Legislator's Letter: An update from Rep. Tracy Cramer

April 2024

The 2024 session came to an end last month. As predicted, Measure 110 and housing took up most of our our time and energy at the Capitol.

But before we get to all the fun, I first want to share something personal with you.

I missed the last couple of weeks of the session because I had some pregnancy complications. I never thought I would announce that our sweet twin girls, born on March 5, didn’t get to stay with us long. June Marie and Joya May made their way to heaven quickly, but my husband, Jake, and I were grateful for the little time we did have, and they will forever leave an impression so deep in our hearts that we will never forget it. All they knew was love, and their souls must have already been complete.

This has been a very difficult time for us, and we want to thank everyone who has sent flowers, food, and love. Jake and I are so overwhelmed with the love from our community.

It’s difficult times that make us all reevaluate what we are doing and where we are in life. It makes me love and fight for our kids even more.

However, I am honored to serve as your State Representative. I’m back to work and looking forward to continuing to serve you the best I can.

HB 4002

We passed House Bill (HB) 4002 this last session, which will end Measure 110 as we know it. As I outlined before, significant differences existed between this bill and the bill I sponsored to reform Measure 110. At the beginning, I didn’t feel that HB 4002 met the urgency of the moment. Luckily, major revisions were made to HB 4002, which made it a lot better. I believe it was a good step in the right direction, but more is still needed on this issue. For more on what the bill does, visit my most recent newsletter at this link or go to my legislative website: www.OregonLegislature.gov/Cramer .

Housing

The housing conversation continued this session, and the Legislature passed another round of big funding for housing development: $370 million in total. The unique part of this bill, as opposed to past housing packages, was the authority it gave local governments to move their urban growth boundary (UGB) to accommodate more housing production if they meet certain requirements. So Woodburn and Salem may be eligible to expand their UGB by up to 100 acres. Brooks and Gervais may be able to expand their UGB by 50 acres.

Until now, we have done very little to give cities more land on which to build homes. That’s partly due to our decades-old land use laws that have proven very restrictive over time. I am encouraged to see us trying something new to tackle our housing crisis beyond just spending more money on subsidies.

Utilities

Before I sign off, I want to briefly touch on something I have heard a lot from our community, and that’s our utility bills.

PGE raised their rates 17% in January and is already proposing another 7% increase for next year. Pacific Power has proposed a 17% increase for next year as well. Everyone is feeling it, and it’s incredibly frustrating, given the cost of everything right now. It’s easy to blame the utility companies for these rate increases, but it’s essential we understand the whole picture.

In Oregon, rate increases need to be approved by the Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC). PGE’s most recent filing to the PUC cited HB 2021 (passed in 2021) for growing costs behind the rate increase requests. HB 2021 is a green energy mandate on big utility companies that forces them to buy more expensive and less reliable energy from solar and wind. The bill requires these utility companies to reduce emissions by 80% in the next six years.

Most of us agree that we want to see cleaner forms of energy, but with that comes major cost increases. In the face of HB 2021, I suspect these utility bill increases will only continue unless the Legislature acts to remove these expensive (and honestly, likely unattainable) mandates. In the end, it’s us, the consumers, who end up paying the price of these mandates.

So next time you look at your utility bill, remember that the people we elect and the policy they make in the Legislature impact your pocketbook in a very real way.

As always, I welcome your feedback and input. It helps me better represent our community. Email me at Rep.TracyCramer@oregonlegislature.gov or call my office at 503-986-1422.