Priorities

No one should have to live in a tent on a sidewalk. Houselessness is a humanitarian crisis in our own backyards. Everyone has the right to live somewhere in security, peace and dignity. But safe, affordable housing is out of reach for too many Oregonians. This challenge has two parts: the long-term lack of an adequate supply of affordable housing, and the immediate crisis we see on our streets.

Tina has responded to both. She is a national leader in addressing housing stability and will continue to bring forward concrete solutions to address Oregon’s housing crisis at the scale needed to solve it – from services for the unhoused to affordable rental housing to increasing homeownership. And, as local communities have struggled with houselessness, Tina brought unprecedented state resources to help.

Tina’s Accomplishments: Standing Up for People Who Need Housing

• Tina championed more than $1.5 billion in targeted investments over the last five years to increase housing access, shelter capacity, rent assistance, and other housing needs. 
• Tina fought to provide more shelter during the pandemic and for Oregonians made houseless by the 2020 Labor Day wildfires by securing $75 million for Project Turnkey, an effort to repurpose motel properties to create more short-term housing. In less than seven months, Project Turnkey created 19 new shelters in 13 counties, resulting in a 20% increase in the state supply of shelter beds by adding 865 new housing units for people in need.
• Tina challenged the status quo by passing laws to:
  • Protect renters by establishing standardized eviction standards and prohibiting extreme rent increases.
  • Require the state to track affordable housing development and assess housing needs over the next 20 years so we can develop comprehensive plans to beat this crisis.
  • Provide more housing options to Oregon families by eliminating red tape and allowing construction of more housing options like duplexes, triplexes, cottage clusters and townhomes.
  • Streamlined processes to build and regulate emergency shelters and new affordable housing because we don’t have time to waste and shouldn’t let bureaucracy get in the way of serving our communities.

Tina’s Priorities for Tackling Oregon’s Housing Crisis 

• End unsheltered homelessness for veterans, families with children, unaccompanied young adults, and people 65 years and older by 2025, and continue to strengthen pathways to permanent housing for all Oregonians experiencing homelessness.
• 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.

Read Tina's Housing Plan Here

Oregonians treasure the clean air, clean water, and natural beauty of our state, and it is our responsibility to preserve it. It is also our responsibility to do what we can to combat climate change, which is a real and present danger that Oregonians are already experiencing firsthand. Oregon’s economy and the health of our communities require ongoing bold action to match the scale of this crisis. While Tina understands that Oregon alone cannot solve the climate crisis, she is committed to making sure Oregonians do our part. 

Tina’s Track Record: Standing Up for a Climate-Friendly Future

• Tina put Oregon on a path to 100% clean electricity by 2040, including a $50 million investment to jumpstart wind, solar and other community renewable energy projects that will create jobs in Oregon.
• Tina passed legislation to transition Oregon completely off dirty coal-fired power by 2030, the first law of its kind in the country.
• Tina defended Oregon’s Clean Fuels Program against attacks from Big Oil. This successful program reduces toxic air pollution from cars and trucks that will result in a 25% carbon intensity decrease by 2035.  
• Tina challenged the status quo by passing laws to:
  • Ban offshore drilling.
  • Enact a statewide moratorium on hydraulic fracturing.
  • Ensure access to clean air and water by passing an Oregon Environmental Protection Act, standing up to the Trump Administration’s destructive rollbacks.
  • Held polluters accountable by allowing state regulators to refuse permits to chronic violators of environmental regulations.

Tina’s Priorities for Addressing Climate Change and Protecting Our Natural Environment 

• Protect the progress we have made.
• Decrease pollution from transportation by increasing the use of zero-emission vehicles and increasing investments to make public transit the convenient and accessible choice for more Oregonians.
• Transition away from the use of fossil fuels like methane gas in homes and commercial buildings.
• Increase climate resiliency for communities on the frontline of extreme weather events, including protecting people who have to work outside and supporting community-level technical assistance for small family farms and ranches.

Two years ago, Oregonians were reeling from the most destructive wildfire season on record. At least nine people died, more than 4,000 homes were destroyed, and fires tore through over one million acres.

This year, Oregon faced similar weather conditions, but fire officials were able to respond faster and the damage was not as severe, thanks to legislation that Tina Kotek successfully negotiated in 2021.

But the threats posed by wildfire and smoke will only grow as the West Coast grapples with hotter, drier conditions due to climate change.

As Governor, Tina will do more to protect Oregon from wildfires by:

• Modernizing Oregon’s firefighting services: Tina will keep working to build an effective all-hazards, wildland and structural firefighting force by expanding firefighter apprenticeships and supporting youth and workforce training programs like the Oregon Conservation Corps, as well as investing in new equipment and aviation resources.
• Creating fire-adapted communities: Tina will ensure that the Oregon State Fire Marshal successfully partners with residents, fire districts, fire departments and local governments to establish programs that address wildfire risk reduction, defensible space requirements, response planning, and community preparedness – including support for home hardening. That means the final version of the Wildfire Risk Map must address concerns from property owners, improve the accuracy of risk classification assignments, and document properties and neighborhoods where owners have implemented good wildfire protection strategies.
• Restoring and maintaining resilient landscapes: Tina will follow the science and make sure that the state is managing its forests and rangelands with appropriate treatments to reduce the risk of catastrophic fire, including thinning areas that are overgrown and employing prescriptive burning to manage underbrush.
• Supporting wildfire-impacted communities in long-term recovery: Tina will make sure the state is a long-term partner in the effort to rebuild the homes, businesses, and natural spaces that were devastated by previous wildfire seasons – especially 2020.
• Pushing for more federal assistance: Tina will push for the federal government to step up with more support to prevent, suppress, and recover from wildfires.

When someone is ready to seek help for a mental health concern or substance use, that help should be easy to find and available – no matter where you live or what you can afford. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the need for a stronger, more accessible system of mental health care and substance use treatment. In fact, the pandemic made things even more difficult for individuals already receiving care or in recovery. Additionally, the ongoing strain of low pay and high workload for frontline health care workers has created a crisis in the behavioral health workforce.

Tina’s Accomplishments: Standing Up for More Access to Care

• Tina championed the effort to invest nearly $500 million to expand access to mental health care and strengthen capacity in Oregon’s behavioral health system statewide, working to ensure that all Oregonians can access the care they need.
• Tina allocated $25 million in emergency funds to improve behavioral health services in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on communities of color, our federally recognized tribes, and other vulnerable Oregonians.
• Tina fought for an early distribution of dollars for new treatment services while the implementation of voter-approved Measure 110 was getting started. 
• Tina challenged the status quo by passing laws to:
• • • Expand access to social and emotional supports for students in our schools (Student Success Act).
    • Hold insurance companies accountable by requiring them to pay mental health providers fairly and provide adequate coverage to serve those in need.
    • Expand access to telehealth services during and after the pandemic.

Tina’s Priorities for Improving Oregon’s Behavioral Health System

• 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.

Oregon thrives when Oregonians have financial stability and pathways to increased economic opportunity. The COVID-19 pandemic showed us that many of our neighbors are just a paycheck away from financial disaster and houselessness. Tina began her public service at the Oregon Food Bank, advocating for ways to help people feed their families. She knows that more family-wage jobs are the key to reducing poverty and lifting up all communities across the state. Tina also believes in the right to organize and has fought to protect workers’ access to collective power.

Tina’s Accomplishments: Standing Up for Working Families

• Tina led the charge to pass some of the nation’s strongest protections and advancements for workers, including raising the minimum wage for tens of thousands of Oregonians, ensuring that Oregon’s equal pay law is fully realized for all workers, guaranteeing earned sick leave for all workers, and clinching the deal to set up a strong paid family and medical leave insurance program that will allow workers to stay home to bond with a new child or care for a sick loved one.
• Tina protected frontline workers from retaliation for reporting unsafe working conditions during the pandemic and championed a bipartisan solution to protect small businesses from tax hikes due to pandemic layoffs.
• Tina prioritized emergency dollars to ensure an equitable response to the pandemic by investing in raising wages for workers in long-term care facilities, supporting BIPOC individuals, organizations and businesses that did not have access to financial safety nets, and protecting certain sectors that could not get government relief assistance during the pandemic.
• Tina challenged the status quo by passing laws to:
  • Require prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements on large public infrastructure projects to support living wage jobs.
  • Protect domestic workers by ensuring access to overtime pay and freedom from harassment and discrimination.
  • Increase access to justice for workplace harassment by extending the statute of limitations to give workers more time to take legal action.

Tina’s Priorities for Increasing Economic Opportunity

• Support the professional development of all Oregon workers by improving access to training and education through community colleges and grow state-certified pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs.
• Leverage the state’s purchasing power to invest in workforce and apprenticeship opportunities for women, veterans and historically disadvantaged communities, ensuring that state project dollars fund local, family-wage jobs in all corners of the state. 
• Ensure a successful roll-out of Oregon’s paid family and medical leave program, holding state agencies accountable to ensure families can access this critical benefit.
• Hold companies accountable for stealing wages for workers, increase enforcement on bad employers, and ensure justice for victims of discrimination in the workplace.
• Create a joint strategy with the federal government to hold companies accountable who took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to cheat Oregonians.
• Collaborate with local governments and business leaders to close the technology divide, ensuring every Oregonian has access to reliable, affordable high-speed internet.

Tina believes contribution limits are long overdue and is committed to strengthening our democracy by ending the flow of unlimited and undisclosed money in politics. In these difficult times in our state and in our nation, we need to bolster the public’s confidence in our democratic institutions, and one of the ways we can do this is by improving campaign finance laws and transparency around elections.

As House Speaker, Tina made sure the state legislature referred Measure 107 to the ballot in the 2020 election, which voters passed overwhelmingly and amended the state constitution to finally allow for campaign finance limits. She also supported the passage of better election transparency policy and limits on campaign donations and spending. The limits bill did not pass the Oregon Senate, so Tina remains committed to getting comprehensive campaign finance reform passed into law in Oregon.

Tina’s Priorities for Campaign Finance Reform

• Limits on individual donors of $2,000 for statewide candidates and $1,000 for legislative candidates.

• Limits and restrictions on donations between different types of political action committees (PACs).

• Individual small donor PACs with limitations proportional to the limits of other political action committees.

• Increased transparency to reduce the influence of dark money by requiring robust disclosure of who is funding these efforts.

• Small donor public financing that can match and multiply the impact of small donations.

Every Oregon child should have a safe place to receive a high-quality public education, and every working family needs access to affordable child care options. Before serving in the Oregon House, Tina advocated for children as the policy director for Children First for Oregon. She knows the importance of strong systems that support working families and will make sure children have what they need to succeed and graduate from high school.

Tina’s Accomplishments: Standing Up for Our Children

• Tina negotiated Oregon’s historic Student Success Act, providing $1 billion more every year in new funding for preK-12 education.
• Tina championed a 40% increase in funding for career and technical education in our high schools.
• Tina fought for common sense gun safety legislation to keep children safer from gun violence in their classrooms and school buildings.
• Tina secured $250 million to support summer learning and child care opportunities to help students and families recover from the educational and emotional losses from the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Tina championed equitable outcomes in education, including the creation of the Black Student Success Plan, funding for community-led initiatives to increase early childhood and kindergarten readiness, and reducing suspensions and expulsions in early learning settings that have disproportionately impacted children in Black, Indigenous and People of Color communities.
• Tina challenged the status quo by passing laws to:
  • Invest millions in Oregon’s schools to fix outdated and hazardous facilities.
  • Make community college free to Oregon’s high school students.
  • Expand access to scholarships and financial aid for Oregon’s Dreamers.

Tina’s Priorities for Improving Educational Outcomes

• Improve Oregon’s graduation rates to 90% for all student groups by 2027.
• Make sure all children are reading by third grade by ensuring educators have the training and ongoing coaching they need to follow the science of reading and students who are behind get the time and intensive support they need to read on grade level 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 where they learn budgeting, being smart with their money, resume writing, time management and other practical skills they need to be ready for the future.
• 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.

Systemic racism and inequities are woven into the fabric of our society, directly impacting our communities of color and undermining our shared efforts to create a state where everyone can truly thrive. As House Speaker, Tina listened to and worked with communities of color to promote solutions to injustice. As Governor, Tina will continue to address the legacy of systemic racism and inequality in Oregon by prioritizing racial justice in all policy areas.

Tina’s Accomplishments: Standing Up for BIPOC Communities

• Tina fought for emergency funding to create the Oregon Cares Fund, providing cash grants to Black-owned businesses, Black-led non-profit organizations and Black professionals who experienced financial hardship due to COVID-19.
• Tina fought for emergency funding to create the Oregon Worker Relief Fund, making sure all Oregon workers had access to financial assistance when businesses had to close during the pandemic.
• Tina championed responsible justice system reforms to reduce racial profiling, improve training and accountability of public safety officers, and invest in communities of color to improve community safety.
• Tina challenged the status quo by passing laws to:
  • Reduce health care disparities and improve transparency in reporting health outcomes for vulnerable populations.
  • Diversify Oregon’s educator workforce by establishing non-traditional pathways to licensure for professionals with cultural, linguistic or socioeconomic diverse backgrounds.
  • Establish benefits navigators at Oregon’s public universities and community colleges to help students access financial aid, food and housing assistance.

Tina’s Priorities for Addressing Racism and Empowering BIPOC Communities

• Transform training for police and security officers to meet international standards on safety and justice.
• Invest in our community-based organizations that are on the ground, doing the work in our diverse communities – from education to public health to community safety transformation.
• Build a workforce development pipeline for underserved communities, ensuring that state investments are directed upstream at BIPOC communities who have long faced disinvestment.
• Guarantee that economic development initiatives serve all Oregonians equitably.

All of us want to feel safe in our homes and in our communities. While Oregon has made progress in keeping guns out of the hands of people who should not have them, the recent increase in gun violence makes it clear that there is much more urgent work to be done. Tina believes that we need to continue to do the hard work to make our communities safer from senseless gun violence. 

Tina’s Accomplishments: Standing Up for Gun Safety

• Tina led the way on groundbreaking gun safety legislation to reduce the risk of accidental shooting deaths and suicide by requiring guns to be stored safely and securely.
• Tina made schools safer by allowing universities, community colleges and school districts to prohibit concealed carry of firearms on campuses.
• Tina fought for changes to prevent stalkers and domestic abusers from possessing guns or ammunition.
• Tina led the initiative to seek federal reimbursement for evidence-based violence prevention programs that will reduce violent retaliation in our communities. 
• Tina challenged the status quo by passing laws to:
  • Close loopholes in state law to require private firearm sellers to conduct criminal and mental health checks for nearly all private or unlicensed gun sales and transfers, including at a gun show.
  • Create an Extreme Risk Protection Order that allows a judge to remove guns from people who may harm themselves or others.

Tina’s Priorities for Creating Safer Communities

• Require a completed background check before any firearm purchase. 
• Increase the age to purchase semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21 because these are weapons of war that should not be sold to teenagers.
• Collaborate with the Oregon Attorney General and state law enforcement to stop the ghost gun black market.
• Invest in local government efforts to expand the availability of trained specialists who respond when individuals are suffering from a mental health crisis.
• Prevent acts of hate from turning deadly by banning individuals with hate crime convictions from owning guns.

The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the importance of quality, affordable health care and the necessity of a strong public health response system. Tina believes that all Oregonians deserve justice in health care – that means equitable access so that everyone, regardless of their race, income or zip code, has access to the care that they need.

Tina’s Accomplishments: Standing Up for Access to Health Care

• Tina closed gaps in access to health care by expanding Medicaid insurance coverage (the Oregon Health Plan) to roughly 100,000 adult Oregonians.
• Tina protected health care for Oregon’s most vulnerable individuals and families, including 400,000 children.
• Tina led the charge to ensure equitable access to reproductive health care – including cancer screenings, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment, and abortion care – for all Oregonians regardless of income, immigration status, or gender identity.
• Tina challenged the status quo by passing laws to:
  • Lower the cost of insulin for Oregonians living with diabetes.
  • Increase the transparency of prescription drug prices.
  • Improve the reporting of health outcomes for vulnerable populations.
  • Reduce the likelihood of medical debt by requiring hospitals to establish financial assistance policies for low-income Oregonians.

 Tina’s Priorities for Health Care Access and Public Health

• Protect Oregon’s progress in reducing the number of uninsured Oregonians.
• Maintain and increase access to care in rural communities and in underserved communities in more populated areas.
• Strengthen Oregon’s public health system in response to lessons learned during the pandemic, including making sure we have strong reserves of personal protective equipment and other emergency supplies.
• Invest in a diverse health care workforce by increasing compensation for frontline workers, encouraging cultural and linguistic competency, and simplifying career pathways and promoting professional development opportunities.
• Continue to move health care dollars upstream for prevention by investing in the social determinants of health and leveraging federal dollars where available.

Society is more fair and just when women have equal rights and protections, including the right to make health care choices about their bodies. Tina is a leader with a proven record of standing up for women’s rights and protections.

Tina’s Accomplishments: Standing Up for Women’s Rights and Reproductive Freedom

• Tina led the way to pass Oregon’s Reproductive Health Equity Act, the nation’s strongest law to protect and advance reproductive justice, ensuring equitable and affordable access to reproductive health care for all and putting the right to an abortion in state law.
• Tina expanded access to a 12-month supply of birth control, making it easier for Oregonians to have full control over their reproductive future.
• Tina protected patients from healthcare discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
• Tina held law enforcement agencies accountable by requiring them to process Oregon’s backlog of rape kits and helping survivors to get justice.
• Tina challenged the status quo by passing laws to:
  • Protect survivors of campus sexual assault from retaliation and discrimination.
  • Extend Oregon’s statute of limitations for sexual assault, giving survivors more time to come forward and get justice.
  • Strengthen Oregon’s equal pay law and close loopholes to protect women from discrimination in the workplace.

Tina’s Priorities for Advancing Women’s Rights and Defending Reproductive Freedom 

• Ensure that Oregon is a safe harbor for anyone seeking access to reproductive health care – because your zip code should never determine whether you can get the health care you need.
• Address the systemic inequities within our health care system that lead to disproportionate rates of maternal and infant mortality among women of color, including investing in community-based programs and provider interventions that work (e.g., doulas).
• Invest in comprehensive, medically-accurate sex education so that our schools are providing students with the resources to live healthy lives.