BY THE ISSUE

Oregon’s economy is at an inflection point. I will fight to choose growth by:

• Protecting and growing job opportunities

• Championing and supporting our homegrown small and growing businesses

• Investing in growing resources for our communities

We can’t cut our way to a better future. We need to act boldly now to have the resources we need for generations to come. With my direct business and legislative experience, I am prepared to usher in a new era of growth & prosperity.

I am focused on energizing Oregon’s economy so that businesses want to start and grow here, providing quality, family-wage jobs with benefits and job security so that families can flourish here. When Oregon’s workers and businesses thrive, Oregon thrives. To tackle the root causes holding us back–like the cost of living, housing, education, and access to health care–we need a healthy private sector and a stable job market.

During the 2025 Session, I introduced my Grow As You Go Agenda–a set of policies aimed at supporting Oregon workers and businesses in uncertain times. You can see the full agenda here.

As a member of the Joint Committee On Information Management and Technology, I get to be a part of decisions made about the use and regulation of technology across all agencies and sectors. One issue I feel is particularly important to take on is Artificial Intelligence (AI)—a rapidly growing and increasingly commonly used technology. 

Last session, I introduced a bill to create a permanent AI commission with the Late Senator Aaron Woods. I am bringing it back in 2026. We need to be able to harness AI’s benefits and build guardrails against its negative impacts. Currently, there is no permanent office or commission with expertise in balancing innovation and protecting Oregonians when it comes to AI. By establishing a permanent commission, we are creating infrastructure for smart policy making that will ensure AI works for all Oregonians.

Every Oregonian deserves a safe, affordable place to live. I am proud to have supported one of the largest-ever investments in housing in Oregon’s history in 2023, which prioritized housing production, middle-income, temporary housing, and new home-buyers. I have demonstrated that I’m committed to supporting strong, evidence-based policies like these that will address housing and homelessness in Oregon.

Our kids are our future. K-12 learning is formative for strong social relationships, career-building skills, and life-long fulfillment. For decades, the legislature has been increasing funding for education. I have proudly voted yes on these investments. But we’re not seeing learning outcomes improve proportionately and our teachers still don’t have the resources they need. I will continue to tackle the conversation around building sustainable funding for education and other ongoing essential services in our state.

Oregon schools thrive when Oregon's workers and businesses thrive. I’m working to develop our economy so that there are family wage jobs and business activity replenishing the critical resources our schools need for generations to come.

Additionally, I will support and advocate for post-secondary education—whether it’s skills training, apprenticeships, or community college and university courses—as a critical part of a thriving workforce and growing economy.

It wasn’t until the last ten years or so of my life that I had consistent health insurance. I know what it’s like to be under or un-insured. I support a public option because regular, preventative care is good for our long-term health and good for our budgets–on a personal, societal, and state-resource level. This also means making sure communities in every corner of our state have near-by access to care when they need it.

I believe that strong climate goals aren’t just the right thing to do, they’re the economic thing to do—and we need to do better. The work we do now to establish green policies and explore alternative sources for energy will lay the foundation for best practices in decades to come.

We must continue to protect Oregon’s lands and expand the uses and flexibility of land that is already in use; cultivate and protect the natural areas that bring people from all over the world to Oregon; and build strong public-private partnerships that optimize our benefits and natural beauty while mitigating negative impacts like high utility costs, pollution and wildfires.