The Beaver Caucus

Summary of the 2020 Oregon Election

by

by Jon Eames, Eames Consulting

Oregon faced a similar experience as the rest of the country with regard to election results. While expectations were high among Democrats to expand their majority in their respective chambers, the results were less than ideal for the current majority. Importantly, as of Monday, November 16, election results for a handful of districts have not been finalized as the vote margins are narrow. We expect contested ballots to be sorted out shortly and results certified on the 23rd. If the current results stand (and we don’t believe the results will change), Oregon saw a number changes in individual districts, but the make up of each chamber remained largely unchanged. House Republicans picked up one seat this cycle to bring their chamber total to 23 and the Democrats sit at 37. The Senate chamber did not see a change in its make up so the current division (18 Democrats, 12 Republicans), remains the same.

What does this mean for next the legislative session? Although the Democrats were hoping to reach a “walkout proof” majority (20 seats in the Senate, 40 seats in the House), Republicans will still be able to employ the tactic, if they choose, in the upcoming legislative session. While the threat of the walkout has not been explicitly made by the Republicans, the implicit threat will likely force the Democrats to curtail their progressive ambitions for the upcoming legislative session. In addition, the pandemic will take priority on policy changes and much of the Legislature’s capacity will be dedicated to passing the 2021-23 budget. Due to walkouts during the February legislative session, the backlog of unfinished legislative business is long and will also take up a significant portion of the Legislature’s work in 2021.

Finally, there are still many unanswered questions as to how the Legislature will conduct its business for the 2021 session. Decisions on the time, place, and manner have yet to be announced, increasing the uncertainty in an already challenging legislative environment.

Watch the Town Hall with President Alexander

by

On October 5, the Beaver Caucus hosted a virtual town hall with President F. King Alexander to share OSU’s legislative priorities.

Watch the Town Hall recording here.

As we head into what will likely be a difficult legislative session, it is imperative that state leaders hear from Beaver Nation about the vital work OSU is doing.

Join the Beaver Caucus today to be part of the team.

President Alexander is working to ensure higher education at OSU is affordable, accessible and inclusive. OSU’s research and statewide extension programs offer important public services in every community across the state. Visit OSU Extension Service to learn about what OSU is doing in your community. Learn how OSU is Moving Forward Together to end systemic racism.

Beaver Caucus members receive regular updates about OSU’s legislative priorities and insider information from Salem. Members also have access tools to easily contact elected officials (you can email your legislator right now!) and receive invitations to digital and in-person events with state leaders.

OSU needs your voice. Our elected leaders are going to be making difficult decisions about the state’s priorities and need to hear from you that an investment in Oregon State is an investment in the state of Oregon.

You’re Invited: Town Hall with President Alexander

by

As a Beaver Caucus member, you are invited to participate in a virtual town hall with Oregon State University President F. King Alexander on October 5 at 4 p.m. (PDT).

President Alexander, who began his role as the 15th president of Oregon’s statewide university on July 1, 2020, brings decades of experience in public higher education leadership, legislative advocacy and community engagement.

During the town hall, President Alexander will outline OSU’s priorities for the upcoming legislative session. Given the challenges our state is confronting, we need your voice to avoid cuts that will damage OSU’s ability to support students, create educational and economic opportunity for Oregon residents, and continue vital research and extension services — which is now more important than ever as we confront health crises and natural disasters on an unprecedented scale. The President will share how you can get involved and play a vital role in making sure that OSU is a priority for state leaders.

Beaver Nation needs your voice!

Register Now

OSU Arts and Education Complex is approved!

by

We got some great news from Salem this week! On Monday, the State Legislature met in a special session and approved $35 million in bonding authority for the OSU Arts and Education Complex. This marks the culmination of the three years of advocacy and it wouldn’t have happened without your support! This complex will serve every student on campus, make OSU more competitive in the race for top STEM students, and allow us to continue to deliver arts programing to tens of thousands of K-12 students from every community in the state.

Thank you for making phone calls, sending emails, and meeting with legislators to get this project over the finish line. We appreciate your support for OSU!

You can share the news here.

Other highlights from the Special Session:

  • Preservation of the Public University Support Fund (PUSF): The legislature safeguarded vital operating funds for OSU through the preservation of the PUSF. The PUSF includes the state funding for instruction, research, and operations of the seven public universities and represents the largest share of state support for public universities.
  • Funding reductions to Statewides Public Service Programs less than anticipated: It was anticipated that OSU Statewides Public Service Programs, Extension Services, Agricultural Experiment Stations and Forest Research Labs would face a significant budget cut, but instead received only a 2.5% reduction to their operating budget.

While we want to celebrate these victories, our work isn’t done yet. During the 2021 Legislative Session we will advocate for bonding authority for the Student Success Center on the OSU Cascades Campus.

This facility will house vital programs designed to help students graduate on time and find employment once they have earned their degree. The center will also provide student activity and counseling services, including the veteran services program that supports OSU-Cascades large student veteran population.

In the lead up to the 2021 session will be working to build on the important advocacy work of the Beaver Caucus and we need your help!

Urge a friend to join the Beaver Caucus today! 

With your help and support we will celebrate more legislative victories in 2021.

Go Beavs!

Sincerely,

Bill Perry
President

OSU is supporting students and the community

by

Dear Beaver Caucus Member:

I hope you and your families are staying safe and healthy during these unprecedented times. As we are all dealing with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important to reach out to highlight what OSU is doing to support students and the broader university community.

Supporting student’s educational success. Through the hard work of OSU’s faculty, 4,000 Spring Term courses have moved to remote delivery. However, we must recognize students’ lives, like many of ours, have been disrupted, resulting in unexpected financial needs. The OSU Foundation has launched the Beavers Care Initiative which will provide immediate resources for OSU students at the Corvallis campus and at OSU-Cascades who are facing new and overwhelming challenges including the security of their basic needs.

The OSU Board of Trustees voted to freeze tuition for currently enrolled students for the summer term and the 2020-2021 school year. OSU will continue to evaluate if they can provide tuition relief to students who are enrolling in the fall.

OSU researchers have pivoted work to fight COVID-19. With disruption in the medical supply chain, many hospitals are struggling to find the necessary resources to test and treat infected patients. In response to a request by Samaritan Health Services, the OSU Veterinary Lab stepped in to produce a critical fluid for COVID-19 testing. The fluid, known as viral transport medium (VTM), allows for the safe transport of patient samples to testing facilities. OSU has the tools and ingredients on hand to produce VTM and sent three liters to Samaritan, enough to process 1,000 tests.

This past week OSU scientists launched a public health study in Corvallis to determine the community prevalence of the virus that causes COVID-19. Team-based Rapid Assessment of Community-level Epidemics (TRACE) will be among the nation’s first to measure the prevalence of the virus among people who are both symptomatic and asymptomatic. With this more comprehensive information, public health and government leaders will be able to better guide efforts they are waging against the virus.

Extension and engagement grow in a new format. OSU Extension has moved their engagement platforms online and are looking for opportunities to expand. For example—a faculty member in Clackamas County is creating videos about forest ecosystems that can be used to supplement the distance education about our environment. Additionally, the Master Gardener vegetable short course online has seen record registration numbers of over 25,000 aspiring gardeners.

Containing university expenditures. While OSU will receive some relief under the federal CARES Act, it only partially covers the impact COVID-19 is having on OSU’s finances. But the university is also taking several steps to offset financial losses including; dramatically reducing expenditures for services, supplies and business travel, restructuring debt payments in auxiliaries, limiting hiring positions to only those essential to maintaining student progress toward degree completion, and evaluating staffing and benefit options for those individuals where work may no longer be available.

This is an uncertain time for you too. While this email addresses the impact of this health crisis on OSU students and the university community, I recognize and understand that wherever you call home, you are living and working in communities impacted by COVID-19, and following the health and safety measures that have been implemented to contain the pandemic.

We don’t yet know the full scope and scale of the challenges we will face in the coming weeks and beyond, but we remain committed to supporting OSU through our advocacy efforts. We all share a commitment to care for our students and help our beloved university carry out its mission to educate, research, and serve.

We are in this together, after all.

Go Beavs!

Sincerely,

Bill Perry
President

Beaver Caucus Legislative Session Recap

by

OSU COVID-19 Information: Oregon State University has added a link on the OSU homepage to a new page that provides detailed and up-to-date COVID-19 information.

2020 Legislative Recap
By Bill Perry – Beaver Caucus President

The 2020 Oregon Legislature adjourned abruptly last Thursday when Democratic leaders announced there would be no further floor sessions prior to the constitutionally mandated end of the legislative session on Sunday, March 8 at midnight.

Two weeks ago, Senate Republicans, followed by their colleagues in the House, walked out of the Capitol to protest cap and trade legislation. The Republican walk-out denied majority Democrats a quorum necessary to consider final passage of bills on the House and Senate floors. The denial of a quorum prevented not only passage of the cap and trade bill, but also halted the passage of all other legislation, including bills to fund and support OSU projects and programs.

What was the impact on the Beaver Caucus’ legislative priorities?

OSU and the Beaver Caucus should be extremely proud of what we accomplished. Due to your advocacy, the Ways and Means Committee approved $34.5 million in bonding authority for the Arts and Education Complex on the OSU main campus and $12.9 in general funds for the Student Success Center on the OSU-Cascades campus in Bend. Unfortunately, an agreement to bring the Republicans back to the building was never reached, therefore, preventing final votes on these bills.

What’s next?

Legislative leadership and the Governor are developing plans to call the Legislature back into “special session” sometime in the next 30 days. However, due to new public health and safety measures related to COVID-19 the timing is uncertain. It is also important to note that a special session will likely have the same dynamics if the stalemate over cap and trade has not been resolved. The Governor did take the first step to move carbon decisions away from the Legislature with an Executive Order directing state agencies to implement some of the measures in the cap and trade bill.

Once leadership announces when the legislature will reconvene, we will renew our efforts to ensure continued support for our projects and get them over the finish line (which was, prior to the early end of the session, in sight).

Stay informed

We will share more information and updates on our website, Facebook and Twitter accounts during the special session.

For more information on legislative action related to OSU, please see the OSU Government Relations legislative update.

Thank you for your support. Go Beavs!

Beaver Caucus Legislative Update: March 6

by

March 6 Legislative Update by Jon Eames

Late yesterday afternoon, the Speaker of the House, Tina Kotek, announced from the floor that the House will effectively end their work this legislative session.  Speaker Kotek, in an impassioned and emotional speech, announced no further floor sessions will occur prior to the constitutionally mandated end to the Legislative session on March 8th at midnight.

For a refresher on how we got to this point:

In a typical session you’d expect to see a Sine Die announcement at the exact time the House and Senate finished their legislative business, adjourning for the year. However, this is not a typical session. A week and a half ago, Senate Republicans, followed shortly thereafter by their colleagues in the House walked out of the Capitol building and have yet to return.

Oregon’s House and Senate Republicans hold enough seats in each chamber to deny the majority Democrats a quorum necessary to consider final passage of bills on the respective chamber floors. The walk-out is centered on one bill: the Cap and Trade climate policy which Democrats have publicly set as their top priority this session. The denial of quorum prevents not only passage of the climate bill, but also halts the passage of all other bills on chamber floors.

Over the last couple weeks Democrats engaged in contingency planning by moving all bills which have the support to pass to a place in the process where they could move most expediently if Republicans were to return to the Capitol.

Today, House and Senate Republicans announced their willingness to return to the building on Sunday March 8th, the constitutionally required end date of session, to complete the unfinished business of the 2020 session. Implicit in this announcement was the understanding Republicans would have the authority to use procedural hurdles to prevent the passage of any legislation of which they did not approve, meaning they would still be able to prevent passage of Cap and Trade should Democrats attempt to move a vote of the bill on the floor.

In light of the early end to the session, Speaker Kotek also announced the Governor’s plan to exercise executive action on climate change in the coming days and that the emergency board will meet on Monday March 9th to distribute emergency funds to address Coronavirus and the Umatilla Basin flooding.

This premature end to session means many bipartisan policies and critical agency budget adjustments have been caught in the crosshairs.  Speaker Kotek indicated Legislative leadership and the Governor are developing plans to call the Legislature back into “special session” at some time in the next 30 days. However, no formal announcements have been made.  It is also important to note a special session is no different than a regular session in that the same dynamics could be at play if the Cap and Trade policy is still on the table.

We will continue to update you as new information becomes available.

Thank you to the Beaver Caucus for all your work in this area. Follow us for more updates.

Beaver Caucus Legislative Update: Week 5

by

Katie Fast, OSU Government Relations
Week 5 – March 6, 2020

Yesterday, after Republicans announced they would return on Sunday to vote on budget bills, both the House and Senate leadership concluded that a day was not enough time to work all bills passed out of committee and through the chambers, and that Republicans would not be allowed to pick and choose which bills would be considered. Both chambers adjourned without intentions of returning before the constitutional sine die (end of session) on Sunday night.

Legislative leadership announced the Emergency Board will convene on Monday to address coronavirus response and flood recovery for Umatilla County. A special session to address budget bills and other agreed upon policy bills within the next 30 days has also been discussed. However, details have not been released. OSU and other public universities will be advocating for the bills that fund university projects be included for consideration.

Earlier this week, the Ways & Means Committee approved funding for the following OSU projects and programs:

  • $34.5 million    Arts & Education Complex (bonding)
  • $12.9 million    Cascades Student Success Center (general fund)
  • $700,00            Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia research (general fund)
  • $170,000          Mulloscan Broodstock research (general fund)

Thank you to all the Beaver Caucus members for their extraordinary advocacy this session. A great deal of progress was made due to your collective efforts, and we are not done yet.

Beaver Caucus Legislative Update: March 3

by

March 3 Legislative Update by Jon Eames

The Ways and Means Capital Construction Subcommittee just met to discuss the final budget bills, including those associated with funds for University capital expenditures. Both the Arts and Education Complex and the Student Success Center were fully funded with a combination of bonding and general fund dollars. While funding for the second phase of renovations for Cordley Hall was not included in the final budget bill, OSU will resubmit Cordley Hall Phase II for consideration in the 2021 session. Even though the budget does not include all three projects, we are grateful for the funding for the other two OSU/Beaver Caucus funding priorities. The bills now move to the full Ways and Means Committee which meets at 4 pm today.

Of course, House and Senate Republicans continue to be out of the building, preventing any final votes of all bills on the Senate and House floors. It is still unclear whether Republicans will remain out of the building or return sometime prior to the March 8th conclusion of this year’s legislative session. If a quorum is not reached prior to March 8th, all legislation, including budgets, will be dead.

More to come as we learn more about the final few days.

Thank you to the Beaver Caucus for all your work in this area. Follow us for more updates.