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Issues

Education

Times have changed but Oregon’s education system has failed to keep pace. Currently Oregon’s education system is ranked among the worst in the nation. The high cost of living mixed with low pay has made it difficult to attract and retain quality teaching staff. Changes in how schools are funded must take place. Research has shown that Oregon is financing our schools 21%-38% what is necessary to be successful. Yet the amount spent per student fluctuates greatly among districts. Throwing money at the problem isn’t an intelligent fix. Finding ways to more effectively spend the money available, making investments into technological development inside the classroom, and investments into continuing education for teaching staff is a must.

Health care is on the forefront of many people’s minds due to COVID-19. Oregon’s health care system has been on life support for quite some time. The Oregon Health Authority has been completely mismanaged under the current administration. Resulting in a disastrous and disjointed response to COVID-19. Certificate of need laws have had the opposite of the intended effect, resulting in a near monopoly in health care throughout the state. Certificate of need laws have been shown time and again to increase the per unit cost of health care. Repealing certificate of need laws allows increased investment into health care across the state and would create jobs in the health care sector as new health care facilities are not restricted from opening.

Health Care

Housing Crisis

The housing crisis in Oregon is one of the most important issues we currently face. The impact of this crisis varies widely between cities. Cities like Portland and Salem are obviously very impacted by the housing crisis. Small rural populations are much less so. However, this stands to change as the state legislature continues to push for a “one size fits all” approach on land use, zoning, and building requirements. Rural towns are regularly negatively impacted by this style of policy making.

The 2nd Amendment is a Constitutionally protected right that shall not be infringed. I will resist all attempts to restrict your right to keep and bear arms. However, we have seen over and over the devastating effects when guns get into the hands of the wrong people. Encouraging low cost and safe firearms familiarization training throughout the state should be considered. Instituting a minimum basic curriculum requirement for instructing Oregon Concealed Handgun Courses will help to ensure that all individuals who choose to exercise that right are doing so safely and intelligently.

Second Amendment

Individual Liberty

The primary role of government is to secure the individual right to life, liberty, and property. That is, the government’s role is to ensure that no outside force infringes upon those rights without due cause and due process. This is generally done through our elected representatives legislating on our behalf. Though in many cases, the concept of representative government seems to be lost. When an individual is elected, their role is to represent their entire constituency, not just those individuals that voted for them, or their party. We have seen over and over how party and partisanship seem to override representing the needs of people. This needs to change. We need leadership over partisanship, and representatives that are more interested in representing their constituency over getting a “win” for their party.
Maintaining our public lands in Oregon is of paramount importance. We have seen just recently how poor management of public lands can have disastrous consequences. The loss of human life, the destruction of property and the land itself, the long-term climate impacts it may create. All of it had the potential to be avoided or at the very least have the impact lessened. Unfortunately, overly progressive policy ideals in regards to land management have allowed our lands to fall into a state of mismanagement that presents legitimate danger. We have to pursue responsible reforms in our land management policy that will allow the timber industry to harvest responsibly, while reducing the threat of wildfires and implementing intelligent reforestation programs.

Environment
and Climate

Economy

The COVID-19 Pandemic showed how fragile Oregon’ economy is. Overly progressive plans coming from the Portland area have pushed the state to continue to try and find new ways to tax individuals and businesses. Government spending is nearly out of control and doesn’t look to slow up any time soon. Oregon’s economy was the 2nd hardest hit among states in the area and has had a stunted recovery due to the perpetuation of a state of emergency that stopped being about COVID months ago. As our economy strives to rebound, we must find intelligent ways to encourage growth that don’t simply end up serving as an excuse for increased government spending.

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