All campaignsTurning Point sent

** TURNING POINT - THE SESSION GAINS SPEED
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For most of the weekly newsletters to follow, we will continue to focus upon one of three major patterns: background information helpful to understand the mechanics of government, a summary of the past week activities, and/or a “deep dive” into a specific policy issue.
This week, before we get overwhelmed with the maelstrom of the later parts of the session, I want to outline an approach for transforming our aspirations – bringing our nation, state, and communities together – building a better, stronger tomorrow. Note: this initiative is not intended to advance an ideology, party, or religion.
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** THE MISSION – BUILDING A COHERENT EXPLANATION
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Self-governance   demands   sustained   engagement  of an  educated, intellectually curious, and participative citizenry. In general, government   functions to do the things the private sector either cannot, or should not, do. It exists to serve the interests of individual as well as the community. Even though government performs similar functions to private sector functions, government is measured in its effectiveness rather than its efficiency, and rightly so. For too long, Oregonians (and Americans) have been frustrated because we have been trying to force government to respond to market signals and private sector expectations. We cannot allow the fallacious narratives to continue unchallenged; we must seize this moment and reclaim governance of a kind Lincoln suggested that dreary November day at the Gettysburg Cemetery.

For good or ill, government is a relationship between people dependent upon each other. It is not inherently a profit-making endeavor, nor should it be. It exists to provide a baseline suite of services necessary for society to progress. And, though many seek to deny it, government services, especially within the public safety sphere, are best prepared when there is an overage of equipment, personnel, and resources. “Reserve” equipment or personnel are sometimes the difference between saving lives and property – or standing witness to predictable losses – unacceptable losses. Disaster does not happen predictably. Accordingly, reserve capabilities or capacities are most needed at inopportune times. Whereas private interests may simply refuse, or reduce access to, services government often does not have that luxury. This divide is often ignored. Public organizations must find a palatable balance between acceptable risk with resourcing for predictable, catastrophic outcomes.

Our mission, as Oregonians living here, now, is to work together in development of governance appropriately sized and supported to meet the needs of our people and place. Even though most of us serving in public office wish there were a “user manual” that could help us understand the challenges we face more clearly, a book of answers to assist us in resolving the problems we confront, there is no such book. Rather, we as a nation, state, and community are blessed with the opportunities to discover the path together. Our duty is to ensure the next generation has access to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – the same promises – the same gifts we inherited. A promise dependent upon expanding economic opportunity, a safe environment, protection of our basic rights, and promoting stewardship and sustainability of our natural world. Unfortunately, we find ourselves navigating treacherous times, absent the social fabrics that we once had the benefit of depending upon. We must refresh
these connections together.

A STRATEGY – THE “BIG” PICTURE

This Legislative Session we have a duty to develop, debate, and pass a total funds budget aligned with our idealism, values, and 21st Century requirements. The first element of our strategy must be to construct a budget package we can embrace as an imperfect, but noble step forward. This budget must support a K-12 and post-secondary educational plan that will better prepare our students for a dynamic global workspace.

It must keep faith with our public safety needs. It must continue to support our societal values. And this budget will need to support actions in the present laying the groundwork for the future. This is a job we must all participate within. Our budgets are always better when constructed by the people who must live with them.

The second element of the strategy are constructs. We must establish structures and systems empowering citizens to play a larger, more consistent role in our neighborhoods. Over the past four decades, we have allowed the social connections that sustained community to wither and fade. Even though we cannot seek to resurrect the past, we can – and must – find new functionality for participation. This will require us to develop methods, as well as resources supporting those methods, for working families to reengage, for young seniors to invest their time, and for all of us to renew connections between us. Once upon a time we all shared the same bowling alleys, churches, softball leagues, etc. These connections made us closer, less able to hate each other when we differed over ideological or political issues. They often had the exact oppositive effects – through knowing each other, we were better skilled at finding common cause solutions to shared problems.

The third element can be found in construction of public spaces for voluntary assemblies. We can incentivize community space for gardens with pollinator-friendly landscapes, fishing ponds, and fruit orchards. These spaces would bring people together in common cause yielding significant benefits for neighborhood food banks, people in need, and for statewide resilience to natural and human-caused catastrophe. This effort could effectively reignite friendships, provide value for leveraged housing construction, and community development initiatives. We can supplement growing fish, food, and fruit in community spaces through investing in a statewide reforestation program planting shrubs and trees in areas currently without a stated highest use aligned with carbon sequestration benefits. Rethinking our public spaces for inherently shared purposes can provoke the depth of conversations required for even larger topics. However, the more challenging issues will require trust that does not exist, at
least, yet. This third step could – and would – prepare the ground for bigger, more complicated challenges.

The fourth, and final element of a strategy, rests within development of a “fairer” more “transparent” battlespace for campaigns. It may be time to separate the highest elected official from partisan concerns. It may be time for a neutral or at least a purposefully balanced oversight board for providing the “referee function” once performed by the media. So long as campaigns (and those that fund them) have virtually unlimited reach to spread disinformation, our campaigns will continue to become more negative and less connected to the legitimate concerns of the electorate. Unfortunately, decreasing the relative power of money in politics is a long-term prospect that will take a national awakening and effort. It needs to happen but will not happen soon. In the meantime, we can work to improve the campaign environment through methodically reducing the influence of unlimited campaign funding. Perhaps it is time for us to adopt lessons from allied nations. We could provide public-funded airtime
for media. We could provide matching funds for low-dollar contributions. We could support regional news organizations and demand journalism.


** TACTICAL ACTIONS – PRINCIPLE BASED BUDGETING, LEGISLATION, AND POLICIES
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We must focus our work on intentionality. Our measures should be founded upon our principles, constructed for clear objectives, transparency, and rational based progress towards our strategic objectives.

This does not mean that every bill must conform to this standard, but it should suggest that most bills are both near-term and far-term in benefits, and that these measures are both easy to explain and measure. Examples of this approach can be found in what was passed into law as the “Quality Education Model” (QEM). This law defines a notional school (elementary, middle, and high school structures and systems), is updated every two years, and explains the role of each element of a modern school environment for all to understand. It remains the single-best bipartisan school improvement legislation in our history, but unfortunately, we have never fully funded the QEM despite the legal requirement to do so.

This session I have offered a handful of purposefully crafted measures that meet the tests above. Each represents a rational, reasonable, and responsible approach to resolving significant challenges we face as a state and community.

House Bill 2712 (https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025R1/Measures/Overview/HB2712) – A Court Accountability and Salaries Fairness measure. This soon to be amended “gut and stuff” bill will establish a new level of accountability for judges including additional training, pre-sanction behavior correction procedures, and an ombudsperson for issues that warrant resolution, but are not easily addressed through existing practices. It will also set a timeline for better salary fairness for our judicial system. I believe this measure, if passed as intended, could well transform the judicial environment for people who seek a fairer, more just experience.  I want to personally thank Chief Justice Flynn and her team on working in good faith to find the most appropriate pathway forward.

House Bill 2717 (https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025R1/Measures/Overview/HB2717) – The Roseburg Veterans Home Act. This measure would be the legal vehicle for application for a shared cost build of Oregon’s third veterans home to be placed in Roseburg. This effort is nearly fifteen (15) years in the making and will keep faith with veterans and rural Oregonians. This has been a priority since I worked in Governor Kulongoski’s Office, and this year, we believe we have the bicameral, bipartisan support to get it done.

House Bill 2719 (https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025R1/Measures/Overview/HB2719) – The Guaranteed Opportunity Program. This measure would establish a career-long account for post-secondary educational and workforce training. It would provide an alternative to existing loan structures, and it would enable Oregonians access to education and training programming from the beginning of a career throughout the end; as well as a tool for transitioning a career should that become necessary.
House Bill 2753 (https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025R1/Measures/Overview/HB2753) – The Statewide Preparedness for Incident Response Equipment (SPIRE) Program. This measure would build upon the successes of three previous SPIRE programs through providing mission essential equipment for organizations that may not be able to access or afford specific types of equipment that we know we need for medium and large-scale disaster response and recovery operations.

House Bill 2845 (https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025R1/Measures/Overview/HB2845) – The Oregon Veterans Services Supplemental Investment (OVSSI). This measure would provide twelve (12) new positions supporting both existing and new programming for Oregon veterans and military families. Given increasing uncertainties at the federal level, this measure is a critical need to ensure we meet our responsibilities to the families that stood up for our nation, state, and communities. *We are waiting on an amendment prior to advancing, but I hope we will be able to move the measure forward sooner than later.

House Bill 2858 (https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025R1/Measures/Overview/HB2858) – The Oregon Statewide Authority for Response Training and Interoperable Continuity of Imperative Services (SPARTICIS). This measure is a decade-long investment in development of desperately needed emergency services training facilities throughout the State of Oregon. It keeps faith with promises made by the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) in 2001 when building the (then) new campus in Salem. This effort will build upon earlier improvements to our statewide resilience structure and delivery systems. The objective is to establish six new and add space to the Salem Campus for 9-1-1 training and emergency joint disciplinary learning environments. * We are waiting on an amendment prior to advancing, but I hope we will be able to move the measure forward sooner than later.

Truth be told, I will continue to fight for these measures and a few others not listed in this newsletter knowing that none of them will pass without significant assistance from my colleagues, advocates, and you. We have serious challenges facing us, and we need equally serious tools to meet them with. I believe these measures would make a profound difference in the lives of our family, friends, and neighbors. If you want to join in our effort, please let us know because we need your talent, time, and treasure – and we need it – now.

CONCLUSION

Thank you for your continued support. Your calls, emails, and letters help me better understand our shared needs and aspirations. I hope this newsletter provides at least a little insight into the process of governing in 2025. May your week be filled with joy and laughter and meaning. Thank you.

Respectfully,


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