During a relatively quiet time at the Oregon capital, state representatives of Lake Oswego, West Linn and Portland spent a sunny evening Thursday, July 25 fielding questions from a packed audience at Lake Oswego City Hall.
State Sen. Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, State Rep. Daniel Nguyen, D-Lake Oswego, and State Rep. Jules Walters, D-West Linn, participated in the session.
Here are some of the highlights from the discussion.
Defusing tension between urban and rural communities
As the senate president, Wagner said he has prioritized visiting communities from across the state to get to know his fellow state officials and the issues that are most important to them. He said he advises kids in more urban areas who are worried about their futures to do the same, noting that kids in rural communities often have a more firsthand experience of the impacts of climate change.
“We have to do the hard work to meet across the aisle,” he said.
School funding
Walters described the way that the state funds education as convoluted and the legislators acknowledged that the recent investments the Legislature has made, like the Student Success Act, haven’t necessarily translated to improved student metrics.
Wagner mentioned Measures 5 and 50, which limited tax rate growth, as having led to budgetary constraints for school funding and said that Gov. Tina Kotek and the state are working to adjust the funding model so that school districts can maintain current service levels.
“We have a work group to come up with a new model, so when we come back into the next session we have a number that is going to keep the lights on,” he said. “The challenge we have is we have so many mouths to feed: Medicaid, housing, corrections. Every (legislative) committee we are hearing people saying, ‘I need more.’”
As in previous town halls, the representatives also highlighted the need for revenue reform more broadly and the current lack of funding to meet a plethora of needs.
Climate change
When asked about climate change, Walters mentioned that she is on a work group dedicated to making transmission lines more climate-friendly and thoughtfully placed.
“We don’t necessarily have the infrastructure to transmit that electricity, so we are working really hard to figure out ways to expedite that. There is federal money on the table for it,” she said, later adding: “(We are) trying to find ways to partner with our power companies to find better places and spaces to put long-distance transmission lines so they are safe and we still have beautiful countryside to look at … it will be expensive but in the long run it will save us money.”
Nguyen mentioned that $14 million was allocated for heat pump installation for rented homes, but that money dried up very quickly.
“Certainly there is a need for it and the Legislature has an opportunity to (provide) for that,” he said.
Gun violence
When asked about what the state is doing to address the gun violence epidemic, Wagner mentioned recent reforms like closing the boyfriend loophole (to prevent previous domestic abusers from accessing guns) and strengthening background checks. He also highlighted a bill he proposed, and which passed earlier this year, creating a task force focused on supporting youth experiencing suicidal thoughts and examining barriers between people and guns, suicide by gun and community protocols to protect people.
Voting reform
Lastly, an attendee mentioned the high percentage of independent voters in Oregon and the possibility of introducing open primaries so they could vote in primary elections. Wagner noted that Oregon voters previously shot down this idea, but he was open to it and said the state needed to find additional ways to encourage voter participation.
Nguyen mentioned the rise of political polarization as a reason why open primaries might be a good idea.
“We need to ask this question again. Times are different now,” he said.
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