Biography
KHANH PHAM Oregon State Senator SE & NE Portland
Khanh Pham is the State Senator for Oregon Senate District 23 (Jade District, SE & NE Portland), serving in her first term. She was first elected to the Oregon State House in 2020 and was the first Vietnamese American legislator in the State Legislature. She currently serves on the Senate Housing and Development Committee, the Senate Energy and Environment Committee, the Senate Labor and Business Committee, and the Joint Committees on Transportation. She is the Chair of the Senate Housing & Development Committee.
In the 2023 session, Khanh shepherded the natural resource state agencies to take advantage of the largest ever federal investment. Building off the $100 million invested in the 2022 Climate Resilience budget, she helped champion a comprehensive $90 million investment in climate action and climate resiliency, including $7 million allocated to establish a grant program for local investments in green infrastructure and urban tree canopy improvements in every corner of the state. She also co-led the effort to refer statewide Ranked Choice Voting to the Oregon ballot for 2024, the first legislature in the country to refer the choice to voters.
In the 2021 session, Khanh championed the passage of the Oregon Clean Energy Opportunity bills, including the country’s most ambitious 100% clean energy standard. She was recognized as Oregon League of Conservation Voters’ 2021 MVP, as a 2021 Street Trust Alice Award winner, and by The Grist as one of their 2022 50 Fixers. She shares these awards with her community and inspires her to continue the fight for climate justice, healthy, inclusive democracy, and an economy centered on well-being not profits.
During her time as State Representative, Khanh has led on bills covering Clean Energy and Low-income Utility Rates, Jurisdictional Transfer of Unsafe State Highways to Local Cities, Transportation Safety Investments, Renters’ Rights to Cooling and Heat Resilience, Willamette River Oil Tank Storage, Earned Income Tax Credit eligibility, Affordable Housing Preservation, Bias Crimes Response and Victim Support, Voter Language Access, the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Advancement, Afghan Arrivals Support, and Pacific Islander Student Success.
Prior to the legislature, Khanh was a founding leader of and spokesperson for the groundbreaking Portland Clean Energy Fund Initiative, which successfully passed in November 2018. She served as the Interim Alliance Director at the Oregon Just Transition Alliance, leading efforts to develop a frontline-led vision and platform for an Oregon Green New Deal. Prior to that, she was a Environmental Justice Manager at the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO). Khanh brings years of experience in community organizing and a deep commitment to Environmental and Climate Justice. Khanh has a BA from Lewis & Clark College and a Masters in Urban Studies from Portland State University, where she specialized in urban planning, climate change adaptation, and equity planning. | |
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