Gov. Tina Kotek held a press conference Tuesday morning to announce her top priorities for the 2023-25 state budget.
Some of Kotek's listed priorities included housing and homelessness, mental health/behavioral health, education and child care.
"The moment I was sworn into office I promised to take on the biggest challenges facing families and communities across our state," she said.
She acknowledged that following through on those campaign promises will be difficult, with federal pandemic funds set to expire.
"We must acknowledge that while Oregonians are demanding action on these priorities our state is also entering into a very challenging and complex budget environment. About $3.5 billion of one-time funding spurred by resources from the federal government is set to expire," she said.
She said she plans to follow through on her campaign promises by redirecting some of the funds that would have gone toward reserves (rainy day fund).
"My recommendation in my budget is to keep the existing $2 billion of reserves," she said, noting that she plans to "redirect $765 million that would have been automatically added to these reserves into targeted investments."
Kotek said that ending unsheltered homelessness would be a priority, focusing on building more housing and advancing racial equity, as well as completely ending homelessness for certain groups. Kotek also aims to expand inpatient and outpatient services for those dealing with addiction and mental health crises and expand access to outreach professionals.
Kotek stated that education support and reform would be another major goal, seeking to improve graduation rates, reduce standardized testing, and equip students with life skills like budgeting and resume writing.
Below is a recap of Kotek's goals as provided by the Governor's Office:
Housing and Homelessness
- End unsheltered homelessness for veterans, families with children, unaccompanied young adults, and people 65 years and older by 2025
- Strengthen pathways to permanent housing for all homeless Oregonians
- Build enough housing to meet the need for people currently experiencing homelessness, address the current shortage of housing, and keep pace with future housing demand by 2033.
- Advance racial equity by reducing the racial homeownership gap by 20 percent by 2027.
- Keep people housed who are currently on the brink of homelessness.
- Encourage intergovernmental and private sector partnerships to have more effective and efficient responses to solving this crisis.
Mental Health and Recovery
- Expand inpatient and outpatient services for Oregonians experiencing a mental health and/or substance use crisis.
- Help people who are experiencing houselessness and suffering from a mental health or substance use disorder by expanding the availability of trained outreach professionals and increasing housing with supports to keep people stable and on a path to long-term recovery.
- Eliminate the red tape in government and insurance bureaucracies that prevent Oregonians from accessing treatment.
- Invest in a diverse behavioral health workforce by increasing compensation, lowering workloads, and simplifying career pathways and promoting professional development opportunities for Oregonians.
- Ensure access to services that promote social and emotional wellness, especially for our children and youth who have been particularly traumatized during the pandemic.
Education and Childcare
- Improve Oregon’s graduation rates to 90% for all student groups by 2027.
- Make sure all children are reading by third grade.
- Reduce the time dedicated to standardized testing and focus on real-time assessments to monitor student learning.
- Ensure all high school students complete a financial literacy and life skills course.
- Accelerate career and technical education program growth so more students graduate with pathways to well-paying jobs.
- Increase educational achievement for rural youth and youth of color by expanding investments in community-led initiatives.
- Increase family and community engagement in our schools as part of the local planning process of how to utilize Student Success Act resources.
- Oppose any effort to undermine public schools by providing taxpayer dollars to private schools in the name of “school choice.”
- Fight for additional common-sense gun violence prevention policies that keep our children and our educators safer.
- Invest in Oregon’s child care system by restoring child care capacity that was lost during the pandemic, maximizing federal dollars to expand access to pre-K for Oregon families, and improving access to infant and toddler care by cutting the red tape that limits where home-based child care providers can operate.
The Governor's Press Office released a full top priorities budget document that breaks down funding allocations, which can be found HERE