026, 9:00am-8:00pm
Thursday, September 17, 2026, 9:00am-8:00pm
Location
411 E 1st Street
Newberg, OR
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Description
This collaborative event, organized by the Newberg Downtown Coalition, is open to all retail businesses located in the downtown district. Shop late summer sales all week long!
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Wednesday, September 02, 2026, 4:00pm-8:00pm
Wednesday, September 09, 2026, 4:00pm-8:00pm
Wednesday, September 16, 2026 , 4:00pm-8:00pm
Location
711 E 2nd Street
Newberg, OR
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Description
Fresh finds, local flavors, and that midweek magic you didn’t know you needed. See you there!
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Sept. 4th: Back to School with Bigfoot –
DTW Big Horn Band (Funk, Rock, R&B, Movie & TV Themes, Video Game Classics)
September 18th: Harvest Highlights –
Joe Shinkle & 99 West (Country)
October 2nd: Tunes & Treasure –
Rewind Band (Oldies Rock N Roll, Pop, R&B) |
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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