 The Oregon Legislative session has come to a close. Thank you to the thousands of Oregonians who testified, emailed, and called. Your voices matter.
Oregonians asked us to address multiple crises -- housing and homelessness, behavioral and mental health access, access to reproductive and gender affirming care, rising gun violence, and our changing climate. As a mom, I heard loud and clear the need for support for our children, working families, and schools.
I'm proud to say that we made historic progress towards addressing these issues, making a difference in Oregonians' lives, and especially for families in HD 47. I'll continue working hard towards a healthier, more livable Oregon as your State Representative. Check out some of the pieces of legislation we passed this session below!
Housing Supply and Stability Investment (SB 5511, SB 5505, HB 3395): Nearly $2 billion in investments, building on prior emergency investments and funding construction of new affordable housing units. HB 3395: Streamlines affordable housing production and increases homeownership opportunities, especially for BIPOC communities.
Affordable Housing & Emergency Homelessness Response Package (HB 2001, HB 5019): $200 million investment helps shelter Oregonians living on the street, prevent more homelessness, and ramp up affordable housing production across the state. With HB 2001, we also increased the time allotted for families to gather resources and prevent more evictions by extending the period of notice landlords must provide from 72 hours to 10 days. HB 2984: Allows local governments to convert commercial buildings to residential housing.
Rent Stabilization (SB 611): Rent stabilization for working families, keeping Oregonians housed.
Representative Valderrama was proud to have co-chief sponsored SB 611, the Reasonable Rent Act. You can watch her SB 611 Floor Speech here.
 Healthcare
HB 2697: Ensures safe nurse staffing levels to support the wellbeing of our critical workers and provide quality care for all Oregonians. HB 2725, SB 192: Creates regulation and transparency for pharmacy benefit managers, the middle person of the pharmaceutical industry, to decrease the cost of medication for Oregonians and protect small pharmacies. HB 2574: Improves access to life-saving HIV-prevention treatment, PEP. SB 1089: Creates the Universal Health Plan Governance Board to develop a comprehensive, flexible system for providing every Oregonian with affordable health care. Reproductive & Gender Affirming Care HB 2002: Reproductive Health & Access to Care Act restores the abortion rights Oregonians had under Roe v. Wade, expands insurance coverage for gender-affirming care, and protects Oregon medical providers' ability to give the best, most appropriate care to their patients.
Representative Valderrama presenting on the House Floor the Reproductive Health and Access to Care Act, HB 2002, her chief sponsored bill earlier this session. Watch the full floor session here.
Behavioral Health and Human Services HB 2757: Critical, stable funding for the 9-8-8 Suicide Prevention & Behavioral Health Crisis Line to help Oregonians in need. HB 2395: Bipartisan Opioid Harm Reduction Package that will address the state’s fentanyl crisis and save lives by increasing access to naloxone.
HB 5026: Oregon Department of Human Services Budget - The budget fully funds the Healthier Oregon Program (which expands healthcare coverage for Oregonians regardless of citizenship status), adjusts for caseload changes, and adds funding to permanently build-in provider rate increases that had been set to expire, as well as increases rates to other providers. SB 5525: the Oregon Health Authority Budget - where significant investments in Medicaid eligibility redeterminations, funding the implementation of the Healthier Oregon Program providing coverage to Oregonians regardless of citizenship status, as well as behavioral health investments including $9.1 million to address healthcare workforce challenges, and $15 million to expand disorder treatment and residential program bed capacity, were made.
 Expanding Voter Rights HB 2107 Expanded automatic voter registration to those on the Oregon Health Plan.HB 2004: Establishes a plan for implementing Ranked Choice Voting, which ensures voters have more of a say in who they want to represent them. This bill was referred to the ballot for voters to decide.
Holding Politicians Accountable HJR 16 is a proposed constitutional amendment that allows the Legislative Assembly to impeach and remove statewide elected officials. HB 2038: Closes a longstanding loophole that allowed some politicians to shield the sources of their income from public disclosure. SJR 34 B: A constitutional amendment to create an Independent Public Service Compensation Commission. Our democracy works better when those in power are focused on teacher salaries, home care workers and getting kids out of poverty instead of politician’s pockets. Representative Valderrama presenting on the House Floor the Independent Salary Commission Resolution to be referred to voters, SJR 34, one of her chief sponsored bill earlier this session. You can watch her full floor speech on SJR 34 here.
Climate Resilience Package Investment (HB 3409, HB 3630): Invests $90 million in community-focused and forward-looking solutions to increase our energy efficiency, keep Oregonians safe from extreme weather, maximizing federal funding opportunities, and build a more resilient, sustainable, and equitable energy system. Drought & Water Investment (HB 2010): Invests $100 million in new and existing resources to ensure families, farms, and wildlife across Oregon have clean, safe water -- now and into the future.
Rep. Valderrama working with Sen. Kayse Jama and his wife picking up litter in the community!   SB 337: Addresses Oregon’s public defense crisis by ensuring an accountable, transparent, and efficient system so that Oregonians are afforded their right to representation. HB 2005: The Gun Violence Prevention Bill makes communities safer, helps law enforcement do their jobs, and respects responsible gun owners. HB 3443: Further protects victims of bias crimes. HB 2316: Keeps Oregon’s roads safe by expanding our Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants (DUII) laws. SB 5506: $3 million to Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center (POIC), who's homebase is in HD 47 make further investment in community violence prevention and intervention efforts.  Investing in Working Families
A $172 million investment that addresses the cost-of-living crisis, helps reduce child poverty and supports systemic investments in happy, healthy families. Another $1.2 billion was invested in the Department of Early Learning and Childcare (DELC) to give the newly independent agency a stable foundation for its vital work. SB 4: Oregon CHIPS Act - Invests $260 million to secure Oregon as a global leader in the semiconductor industry, create good paying jobs, and boost our economy for generations to come. HB 3410: Rural Infrastructure and Economic Development Package - Revitalizes rural communities by investing $32.2 million in building critical infrastructure, bolstering key rural industries and sectors, and addressing workforce housing shortage. HB 3235: Oregon Kids’ Credit - Helps struggling parents make ends meet and lifts families out of poverty with a child tax credit that will provide $1,000 a year, per child.
 I was so proud to be a Co-Chief Sponsor of HB 3235 with my colleagues pictured: Representative Smith (left), Representative Grayber (second to left), and Representative Reynolds (right). You can watch my floor speech here.
 HB 5015: Invests a historic $10.2 billion in the State School Fund, supporting Oregon’s K-12 students and educators. HB 3198: Early Literacy Success Initiative – Invests $144.3 million to support evidence-based, culturally responsive literacy strategies in and outside of the classroom, setting up Oregon students for future academic success. HB 3005: Increases the availability of child care by creating a grant program to provide financial assistance to help build and open new child care programs. HB 5025: Higher Education Opportunity Package - Invests $3.7 billion to ensure Oregonians seeking postsecondary education obtain high quality education. Includes $1 billion for the Public University Support Fund, $800 million for the Community College Support Fund, $308.4 million to the Oregon Opportunity Grant, and $24.2 million to the Tribal Student Grant program.
Representative Valderrama meeting with students visiting the capitol from the Portland Metro (left) and speaking with students from the University of Oregon about providing funding for the Public University Support Fund and the Oregon Opportunity Grant (right)
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