FILE - Governor Tina Kotek poses for a portrait in the State Library of Oregon, Salem, Ore., Jan. 29, 2025.
Anna Lueck for OPB
The Oregon Legislature is two months into its five-month biennial session. Lawmakers are considering bills on education, transportation and housing, among other issues. The state is also grappling with federal tariffs and mass layoffs that could significantly impact Oregon’s workforce and economy.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek recently joined OPB’s “Think Out Loud” to talk about all of these issues and more. Here are excerpts from that conversation, edited for length and clarity:
How federal layoffs will impact Oregonians:
“When you’re a veteran showing up at the VA, you’re not going to have the same people you had before. I hope our electrical grid isn’t impacted by the fact that a bunch of people took early retirement at the BPA. When you take your vacation this summer at a national park, is there going to be a park ranger there? There will be real personal impacts for things that Americans and Oregonians have counted on.”
“I’m particularly concerned about the impact on rural Oregon. When you have people who have federal jobs in the natural resource agencies — parks, BLM, forest service — those are good paying jobs. When they go away, that disproportionately impacts our rural communities, and I don’t think the Trump administration cares.”
How federal funding cuts are affecting state grants and services:
“The Trump administration completely suspended new dollars coming into the state from the Climate Pollution [Reduction Grant] … We had awards, and those things have been suspended. So much so that projects that thought that they would be getting these have had to stop what they’re doing.”
“We’re going to keep trying to hit our climate goals regardless of what the federal government does. And I’m just going to be honest — it will be more challenging to do so unless those resources come back to the state.”
“They want to cut NOAA, the agency at the federal level that monitors the weather … That’s just insane. That is a national priority for us to understand what the weather is doing right now. There’s no way any states, even banding together, could replace that.”
“I don’t know where that money would come from to make up for what the federal government contributes to Medicaid in Oregon … There are only a couple of ways you can manage for that: you either kick people off the program, which I would not want to do, or you reduce the benefit.”
“Oregonians will be hurt. Our seniors who are in long-term care will be hurt. We will have to reduce care in all kinds of ways if the money is cut off from the federal government.”
How tariffs could affect Oregon:
“We’re a very trade-dependent state. We sell soft wheat to Asia. I just met with some folks from Ferrero, who make Nutella. They want to buy our hazelnuts. We’ve seen some downturn in the semiconductor industry, which is a big sector for us. Tariffs will impact us a lot.”
“I think we have to stay bullish on supporting the industries we have here, doing everything we can to protect them.”
Tying school funding to accountability measures:
“We are middle of the pack in terms of how we fund schools compared to other states, but we’re at the bottom when it comes to our outcomes. That doesn’t work for me. I’ll get you more money, but I need better outcomes.”
“[We’re] saying, ‘These are the things you’re going to be evaluated on, and if you’re not hitting those goals, we’re going to provide required support — mentoring, technical support, whatever you want to call it — with a district.’ And by year four, if you are not making progress, we will have to come in and say, ‘Up to 25% of the money you get from the state needs to be directed in a way to improve your outcomes.’’’
What a state transportation package could look like:
“I am looking to the Legislature to fund a package that will make sure we can meet our basic needs in the state. I would suspect that it will be from the menu of things that we have previously funded transportation packages by — modest increases in registration fees and title fees, maybe a little bit on the gas tax.”
“I’m very cognizant of the fact that people are struggling with cost of living, so we have to be careful about how that package is put together. But also, I think a lot of folks believe that when you use a resource — when you use the roads and bridges of the state — when you pay into it, that’s kind of the obligation you have as well.”
You can listen to the whole conversation with Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek here: