Speaker Julie Fahey

03/19/2026

To maintain a firewall between official activity and campaign activity, state elected officials in Oregon are not allowed to use most of our legislative communications channels for the period 60 days before the May Primary and the November General Election. That means that this social media account is going to "go dark" until after the primary election on May 19. If you'd like ay updates between now and then, feel free to follow my other accounts!

03/18/2026

Before the session began, we laid out an agenda that was extremely ambitious for a short session. I’m pleased to say that we accomplished what we set out to do and more—far more than many thought possible at the beginning of February.

We approached the session with three major goals: to make Oregon a more affordable place to live, with good jobs and thriving businesses; to insulate Oregonians from blatant overreaches of the Trump administration; and to rebalance our state budget after the federal budget bill (HR 1) significantly cut the resources we have available to us as a state.

In just five weeks, we passed legislation that delivered on every single one of those goals. I’m incredibly proud of the work we did to make Oregon stronger. Read more about our work in my most recent newsletter!

The 2026 session – wrapped! Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin at 03/16/2026 04:07 PM PDT Replies to this message are sent to an unmonitored mailbox.To contact me, please click here: [email protected] Hello Friends, Every even-numbered year, the Oregon Legislature meets...

03/18/2026

Devastating reporting this morning from the New York Times on César Chávez’s abuse of women and girls. While acknowledging César Chávez’s contributions, we must also be honest about the harm he caused. Abuse can’t be ignored, and survivors deserve to be treated with dignity, heard, and believed. As my colleague Rep. Ricki Ruiz eloquently says, "We can hold both truths: honoring the movement while standing with those who were harmed."

Like many, I grew up looking up to César Chávez and what he represented for farmworkers and families like mine. That history is real. But so is the harm that’s now being brought forward; and we can’t ignore it.

From marching to the border in 1969 alongside Ralph Abernathy and Walter Mondale, to the “Illegals Campaign” that targeted undocumented workers, these are parts of the story that impacted our community in real ways.

Now, with the United Farm Workers pausing César Chávez Day and acknowledging serious allegations, including potential abuse, we’re being called to reflect and to be honest about the full picture.

I also want to uplift Dolores Huerta, a personal hero of mine. Her decision to speak out after so many years takes courage. We should listen.

Here in Oregon, there are many things we continue to follow that resemble the same 1969 campaign, and that breaks my heart.

We can hold both truths: honoring the movement while standing with those who were harmed. Accountability matters. Dignity matters. Truth matters.

https://medium.com//march-18-2026-e74c20430555?postPublishedType=initial

03/18/2026

Many Lane County residents are struggling to access health care — there aren’t enough primary care providers to meet demand, PeaceHealh closed our Eugene hospital, and now PeaceHealth is making big, concerning changes to how they run their ER.

HB 4107 helps fix one part of this much larger problem. Setting clear expectations for urgent care will help people get to the right place for care faster, take pressure off hospital emergency rooms, and give Lane County families more reliable options when they need care quickly, but it’s not an emergency.

As wait times in emergency rooms increase, lawmakers want urgent care clinics to meet minimum standards for reliable care.

03/17/2026

Today, Oregon honored the life and work of Avel Gordly, the first Black woman to serve in the Oregon State Senate. Thank you, Representative Travis Nelson, for your work ensuring that this giant of public service was properly memorialized, and for helping to carry her legacy forward in the legislature.

03/12/2026

I’m proud of the work we did this session to strengthen protections for our immigrant neighbors and respond to the disturbing immigration enforcement tactics we're seeing around the country. Oregon has long been a leader in immigrant justice, and this session lawmakers advanced a set of bills aimed at building on that foundation. These proposals include new measures to help families and students feel safe at school, protect personal information from misuse, and ensure law enforcement agents are identifiable.

People who live, work, go to school, and raise families here should be treated with dignity and be able to participate fully in our communities without fear or uncertainty. Strengthening these protections reflects Oregon’s values of fairness, safety, and respect for all people, regardless of where they were born.

But others were still making their way through the legislative process as short session nears the end.

03/11/2026

Last year, President Trump signed a budget bill that gave huge breaks to billionaires and big corporations, while cutting funding for people who rely on Medicaid and food assistance. Because Oregon’s tax code is automatically tied to the federal code, those changes hit our state budget too—blowing a $900 million hole in the budget without any from from Oregonians or the legislature.

This session, we focused on balancing our budget, growing our economy, and helping make life more affordable for Oregonians. SB 1507 will cut taxes for more than 200,000 working households, and give a $25 million tax credit for businesses that create good-paying jobs here in Oregon. It also protects funding for schools, health care, hunger relief, and public safety by closing loopholes that mostly benefit the wealthy and large corporations. In short: lower taxes for working families, more support for local jobs, and a stronger foundation for the services that millions of Oregonians depend on.
https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2026/02/opinion-were-the-democrats-advocating-to-lower-your-taxes.html

03/11/2026

Last year, we made a major investments in literacy by locking in $35 million a year for summer learning programs across Oregon. It’s really gratifying to see those investments paying off. Nearly 30,000 students participated in summer programs in 2025, and most showed real learning gains. More than three-quarters of schools reported students maintained or improved their reading and writing skills, and 80% of high school students in credit-recovery programs earned credits they need to graduate.

That’s exactly what this funding was meant to do: deliver measurable results for kids, families, and communities. These programs are reaching students across the state, and many districts are partnering with community organizations to make sure even more students can participate and succeed. Consistent, evidence-based investments in education matter.

Nearly 30,000 K-12 students attended a summer learning program in 2025, and many showed learning gains and credit recovery towards graduation

02/17/2026

Americans are seeing with their own eyes the campaign of fear and intimidation that’s being waged by federal agents – citizens being detained, forced to show their papers, violently pulled from their cars. Immigrant and refugee families afraid to send their kids to school or bring them to a doctor when they need medical care. The Trump administration is saying that they’re deporting violent criminals, but the truth is, by any accounting, the majority of immigration detainees have no criminal record—they're workers trying to get on the job, or parents dropping their kids off at school.

House Democrats have prepared a federal response package aimed at reining in federal overreach and strengthening protections for targeted communities in Oregon. Some of those proposals include strengthening data privacy; protecting families, students, and educators by requiring schools to notify parents and guardians when ICE has been confirmed on school campuses; and establishing guardrails on masking and officer identification practices.

An exchange on Wednesday over immigration policies could offer a preview of friction for the upcoming legislative session as Oregon Democrats try to push back on aggressive federal actions.

02/15/2026

As federal policies threaten health care, food assistance, clean energy, and immigrant communities, Oregon House Democrats are stepping up this session. We’re protecting Medicaid and SNAP, defending privacy and reproductive freedom, growing good-paying jobs, and balancing the budget. I was pleased to join Senator Floyd Prozanski and City Club of Eugene last month to talk about all these priorities and more!

The City Club of Eugene hosts Julie Fahey (D), Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives, and Sen. Floyd Prozanski (D) District 4 for a public forum examining priorities and challenges facing the upcoming short session of the Oregon Legislature. The forum is moderated by KLCC's Rebecca Hansen-W...

02/13/2026

Just before the start of this legislative session, Senate President Rob Wagner and I joined Your Voice Your Vote to talk about the 2026 legislative session and our priorities to balance the budget, lower the cost of living, and respond to federal overreach. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sIRSvreMcY&t=3s