For former Oregon Department of Corrections director and Oregon Community Foundation CEO Max Williams, fixing Oregon’s Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act through a ballot measure is the least best option.

The former Republican state legislator says he would prefer lawmakers address what he sees as “system deficiencies” in the state’s 2020 drug decriminalization Measure 110 during a legislative session.

In a conversation with Oregon Business, Williams pointed to Washington state as a successful example. In May, the state legislature passed SB 5536, which made drug possession and use criminal misdemeanors; it also allocates millions more in funding for addiction treatment and recovery services.

But Williams says that given the often-unpredictable results of Oregon legislative sessions, his organization — called the Coalition to Fix and Improve Measure 110 — has filed two voter initiatives with filed with the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office to act as a backstop.

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He says when he initially met with allies wanting to amend 110, there was talk of repealing the measure altogether. He says the part of the measure that works — using cannabis taxes to fund recovery and treatment efforts — will stay intact, and should be expanded to include funding from other sources. But he says decriminalizing hard drugs takes away the state’s method of handling drug-addicted individuals who are unable and/or unwilling to get help on their own.

The campaign already has $700,000 raised from high-profile donors like Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle, Nike founder Phil Knight and real estate developer Jordan Schnitzer.

Williams says if the state has the ability to arrest and detain individuals for drug possession, that also means it can mandate treatment earlier on in a person’s addiction cycle. He says the ability to mandate treatment is an important tool to help in addiction recovery and combat the state’s ongoing fentanyl crisis. The drug, which Oregon authorities seized 2 million doses of in 2022,  has surpassed methamphetamine as the most frequent cause of drug overdosing deaths in the state – which increased 41% last year.

“We are just sort of letting people stay in that space where they will eventually suffer an overdose, which is a tragedy for them and their families, or they commit a crime serious enough where they get a felony and have to do a longer jail or potential prison sentence and these tools can’t help them,” Williams tells OB. “We should intervene in these earlier steps of possession and use so that we can help move people in the right direction before they commit the more serious crimes. That’s not how people necessarily want to talk about it, but from my time in the Department of Corrections, for lots of people I worked with, a series of events led them into the system, and it was in the system where they got an opportunity to get cleaned up and make decisions about change.”

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A 2014 study published in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment 160 participants “under various levels of criminal justice supervision” in an outpatient substance abuse treatment program. Researchers that while those who were referred by court mandate demonstrated less motivation at entry, but were more likely to complete the six-month treatment program than those who entered it voluntarily.

Under Measure 110, possession of hard drugs remains illegal, but possession of small quantities of certain drugs is a civil violation comparable to a traffic ticket. Police can hand out $100 citations for drug users, that come with a card referring to an addiction treatment hotline; those who call the hotline can have the $100 fee waived. In May 2017, 1,483 people were arrested on drug possession charges in Oregon. In May 2022, that number declined to 176.

The program has had lackluster results; cited individuals rarely follow up for treatment on the hotline, or show up in court.

In June the Oregon legislature passed a bill that criminalizes possession of small quantities of fentanyl, rolling back part of 110.

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Both versions of the measure the coalition is considering re-criminalize possession of lethal drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamine and mandate treatment for “drug-dependent persons” convicted of or charged with drug possession or certain misdemeanor property crimes.  They also create a discharge diversion procedure for offenders who meet very specific criteria: to qualify for diversion, a defendant must have no other criminal charges pending, have not been convicted of drug manufacture or delivery within the last five years, have not have taken part in a drunk driving or drug diversion program within the last year, have not taken part in a drug diversion program or have been on probation for a drug misdemeanor charge within the last five years, and must not have a criminal history that includes two person-related felonies. They also establish record expungement procedures for offenders who successfully complete rehabilitation. Both measures also criminalize use of controlled substances in public.

One version of the measure stops there, while the other also stiffens penalties for dealing and manufacturing drugs, and transfers Measure 110’s grant program, funded by cannabis taxes and currently standing at $302 million from the Oregon Health Authority to Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission and directs the ADCP to fund evidence-based prevention programs.

“We think that the Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission has been an underutilized resource,” Williams says. “It doesn’t make sense to have one commission with a strategic plan about our long-term addiction needs in Oregon over here, and a separate group of people who are making decisions about how these important and critical resources are being managed as they go out to community over there. We think that there’s an opportunity to merge both of these things in one place. The governor directly appoints the members of the Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission, so this puts this squarely in the governor’s basket to pick to choose people who can serve on ADPC who have a mix of backgrounds and experience necessary.”

Willams says his organization prefers the lengthier bill, but which bill will make it to ballot depends on the titling process by the Attorney General’s office. He says he has been in contact with Rep. Rob Nosse (D-Portland) about a potential legislative fix. Nosse confirmed he had spoken with Williams, and that he assumes and hopes they will talk more. He says he discussed both versions of the bill with Williams, and that the process of addressing Measure 110’s consequences is “an evolving thing.”

“Max [Williams] is very engaging and being a former legislator and corrections department head and a lawyer, he knows a lot about this topic.  My hope is that he and his clients will work with us legislators to figure all this out as there are likely unintended consequences for what he and his funders want to accomplish,” Nosse told OB over email. “My hope is the legislative process will surface all that, and help bring him along to a series of solutions to the challenges our state is facing because of P2P, Meth, and Fentanyl.”

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According to Oregon Health and Science University and the ADPC, Oregon currently has a 49% capacity gap of treatment services, and the state ranks 50th in the nation for access to addiction treatment. According to the Oregon Health Authority, approximately 8,400 people have received treatment from services funded by Measure 110.  

An August poll found slightly more than half of Oregonians support of a repeal of Measure 110, with more than 64% supporting repealing parts of the law. Lawmakers across the state have already begun reacting to the potential shortcomings of the measure. In October, state legislators will go on a fact-finding mission to Portugal, which decriminalized drugs in 2000, to look for ways to curb addiction.

Williams is skeptical as to whether the Portugal trip will yield any substantial lessons for Oregon legislators. He says the addiction support infrastructure is already built in Portugal, that the money from Oregon’s cannabis tax is still insufficient to treat the state’s addiction problems, and that more funding will have to be found by state departments and the state legislature, especially as the state’s cannabis industry contracts.

“Even with even with those dollars, there’s insufficient infrastructure. It’s not enough to cover it and so if you’re serious about addressing the ravages of drugs and addiction in the state, you’re going to have to make more of an investment,” says Williams, who adds that he is hoping the legislature will address the issues with before either of his group’s measures make it to the ballot.  “It’s my hope that they will take this up. I think we have the potential to get a better product through that process. But again, forecasting the legislature has become increasingly difficult over the last 20 years and we just don’t feel like we just sort of stand by and take our chances.”

Gov. Tina Kotek has signed nearly $3 billion of housing assistance bills into law to fight the state’s ongoing housing crisis.

HB 3395, an omnibus bill, allows affordable housing construction on lands zoned for commercial uses within urban growth boundaries, allocates $48.5 million from the general fund to reduce restrictions on housing types and calls for distributing funds to assist low-income college students and farm workers finding housing.

Kotek also gave her stamp of approval to SB 5511, which funds $2.5 billion and 441 new positions  at the Housing and Community Services Department, and includes $55 million for rental assistance, $6 million for eviction prevention services and $7 million assistance with housing down payments.

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SB 5511 also contains $130 million in homelessness response, including funding to maintain Project Turnkey sites, navigation centers, and the shelters being built now through the Governor’s emergency declaration on homelessness, which she declared on her first day in office.

In addition to providing funding and building out the HCSD, Kotek also signed legislation meant to protect tenants through housing protections. SB 611, which caps the amount landlords can increase rent for tenants to 7% plus inflation or 10%, whichever is lower.

HB 3042  give Oregonians in subsidized housing a three-year safe-harbor period, limiting terminations and rent increases after tenants’ housing is withdrawn from publicly supported housing.

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Earlier this year, the governor signed HB 5019 and HB 2001, which provided $200 million dollars to construct affordable housing and give financial assistance to Oregonians close to losing their homes, into law. 

Kotek has been a persistent advocate for the state’s role in fixing the housing shortage, and has pursued both conventional and unconventional alternatives to increase the state’s housing supply, including building mass-timber modular housing units as well as funding Project Turnkey, which helps cities purchase hotels for emergency sheltering.

“These bills are about progress toward making sure every Oregonian has a place to live, safely and securely,” Kotek said at last week’s signing ceremony. “Each tackle these issues from a different angle and complement the efforts well under way through the Emergency Homelessness Response Package that passed early in March. We have work to do. There isn’t one solution to our housing crisis, and it won’t be solved overnight. So let’s keep going.”

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On June 22, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) released its 2021-2022 Climate and Health in Oregon Report, which examined the impact extreme weather events and climate-related disasters on homes and families throughout the state, as well as assessing the state’s policy response.

The report concluded that due to consistent rising temperatures, these extreme weather patterns such as wildfires, heat waves, and ice storms will be a new fact of life for Oregonians to moving forward, but praised the state’s investments in climate change adaptation programs and legislation. The report called efforts to protect Oregonians from the fallout of climate change, “groundbreaking” though it did not provide any outcomes or assessments of the ongoing efforts.  

The OHA developed the report in response to Gov. Brown’s Executive Order (EO) 20-04 directing OHA to provide annual reports on the public health impacts of climate change in Oregon. Due to OHA’s pandemic response and staffing, researchers at the organization were unable to complete a report for 2021 and issued a combined 2021–2022 report instead.

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In 2021, 13 public Oregon water systems experienced low water supply. This trend continued in the heat dome-less 2022, when 14 public water systems experienced low water supply. Compare that to five-year period from 2016 to 2020, when only eight Oregon water systems ran low.

During the 2021 wildfire season, smoke especially affected Central and Southern Oregon, with several counties experiencing 20% higher asthma-like illness visits compared to 2020. People in Central Southern Oregon experienced the highest amount of dangerous smoke exposure. The cities of Bend, Klamath Falls and Medford experienced 83 days with air at or above an unhealthy level for sensitive groups (USG) compared to 41 days in 2020 and 11 in 2022.

2021 was an outlier year, even by global warming standards. The 2021 ‘heat dome,’ hot air trapped between low elevations, only happens every ten millennia, broke temperate records by double digits. But when charted alongside temperature data from 1938, heat levels show a slow, steady upswing – as have the problems they create.

While wildfire seasons vary from year to year, the report showed a continued rising trajectory.

The second half of the OHA report painted a hopeful picture of the OHA and legislature’s ongoing efforts to adapt to the new, harsher climate. The report detailed the organization’s investments into local public health authorities, Nine Federally Recognized Tribes of Oregon, and 157 community organizations to increase public health access, as well as its Healthy Homes Grant, established in 2021, to support houses making health-related upgrades, and its special protections for workers laboring in extreme heat.

The report noted in 2024, Oregon will become the first state in the nation to cover climate change-related expense though its Medicaid program.

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The report also detailed the state’s $530 million in water infrastructure over the 2021–23 biennium.

This legislative session, lawmakers continued efforts to head off climate change. On June 23, the Oregon Senate passed HB 2010, a bipartisan bill which provides technical assistance to farmers, enhancement and restoration of drinking water sources, and invests $23 million into drought and water programming to improve water management, though the initial ask was $250 million.

 “The last few years have been a sobering preview of hard times for Oregon communities, farmers and all of us who depend on them,” said Senator Jeff Golden(D-Ashland), Chair of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources, in a statement following the bill’s passage, which is now on the governor’s desk for signature.

“We are taking steps to preserve our water sources for our communities and future generations.”

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Monday marked the tenth day of the Republican-led walk out, at which point two Republicans (Sen. Daniel Bonham, who represents The Dalles area and Sen. Dennis Linthicum, who represents Klamath Falls) and one independent (Sen. Brian Boquist, who represents Polk and Yamhill Counties) surpassed the limit of unexcused absences — a standard set by the passage of Measure 113 in November. By Wednesday morning, at least two legislators — Boquist and Lynn Findley (R-Vale) — attended a revenue forecast hearing.  

The tenth day of the walkout occurred after Senate President Rob Wagner (D-Lake Oswego)  canceled Senate sessions on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday — offering more time for negotiations that might convince Republicans to come back to work. But lawmakers are standing their ground. The fourth, Sen. Cedric Hayden (R-Fall Creek), reached 10 absences on Tuesday. 

Gov. Tina Kotek told Capital Chronicle Wednesday that the walkout has not reached the point where she needs to intervene, and that she had “no idea” what intervention would look like. 

“I’m more than happy to lose my job if I can stop [HB 2002] from happening,” Bonham told KGW, referring to a bill that would require Medicaid and private insurers to cover a broader spectrum of gender-affirming care and would make abortions available to minors without parental consent. “But I don’t think Ballot Measure 113 as it stands will stop most of us from running for office again, and securing the seat, hopefully.”

Republicans are leveraging the requirement that two-thirds of lawmakers be present to pass legislation in the Democrat-led senate, effectively stalling all bills in consideration this session. Oregon’s constitutional quorum is uniquely high — most states require a simple majority — which has proved useful for both parties in the past. Senate and House Republicans walked out in 2019 and 2020 in protest of proposals to cap greenhouse gas emissions. They walked out again in 2021 in response to Governor Kate Brown’s COVID-19 restrictions. Oregon Democrats last boycotted legislative proceedings in response to redistricting in 2001. 

Oregon Republicans have claimed the walkout is largely in response to a recently uncovered 1979 law, stating bill summaries must be written at an eighth-grade level. But the legislation Bonham says he’ll risk his job to block is a package of abortion and gender-affirming health care.  

Senate Democrats say it’s clear the readability law is an excuse to block progress on the majority party’s agenda, which includes protecting abortion access, gender-affirming healthcare, and gun control. 

The walkout is preventing progress on hundreds of bills, including legislation dealing with urgent bipartisan issues. 

“Oregonians are demanding that elected leaders deliver results on homelessness, behavioral health, education and other major issues right now,” Kotek’s spokesperson, Elisabeth Shepard, said last week. 

But Republican lawmakers insist the walkout is necessary to prevent what Senate minority leader Tim Knopp called an “extreme, unlawful, and unconstitutional agenda,” in a statement released Monday. 

As more senators will likely hit the 10-absence tripwire in the coming days, it remains unclear how Measure 113 — which 68% of Oregonians voted for last year — would work in practice, especially as Republicans are preparing to fight the measure in court. 

Oregon’s Thirteen, a new political action committee led by Knopp, is now raising funds to support the Republican boycott. The website lists all 13 senate Republicans with contact information, along with a link to donate to “fund the fight for accountability.” 

There is no end in sight to the boycott, and should it continue, up to six more senators could hit 10 absences, disqualifying them from future elections. 

A press release issued Tuesday morning said Deputy Secretary Cheryl Myers would take on oversight of the agency until the governor appoints a new secretary.

“While I am confident that the ethics investigation will show that I followed the state’s legal and ethical guidelines in trying to make ends meet for my family, it is clear that my actions have become a distraction from the important and critical work of the Secretary of State’s office,” Fagan said in the release. “Protecting our state’s democracy and ensuring faith in our elected leaders – these are the reasons I ran for this office. They are also the reasons I will be submitting my resignation today. I want to thank the incredible staff in the Secretary of State’s office for their hard work and Oregonians for the opportunity to serve them. It has been a true honor to serve the people of Oregon.”

“At this time, I believe it is in the best interest of our state for me to focus on my children, my family, and personal reflection so that the Secretary of State staff can continue to offer the exemplary customer service Oregonians deserve,” Fagan wrote.

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Last week Fagan acknowledged that in February, she entered into an agreement to provide consulting services to the Veriede Holdings, an affiliate of the embattled La Mota dispensary chain. The contract, released to reporters Monday, said she was paid $10,000 per month — with a bonus of $30,000 for each license she helped La Mota obtain outside of Oregon and New Mexico. That’s more than the Secretary of State salary of $77,000 per year.

State law does not prohibit public officials from performing outside work, provided they don’t use their public position, public resources or insider knowledge to obtain the work.

On Friday, Oregon Business reported on an audit examining the state’s oversight of cannabis licensing. During a media availability Friday morning, state audits director Kip Memmott told reporters Fagan provided guidance on the scope and scale of the audit, but had no more input than that. After the audit’s release, reporters discovered public records showing that Fagan pressed auditors as early as January 2021 to speak to Rosa Cazares, the co-owner of La Mota, during its audit of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission.

The audit report is critical of many aspects of Oregon’s approach to regulating cannabis. Notably, it says many of the state’s regulations are burdensome to businesses and are overly cautious regarding the possibility of federal intervention, which auditors wrote was unlikely, though cannabis is still federally illegal.

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On Monday Fagan announced that she has terminated her contract with Veriede Holdings, and apologized, saying,” I exercised poor judgment by contracting with a company that is owned by my significant political donors and is regulated by an agency that was under audit by my Audits Division.”

Cazares and La Mota co-owner Aaron Mitchell have donated to several top Oregon Democrats’  — many of whom have pledged to give that money to charity — but the chain and its affiliates faced numerous tax liens and lawsuits alleging unpaid bills.

Minutes after Fagan’s release, Myers issued a second press release with a statement from the deputy secretary of state.

“This is a resilient agency, with strong division leadership and internal systems that can withstand change. We are ready to continue the important work of the Secretary of State’s office during this transition,” Myers said in the stament.

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“My first priority is to make sure Oregonians receive the customer service they deserve. This agency does such critical work, and it’s our job to put Oregonians first during this transition. 

“This is an unfortunate situation, but a change of leadership will allow agency staff to continue their good work with less distraction moving forward,” Myers wrote.

In December, The Greater Portland Economic Development District (GPEDD) approved Jan Mason, President of Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Oregon and director of communications and equitable development at Portland design firm Mackenzie Inc. as its board director.

Staffed by Greater Portland Inc and funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, the GPEDD is tasked with finding and developing projects which align with the EDA’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). The strategy identifies Greater Portland as an economic development district, which qualifies projects that align with the CEDS’s mission to receive funding from the department of commerce.

As board chair, Mason will oversee the Greater Portland Economic Development District and partner with the EDA to fund projects which meet the federal criteria and will foster the growth and competitiveness of the greater Portland area and Southwest Washington.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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Your board will be responsible for bringing federal funds to greater Portland-area projects. How has your previous experience prepared you for your role as board chair?

The Philippine American Chamber is a 27-year-old, culturally-specific chamber of commerce. It has been focused on helping the Asian and Pacific Islander community and lifting their voice in various ways. During that pandemic, a number of programs were put in place to provide technical assistance for small businesses, and so we were there helping the community to navigate through three years of the pandemic, the PPP process, and ARPA dollars that were there to assist companies during the pandemic.

In my career at Mackenzie, I work internally with a diversity, equity and inclusion team. I also work externally on projects with agencies and departments looking to bring an equity lens to the work that they’re doing. Supplier diversity is a constant conversation in my line of work, even before the current interest in equitable development.

I’m also a community leader with the Asian Pacific Islander community, helping lift up opportunities for businesses and for those who have been marginalized, and those who’ve been under resourced.

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I also helped with the state in crafting the Oregon’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion Action Plan.

This brings a multifaceted aspect to my lens and worldview. I know what it looks like working with a large company, but also working with small businesses and community businesses helping them grow and become stable, prosper, and eventually become medium-sized businesses.

Also, my lived experience. I’m a Filipino American. I was born and raised on the Pacific Island of Guam, and I’ve lived here in Oregon for 20 plus years.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion works is central to Greater Portland Inc.’s plan to pursue the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. Is it fair to say that brining an equity and DEI lenses to projects is your primary focus?

I would agree with that. Equity and inclusion is a guiding principle for how we’re approaching the work.

RELATED: Monique Claiborne Has a Plan

How does fostering growth in communities of color lift the greater Portland region?

There have been enough studies done to show that if we help communities of color, and founders, business owners, and entrepreneurs of color, that our GDP, will grow. It’s a national dialogue that’s happening constantly, and it’s an important thread or theme that you will find in this current administration. We recognize that in past strategies oftentimes, small businesses are left out of the big picture strategy strategic plan.

When we talk about growing a competitive economy, folks oftentimes think of traded-sector companies and those clusters of the economy. But to have a healthy, robust and attractive economy, we also have to have a robust and healthy, small business ecosystem. When we talk about having a competitive economy, that also means being able to attract businesses that wants to invest here.

Our goal is to help small businesses grow and thrive and eventually look to become strong employers and vendors for traded-sector companies that are doing business across state and international borders. That supports the workforce and supports growth, and that goes along with attracting large employers to the state.

The timing of this is very appropriate to where we are in society, recognizing that if we grow more entrepreneurs, this will help those who have been disenfranchised for a very long time. Oregon has a racist history — that’s just based in fact — and helping to lift up business owners in communities of color and helping them to thrive and have upward mobility is a very important aspect of the strategy.

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What kinds of projects will the GPEDD look for to stimulate growth in historically disenfranchised business communities?

A basic one is providing information. A lot of folks don’t know where to get the information about not just economic opportunities, but what are the programs technical assistance they can tap into or utilize to help grow their knowledge and access to programs that are designed to help communities.

For example, at the Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce, we’re currently working with Prosper Portland. We have a program where we’re helping business owners join their Small Business Network. Now those businesses are part of an ecosystem with 20+ organizations that are providing services throughout Portland, so if a business needs a CPA or access to an attorney, if they need access financial planning or they need to take a course, they can get that.

I think everyone wants to have access to that American dream. Equity and inclusion absolutely grounds me as a person and I use that as a grounding as the work I will do as a chair. Putting in place systems that will help bring about change or bring about opportunities for communities is really what this is all about.

RELATED: A New Plan for Portland

Another pillar of the CEDS regional plan is economic resiliency. Does that mean preparing the regional economically for natural disasters?

Resiliency has a lot of different definitions for different folks. When we talk about resiliency, it is the ability for our infrastructure to withstand any kind of unforeseen occurrence, including a pandemic. That was obviously something we did not have in our resiliency plans, but that happened.

Right now, in addition to regional competitiveness, we’re also looking at resiliency for physical infrastructure. We’re also looking at how do we collectively understand how sustainability and how climate technology comes into play. A lot of people want to talk about the Cascadia Subduction Zone, and how to retrofit our infrastructure, and we want that retrofit to be carbon positive, not just carbon neutral, meaning it actually reduces carbon dioxide output overall.

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What has the board done to prepare for its task?

We just launched the Greater Portland CEDS Dashboard, designed to help us see what progress we make over the next five years. From there we’ll be able to also look at metrics and measurement and over the next five years and see where we need to make improvements, and be able to monitor and celebrate those successes.

We are self-monitoring, making sure we’re checking ourselves on the progress of what we said we’re going to do, and holding ourselves accountable.

How are you going to measure success?

How we look at and analyze data is always a conversation that happens when talking about progress and success. We just had the 2020 census, which was great. I loved the 2020 census as an Asian American, because it actually talks about the various Asian and Pacific Islander demographics. So that’s a great resource.

We will also be looking at other regional data points that we can find through the Port of Portland, Travel Portland, and Visit Vancouver to understand how the hospitality industry is doing, how, visitors are spending their time and what they’re spending their money on.

There’s also the Metro who collects data as the different various counties that we would look to. We’re also going to be looking for what data points might be missing, what data isn’t being gathered and collected so that we can have a clearer picture on what progress we’re making.

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Already-tense U.S.-China relations got tenser after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s August visit to the island of Taiwan, with China halting military and climate dialogue with the United States as a result.

Those tense interactions — which continued through Sunday as United States sent warships through the Taiwan Strait in what officials described as a routine transit — followed five years of trade disruption caused by the previous administration’s trade war and COVID-19.

China is Oregon’s largest international trading partner, accounting for 20% of Oregon’s export profits. The Oregon-China relationship also extends into research and development, especially regarding renewable energy technologies.

Last year, over 80 leaders in Oregon and China attended the Climate Change & Sustainability in Oregon & China Forum to foster collaboration environmental and climate change-related research. Chinese and Oregon universities continue to collaborate on agricultural and environmental research, including a carbon sequestration mapping and research project between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Oregon State University.

Zhang Jianmin, China’s consul general to San Fransisco, who oversees trade relations between China and Oregon, spoke to Oregon Business in late August about Oregon-China partnerships.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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China has halted climate talks with the U.S. over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. Will this tension impact Oregon-China partnerships?

At the national level, cooperation in certain areas is being pulled back. It really is a pity. China has suspended its cooperation and talks with the U.S. on climate change at the national level. But I think the exchanges between China and Oregon should go on.

The state of Oregon and China enjoy very close relationships and cooperation on climate change. Last year, the state of Oregon hosted the Climate Crisis and Sustainability Forum, which was a great success. And our national parks — the Crater Lake National Park, and China’s Wuyi Mountain National Park — celebrated the fifth anniversary of the sister park relationship last year. The exchange has produced developments in ecology and helped introduce more green technology.

Oregon State University and China’s Forestry University in Fujian compare notes, share information about how to better develop agriculture and how to better protect the forest industry.

The Oregon-China relationship has benefited from win-win cooperation, and I look forward to seeing more cooperation exchanges moving forward.

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How does Oregon continue to shape U.S.-China relations?

Portland is the city of bridges, and in Oregon we have seen many bridges being built to foster cooperation. When it comes to China relations, Oregon has played a pioneering role. The state of Oregon has always been at the forefront of good exchanges and cooperation between China and the US, between China’s State of Oregon.

The state of Oregon accounts for more than 50% of the overall U.S. chip sales to China. So much of it is trade related. Nike also runs many outlets in China, and supports sponsors many sports events and teams, including the Chinese National Women’s Football Team.

The trade volume between China and the state of Oregon reached $13 billion US dollars last year, which was a 13% increase over 2020. We also saw many Chinese tourists coming to visits the Crater Lake National Park, and the City of Roses. Many Chinese students also come to study in Oregon.

I think sports is another area where people get closer and develop friendship. The World Athletic Championships were held this year in Eugene and Chinese athletes did very well. They won several medals. We are also very grateful that Chinese athletes were welcomed and accorded hospitality during the stay in Eugene. I think that event has promoted the state of Oregon internationally.

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What will it take to improve China-U.S. relations, in your view?

China has, since the very beginning been the victim of the U.S. interference in China’s internal affairs. To resume dialogue and cooperation, it’s important for the one who caused the trouble to correct the mistake first. Taiwan is part of China. It has been a part of China for 2,000 years. It is not a separate country. It’s not a separate state.

Put yourself in China’s shoes. How would you react if another country insisted on supporting or encouraging certain states of the U.S., let’s say, Alaska, or Hawaii, to break away from its home country?

We lost Taiwan to Japan in 1895, because at that time, China was very weak. We were about to solve the problem, then the Korean War broke out. So basically, the problem became a problem at the time when China was very weak. And now, China is making progress. We are trying to achieve national reunification, and without Taiwan our national reunification won’t be complete.

In three joint communiques, the U.S. has publicly and solemnly promised that it will only keep commercial and cultural ties with people of Taiwan. But now, it has time and again, reversed its own promise. We ask the U.S. to correct the mistake by taking effective measures to come back to the one China principle, not just the word, but also in deed, this is of vital importance. There can be no compromise on this issue.

(Editor’s note: Taiwan’s status has changed numerous times throughout the centuries. The roots of the current dispute between the United States and China date back to the end of World War II, when the Allied Forces issued General Order No. 1, placing the island under control of the Republic of China. The 1952 Treaty of Taipei, a postwar peace treaty between Japan and China, states that all residents of Taiwan are nationals of the Republic of China. That agreement follows the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty between Allied Powers and Japan, which China did not sign. The San Francisco treaty did not formally determine the status of the island. Shortly after its signing U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles said Japan had “merely renounced sovereignty over Taiwan,” but had not in fact ceded it to China.)

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The United States recently passed the CHIPS Act, aimed at boosting domestic production of microchips, with the stated purpose of decreasing dependence on Chinese and microchips. Does that concern you at all that this sort of internal industry is being developed?

It does concern us, and we are firmly opposed to it. The CHIPS Act is not a bridge, it’s a barrier, and contains regulations that discourage investment and economic cooperation with China.

You must ask yourself, how come such a dependence on Chinese chips was brought about? I think it’s a result of the law of the market, the law of the economy. It’s a natural division of labor and the result of the globalized economy.

The U.S. is supposed to be the advocates of market economy, so I think it’s quite surprising that they are now going back in the opposite direction.

Also, we live in a globalized era. Two thirds of exports contain imported components. So, it’s not as simple as having a trade surplus is good and a trade deficit is bad.

You may run surplus, enjoy surplus in trade of goods. But at the same time, you could enjoy no surplus in the trade off services.

Of course, each country is entitled to take its own measures to be more competitive, but with these kinds of protectionist measures, I doubt if they will work.

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Do you see these protectionist measures impacting China’s trade with Oregon?

How could it not?

We hope that all the fair trade-minded people and players, including the state of Oregon, speak up and defend their principle of free trade, and win-win cooperation. I think if we all went together, our voice could be louder, and could be heard more and more clearly.

We are asking the US to stop the section 301 tariffs. And as a matter of fact, the burden, most of the burden, over 90% of the burden has been borne by US households and consumers. And each household has to pay $1,300 more every year because of the three section 301 tariffs imposed on China-U.S. trade.

(According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office, the cumulative direct cost of Section 301 tariffs to U.S. taxpayers was $136.5 billion as of March 31, 2022.)

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Given heightened military tensions, how can the Oregon-China relationship help to diffuse tensions and promote peaceful cooperation?

I think every big thing starts from something small. We have organizations on both sides that are very actively advocating exchanges like the Oregon China Council and the China Sister State committee. The state of Oregon has also passed a bipartisan and bicameral bill in 2017 which supports business ties, exchanges, and in the form of statutes. This is all very encouraging to me.

I also had a very good meeting with Governor Brown. She mentioned many areas where we could have cooperation with the state of Oregon, and we hope that through joint efforts, the relationship between China and state of Oregon would become closer and hope the pandemic will be over soon. So, lots of planned exchanges and cooperation, which we want to take place as soon as possible.

I think what is important, what can be very helpful, is to stick to win-win cooperation, we’ve come such a long way this way and we’ve accomplished a lot, which has delivered so many tangible benefits to people on both sides.

People will always have differences, but differences should not be the excuse for not having respect of each other, not having dialogue not having cooperation. I enjoy my visits in the state of Oregon. And I feel very welcome here.

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Betsy Johnson, a former Democratic state senator from Scappoose, says she is looking to upend Oregon politics-as-usual with an independent governorbid.

Feisty, good-humored and matter of fact, Betsy Johson’s campaign to unite Oregonians around a message of economic growth and pragmatism has already attracted high-profile Oregon donors, including Nike founder Phil Knight, the Pape Group, Portland developer Jordan Schnitzer and Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle.

Johnson has also nabbed the endorsements of prominent figures on both sides of the political aisle, including former Oregon senator Gordon Smith, a Republican, and former governor Ted Kulongoski, a Democrat. Margaret Carter, a former state legislator who has also served as chair of the Democratic Party of Oregon, and former state legislator Knute Buehler, who ran against Kate Brown for governor in 2018, have also expressed support for Johnson. 

Credit: Betsy Johnson for Governor

If elected, Johnson would be the second independent governor in Oregon history afterJulius Meier,of the Meier and Frank family, who took office in 1931.

To get on the ballot, Johnson must collectapproximately 23,750 valid signatures, 1% of the statewide vote in the 2020 general election, a number she expects to exceed. The campaign will begin collecting signatures on June 1.

Oregon Business interviewed Johson by telephone with questions on how she would carry out her role as governor.

This Interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What do you think the Oregon voters are not getting with the parties that are currently on the ballot? What option do you think isn’t available to them that you’re providing?

Services. They’re unheard of. Only 18% of our state thinks we’re going in the right direction, the rest of them think we’re going in the wrong direction and that’s mind-blowing. (Editor’s note: Johnson appears to be referring to a DHM Research poll commissioned by Oregon Public Broadcasting in February. Of 600 people surveyed, 18% said the state was heading in the right direction, 73% said it was going in the wrong direction and 9% were undecided.) Voters aren’t very happy. And the farther out of the Portland core you get, the less happy they get.

I just don’t think they feel that they’re being served very well, by the far right and the far left. They’re the ones in the middle are feeling disrespected, ignored on heard, trampled over.

I can’t back this up numerically, but I’m just guessing that 80% of Oregonians feel as though they’re being left out.

Credit: Betsy Johnson for Governor.

Are there any policies specifically where you Oregonian voters are feeling left out?

One that I that I’m catching a lot of heat over is I voted against the cap-and-trade bill because I thought it would absolutely decimate jobs in my district. There was virtually no negotiation. It was our way or the highway.

That’s why we need an independent governor who’s going to bring both sides together and get them to work together for durable solutions that are representative of the entire state, not just Portland-centric.

A 2021 poll from the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center found 80% of Oregonians wanted to incentivize renewable energy, and over 70% supported restrictions on carbon emitters, even at the cost of economic growth. What would you say to Oregon voters who don’t think you’re enough of a climate fighter?

You can’t achieve livability if you can’t earn a living. Climate change is real, but the cap-and-trade solution was not. I’m all for producing more green energy in Oregon. I’m going to support the efforts of developers and utility companies to do more with renewables, but if we want to make real change in the climate, we need to stop making working people the scapegoats that pay the highest price for it.

I don’t want to bow to the demands of the extremists that are driving energy and policy in Salem if it means skyrocketing energy bills for Oregon’s middle-class families.

We have powerhouse engineering schools in this state. For 40 years, Oregon has led the nation on development of renewable electricity, conservation, smart buildings, and renewable gas. Nuscale, mobile, small scale nuclear reactors, were developed at OSU. There’s great work being done at Oregon Tech right now. I’m involved in an organization called OMIC, the Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center, that combined government innovation, business, academia, to draw on that expertise.

I want to bring these experts to the table and build a sensible plan on a reasonable timeline that helps the environment and protects Oregonians.

Credit: Betsy Johnson for Governor.

Would you also fight against special interest groups who want fewer environmental regulations?

Sure. I stand up period. That’s why I think it’s important that we try to bring people together, we shouldn’t pick sides, because when we pick sides, the climate falls through the middle. We have got to forge solutions that are durable, because people don’t want to feel as though they’re having a prepackaged solution stuffed down their throats.

As governor, I want to lead a process to answer your question that would develop common-sense approaches to our energy transition, building on the expertise that we have in this state.

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Another issue Oregonians are worried about is home prices, and a housing shortage of approximately 111,000 homes, according to the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis. What is your plan for increasing the housing supply in Oregon?

We need to get out of the way and reduce regulations. Developers know what they’re doing. There’s several cases I’m personally aware of where a project was stymied or stalled or canceled because of insurmountable bureaucratic regulations. I’m not saying let anybody do whatever they damn well feel like, but we’ve got to start at “yes” and work backwards from there. We start at “no,” and you must cajole and hustle and negotiate to get to “yes.”

This is a controversial statement that I’m going to make, but it may take some tactical tweaking of our land use laws. A solution is certainly not going to be created by a bunch of generalist political people in Salem guessing what the solution ought to be. State government is driving this problem with false solutions, and basically prohibitive or inhibitive regulations.

We’ve got a cost crisis because we have a land availability crisis. And when we’re building housing at $400,000 a door, to me that’s exhibit A in where we have a problem.

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So you think it’s just a matter of zoning and land use that developers would rather build houses that sells for $1 million than low-income housing? Do you think that there needs to be additional incentive to get lower income housing projects built?

It could all be profitable if we didn’t have some of these Byzantine regulations. We have got to get to a point where developers have an expectation that if they put capital at risk, there’s going to be a reward.

I think what you’re asking me without asking me is, “Am I willing to push back on people that are profiteering?” Sure, we need solutions to our housing problem, but having Salem with 90 generalists isn’t a solution at all, in my view.

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In addition to more housing, what measures need to be taken to alleviate the homelessness crisis that Oregon faces?

We’ve got a situation where we’re operating in silos, very well-funded silos, that are not delivering results. The Democrats are right in that we need compassion, we need housing, and we need services. The Republicans are right in that we need personal accountability, and no more tent cities.

I don’t believe that there’s one way to fix this. We’ve got various populations that are on the streets for a variety of reasons, whether it’s poverty, mental illness, drug addiction, but we are not acting with a sense of urgency. If there was a forest fire or, in the case of my old Senate District, floods, we had FEMA trailers in there almost immediately afterwards. We’re talking this problem to death while people are dying on the streets, which is a state shame on all of us.

There are lots of different models. I’ve been very personally involved in the reanimation of the old Wapato jail and trying to turn it into an emergency shelter and a place where people can opt in to a very heavily-supported series of services that help them maintain sobriety and clean living. We’re getting them jobs and it’s a very supportive environment. But we need to stop calling this a crisis and we need to start acting like it’s a crisis.

First, before assuming the governor’s office if I’m elected, I’m going to convene the proper stakeholders at the table. This includes mental health experts, drug addiction experts, social service experts, and law enforcement, to name a few.

I would hire people with I accountable timelines and deliverables and failure to perform means go find another job.

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Do you have any policy on what needs to happen to homeless camps?

I’m not going to say, “On this date, this is what we’re definitely going to do.” That’s irresponsible. But we need no more tent cities. I think it’s a public health crisis. I think it is a public safety crisis.

When you see some of these tent cities that are littered with half-empty propane bottles, piles of garbage as tall as I am and open fires, it is simply inhumane. The tent cities need to go.

A 2020 report by OSU showed all Oregon counties were considered “child care deserts,” meaning there were three children for every one open childcare slot. Do you have any plans to alleviate or help Oregon’s current lack of child caregivers?

We have made delivering child care services overly bureaucratic and overly regulated. I don’t think the child care providers are getting the level of support they need from the state agency.

Too often, I’ve seen people show up with the penalty book rather than the Assisted Advanced Education book to make childcare providers better at what they do. All of us want kids taken care of in clean, enriching environments, but I have seen the agency come down on some childcare providers with an overly hard hand rather than helping to educate them back to a place where they can be better providers.

I think we’ve got to have a more flexible, nimble approach. What works in Portland isn’t going to work in coastal Oregon or other places in rural Oregon. There isn’t a cookie-cutter solution, and we need to take into account community concerns. Cost is certainly a big issue. But that’s driven by, I believe, some of the excessive regulation.

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A lot of federal money is being allocated to rural broadband developments, but many urban communities, especially communities of color, are in broadband deserts because of monopolies. How do we bridge the urban-rural divide without forgetting Portlanders who don’t have access to necessities?

I think that we have got gotten to the point where Oregonians are so dissatisfied with government, that they’re kind of solving the urban-rural divide themselves. I’m being a little bit facetious here, but urban and rural Oregon are united in saying we need a better way. I believe in this day and age access to the internet is existential.

I’m unwilling to differentiate between where the need is greatest. I talked to kids during the COVID crisis who were sitting in cars at McDonald’s to get a hotspot that is unacceptable. And I don’t care whether they’re in the McDonald’s on 82nd, or they’re in the McDonald’s in the Nehalem, it’s unacceptable.

I will be a champion for economic development, cutting the bureaucracy, and cutting the regulatory hassles to get economic development. I want to be a champion for every part of Oregon, where we have unrealized opportunity.

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Even if you are elected, parties will still have power in the legislature. Why should voters elect you if you don’t have a party’s support for your agenda?

I think it’s a foregone conclusion that the Oregon legislature is going to remain in Democrat hands. A Democrat governor, like Tina (Kotek), with no accountability doesn’t get us anywhere. And a Republican governor who can’t get anything done by virtue of having to work with a Democrat legislature isn’t going to move the ball down the field either.

This is an opportunity and I think a clarion call for an independent governor answerable only to the people of Oregon. I will come on to the ballot through the power of people’s signatures, which I think is incredibly powerful. And if I’m the governor, I’m going to be responsible only to the people, not to the parties. I’ve been a Republican. I’ve been a Democrat. I’m running as an Oregonian.

Right after the primary election, two of Oregon’s well-respected politicians, I’m going to call them “stewards” put aside party politics and endorsed my candidacy, former United States Senator Gordon Smith, a loyal Republican and former governor Ted Kulongoski, a loyal Democrat. I don’t want to put words in their mouth, but the two of them functionally said Oregon is at a crossroads, and we’re willing to put aside our partisanship in favor of our beloved state.

I don’t mean to sound arrogant about this, but I think I could have handily been reelected in my Senate district but having had a front row seat to what I consider the disintegration of a state I love and where I was born, I just couldn’t sit on the sidelines any longer.

Ballots in the Oregon primary are still being counted — and one populous county has yet to submit any results — but several races showed definitive leads as of midday Wednesday.

As of 11 p.m. Tuesday Clackamas County — the third most populous county in the state — was the only Oregon county not to have posted any election results. Its tardiness prompted a Tuesday-night statement from Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, who noted that her office and other counties had offered “extra personnel” to help with timely reporting. The county had expected delays in reporting due to a printing error that affected two-thirds of ballots, but Clackamas County Clerk Sherry Hall had told The Oregonian that results would be posted at 8:10 p.m. Tuesday despite the error.

“While I am confident that the process they are following is secure, transparent and the results will be accurate, the county’s reporting delays tonight are unacceptable. Voters have done their jobs, and now it’s time for Clackamas County Elections to do theirs,” Fagan wrote.

By noon Wednesday, the Oregon Secretary of State’s page showed results from Clackamas County numbering in thousands or hundreds. More than 300,00 people were registered to vote in the county as of 2020, according to data from the Secretary of State.

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In the race for governor, former Oregon house speaker Tina Kotek fended off a challenge from state treasurer Tobias Read in a race that was called early Tuesday night. As of noon Wednesday Kotek had received 55.79% of votes to Read’s 32.11%.

She now moves on to face the winner of the crowded Republican primary in November.

Oregon House Minority Leader Christine Drazan won the Republican primary with around 25% of the vote, runnning several points ahead of the other 18 challengers for Republican’s shot at the governor’s office. 

(A previous version of this article said Drazan was ahead, but the race had not been called for her.) 

In what may have been the biggest upset of the night, emergency response coordinator and small business owner Jamie McLeod-Skinner is leading incumbent representative Kurt Schrader 61% to 39% as of Wednesday morning in the Oregon Democrat’s 5th district primary. McLeod-Skinner ran to the left of Schrader, capitalizing on Schrader’s frequent breaks with Congressional Democrats over prescription drug reform and his lack of support for the Build Back Better act.

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Former Happy Valley mayor Lori Chavez-DeRemer has already won the crowded Republican primary to compete with McLeod-Skinner for the 5th district, with 41.88% of the vote.

State legislator Andrea Salinas won the nomination to represent Democrats in Oregon’s newly created 6th district. If elected in November, Salinas would be the Latinx person to represent Oregon in Congress.

Salinas will likely face off against Lake Oswego business owner Mike Erickson, who currently leads Oregon state representative Ron Noble 35% to 20%, to represent Republicans for the new seat.

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Val Hoyle, commissioner of Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries, was chosen decisively by Democrats in Oregon’s 4th district, where Democrats competed for a seat vacated by the retiring Peter DeFazio. Hoyle held 65% of the vote as of this morning.

In the nonpartisan race for state Labor Commissioner, employment lawyer Christina Stephenson had 47% of the vote as of noon Wednesday. If Stephenson does not secure more than 50% of the vote, a runoff in November will decide the winner of the office. Republican state representative Cheri Helt in second at 19.5% and Yamhill County Commissioner Casey Kulla at 14%.

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Voting is underway for Oregon’s primary election for governor, with ballots due May 17.  

There are 15 Oregon Democrats and 19 Republicans vying for governor, but only five polled at or around 10% support in the last two weeks. 

For Democrats, former Oregon House speaker Tina Kotek and former state treasurer Tobias Read appear locked in a two-way contest, according to an April poll by California-based FM3 Research, with both candidates polling at 20% or higher.  

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The Republican field seems more divided. According to a survey conducted by Salem-based Nelson Research, 19% of likely Republican voters chose former House minority leader Christine Drazan. Bob Tiernan, former Oregon Republican Party chair, was second with 14%, and 2016 nominee Bud Pierce captured 9.5%, with the rest being unsure or saying they would vote for someone else.  

Oregon’s next governor will have to address the state’s growing affordable housing shortage, its emerging, state-subsidized green energy sector, the effects of climate change, and Oregon’s ongoing homelessness crisis — all of which could have a significant impact on Oregon’s economic future. 

What follows is a summary of the major-party candidates say they would tackle those issues. 

Betsy Johnson, who served as a State Legislator for 20 years but is seeking the governor’s office as an unaffiliated candidate. Her campaign page does not include detailed positions on the following issues, but does include promises to “get control of Portland’s homeless and public safety crisis,” “stop taking jobs and job creators for granted” and “make Oregon more affordable for working families.” Johnson has also been a vocal opponent of cap and trade. 

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Housing 

According to the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis, Oregon has an estimated shortage of 111,000 homes, with the greatest shortage being homes affordable to lower-income families. The construction labor market is also tight, constraining construction. 

High home prices do not only harm lower-income people. According to a 2020 review by OPB, high housing costs can worsen traffic, contribute to worker shortages and reduce consumer spending. 

Christine Drazan

On her website, Drazan blames Oregon’s “regulatory tax environment” for Oregonian’s low buying power, which has in her view reduced their ability to afford housing. Drazan pledges on her “issues” page to veto any new taxes, repeal “costly” regulations, and promote tax policies which would “allow Oregonians to keep more of their money in their own pockets.” 

During a Q&A with Oregon Capital Chronicle, Drazan said the state government had  “repeatedly interfered” with the private sector through building regulations, impeding their ability to meet the demand for housing. 

Drazan says the state “must expedite the process to make buildable land available, speed up the development of new units, and lower the cost associated with building new housing in Oregon.” She also supports protecting some existing programs, like the mortgage interest deduction and first-time home buyer program, while holding down property taxes. She also claims inclusionary zoning and “regulatory complexities” drive up the cost of building units. 

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Tina Kotek

Kotek posted a thorough housing and homelessness plan on her website. In her plan, Kotek says she will partner with Business Oregon to create a housing and transportation strategy program and build upon Governor Kate Brown’s construction jobs workforce program. Kotek pledged to issue an executive order to create a multi-sector advisory group, and a 10-year plan to build enough homes in urban, suburban, and rural communities and to make this plan the top priority in the 2024 legislative session. 

To encourage growth, Kotek says she will encourage “intergovernmental and private sector partnerships” and pass legislation focusing on “Encouraging innovation, streamlining permit processes, and supporting housing developers to scale up to build these homes.”

Kotek has also made it a priority to end existing equity gaps in housing between white Oregonians and Oregonians of color by providing BIPOC Oregonians with loan and loan payment assistance and homeownership education programs though culturally-specific organizations. She also supports community land trusts and shared equity homeownership programs to close the equity gap. 

Bud Pierce

Like Drazan, Pierce trusts the private sector to fix the housing crisis. He says he would lower the cost of land by modifying land-use planning restrictions to allow more units to be built. 

Pierce tells Oregon Capital Chronicle that by pursuing an agenda that “dramatically [reduces] fees, red tape, and time the builders invest in building homes” and “loosening stringent building requirements that significantly increase the cost of building a house” the state can overcome its housing crisis. 

“Affordable housing can be built if we allow smaller structures, lower land prices through modifying our land use planning and limit excessive regulations which drive up prices,” he told KATU in a Q&A. 

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Tobias Read

Read told the Oregon Capital Chronicle there can be no solution to the housing crisis without the private sector “working closely with state and local governments.” 

As governor, Read says he will direct state agencies to grant private construction companies access to buildable land, invest in building infrastructure, and allow builders more flexibility in Oregon’s land use planning system in exchange for developments that meet housing needs and climate goals. 

In order to build large, scalable housing units, Read says he will streamline the permitting process in order to deploy funds already approved by the state and Metro-area governments. 

On his website, Read says he will create a statewide program to give Oregonians access to low-interest loans to build additional housing on single-family lots.

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Bob Tiernan

To solve the housing crisis, Tiernan said would call a housing summit, like then-Gov. Neil Goldschmidt did for worker’s compensation in 1989 to reduce prices in a Q&A with the Oregon Capital Chronicle.

Tiernan suggested a lock-in at the Oregon Fairgrounds for all involved parties to hammer out a solution. 

Tiernan blames “overregulation for climate change policies, energy efficiency rules, permit problems, and System Development Charges (SDCs)” for driving up costs for home builders. 

Tiernan says the “laws of supply and demand” often work better to solve housing issues. Still, Tiernan says he would use public-private partnerships to create more affordable housing units, and supports a 50-acre extension of the urban growth boundary. 

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Green Economy/Climate Change 

Over $9 billion of investment in renewable energy has come to Oregon over the last 16 years, generating over $110 million in public revenue, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Wind energy production in the state has increased significantly in the last decade. There are nearly 2000 wind turbines in Oregon which generated 10.6% of the state’s electricity in 2019, up from 6.1% from 10 years ago.

But the impacts of climate change are already affecting Oregon farmers. According to a 2021 study from Stanford University, county-level temperature trends have contributed $27 billion—or 19%—of the national-level crop insurance losses over the 1991–2017 period. 

Christine Drazan

Drazan blasted Oregon’s low-carbon fuel standards and the creation of a cap-and-trade program in a Q&A with KATU and on her campaign website. Drazan’s website does not otherwise mention renewable energy or the environment. 

Tina Kotek 

On her website, Kotek says that as speaker of the Oregon House, she “put Oregon on a path to 100% clean electricity by 2040, including a $50 million investment to jumpstart wind, solar and other community renewable energy projects that will create jobs in Oregon.”

Kotek praised Oregon’s Clean Fuels Program, and called for “bold action to match the scale of the (climate) crisis.” Kotek pledges to increase the use of zero-emission vehicles and invest more in public transportation to lower emissions through legislation. 

Kotek says she will use her position as governor to transition the state away from fossil fuels in homes and commercial buildings and increase climate resiliency for small farming communities and ranches, as well as pass stricter laws to protect workers during climate events like heat waves and wildfires. 

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Bud Pierce

Pierce is sharply against environmental regulations and government support of renewable energy. 

On voting guide website ISideWith…, Pierce reported being against new environmental regulations to address climate change, and opposed to government subsidies for wind energy. 

Tobias Read

Read’s website says Oregon is well-positioned to be a leader in addressing climate change. Read would support Oregon’s green economy through clean energy investments, decarbonizing the transportation sector, reducing building energy use through legislation and creating climate resiliency programs for farms and ranches across the state.

Read says as governor, he would increase financial incentives to reduce the cost of renewable energy and energy storage, establish an offshore wind energy fund to gather wind energy on the Oregon coast, and increase financing, loans and grant opportunities for clean energy technologies. 

Bob Tiernan

Tiernan says that although he believes human activity is causing the planet to warm, he told OPB the government must “be careful of the unintended consequences of Government actions on Oregonians’ livelihoods, pocket books, the ability to heat their homes, travel and enjoy their lives.” 

Tiernan does not support cap-and-trade legislation but says he wants to encourage the use of electric vehicles and other conservation measures, though he did not state whether or not he would pass laws to do so. 

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Homelessness

According to data released by Multnomah County, the amount of people living without homes in Portland increased approximately 50% since January 2019. As of January 2020, Oregon had an estimated 14,655 experiencing homelessness as reported by Continuums of Care to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). 

Government programs have been shown to be making some progress. Nonprofits have reported getting 500 homeless people into housing since a new tax to raise money for homeless services took effect in mid-2021.

Christine Drazan

Drazan said she would address the “root causes” of homelessness – addiction, mental health, and affordability – by working with nonprofits, the faith community, and local governments, as well as “make clear” local governments have the “authority and obligation” to enforce local ordinances. 

Tina Kotek 

Kotek pledges that within 30 days in office, she would form an emergency management team to address the urgent needs of veterans, families with children, unaccompanied young adults and people over age 65, and training housing navigators to find them places to live. 

As Governor, Kotek pledges to address homelessness by providing wraparound services, such as mental health support workers, to people living on the streets, and work with cities and nonprofits to continue creating new living spaces. She cites Project Turnkey, which acquires hotels and motels for homeless shelters, as a successful example of a state-run shelter program, 

Kotek says keeping people housed who are on the brink of homelessness is also essential. In addition to creating a housing provider council that consists of private landlords, affordable housing providers, and tenant rights advocates, Kotek says she would direct the Public Utility Commission to implement an arrearage strategy for unpaid utility bills, use the Secretary of State’s audit of the emergency rent assistance delivery system to make improvements, and give courts flexibility to both mediate eviction cases and connect tenants facing eviction to community-based services to help them stay housed 

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Bud Pierce

During the Republican debate, Pierce said he would declare a statewide “substance use disorder and homeless emergency” to start fixing the homelessness issue. 

Pierce says he would make it illegal to camp on the streets, parks and on riverbanks. For people experiencing homeless who did not vacate, they would be placed in either a “locked shelter or some form of incarceration until they will participate in improving their lives or they find private accommodations.” 

Pierce says his approach to Oregon’s homelessness would also include addiction and mental health treatment and make sure all people experiencing homelessness had access to shelters, but provided few details on how this would be done. 

“Make no mistake, those who are homeless will not have the option to return to street living when shelters and services are available,” reads his website.

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Tobias Read

To stop homelessness from increasing, Read says he would pass legislation to prevent evictions for those who are at risk of homelessness. Read says that by repurposing vacant motels, hotels and office spaces, and staffing the sites with support services, including mental health and addiction treatment, state agencies will help people experiencing homeless locate long-term housing.

Read says building a mix of affordable housing, shelters, and transitional housing is essential to fighting Oregon’s homelessness crisis, and once adequate housing and shelter options are available, “for those who are willing to accept help” that it will be “time to start enforcing camping bans in our parks and on our streets.”

Bob Tiernan

Tiernan told KATU as governor he would implement a “short-term solution that gets the homeless off the streets, parks, immediately” and establish “military-style” shelters on public or leased lands that “mirror shelters that are established in time(s) of emergency, floods, hurricanes, tornados, or other disasters.”  

Tiernan told OPB he would give homeless campers notice that they needed to vacate public property, and if they did not do so within the time limit, he would “move them off the street, and out of our parks (and) neighborhoods.” 

In the long-term, Tiernan said he would establish an “action force” to create a more permanent solution. He also advocated the repeal of Measure 110 that decriminalized possession of most illegal drugs, which he says has not achieved its desired ends and has only contributed to Oregon’s addiction crisis. 

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