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Hi folks,
I have been hard at work laying the groundwork to pass several important pieces of legislation and I’ll give an update below. But first, I hope you will join me at my next Constituent Coffee event. We will gather in the upstairs lounge at the New Seasons at 4500 SE Woodstock Blvd on Sunday, 10/15/23, at 9:30 AM. After that, the next one is just a few days later in Milwaukie’s Ledding Library, on Wednesday, 10/18/23, at 6:00 PM. I appreciate these opportunities to hear from you directly and my hope is that you find them valuable, too.
Legislative Update
My staff and I have pulled together a number of workgroups to firm up the policy and strategy details for bills we will run in future legislative sessions. Today I would like to highlight three of them on electricity transmission, construction workforce, and a houseable wage.
First, not enough people are talking about the gaping hole in Oregon’s climate planning that is our electricity transmission system. Not only do we need to make big improvements in how renewable and small-scale electricity generation is able to be incorporated and connected, but we also need to change the way we coordinate with other regions to share and maximize efficiency. Added to all of that, we need to seriously invest in what is too often outdated transmission infrastructure. I have convened a large table of state and federal agencies, public and private utilities, environmental justice advocates, and more to craft a reform of these systems. I expect to bring any resulting legislation in the 2025 session.
Second, the ways the state interacts with our workforce and builds our labor pool is clearly not working. From nurses, to teachers, to electricians, we are in dire need of more professionals in many of the most critical sectors of our economy and society. Looking specifically at our construction workforce, I think the primary driver of our skyrocketing housing costs is the lack of tradespeople to do the actual building of the houses. The labor shortage that started with the 2008 recession has only continued to worsen and all the people in these fields are already fully employed, and then some. Even with the political will to build hundreds of thousands more housing units, it just won’t happen if we don’t have the builders to do it. I am convening a workgroup to look at places that are getting this right, from Woodburn Oregon to Germany, and I expect to bring legislation related to career and technical education in the 2025 session.
Lastly, our workgroup on a Houseable Wage is continuing apace. This is my concept to tie Oregon’s minimum wage to the average cost to rent an apartment in a given region. We all know that wages over the past few decades have fallen further and further behind the cost of living. One outcome of this is our sadly burgeoning unhoused population as more and more families are shoved out of their homes. My concept will guarantee that anyone working a full-time job will be able to afford housing in their area and also that large employers and investment trusts are incentivized to invest in housing production, instead of keeping it scarce and expensive. I introduced this concept last session in HB 2699 and I anticipate bringing it back in 2025.
Pictured: I had the privilege last month to join an interstate delegation of legislators to Hong Kong and Singapore. They do housing very differently over there and have virtually zero homelessness. I brought back many ideas that I hope to turn into legislation.
Thanks for reading and staying engaged. Please reach out with any questions. I hope to see you on either 10/15 or 10/18 at one of my Constituent Coffee events!
All my best,
Representative Mark Gamba
House District 41
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1441
Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, H-477, Salem, Oregon 97301
Email: Rep.MarkGamba@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/gamba
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