NEWS UPDATE FROM STATE REPRESENTATIVE DAVID GOMBERG: An Intense Interim

By Representative David Gomberg, House District 10

8/4/2025

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Susan and I were having dinner with friends a few feet from the beach Tuesday night when our phones lit up.

Distant Tsunami Watch in Effect – From National Weather Service: At 425 PM Pacific Daylight Time on July 29 an earthquake with preliminary magnitude 8.7 occurred 80 miles southeast of Petropavlovsk Kamchatka.

We didn’t know where it was, but we knew it was big. And more to the point, we didn’t know when it would reach us here or what that effect would be. We interrupted dinner, followed links, and like everyone else, tried to assess the news.

Ultimately, the waves were very small, arrived at midnight when few people were on the beach, and also came when the tide was particularly low. We were fortunate. Coming in the middle of a daunting fire season when our public safety resources were already spread thin, a coastal emergency could have been very serious. Instead, what we got was a stark reminder. Earthquakes and tsunamis are not something that happens somewhere else and to someone else. They can happen here and happen to us!

I regularly remind people to have a plan. Know where to go, when to go, and what to take with you. Know how to contact family members if you are separated by work or school. Be prepared to help yourself, your neighbors, and your community.

I was particularly struck Tuesday evening that our dinner friends from out of town did not get the text and email warnings that we did.

As a legislator, my job is to wisely spend scarce public resources. As a coastal legislator, that job becomes more difficult when I argue we need more attention dedicated to pending earthquakes and tsunamis. Simply put, when you are struggling to pay for schools, housing, healthcare, and roads, it is hard to also invest in resilience or recovery from some ambiguous future “big one”. But the fact is that Oregon is vulnerable. Susan and I have prepared for years for an earthquake. We never imagined we would need those plans to respond to a wildfire – until Labor Day five years ago, when we and our neighbors were evacuated.

Earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires, flood, drought, heavy snowfall, and power outages are all potentially on the horizon. Watch my interview along with Representative Paul Evans on KGW here.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said it sent emergency alerts to 19,207 accounts people have set up through its Everbridge system. I thank the Sheriff’s Office for their effective and proactive attention.

Anyone can create a Lincoln Alerts account or update their existing one using this link: Lincoln Alerts – Emergency Notifications & Community Information | Lincoln County, OR

Make sure each person in your household has their own account with their own phone number and email. This ensures they get the notices directly.
Add your home and work addresses (and any other addresses you frequent). This helps during times such as when there are evacuations in only some parts of Lincoln County.
To receive text messages, make sure to add a cell phone number to the “SMS Text #” field as one of the contact fields.
Bookmark this page to view sent messages and local alerts (no account needed).

Make an emergency plan by:

Talking with family and friends about what you will do, including if you’re not together during an emergency;
Practicing your plan at different times and on different days. What will you do if you are at home, work, school, or another location?
Planning to check on your neighbors or vulnerable community members and offer assistance if possible;
Creating an emergency kit or update an existing one.

Read more here and here.

I have made no secret that I left the last long legislative session disappointed. And of course, we will return at the end of August for a special session to balance the state transportation budget. Read more here. Public hearings will soon be scheduled on the Special Session proposals. At this point, they are a fraction of what was proposed earlier this year with a small increase in gas taxes (6 cents versus 12 cents), a plan to share that revenue with cities and counties (50% state, 30 % counties, 20% cities), a 0.1% payroll tax to support transit (currently aimed at rural communities), and a requirement drivers of electric vehicles and hybrids enroll in the state’s OReGo program, which charges drivers for miles driven.

The aim is to fill a $350 million gap in transportation funding as gas tax revenues decline. Earlier proposals included a sales tax on cars. The new proposal does not. Californians pay 7.25% or about $3000 on a $40,000 car purchase. Currently, Washington state generates between $350 million and $400 million annually from the combined vehicle sales taxes that are designated for transportation funding

Damage on Highway 101. ODOT is scheduled to reduce maintenance in September.

I was saying that I was disappointed in the 2025 session. But the fact is that much was still accomplished. The Legislative Policy and Research Office (LPRO) has been working this past month to summarize that work.

If you want to learn more about legislative action in 2025 in a specific policy area, I recommend you visit the LPRO website and check out the “Legislative Summary Reports” that are published by the non-partisan office.

These reports summarize policy measures that received public hearings during the 2025 Regular Legislative Session, including bills, memorials, and resolutions. Measure summaries are organized into chapters by policy areas. LPRO’s Summary of Legislation web page allows you to see all documents or browse by policy area. You can also click on the hyperlinks below to read the new Legislative Summary Reports.

· Behavioral Health

· Business and Consumer Protection

· Civil Law

· Courts

· Criminal Justice

· Early Childhood

· Education

· Emergency Preparedness

· Energy and Environment

· Health Care

· Housing, Development, and Homelessness

· Human Services

· Labor and Employment

· Natural Resources

· Transportation and Infrastructure

· Veterans

LPRO also provides an at-a-glance view of the policy measures in the Summary Reports through an interactive dashboard. The dashboard allows users to explore measures by policy areas and subtopics, learn whether the measures were enacted, or view measures by the chamber of origin. You can also use the search feature to find measures by their measure numbers or through key terms in the measure summaries. Try it out! LPRO also created the snapshot below of the 2025 Legislative Session:

So what does a legislator do when the legislature is not in session??

While I’m no longer voting on bills in Salem, my work doesn’t stop when the session ends. It just shifts into what I call the “interim lifestyle.”

Connecting with Communities: During the interim, I have more time to be out in the district, visiting with local leaders, small businesses, farmers, schools, groundbreaking events, and other community gatherings. These conversations help me stay grounded in the real-world impact the decisions we make in Salem have on our district. This week, I joined Senator Anderson to cut the ribbon at the Central Coast Food Web. I dropped in on the Lincoln City Summer Art Fest, the Toledo Art, Oysters & Brews festival, the First Weekend Art Walk, and the Summer Nights Jazz concert in Newport. Monday, I was in Siletz to help present Willie Worman the Small City Mayor of the Year Award. Sunday, I was at the Lincoln County Democratic Party picnic.

Helping Constituents: One of the most rewarding parts of this role is staying connected with you. That includes helping someone navigate a state agency, answering questions, writing this newsletter, or answering the hundreds of emails we receive each week. (Some of you write several times a day!) I’m committed to being accessible and responsive throughout the year.

Preparing Legislation: I am working with colleagues and community members to research and draft bills for the next session. The interim is when a lot of thoughtful policy work happens behind the scenes, and your input plays a big role in shaping it.

Oversight & Accountability: Part of my job is holding state agencies accountable, making sure taxpayer dollars are being spent responsibly, and programs are doing what they were designed to do. Oversight is a key part of ensuring transparency in government.

Task Forces, Work Groups, Commissions, and Advisory Committees: I serve on several formal and informal groups. These meetings take place throughout the year and help shape the policies we bring forward in session. I currently serve on the Oregon Ocean Science Trust (OOST), the Oregon Innovation Council (Oregon InC.), and the Oregon Seismic Safety Policy Advisory Commission (OSSPAC). I recently concluded twelve years on the Governor’s Commission on Senior Services. This week, I also met with the House Speaker regarding the transportation budget, held a meeting for planning of the Oregon Coast Economic Summit (September 25-26 in Coos Bay), and had two television interviews.

Committee Work & Hearings: I will continue to serve on the Emergency Board and several interim committees that meet regularly to study policy issues, track the implementation of new laws, and lay the groundwork for future legislation. These meetings are essential for making sure we’re doing our job year-round—not just when we’re in session. Our next Interim Committee Days are scheduled for September 29 through October 1^st.

The interim may be quieter than the legislative session, but it’s an essential time for reflection, preparation, and community connection. My one interim staff person, Luke Harkins, is staying very busy. If there’s a concern you’d like to share or an idea you’d like to see turned into action, I encourage you to reach out. Your voice continues to guide my work—even when the Legislature is out of session.

(Thanks to Representative Rick Lewis, who first published this interim overview.)

I helped present the Small Town Mayor of the Year award to Willie Worman in Siletz.

Senator Anderson and I cut the ribbon for the Central Coast Food Web. I dropped in on the Lincoln City Summer Art Fest. And the Summer Nights Jazz concert in Newport was promoting my upcoming Hear Here presentation September 11.

It was nice to see Judy Gibbons at the Toledo Art Walk and Mayor Cross (nursing a healing leg). I also grabbed some fruits and vegetables at one of our wonderful farmers’ markets.

One of the most contentious coastal issues of the past decade has been the possible development of offshore wind energy. For the time being, that question has been resolved.

We want and need more renewable, clean energy. We want the good jobs that come with it. And we want the economic stimulus that comes with both. But we are concerned about the environmental impacts to our ocean ecology, marine life, and viewsheds. We worry about the effects on coastal communities and tribes. And we are troubled by the consequences to our iconic fishing fleets.

Oregon controls activity in the Territorial Sea up to three miles offshore. Within the territorial sea, Oregon has sovereignty, meaning it has jurisdiction over the sea, the airspace above it, and the seabed and subsoil beneath it. This allows the state to regulate activities and manage resources in the area. Further offshore, the federal government has jurisdiction.

When plans were announced to develop wind energy in federal waters, we organized public hearings, provided feedback to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), and in 2024, state lawmakers passed House Bill 4080, which directs the DLCD to develop the Oregon Offshore Wind Energy Roadmap. The roadmap is set to provide guidelines for future developments. It outlines a process that includes robust engagement with communities impacted by the development, extensive economic and environmental research, and workforce development.

Before that Roadmap could get underway, the Federal government announced plans to move forward with leases in nearly 195,000 acres off the Southern Oregon coast. Then in September, months after BOEM finalized which areas could host offshore wind generation, the agency abruptly canceled a planned auction of development rights, citing a lack of interest. At the time, the agency said only one of five bidders was still interested in floating offshore wind development.

On Wednesday, BOEM announced it is rescinding all designated Wind Energy Areas on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf.

The decision to rescind the wind energy areas was not a surprise and doesn’t mean the region may never develop floating offshore wind. It’s unclear if favorable winds will ever generate enough interest for the renewable technology to take off on the coast of Oregon. That could happen under a future administration. But for now, the question is off the table.

This week marks the 60^th anniversary of the launch of both Medicare and Medicaid in our country. It should truly be something to celebrate that older adults and others who do not have employer-based health insurance also have access to medical care. These programs have saved lives, supported critical access hospitals, and helped families care for aging parents and growing children.

However, the current majority in Congress passed a bill to slash Medicaid, potentially causing more than 10 million people in the US to lose health coverage. In Oregon, one out of every three residents is covered by the Oregon Health Plan (OHP – our name for Medicaid here), including half of all children in our state. According to the Oregon Health Authority, our state could lose up to $10 billion in Medicaid funding over a two-year budget cycle once all the federally mandated changes are implemented. These cuts and new mandates will threaten access to healthcare for hundreds of thousands of Oregonians covered by OHP, the OHP Bridge Program, and the healthcare Marketplace.

Since hospitals are required to see all folks who arrive in their emergency departments, hospitals’ costs will rise to cover uncompensated care, and that will raise the insurance premiums for all of us. These rising costs will also likely raise co-pays, co-insurance, deductibles, and other out-of-pocket costs. Growing numbers of Oregonians will face medical debt and bankruptcies.

In addition, there is the cost to human lives – such as doctor visits and needed medications foregone, leading to complications which might have been avoided through earlier intervention – and that cost is real. Research related to the Medicaid expansion found that those with health insurance experience improved health outcomes, including lower mortality rates from heart disease, cancer, liver disease, and fewer deaths related to childbirth.

As we mark the 60^th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, we should be building on the legacy of these programs. We need to move forward, not backward, in ensuring all those who live in this great country have access to healthcare.

We’ve done a really good job here in Oregon, where about 97% of our population has health insurance. Now the challenge is protecting access and closing that 3% gap, so that affordable, quality healthcare is available to all.

No one should go without care because of their age, income, or zip code. I will keep fighting to protect and strengthen care for everyone in Oregon

Summer at the Coast is proving busy.

Tuesday evening is National Night Out. National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie. I won’t make them all, but hope to visit events in Toledo, Newport, Depoe Bay and Lincoln City during the limited Night Out hours.

Wednesday, I’ll join mayors from across the district for breakfast and an update on local concerns. Thursday, I’m driving east on Highway 20 for the Philomath Community Services, 50th Anniversary Dinner.

I have an assortment of virtual and in-person meetings on Tuesday and Friday. Then Susan and I are planning some personal time over the weekend.

email: Rep.DavidGomberg@oregonlegislature.gov

phone: 503-986-1410

address: 900 Court St NE, H-480, Salem, OR, 97301

website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/gomberg