Current Events

77th Oregon Legislative Assembly begins with education-focused State of the State Address

Elise Brown
January 16, 2013

Dr. John Kitzhaber, governor, expressed great pride in Oregon’s citizen legislature in his State of the State address on Jan. 14, and the 77th assembly of that legislature he feels is off to an exciting start.

Kitzhaber hopes to focus the representatives’ and senators’ attentions on redirecting funds towards education. He claims that this reinvestment will directly lead to the economic recovery still needed in our state.

“We cannot settle for an uneven, unequal and hesitant recovery,” Kitzhaber said. “The word ‘recovery’ is warped if it is used at a time when the unemployment rate for white Oregonians is falling, but for African Americans and Latino Oregonians it continues to rise. The word ‘recovery’ is the wrong word to use for a state with a 24 percent child poverty rate.”

That being said, Kitzhaber is pleased that during the last session, the Oregon government balanced its budget and the state became the second fastest-growing economy in the United States.

In order to better fund education in Oregon, Kitzhaber proposed that the legislature pass policies which reduce the costs of health care and corrections, reform programs such as the Public Employees Retirement System to put more money directly into the classroom, and reform state taxes. Kitzhaber trusts that “the thoughtful deliberation of citizen legislators” will make this possible.

Tina Kotek, democratic representative from north Portland, was elected Speaker of the House during the inauguration of the new assembly. This makes her, according to Noah Manger, creative projects director of the Bus Project, the first openly gay house speaker in American history. In her acceptance speech, she announced that she gave an opening day gift to all her fellow representatives: a book of essays entitled “Towards One Oregon.” She hopes her colleagues will join her in a “book club, of sorts” to encourage active listening among policymakers.
Julie Parrish, Republican representative from West Linn, is beginning her second term representing District 37. She will continue serving as a member of the committee on education and co-vice chair of the committee on veterans’ affairs, and she will begin to serve on the committee on transportation and economic development.
“I’m thrilled to be able to keep being a voice for families who want to choose how education is delivered to their children,” Parrish posted on Facebook, “and of course, continuing to be a voice for veterans and their families is a personal passion. I think it’s going to be a good session.”

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About the Contributor

Elise Brown, Co Editor-in-Chief

Elise Brown, senior, has always felt comfortable standing up and giving her opinion in front of everyone and for the most part, she enjoys it very much. That is one of the many reasons why she heads the debate team, and also why in June she earned a place in the National Speech and Debate Competition in Indianapolis.

Out of the 250 people entered in the competition, she finished 151st in the country. Before she earned her rightful place in Nationals, however, she needed to prove herself in Districts and State.

Her 10 minute long speech about socialism and its benefits took first and second in Districts and State, respectively.

“In the National competition the judges didn’t appreciate politics or controversy as much as they did in Districts and State,” Brown said. This was confirmed from one of the judges she conversed with in order to find out what she could do better.

Brown’s interest in current events started in the eighth grade. She then did the Amplifier, the high school newspaper to help communicate her ideas about the world with her fellow peers, she also did the debate team to better understand the problems throughout the world and learn how to solve them somewhat.

“Debate involves knowing what is going on in the world,” Brown said.

This year for upcoming competitions, she has a speech in the works that she feels will top her last one. This year’s speech is about interdependence inspired by the “you didn’t build that debate,” caused when President Barack Obama told business people that they did not create their businesses on their own.

Brown’s passion for debate has influenced what college she will go to, what she will study in college, and what she wants to do in her life. Brown’s goal is to graduate high school and then travel to Massachusetts and attend Wellesley College, a very well known and prestigious college, where Brown hopes to study political science.

To achieve this goal she has taken part in a number of rigorous courses and activities such as Speech and Debate, AP Government, AP Economics, Honors Law, AP English and journalism. Once Brown achieves her education goals, her next goal is to become a political commentator.

“I want to change people’s minds,” Brown said. Brown has chosen the path to become a political commentator because she believes political power lies with the media.

Brown has worked very hard throughout high school and continues to work hard through her senior year. She has taken many challenging courses to achieve her goal of going to Wellesley, and will need to continue down the very rigorous path to success to accomplish her goals.