Long list of pressing issues includes transportation, education, housing and fire suppression

By Damian Mann for Ashland.news

Oregon Rep. Pam Marsh, D-Ashland, has secured a leadership role for the 2025 legislative session that is already racking up a long list of pressing issues.

Marsh will be sworn in to her fifth term on Jan. 13 and has been appointed as one of the three assistant majority leaders. She is the only representative selected for a leadership role in the House who lives south of Eugene.

Marsh, who previously held a leadership role in 2021, will be one of eight representatives in leadership, working with Rep. Julie Fahey, D-Eugene, as the new house speaker nominee and Rep. Ben Bowman, D-Tigard, as the new majority leader.

The other assistant majority leaders are Rep. Annessa Hartman, D-Oregon City, and Rep. Hai Pham, D-Hillsboro.

The legislative session opens with a strong revenue forecast and, while all the ballots haven’t been counted in a House district around Marion County, labor organizer Lesly Munoz, a Democrat, is leading incumbent Rep. Tracy Cramer, R-Gervais. If Munoz is declared the winner, Oregon House Democrats would have a supermajority, enabling them to more easily pass tax bills.

Despite the potential supermajority and a favorable state revenue forecast, Marsh said the Legislature faces budgetary headwinds.

“We’re confidant about funding important initiatives,” Marsh said. “We’re not encouraging people to ask for money for special projects.”

At the same time, communities need to have projects shovel-ready in case a funding opportunity arises, she said.

School districts, including in Ashland, are looking at the prospect of cutbacks. In Ashland’s case, the district has about 300 fewer students than it did several years ago.

Each student equates to more than $13,000 a year in lost revenue for a school district, creating the prospect of cutbacks.

“The hope is the Legislature can provide adequate funding through the next biennium,” she said. “Stabilizing K-12 and meeting the (state academic) outcomes will be a priority for me.”

Likewise, water or fire districts might have to take a look at ways to cut their overhead, including having discussions about possible consolidations, Marsh said.

After a record fire season that burned 1.9 million acres statewide, Marsh said more needs to be done to bolster fire suppression, as well as increased mitigation efforts to better protect communities.

One of the goals of this legislative session is preparing a new transportation package, which was last accomplished in 2017.

Because less revenue has been derived from the fuel tax because of more electric and fuel-efficient vehicles, the Legislature has to figure out a way to pay for transportation needs.

“More than anything, this is a funding quandary,” she said. “I think there will be new taxes.”

Cities throughout Oregon are worried the Legislature might change the ratio of funding that would provide less money for local roads.

Legislators have traveled across the state trying to determine local transportation needs, Marsh said.

She said she doubts there will be any big projects in the transportation package as legislators focus on providing money to maintain the existing road system.

Locally, she said the concern is providing enough snow plows to keep the Siskiyou Summit open or clearing the roads to Mt. Ashland Ski Area.

“We’re worried about things like basic road maintenance,” Marsh said.

Another headwind is concern about impacts from a new presidential administration and how that might affect the continued flow of federal dollars to states.

“I try to stay focused on the work that’s in front of us,” Marsh said.

At the same time, she said, the Legislature needs to be responsive to changes coming out of Washington.

Since the state depends on migrant workers for everything from agriculture to fire suppression, Marsh said any new federal government’s border policies could have a significant impact on Oregon.

Marsh said she has a number of bills that she will advocate for in her leadership role that could have an impact on Southern Oregon, including addressing housing shortages and providing emergency housing.

She wants to help establish housing pilot programs using innovative materials and methods, rather than more costly conventional building techniques, to address the housing shortage statewide.

Senior housing is critical for Marsh, who will push to allow for easier modification of existing housing or to build new units to address the shortage.

“We know that seniors are showing up at shelters in record numbers, and this bill recognizes that we need to develop housing specific to this population,” she said.

Additional funding is needed to support acquiring and the operation of emergency housing to help stabilize those waiting for more permanent housing, Marsh said.

She wants to create a better framework for funding the state’s shelter system that defines what is funded, how it’s funded and outcome expectations.

Other issues she plans to champion include making sure large energy users such as data centers and crypto mining operations pay the full cost of their energy needs rather than putting the burden on ratepayers. Utilities and the Public Utility Commission have the tools needed to deal with these large energy users, she said.

Marsh will support a bill to provide assistance to low-income broadband users.

A fund to assist private landowners who require non-lethal tools to co-exist with beavers is also a priority for Marsh. Some of the non-lethal tools could include tree protection, flood prevention devices, crop protection strategies, public outreach, and culvert and infrastructure protection systems.

Marsh was first elected to House District 5 in Southern Oregon in November 2016. She previously served as chair of the House Committee on Energy and Environment and as a member of the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources and House Committee on Revenue.

Marsh represents House District 5 , which spans from the Applegate to the Greensprings and includes Ashland, Talent, Phoenix, a southern portion of Medford, Jacksonville and Ruch.

Reach freelance writer Damian Mann at [email protected].