When people are asked what they would do with a million dollars, you often get extravagant or aspirational responses – which is predictable. I think the question “what would you do if you had an extra $100 dollars?" to be more revealing.
What do you do when you have to prioritize and stretch your resources as far as they will go to get the most in return? It's the answers to that question that we learn where our lines are drawn and what values rise to the top.
In the months that my office worked with agencies to put together my 2025-2027 recommended budget, we collectively grappled with setting priorities and focusing on the best returns. In a stark departure from my predecessors, I limited state agencies to a 1% increase in their proposed budgets – only 1% above current service funding – and these proposals ultimately informed my final decisions.
It was a hard exercise for some. But I believed that Oregonians, in this moment, would be better served by committing time and energy to practical considerations rather than well-meaning hypothetical wish lists. Developing my budget was an effort grounded in the reality of our state and our resources.
I also asked state agencies to create 10% cut lists, applying a filter of supporting excellent customer service, protecting core services, and being strategic about where we have federal matching dollars that stretch the value of our investments. Admittedly, this exercise was favored even less. I want to thank our state agency directors and their staff for digging deep and proposing difficult choices about how to prioritize Oregonians above all else in their budgets. Thank you.
My approach to being your Governor will always be grounded in truth, pragmatism, and a relentless pursuit of equitable outcomes for all Oregonians. The December revenue forecast projects stability for Oregon, and I am pleased to share that my budget does not lay off people or cut services, and instead strategically deepens our commitment to building progress on Oregonians' top priorities while remaining disciplined when it comes to new programs.
My first budget as your Governor, published within just three weeks on the job, was titled “Mission Focused." Today, I am here to make the case that being mission focused in the form of executive actions, budget choices, and policy decisions since the start of my administration has shown concrete results and that we must stay the course on what we see working. That's why this year my budget is titled “Building on Progress."
Over the last two years I have had the opportunity to travel to all 36 counties, visit Oregon's nine federally recognized Tribal nations, and continue the legacy of consulting with the Governor's Racial Justice Council. These conversations have helped inform my approach to decision making and have strengthened my ability to be a Governor for the whole state.
I think leadership is about taking on big challenges. And such challenges, by their very nature, cannot be solved overnight. Real progress requires persistence.
As I approach the halfway mark of my administration and take stock of where we have been and where we are going, I fundamentally believe the Legislature needs to pass budgets for the next two years that build on the progress we have achieved together.
HOUSING/HOMELESSNESS
Let's begin with our housing and homelessness crises.
The numbers behind me are a snapshot of our progress.
By the end of the current biennium, next July, the actions related to the homelessness emergency I declared are projected to rehouse and shelter thousands of Oregonians, while preventing thousands more from becoming homeless in the first place. If we continue at this pace, the equivalent of nearly 1 in 3 Oregonians experiencing homelessness on my first day in office will be rehoused by the end of my first term.
My 2025-2027 budget stands firm in addressing our homelessness and housing crises concurrently. Continued investments in shelter, rehousing and prevention, as well as funding to build additional affordable homes, cutting red tape so housing projects can break ground faster, and support for first-time homebuyers are imperative to our steady progress. That's building on progress.
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
Let's now turn to behavioral health.
We know that that in order to ensure that Oregonians have access to the health care they need across our state, we need to deploy a strategy where increased treatment capacity – that's more treatment beds, more facilities, open more hours of the day – works in tandem with increased workforce capacity – that's the number of qualified workforce to staff treatment beds, facilities, and fill shifts at all hours of the day. Just like we cannot solve homelessness without building housing, we cannot close our gaps in services without more places to get treatment and more people to provide that treatment.
The state currently has a goal of an additional 465 treatment beds by the end of 2026, and my budget deepens this commitment with investments for another 363 treatment beds. Meanwhile, I am renewing funds for the Oregon State Police to continue their enhanced fentanyl enforcement strategies and keep drugs off of our streets.
That's building on progress.
EDUCATION/YOUTH
And let's turn our attention to our children and youth.
For our youngest Oregonians, my education initiative has retooled the way school districts teach our students how to read through incentivizing evidence-based practices, updated Current Service Level funding for the State School Fund to make the state a more predictable funder of school districts, lessened disruption to learning through summer learning investments, and more. To reap the benefits of this progress, we need to stay the course and build on our commitment to public education.
My recommended budget builds on these initiatives and expands on support outside of the classroom, too – in recognition that a good education is just one ingredient to the success of our children and youth. Improving access to youth behavioral health services, strengthening supports to address youth homelessness, and improvements to Oregon's child welfare system are equally imperative to planting future success for our children. That's building on progress.
I mentioned at the start this key question: What do you do when you have to be strategic, prioritize, and stretch resources?
My budget answers this question with three core goals that ultimately drove my decision making:
- An Oregon where no one has to sleep outside.
- An Oregon where health care is there when you need it.
- An Oregon where the promise of every child is realized.
And, in these challenging times, an Oregon where we safeguard our values – including reproductive freedom, environmental standards, immigrant protections, and our civil liberties, regardless of the federal landscape.
That's what we're made of as Oregonians:
Neighbors who take care of one another, who reach for a helping hand when needed, and who believe that a better future is possible.
Since my first day in office as your Governor, I have focused on taking urgent action on issues of top concern for Oregonians: housing and homelessness, behavioral health, and education. My 2025–2027 recommended budget is a direct reflection of my continued and steadfast commitment to making progress on Oregonians' priorities.
As Governor, I will always listen to Oregonians first and work to ensure my policy and budget decisions reflect an Oregon that welcomes everyone and is accountable to our shared values.
Thank you. And now I'll take some questions.