Drazan: ‘We are letting Oregonians know that we hear them and we see them, and we stand with them, and we will not be voting for bills that raise the cost of living’

By Julia Shumway, Oregon Capital Chronicle

Oregon House Republicans painted a dire picture of Oregon’s high cost of living, homelessness and faltering schools on Thursday, while offering few specific proposals to fix those problems. 

During a 25-minute press conference, House Republican Leader Christine Drazan said she hears every day from Oregonians who are dissatisfied or frustrated with their government. Drazan, R-Canby, acknowledged that Republicans don’t have much power to pass their own bills or stop bills or tax hikes. Democrats hold 36 seats in the House and 18 in the Senate, the threshold needed to create new taxes or increase existing ones, and Gov. Tina Kotek is a Democrat. 

“What we can do is be a voice for those Oregonians, and that’s what we’re doing today,” Drazan said. “We are letting Oregonians know that we hear them and we see them, and we stand with them, and we will not be voting for bills that raise the cost of living.”

House Republicans didn’t share details of most proposals, and their caucus communications director didn’t respond to a follow-up email asking for a list of relevant bills. Some, including a bill from Rep. Vikki Breese-Iverson, R-Prineville, to allow cities to more easily expand their boundaries, haven’t yet been introduced. 

Deputy Leader Lucetta Elmer, R-McMinnville, said Republicans will address Oregon’s high cost of living with bills to abolish taxes on tips and overtime, repeal the corporate activity tax on some essential goods and oppose highway tolls or gas tax increases.

“Oregonians are facing rising costs, and I’m sure all of us are very aware of that,” Elmer said. “From our gas to groceries and even our rent, these factors are forcing families to make tough decisions about whether they can even remain in their home state.”

Several Republicans introduced House Bill 2033 and House Bill 2176 to repeal the corporate activity tax, paid by businesses with more than $1 million of commercial activity to fund schools. Rep. Anna Scharf’s House Bill 2199 would exempt prescription drugs sold by pharmacies from the tax. 

Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis, R-Albany, introduced House Bill 2234 to let workers subtract overtime pay from their income taxes, but the only tipping-related bills introduced so far are in the Senate. Senate Bill 560 would subtract tips from income on taxes. 

Proposals on homelessness

Rep. Darcey Edwards, R-Banks, said Republicans are committed to ending homelessness. It’s a personal issue for Edwards: Her son is one of the nearly 23,000 Oregonians living on the streets.

“In a rare moment of clarity, my son chose to get help he so desperately needed and our family so badly wanted for him,” Edwards said. “He faced a three-week period to get into treatment, and ultimately fell back into the cycle of addiction due to the enabling practices of so-called low barrier shelters that allow predators to keep Oregonians addicted.”

Low-barrier shelters, a common form of emergency shelter, don’t require people to stay sober, pass background checks or work to receive shelter. Supporters of the model say it helps connect people with resources by removing obstacles, while critics say they don’t guarantee safety for residents or the surrounding community. 

Edwards said House Republicans want to offer “targeted” recovery services to people with addiction and audit existing homelessness programs. They’re also supporting measures to repeal a 2021 state law that limits cities’ ability to ban sleeping outside. House Bills 2432 and 2445 would both repeal sections of that law. 

“A tent is not a home,” Edwards said. “Oregonians are frustrated and deserve to live in safe, drug free neighborhoods. Allowing our neighbors to live on the streets is a literal death sentence.”

Homelessness is also a priority for Democrats, with Gov. Tina Kotek proposing another $2 billion for housing and sheltering unhoused Oregonians.

Both parties are focused on education as well, but have divergent approaches.

Ideas for education

Rep. Boomer Wright, a Coos Bay Republican and retired school principal who serves on the House Education Committee, said Oregon’s public schools have simply lost their way. He said House Republicans want to listen to and support parents and students.

Some of their ideas, like fully funding summer learning programs, have wide bipartisan support. But Republicans are also focused on “school choice” — a buzzword for letting students use public funding for non-public schools. That’s a non-starter for the Democrats who control the Oregon Legislature. 

“We also extend a hand to our Democrat colleagues to sign on to our proposals and work with us to expand school choice and deliver education to our students that they deserve,” Wright said. “We have great teachers, talented and bright students and supportive families and resilient communities. It is time to roll up our sleeves and work together to ensure all Oregon students achieve their dreams of excellence and success.”

Rep. Emily McIntire, R-Eagle Point and the vice chair of the House Education Committee, introduced House Bill 3217 to create the Empowerment Scholarship Program, similar to school vouchers in other states that let students take money that would go to their neighborhood public school and use it for private school tuition or other educational costs. Senate Republican Leader Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles, has a similar proposal in Senate Bill 630 and Senate Joint Resolution 24, which would amend the state constitution to establish a right to school choice. 

Drazan, Boshart Davis and Bonham also sent multiple press releases on Wednesday about an issue that didn’t make their list of priorities: Blocking transgender girls from playing girls’ sports. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to that effect on Wednesday and Bonham was there for the signing. Oregon Republicans in the House and Senate have already introduced at least three bills to require school sports be based on biological sex, not gender, and Drazan plans to file another bill on the topic. 

“Issues like boys participating in girls’ sports is certainly an issue that is important to us as House Republicans,” Drazan said. “We believe in girls’ sports, and we believe that the voices of those female athletes should have the opportunity to be heard. And we certainly have members of this caucus that have been working on this issue a long time and care very deeply about the future of girls’ sports in the state of Oregon.”

Julia Shumway has reported on government and politics in Iowa and Nebraska, spent time at the Bend Bulletin and most recently was a legislative reporter for the Arizona Capitol Times in Phoenix, Arizona.