MEASURE 110 IS OVER
The Measure 110 experiment failed to help people get treatment for drug addiction, leaving Oregon with the worst per capita addiction and overdose death rates in the nation. Recriminalizing hard drugs was the first step, but this new law will require ongoing legislative work. I will continue to support our police, courts, and addiction services to restore health and harmony in our community.
FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
Oregon’s biannual budget is massive but often misspent. The state gives grants with no accountability while failing to appropriately fund schools, public safety, infrastructure, and roads. As a member of the new Legislative Oversight and Accountability Workgroup, I am working to ensure the state makes better choices about how it spends your money.
KEEPING PHARMACIES OPEN, MEDICATIONS AFFORDABLE
I understand the absolute necessity of access to medications like insulin, and I've sponsored and helped pass multiple pieces of legislation designed to make your prescription medications more affordable.
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This year, I joined the Legislature's new Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) Reform Workgroup. We are a bipartisan group of legislators working to safeguard patients from the current practices of pharmaceutical companies and PBMs that make medications more expensive and make it extremely difficult for local pharmacies to operate.
HOMELESSNESS
In 2021, despite my ‘no’ vote, the legislature opened our parks to homeless encampments. A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision lets us change this law and I will push for updating Oregon law to match the case.
HOUSING COSTS
Oregon’s antiquated land use laws make building housing unnecessarily complicated and expensive. Excessive building costs negatively affect renters and prospective homebuyers alike: When we make building too expensive, all types of housing become expensive. I will continue to work to make the statutory changes necessary to bring costs down and make appropriate housing available to all Oregonians.
WILDFIRE & SMOKE
I always support full funding for the Oregon Department of Forestry. I have chief-sponsored legislation that would allow ODF to partner more effectively with the Forest Service to put out forest fires before they grow into mega-fires.
We must modernize forest management practices and reimplement responsible logging to restore the health and resilience of our forests. Responsible forestry will create much-needed family-wage jobs and provide revenue to our county and city budgets, reducing the tax burden on families. By leaving our valuable, renewable resources to lie fallow in overgrown, unhealthy forests, we leave them vulnerable to disease, infestation, and mega-fires. This is devastating to our watersheds and wildlife habitats. When we don’t use it, we lose it.