NEWS UPDATE FROM STATE REPRESENTATIVE DAVID GOMBERG: Some Good News for a Good New Year

By Representative David Gomberg, House District 10

1/19/2026

I hope each of you had a safe and wonderful weekend and observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Monday was not simply a day off, but a day to remember and honor a man who truly embodied the spirit of justice, equality, and service. May we follow in his footsteps by speaking out against and fighting injustice wherever we see it. His example and words remain profoundly relevant today.

Last week I detailed many of the challenges facing our public schools. Well here is some good news.

Philomath High School was ranked 12th in the state (out of 340 Oregon High schools) by US News and World Report. This was the highest ranking of any high school outside of the Portland Metro area.

With an estimated enrollment of 469, Philomath has a 95% graduation rate, and a 36.2 college readiness score.

Here are graduation rates at other public schools in our district:

Newport High School 82%
Siletz Valley Schools 67%
Taft High School 92%
Toledo Junior/Senior High School 80%
Waldport High School 97%
Monroe High School 90%

The AP® participation rate at Philomath High School is 39%. The total minority enrollment is 17%, and 37% of students are economically disadvantaged. Philomath High School is 1 of 3 high schools in the Philomath School District 17J.

Well done Warriors! Look up other schools here.

Perhaps you know a talented young person who would like to come to the Capitol in February and serve as a page in the Oregon House.

The 2026 House Honorary Page Program application is now open for scheduling! The program is a unique opportunity for young minds to engage directly with the legislative process and gain invaluable experience at the Oregon State Capitol. The program is a one-day program, from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm. Transportation and lunch are not provided. The program is open to students aged 13-17 and runs Monday – Thursday from February 9 – February 26.

Interested students may fill out an application here: https://forms.office.com/g/H6zVQBHS50

For any questions, please email Civics.Education@oregonlegislature.gov or call the Chief Clerk’s Office at 503-986-1870.

Who will sit at my desk??

This year, the United States will celebrate its 250th birthday. Oregon middle-schoolers have a special way to celebrate. All 6th, 7th, and 8th graders are invited to participate in the third annual Oregon Civics Bee, which will culminate on June 12, 2026, in a quiz-style competition held in the House Chamber of the Oregon State Capitol. The winner will be invited to participate in the National Civics Bee® in Washington, D.C.

Juniper Ward of Corvallis won the 2025 Oregon Civics Bee and earned the right to represent Oregon at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s National Civics Bee in Washington, D.C.

To participate, students must submit a short, four-paragraph essay identifying a community problem and proposing a solution. A panel of judges will select finalists to participate in regional competitions, and top performers in regional bees will be invited to participate in the Oregon Civics Bee. Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read will emcee. The top three finishers in the Oregon Civics Bee will receive cash prizes, including $1,000 for the winner.

To learn more about the contest – including application and essay guidance and a toolkit for teachers – please visit the Oregon Civics Bee website here.

Several weeks ago, I wrote about the 23rd annual Oregon Business Plan Leadership Summit that I attended in Portland.

It takes a lot to get me out of the district and up to the city. As we gathered at the conference (the theme was At A Crossroads), leaders across business, government, and community sectors discussed the significant headwinds facing Oregon – from competitiveness and workforce readiness to land, housing, and wildfire risk – alongside concrete examples of where partnership and investment are already making progress. The Summit underscored both the urgency of action and the opportunities ahead if Oregon aligns around shared priorities.

Oregon stands at a pivotal moment. The era of automatic growth is over, and many of our systems—built for yesterday’s problems—no longer match today’s realities. Yet Oregon’s story has always been one of possibility. From our natural assets to the ingenuity of our people, this state has a long history of transforming constraints into progress and risk into renewal.

This year’s Summit carried that tradition forward. Together, business, community, and elected leaders faced hard truths with clear eyes, elevated new ideas, and explored the strategies required to build an economy worthy of Oregon and the generations to come.

Here is some of the media coverage of the gathering:

OPB’s First Look: Oregon’s economy takes center stage at annual leadership summit, Oregon Public Broadcasting
Gov. Kotek, lawmakers call for streamlined permit, land use rules amid concern for Oregon business, Oregon Capital Chronicle
Oregon leaders pledge to make the state more business-friendly, but offer few specifics, Oregonlive
Gov. Tina Kotek says she’s ready to tackle Oregon’s lousy business reputation, Oregon Public Broadcasting
Oregon’s Crossroad Moment Is Here, Medium
Opinion: A wake-up call for Oregon’s economy and health care system, The Lund Report

The Oregon Business Plan remains anchored by four long-range goals: grow wages, increase the share of people working, expand household wealth, and boost economic mobility. Achieving these goals depends on a strong, growing economy — and on modernizing the systems that support it.

You can still join the gathering – virtually, of course! Leadership Summit photos and videos are now available, along with more media coverage capturing key moments and perspectives from the day.

I want to share some more encouraging news. The Oregon Treasury just released a new report, Tracking Net Zero and Climate Positive Investment Strategies. The data show that making profitable, climate-positive investments can be in the best financial interests of public employees and all Oregonians, not in conflict with them.

The report looks at the Treasury’s progress in implementing former Treasurer Read’s Net Zero plan, which was released in 2024. The results are promising:

Emissions intensity in the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund (OPERF) dropped by 50%.
Climate-positive holdings in the Real Assets portfolio nearly doubled, increasing from $1.2 billion in the 2022 baseline year, to $2.4 billion as of June 30, 2025. They were the asset class’s best performing sector over the past 5 years, delivering a 20 percent return.
After increasing from 2022 to 2023, fossil fuel holdings in private market funds have declined in each subsequent year through June 30, 2025.

During this time, investment returns for the state public employee retirement fund exceeded the rate the PERS board uses to determine the unfunded actuarial liability–which in turn affects contribution rates for public employers and funding for the programs they deliver.

Put simply, emissions are down, and profits are up.

Why? Global markets are shifting rapidly toward cheaper and cleaner renewable energy and other climate-positive technologies—and away from fossil fuels. At Treasury, investment officers (and the fund managers we work with) are looking at market fundamentals, long-term demand, and structural shifts in the global economy to reduce risk and find opportunities. In the long term, climate-positive investments continue to look like a better bet.

As a result, climate positive investments are helping us stay true to our fiduciary responsibility to teachers, firefighters, and other public employees—and every Oregonian who relies on the services they provide.

Click to watch Treasurer Steiner’s video announcement sharing highlights from the report.

I want to thank former Treasurer Read for his leadership in developing the Net Zero Plan and setting Oregon on the road toward a safer, climate-positive investment future. The Net Zero Plan laid the groundwork for Oregon’s new Climate Resilience Investment Act, a law I was proud to support in 2025.

In a testament to Oregon’s ability to bridge differences, the Climate Resilience Investment Act law had support from a bipartisan group of legislators, labor leaders, and community advocates for climate and sustainability.

I am proud that we are protecting public employees and public services from risky investments in heavy greenhouse gas-emitting businesses and finding profitable new investments as global markets speed toward a cleaner energy future.

While this is a good start, we’re taking the long view. We want to sustain this progress into the future, knowing that we’ll see ups and downs.