Democrats Deliver for Oregonians in February Session

By Senator Diane Rosenbaum and Representative Tina Kotek of Portland. Sen. Rosenbaum is the Senate Majority Leader and Rep. Kotek is the House Democratic Leader.

As Oregon’s first annual legislative session approached, we spent months listening to Oregonians across the state. We heard firsthand what is needed to bolster our economic recovery and we responded with practical plans focused on creating jobs, protecting middle-class families, and prioritizing the services Oregonians need. While it was a short, fast-paced legislative session, House and Senate Democrats came through with an impressive list of accomplishments putting Oregon families and small businesses first.

The foreclosure crisis stood out as an issue we couldn’t ignore. We knew we had to stand up for struggling families and communities across the state, and we were determined to pass reforms to keep people in their homes and hold Wall Street banks accountable. In the final hours we pushed through a strong reform package to end dual track foreclosures, require mandatory face-to-face mediation, hold banks accountable, help families keep their houses, and stem the devastation of the housing crisis. We count this as a major victory of this short session.

We also came through for small businesses this session when we passed bills increasing access to much-needed business capital. By expanding the Credit Enhancement Fund and passing the Oregon Investment Act, we will improve the flexibility of Oregon’s economic development resources, helping businesses grow and create jobs. We worked together to coordinate the state’s workforce development and training system and increased accountability in public contracting to make sure projects are awarded fairly. Finally, we’re putting people to work and improving our workforce training capacity by investing in construction projects on community college campuses statewide.

Some predicted that the budget would be the sole focus of this Legislative Session, rather than important policy discussions. Yet we succeeded on both fronts. Rebalancing the budget, we focused on the services that Oregonians count on every day. To ensure every possible dollar gets to those vital services, we clamped down on sweetheart deals in public contracts, reduced middle management, and began untangling the costly web of background check systems. In these tough times, we put resources to schools, public safety, senior programs, and other critical services Oregonians need.

We are proud of these victories and of our success in blocking expensive and unrealistic schemes. We stopped expensive tax giveaways that Oregonians don’t want and Oregon can’t afford. We said no to costly proposals that would create no jobs in the near term. Instead, we enacted practical solutions to get people working right away, help small businesses, and put middle-class families first.

We were successful this February Legislative Session because Oregon’s priorities were our priorities. This was a great and historic session for Oregon, but we’re just getting started. Next year, we will return to the Capitol to continue fighting for Oregon’s middle-class families, creating a climate where businesses thrive, and prioritizing public schools. These are the priorities we continue to hear from Oregonians, and these will remain the priorities of Democrats in your State Legislature.