NEWS UPDATE FROM STATE REPRESENTATIVE DAVID GOMBERG: The Speech Most of You Missed

I also spent time this past week at two Town Halls. Thursday, I joined Senator Ron Wyden and Congresswoman Val Hoyle in Newport. You can read about the event in the Lincoln Chronicle. Saturday, I hosted Secretary of State Tobias Read for questions about election procedures, security, and challenges in Lincoln City. This was a follow-up to a similar event in Philomath two weeks ago.

Lincoln Chronicle photo.

The meeting was an important one as the concept of the “Blue Economy” begins to focus all things economic and ocean under one heading. So to help you be smarter, better informed, and more engaged, let me spend some space in my report this week to share the speech I offered Friday morning.

And I say that sincerely. Seeing you gives me inspiration. Comfort. Confidence. And what better place to have confidence than here at the Hatfield Marine Science Center? Not long ago, I fought to get funding for this building. And today it continues its evolution into the leading institution of ocean science in the nation and in fact on the planet. Worried about acidification, oxification, rising water temperatures or tides? Right here is where we are grappling with the challenges of a changing climate.

Right across the street—NOAA—is studying weather, climate, the ocean, and the coasts.

Just offshore, PacWave is the only comprehensive, accredited wave testing site in the nation where we work to harness the power of the ocean to meet our ever-growing energy needs.

So here in South Beach, this cluster of ocean science is a critical part of the coastal economy story.

Newport acts as a premier marine science cluster, anchored by the OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center. This hub brings together federal and state agencies, including NOAA, EPA, ODFW, and PacWave for collaborative research on oceanography, fisheries, and marine biology.

OCAAT will greatly expand pre-apprenticeship training and programming for county residents, plus offer a variety of certificates and degrees in the marine, technical, and construction trades.

Which just goes to show, that when OBI regularly tells our CEOs that business here is lousy, and then those same CEOs are asked about how business is here in a survey, they say “lousy”.

I’m not making light. The layoffs are real. Just across the street, Rogue closed down in the face of declining demand for craft beer and spirits and erosion of their international sales in response to our tariffs.

Taxes and regulations—and tariffs—matter. But I’ll tell you what I’m worried about. Schools, roads, and sewers.

We have one of the shortest school years in the country. And we have one of the highest absentee rates. We’re graduating kids after 12 years with the equivalent of a year less time in the classroom than neighboring states. And we wonder why our test scores are lower and our graduates struggle to thrive in the workforce.

People are driving less and driving more fuel-efficient vehicles. That’s good. But when they buy less gas, they pay less in gas taxes, and that’s how we fund our highways, roads, and bridges. Meanwhile, the cost of asphalt went up 35% in the past five years.

In response, your legislature tried to increase gas taxes 6 cents. Do the math. Drive 12,000 miles a year at 20 miles a gallon that comes to $36 a year or about the cost of a candy bar each month. But with gas prices up a buck and a half since the start of the war in Iran, the gas tax is likely to be crushed at the ballot this month. And I don’t know how we’re gonna fill potholes next year.

Sewers? Sewers aren’t sexy. We don’t think about them much until they stop working. But the fact is, that up and down the coast water and sewer infrastructure is at capacity, aging out, or falling apart. And small towns can’t afford big projects.

Siletz, a town of 1,100, needed a $12 million sewer fix. Without state help, their toilets would have backed up. And believe me, if you don’t have clean water coming out of the tap or dirty water going down the drain, you don’t have much of an economic future.

Meanwhile, it’s true that Oregon has one of the highest income taxes in the nation.

But, they never mention we also have one of the lowest general sales taxes. Our overall ranking by the Tax Foundation for combined taxes is 35th. Nothing to be proud of. But not the worst either. And while we read daily about businesses leaving, our State Economist continues to report job growth.

On the Coast, traditional natural resource sectors like fishing and forestry are shrinking as we shift toward a tourism-driven service economy in restaurants, lodging, and hospitality. That often means seasonal shifts with more lower paid jobs where it is hard to find employees, and those you do find can’t afford housing.

Generally, coastal counties have an overall out-migration of young adults who leave the region to find education and employment opportunities somewhere else. Our greatest export has long been talented young people.

This trend is offset by in-migration patterns. Oregon’s population is “aging” into middle and older age groups and many are moving to the coast.

Our strongest growth sector is the all-too-often unrecognized Grey Economy. Here in Lincoln County, our largest source of income is transfer payments. Pensions, IRAs, social security. A third of our population is over age 65. And while many struggle on fixed incomes, many more are comfortable, altering the economic landscape, fueling a year-round service and health care economy, even as natural resource jobs decline. They are active, vibrant and spending money on everything from health care to lawn care to hair care.

So what’s going on in Oregon? Nike and Intel are in trouble. Intel is competing with chips from Taiwan. And Nike is a fashion company, and fashions are changing. But as big firms struggle, as I said earlier, Oregon employment overall is increasing.

The point I really want to make is this. Microsoft started in a garage. Nike famously started on a kitchen table with a waffle iron. My own small company started with a shipping department that was a sheet of plywood over the washer and dryer. I know the next Nike or Intel is out there. Oregon’s economy has always, always, been driven by innovation.

So, let’s talk about innovation at the beach.

Making dog treats out of fish bones that we’d otherwise throw away. Growing seaweed in backyard tanks and feeding it to cows to reduce methane output by 40%. They say if you fry it, it tastes like bacon. I’m not there yet, but godspeed.

Gourmet ocean salt. Improved fishing nets with reduced bi-catch. Making boats into bigger, better boats. Using fish skins as grafts for burn victims. Amazing! And by the way, that’s how you turn a $30 fish into a $3,000 fish.

Innovation. It’s someone with an idea. With experience, creativity, and the raw economic courage to make something out of nothing. We can do it here at the Ocean. And it remains a key part of our Blue Economy opportunity.

Oregon’s Blue Economy comprises the many sustainable economic activities, innovations, and emerging markets that depend on the ocean, shoreline, and estuaries directly along the Oregon coast and inland waterways including the Columbia River.

We’ve always been here. But in the ongoing tug-of-war between urban and rural Oregon, the Coast is often forgotten or is an afterthought. We’re the place where people go to relax after work. And that’s fine. Please spend all your money before you go home. But we’ve got great businesses here too. And now we have a business sector that helps us better talk about and support them.

And yes, your Oregon Legislature is stepping up.

In 2023, we passed HB 3410 which began the work of identifying, supporting, and expanding the Blue Economy. Part of that effort was to get more Oregon seafood into Oregon restaurants. Only 10% of our annual catch is served here, and a 10% increase would generate an additional $100 million along the coast.

I’m a member of the Oregon Innovation Council—a public- private partnership that helps fund new ideas. I’m a member of the Oregon Ocean Science Trust—which provides grants for ocean research. And earlier this year, we passed SB 1525 to establish the Blue Economy Task Force to study and report on Oregon’s Blue Economy sectors, existing economic development plans and strategies, and opportunities to support the growth of sustainable Blue Economy businesses while maintaining the health of Oregon’s coastal ecosystems. I’ll be serving as co-chair.

Our challenge is to support innovation, create new jobs, and attract and keep talent in coastal communities. Workforce capacity and housing are key limiting factors. Success looks like an integrated and informed network of educational opportunities of universities, community colleges, and training programs working together to address current and future Blue Economy needs.

Sounds complicated but means better business and better jobs at the beach.

I’m excited about the opportunity to expand and operationalize a collaborative network of employers, workforce development organizations, and academic institutions. Friday‘s workshop is a bridge from policy to practice. I invite everyone’s full and active participation in the dialogue, innovation, and collaboration.

As I said, it’s someone with an idea. With experience, creativity and the raw economic courage to make something out of nothing. We can do it here at the Ocean. And that’s why we are all here today.

Thank you.

Every day is something different. All of them are important. Thank you as always for honoring me with the responsibility of representing you in our state capitol.