Oregonians face many challenges and they want strong leaders who will put the communities interests before wealthy special interests.  I have heard from many people at their doorsteps about the challenges they face in their daily lives, and I have heard  your suggestions for solutions. Here are some ideas to move Oregon forward.

Education

Challenge: Oregon now has the second largest elementary school class sizes in the country.  In Forest Grove, many students are not even allowed to take text books home for homework because they have to share them with other students.  Moreover, we have one of the shortest school years in the nation and our spending per pupil has dropped to 30^th among the 50 states. 

Solutions: We need to reinvest in our kids and our future.   The current state of education is simply unacceptable.  There are many things that we can do to change this, such as:

• Investing more lottery dollars in the classroom to provide more textbooks for our kids.
• Lowering the cost of health insurance for teachers by creating a statewide purchasing pool.  The projected savings of $150 million per year can then go towards giving our kids a full school year.
• Suspending the corporate kicker, which may export over $200 million of our tax dollars to out of state corporations. This short changes our kid’s education and our future.
• Expand vocational training, mentorship programs and school to work partnerships ensuring that all Oregonians have the ability to earn a family wage.

 Cutting Government Waste

Challenge:  Our state bureaucracies need to get serious about spending money wisely. Efficiencies are critical to curbing government waste.  Oregon should prioritize resources and end wasteful giveaways that favor wealthy special interests at the expense of working families.

Solutions: There are many ways we can make state government more efficient and ensure we have the funds needed to build roads, provide for public safety and invest in a strong education system.  Here are some ideas:

• Rein in state spending by giving state agencies incentives to cut waste and be more efficient.  The savings can go to funding things like additional state troopers and improving the state’s transportation system.
• Increase the ability of state auditors to effectively monitor agencies, keeping an eye out for fraud, waste and abuse.  Provide resources to hire more auditors to police state spending.
• Regularly review and sunset special interest tax loopholes that do not help the public good.  For example, tax breaks meant to create jobs that don’t, should be repealed.
• Suspend the corporate kicker, which could export over $200 million in Oregon tax dollars out of state and away from our kids education.

Health Care

Challenge: Sky rocketing health care costs are crippling our families and our small businesses.  80% of Oregonians without health insurance have a full time worker in their household.  Many Oregonians are one illness away from bankruptcy.  Meanwhile, big insurers and drug companies are making record-breaking profits.  This is unsustainable and has got to stop.

Solution:  Oregonians deserve quality, affordable and accessible health care.  They also deserve someone who will hold insurers and drug companies accountable for price gouging.  I will refuse all financial contributions from insurers and the drug industry.  I will also fight to enact the following:

• Require accountability by making big insurers go before a commission to get approval and justify why they are raising our rates. 
• Expand Oregon’s prescription drug purchasing pool to save families and small businesses money on vital medications.  This program is already saving some low-income families over 30% on drug costs.
• Provide health insurance coverage for all Oregon's children.
• Require transparency in hospital billing.  There is no reason why one surgery should cost more depending what kind of insurance you have.
• Require large corporations to provide employees with basic health insurance.

 Crime and Consumer Protection

 Challenge: We have about half the state troopers we had 25 years ago.  That means less police to deal with the growing problem of identity theft, meth, sexual predators and other threats to public safety.  Meth and Identity theft are quickly becoming “sister” crimes.

Solution:  We must do more to protect our citizens from identity thieves, meth dealers and sexual predators.  Here are some proposals I will work to make law:

• Require prompt notification to Oregonians when their personal information was, or is believed to have been, accessed by identity thieves.  Increase penalties for meth related id theft.
• Hire 50 State troopers to battle identity theft,  meth production and distribution.  These positions could be funded using money saved via creating government efficiencies and suspending the corporate kicker.
• Enhance Oregon's efforts to break the cycle of meth addiction through treatment, counseling and monitoring recovering addicts.
• Strengthen protections against exposing kids to online pornography.
• Require repeat sex offenders to wear tracking bracelets

 Jobs and the Economy 

 Challenge: Oregon Families are feeling the strain of failed economic policies, such as unproductive tax breaks that don’t create jobs, but instead benefit the bottom line of wealthy special interests.  Too many Oregonians are so busy making a living that they are not enjoying life. 

Solution:  We need to be innovative about creating family wage jobs with benefits.  Oregon should reinvest in our economy by supporting things that attract businesses from out of state and spur the growth of small homegrown business, such as:

• Examine tax loopholes to make sure they are creating jobs- not simply benefiting wealthy special interests.  Look for new and effective incentives for job creation.
• Lower the cost of health care for small businesses so they can expand and create new jobs.  End insurance and drug company price gouging.
• Expand vocational training, mentorship and school to work partnerships.
• Creating more research and development tax incentives to attract good paying jobs to Oregon.
• Invest in our kids education.  An educated workforce is an invaluable asset to expanding Oregon's economy.