Measure 110, homelessness, wildfires expected to top legislature’s ‘short session’ agenda

By Damian Mann for Ashland.news

Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, will hold town halls in Medford and Ashland this week that could foreshadow the debate in the upcoming legislative session over repealing Measure 110, the drug decriminalization law.

Golden wants to get views from his Senate district about Measure 110 and other “front burner topics” facing Southern Oregon, including homelessness, affordable housing, mental health and inadequate funding to prevent wildfires from destroying more Oregon communities.

The town halls will be held from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Medford library and Wednesday at the Ashland library.

Golden said he’s doubtful the Legislature will attempt to repeal Measure 110, but he does think there’s some appetite to develop penalties for using drugs in public.

“There’s going to be some fighting about it,” he said.

Many Republican legislators have called for the repeal of Measure 110, passed by Oregon voters in 2020.

“They inaccurately see all of the drug problems are related to 110,” Golden said. “Repealing 110 would restart the war on drugs.”

Measure 110 supporters have urged Oregonians to be patient while programs to address drug addiction are rolled out. One of the goals of Measure 110 is to treat drug addiction as a health problem rather than as a criminal act.

Golden hopes that a bipartisan committee will work on hashing out a legislative remedy to improve the measure.

He sees the drug problems as mixed in with the larger issue of homelessness affecting cities throughout Oregon.

“What they see walking around downtowns is frightening,” Golden said.

This legislative session, Golden will offer two bills that seek to address one of the critical reasons why healthcare treatment to address addiction faces a major hurdle: the shortage of behavioral health workers.

He will propose a collaboration among Southern Oregon University, Portland State University, the Oregon Institute of Technology, and Eastern and Western Oregon Universities.

Under his proposed bill, the schools would train students in counseling and other skills to help develop a statewide treatment system.

“I think we have a good shot at getting it to the governor’s desk,” Golden said.

Measure 110 isn’t the only hot topic at this legislative session.

After the devastating 2020 fire season, which included southern Oregon’s Almeda fire, Senate Bill 762 allocated $220 million for mitigation efforts to prepare for wildfires, with $35 million of it earmarked to help communities and homes.

In 2023, the Legislature approved $87 million for wildfire efforts, with only only $3 million set aside to harden communities, Golden said.

“We were shocked,” he said.

The 2020 wildfire season was a wakeup call for many Oregon communities, with the cities of Talent and Phoenix still recovering from the Almeda Fire, including the loss of low-income housing.

Golden said he will push for legislative efforts to boost funding to help communities prepare for wildfires.

Another topic that will at the top of the legislative docket includes housing and homelessness, Golden said.

Gov. Tina Kotek campaigned on finding solutions to homelessness and speeding up the production of new housing.

“In recent sessions, we’ve appropriated well over a billion dollars to different facets of the problem, and there’s obviously more to do,” Golden said.

House Bill 3114, which would have rolled back rules and regulations to stimulate more residential housing, died in the 2023 legislative session.

“A work group has done massive work in recent months to narrow the conflict,” Golden said. “From what I hear, I’ll be able to support it this time.”

Golden said he looks forward to hearing from local residents about the topics that they think the Legislature needs to address.

Reach freelance writer Damian Mann at dmannnews@gmail.com.