Episode 20 - A Surplus and a Deficit?

[00:00:03] Speaker A: Hello Oregonians and welcome to Life and Legislation with Lucetta. If you've ever wanted to get to know your politicians personally or understand what it is they are actually doing, then you're in the right place. I'm your podcast host, Jessica Campbell. [00:00:17] Speaker B: I'm your State Representative for House District 24, Lucetta Elmer. [00:00:21] Speaker A: This podcast is a place for you to get to know Representative Elmer both personally and professionally. [00:00:27] Speaker B: We want Oregonians to feel connected with and educated politics. So we're so glad you've joined us on a fresh new podcast adventure as we cover all things about life and legislation. [00:00:42] Speaker A: Hi Oregonians, welcome back to Life and Legislation with Lucetta. If this is your first time finding us, welcome. We're so glad you're here. We get to know our State Representative, Lucetta Elmer on a more personal basis and understand what's going on in our state. Especially for those of you who, like me, maybe don't speak the political language and get a little in all of the news and social media and even commercials and would maybe like to just understand it at a basic level as if you're having dinner with your local government leaders and can actually ask them questions and understand what's going on. So that's what we get to do. This episode is a little update on everything that's been going on and I'm here with our wonderful State Representative, Lucetta Elmer. Thank you for doing this with us. Yes, this is your kind of holiday time. You're supposed to be off and yet it seems like every day more and more things are happening and that you seem to almost be busier than ever and I get to catch up with you fairly regularly. And even then within the last 24 hours there's updates that I'm learning that have been going on in your life. We're going to talk about some hot topics, some heavy things that have happened in our local area, what's happening at a federal level and how that affects a state level. We need to talk about money with some updates in your role as a leader and even some new hires. What's going on with collecting signatures for the ballot and taxes and there's a lot to cover in a short amount of time. But first, how was your Thanksgiving? [00:02:13] Speaker B: Thanksgiving was great. We had the family over. We got to celebrate sort of two Thanksgivings. The weekend before Thanksgiving we were in Tri Cities Washington with my sister in law and her family and that's always fun. Lots of cousins together and a good time. And then Thanksgiving Day was just the family was all over, the kids, the Grandkids. And it was lovely. The weekend was nice. I was busy, but all home and doing non work things. And so it felt a little more normalized and made it, you know, somewhat harder to go back on Monday when you transition back into work mode. Yeah, it was nice. Thank you. How was yours? [00:02:52] Speaker A: It was beautiful. We got to have our all my in laws in town and then we did the Christmas parade, which here in McMinnville is so fun. And the family came in from a much bigger city in California and so they really feel like they come to a Hallmark town when they come here and are just blown away. They're amazed that we know everybody in the community. That people would see friends out and about so often and to see just the community involvement and how many people show up and watch this parade and then have Santa come on the big fire truck. And then we got to go do the goose lights and the ice skating. [00:03:29] Speaker B: Oh, fun. I haven't been out there yet, but it's good. [00:03:31] Speaker A: It was really, really fun because the. [00:03:33] Speaker B: Ice rink is out there. [00:03:34] Speaker A: It's out and everyone was out, you know, kind of falling. [00:03:38] Speaker B: And it's outdoors. [00:03:40] Speaker A: No, it's in the museum. [00:03:41] Speaker B: Okay. Yeah. [00:03:43] Speaker A: So if you go into the Evergreen Aviation Museum, then there's the big spruce goose. [00:03:48] Speaker B: Right. [00:03:48] Speaker A: And it's like under the spruce goose and they have it set up. And yeah, my sister in law was like, wait, we're inside. She was so confused when I said we're going ice skating at the museum because those two don't typically go together. [00:04:00] Speaker B: Right? Normally, yeah. [00:04:02] Speaker A: But they had a lot of fun. And for anybody with littles, they have these little penguins. [00:04:06] Speaker B: I need that. [00:04:08] Speaker A: So I have my one year old on the penguin and I'm trying to push him on these skates, which, I mean, I can't remember the last time I skated. It's been 30, I don't know, 20, 30 years. And so like, yeah, the penguin was very helpful. [00:04:21] Speaker B: Good. [00:04:23] Speaker A: Trying to make our way through. But yeah, a very, very sweet and wonderful way to do the whole Thanksgiving weekend and lead into Christmas. [00:04:31] Speaker B: Here we are, December 2nd. Yeah. [00:04:33] Speaker A: So more conversations about that. But I'm just curious, do you actually get to turn your phone off like on Thanksgiving and Christmas or do you still get calls from, I don't know, government people? [00:04:43] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. It doesn't really get turned off in Thanksgiving. There were some things happening, but I can. And I have a couple dates on the calendar that I am excited about to say I'm officially out. And then my chief of staff has, you know, she can get ahold of me. Well, I have to. I have a lot. Anyways, my staff can get ahold of me if needed, but for the most part, I can be disciplined and not be glued to my phone. [00:05:08] Speaker A: Yes. Well, I was going to ask you about this later, but since you mentioned this, your staff is growing. [00:05:13] Speaker B: It is growing because you have a new role. Yes. With the new role, there's a much bigger staff in the House Republican office, or hro. And so, you know, we have a communications team, we have a policy team. The HRO has a chief of staff, which really is my chief of staff, but serves the members as well. Members meaning all of my other caucus members. And then I have sort of a deputy chief, which is Jessica Snook, who was my chief of staff before. But there's so many duties that they're dividing and conquering, which leaves you all by yourself in district. So I have managed to wrangle my husband in part time, too, which is crazy because he is very busy. But he's. He will be helping with constituent work and some policy work. And then we have another person that starts in Salem in January, and we are looking for a couple interns to help us out just through short session. [00:06:09] Speaker A: Oh, fun. So if, you know, if somebody was listening to this and interested in being an intern or if they knew somebody. [00:06:14] Speaker B: Sure. [00:06:15] Speaker A: What's that path? [00:06:16] Speaker B: Usually it's a college student who's, you know, majoring in political science. That doesn't have to be. But that's the usual. And we're, you know, the capital is right across from Willamette University, so it's an easy. That's. That's an easy, you know, marriage to happen between those two. But it doesn't have to be that. So any. Anyways, the person, they would come in. And this particular season for short session, I'm looking for someone that could potentially help with committees. So, you know, we have. I've talked before about the committees that I sit on. So in the hro, we watch all the committees, and so we're tracking every committee. There's, you know, an education committee, an early childhood committee, a business committee, a housing committee. There's all the different committees. We're tracking those and the bills that are being discussed in each and every committee so that we can be ready for whatever is next, you know, understanding the conversation that's being had in each of those committees. So I'm hoping that someone could maybe come in and give some assistance to those, specifically healthcare. So if, you know, anyone who is interested or majoring in or has knowledge of. I think that will be a big topic this session. And also our joint ways and means, which is all of the budget and money conversation. That's a big one. [00:07:36] Speaker A: No kidding. So if somebody was an intern, would this just be for the short session? [00:07:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:07:42] Speaker A: And that's. Is it six weeks? [00:07:44] Speaker B: Well, we're going to probably make it a 10 week internship. So they'll start a little before session so we can get them up to speed and then they'll stay a little after as we wrap up and gather all the data. [00:07:54] Speaker A: Wow. [00:07:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:07:55] Speaker A: So many things and a growing team. Well, hopefully your husband will make you turn your phone off sometime so that you can actually get a break. [00:08:01] Speaker B: There we go. [00:08:01] Speaker A: Yes, that would be a very important role. Now of all of those, gosh, so many, so many things you mentioned. And I want to get to talking about some of the legislation stuff here very shortly, but because this is life and legislation, are there any wonderful Christmas plans coming up? [00:08:20] Speaker B: So many. There is a wonderful party that I host every year, my favorite things and I have intertwined that with the legislature a bit. And this year we're doing ladies of the lobby and legislature with special guests. So there's, there's a lot of fun things happening there. I've been asked to speak at the Oregon Business Council event, which is next Monday, and that's about 1,000 people attend up at the convention center in Portland. And it's a leadership summit and so I will be at that. And then afterwards we're, I'm having a joint holiday fundraiser with the Senate Republicans as well. So Bruce Starr, who is my senator but also the leader of the Senate, he and I are co hosting a Christmas event. And then personally, you know, we have our fun traditions that we do leading up to Christmas. Christmas and then we go see my sister in Tampa for New Year's and so I'm looking forward to that. [00:09:19] Speaker A: And this Christmas, you've got littles. [00:09:22] Speaker B: Yes. So excited. Yep. Lottie just got her first tooth and they're both just talking and. [00:09:30] Speaker A: But now are they pulling up to destroy the Christmas tree yet? [00:09:32] Speaker B: No. [00:09:33] Speaker A: So you should have a safe tree. [00:09:35] Speaker B: I have a dog. [00:09:38] Speaker B: He turned one. [00:09:40] Speaker A: Finn, our Rottweiler, one year old Rottweiler. [00:09:43] Speaker B: Who thinks he's a landscaper outside, he just trims up all the limbs and now he is confused because they're now in the house. So he has tried to deal in. [00:09:52] Speaker A: You have to have your tree up high. Our tree's up pretty high. [00:09:55] Speaker B: That doesn't work for this tree. But, yeah, we're working on educating Finn. [00:10:01] Speaker A: Right. Amazing. Okay, well, with all the fun holiday talk, we're going to shift now into some basic updates. The signatures. This has been all over social media. How many signatures have been collected to put this new tax on the ballot so that Oregon can vote on it? Yes. What updates do we have? [00:10:23] Speaker B: Yes. So as of the day before Thanksgiving, we had collected 151,000 signatures. We need 78,000. [00:10:31] Speaker A: So you, like, doubled. [00:10:34] Speaker B: And we're well beyond that at this point, so I think we're going to just keep going and collect them. And we have until the end of the month, but we obviously have enough that will qualify. And so when that is done and that has been checked out through the Secretary of state's office, then that bill doesn't go into effect. So it's paused. If nothing happens, which I assume something will, but if nothing happens, then the voters would vote on that next November, when we go to the voter box for the governor's race for the legislature races, I assume there's going to be a push to get it moved up, but we'll see. [00:11:15] Speaker A: And would that be a special election? Okay. And who would be. Who pushes for that? Who can. I don't know. Who can make a special election? [00:11:26] Speaker B: It would go through the legislature during your short session? Yeah, we wouldn't want that. My party wouldn't want that. But we're the minority party, so if the majority party wants it, it can happen. [00:11:37] Speaker A: Why would they want it earlier? Just to try and vote it down so then they can move forward. [00:11:43] Speaker B: I think they would not want that on the ballot. It will bring out. They wouldn't want it on the ballot when we're voting on a governor because it's going to bring a lot of Republicans to the ballots to sit because they're so vocal on this. And this will potentially have a greater turnout. So that would be the thought behind why they would want to separate them. [00:12:06] Speaker A: Interesting. So when you go into the short session at the beginning of the calendar year, then likely or potentially then the Democratic Party would say, hey, we're gonna push this through to make an early vote. And it would be a separate election, special election that would go out to all of Oregon. They would pass it or vote it down. And if it gets voted down, then there was still a problem to solve. Does that just start over then? With the following long session, we could. [00:12:42] Speaker B: Get called into a special session again, which is how this came about. And I assume that's what would happen. So, yeah, the problem doesn't go away, but more people are using their voice, which I think is great. So there would be a pause on the solution that was passed during the special session to say, oh, wait, there are a lot of people who don't like the direction we're going and they have voiced their opinion. So now we need to look at this differently. [00:13:12] Speaker A: Yeah, we're gonna have a lot of episode topics in the new year with the short session and with primaries and who's running and all of those things. A lot to talk about after the Christmas holiday time. Yes. [00:13:25] Speaker B: Yes. [00:13:25] Speaker A: Okay. So there was something else that came out in one of your newsletters, and I know, again, being somebody who doesn't speak the political language very well, it confused me. So I thought other people might be confused as well. There was an update about Oregon having a surplus of money and that people could find out what their kicker is, like a tax rebate or something like that. But then there was another kind of update article about the budget, the Oregon budget being in a deficit, and that was confused on a surplus and a deficit. I thought maybe you could explain. [00:13:59] Speaker B: Yes, understandably so. So when we go into the long session and remember, those happen on the odd years. So 2025 was a long session, six months we were in session. That's when we pass the budget for the next biennium. So we passed the budget this year in 2025. And so the budget that was passed in the previous long session was for, yes, the next biennium. So you're always passing a budget for the future, but you're operating in a budget that was passed in the past, if that makes sense. We in 23, we said to make it easy, here's a million dollars that we're going to need, and here's where all the money goes throughout all of the agencies. Money came in in the revenues, and more money came in than what was allocated to be spent. And so those are tax dollars. So in the Oregon Constitution, if we don't use all of the tax dollars, that money is supposed to go back to the taxpayer. So that's the kicker. Now, what just came out in the revenue forecast was quarter three of this year and the projected, you know, what we had said we need for this current budget cycle is X amount. And the revenue forecast came back and we had been 370ish million dollars in the deficit from quarter two, meaning we didn't raise enough taxes in quarter two to keep up with that budget that we had projected that we had set based on projected income. Quarter Three came in. Now we made some up because we're only negative 60 million now. So we did gain some, but we're still only negative 60 million, but we're still in the negative. And so that's based on, again, those tax dollars coming in, corporate taxes, income taxes, and business. We talk about this a lot on this podcast. Has been down and it's declin declining. So it makes sense that we're not seeing those numbers. [00:16:08] Speaker A: Right. So these are separate. They can't take the surplus from one budget to cover the negative in another budget. [00:16:19] Speaker B: No, they're separate. [00:16:20] Speaker A: And so for this kicker, that means everyone in Oregon gets a little bit of money back. [00:16:27] Speaker B: I believe the way it works is that you see it on your taxes. When you file your taxes, there would be. You might get more back. If you're getting money back or if you owe taxes, then your kicker would be deducted from what you owe. [00:16:40] Speaker A: Could cover part or maybe all of that. So that's something. Maybe a little, you know, something to look forward to. There you go. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. You get a kicker. And as I understand it, you can figure out your kicker. There's like a website where you can search what's my Kicker? And maybe find out what that is. [00:16:57] Speaker B: Correct? Yep. [00:16:58] Speaker A: And these are all things that you learn from reading your newsletter. [00:17:01] Speaker B: There you go. [00:17:03] Speaker A: Yes. If you subscribe to Rhett Bellmer's newsletter, then you can get all of these, all these fun updates and learn sometimes really good news like you get money. [00:17:12] Speaker B: And if you have other questions that aren't answered in the newsletter, the newsletter tells you the email address and you can email your questions in. [00:17:19] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. So there has been something that was pretty big in our local news, and I think it really kind of went statewide, too. And probably many people only see these little social media clips or a headline here or headline there relating to one of our local teenagers. I don't know if that's something you can speak to. Cause this has to do with ice. It's at a federal level. [00:17:47] Speaker B: Correct. [00:17:48] Speaker A: So you, as the state representative of this area, and this happened in your House district. [00:17:54] Speaker B: Right. [00:17:55] Speaker A: Do you have a role in that? I mean. Yeah, you always do beyond what your mandatory role is. So I'm curious, do you have a mandatory role in a situation like what happened to this teenager? Or is it more just. [00:18:11] Speaker A: Your own thought and feeling and heart as to how you respond or what you do, if anything, if it's a federal issue? [00:18:19] Speaker B: I think overall, as a state representative or really any elected official, you have a duty to listen and to respond when your constituents ask questions, no matter what. Now the response might be, that's outside of my scope. There's nothing I can do, but I'll help you find the answers is how I would prefer to handle it. Walk this together. Let's get you connected to the right people. But you're correct, this is a federal issue. And maybe we've talked about this before here. I have talked about this before. It can be confusing because we have federal electeds, we have state electeds, we have county electeds, commissioners, and you have city electeds, mayors, council. And so all of those play a different role. And then what makes it even more confusing a bit is in Oregon, we are a sanctuary state, meaning that our law enforcement, our officers cannot hinder or help federal officers. So you know, you think about the city police are out and they're trying to navigate a situation and maybe they need some backup and they could call the county sheriff and they could send over some deputies and you know, there could be some backup and some help there. We can't do that with, with the federal law enforcement officers because we are a sanctuary state. So. [00:19:46] Speaker A: And is that for all issues, like everything that a police officer could ever get called for? They can't. There's no overlap or is it specifically related to immigration? [00:19:58] Speaker B: That's a great question. I don't know the answer. I know for sure with immigration because we are that sanctuary status. So what that means. You had mentioned the teenager. So there was a 17 year old that was detained and then I believe was charged with a crime and it did happen during lunch. I believe that is also factual. The 17 year old, it wasn't about the immigration status of the person. He is legal to be here. And that was never what it was about. He had been involved with detaining border patrol and they had called for backup up from ICE and you know, they were barricading the 17 year old and there was a 20 year old involved that were barricading these officers and took off and they were able to pull him over and it happened closer to the school. Not. [00:20:51] Speaker A: And these are federal officers that detained the 17 year old brothers? [00:20:58] Speaker B: I believe so, yeah. There is a statement that ICE put out around it. So that would have all the facts. So that did cause a lot of fear in our community because I think people, you know, jumped to the conclusion that it was ice. So it had to do with immigration and they were taking a child. And so there was a lot of conversation around that and it took a little bit to get ICE's statement back so that then there was some clarity. And, you know, beyond that, this has been an issue for some time with ICE officers being in Oregon and doing some work, you know, and so there are a lot of opinions around that. There is a lot of fear around it. I can say a couple things. Factually speaking, if someone is here and they are legal to be here, but they're undocumented, so maybe they are here on a work visa, but they haven't went through the whole entire immigration process, but they do have the legality to be here through an H2A or another form of a work visa, and they have not committed a crime. They are fine. There shouldn't be any reason that they would be deported now. They could get detained and they could get asked questions. And that is sort of the state we're in right now as the federal administration is moving through this process. But if someone has not committed a crime, then they aren't being deported is the information that we're receiving from our federal contacts. I have asked and Senator Starr, Leader Bruce Starr has as well. We are planning a trip to Washington, D.C. at the first of the year to have some conversations about other things pertaining to our state. But this is also on our list to see if maybe we could get some clarification. And, you know, there's things, there's. Besides the fear that has continued to rise, and we would love to help people navigate that with facts, there's also some real issues that are placed on the city or the county. Like for example, if a federal officer comes and detains someone, stops someone, ends up taking that person out of their car. We have heard that. Then that car is just left there. And so then the question is, who cleans that up? Who takes care of that? That's a cost. There's time. Can our city officials even do that? Or is that helping or hindering, you know, and are they, are they then out of breaking the law? So there's some real questions that we would like clarification on. And we have reached out. Both Leader Starr and I have a White House liaison, so, you know, in communications there and have put some questions into DHS at the federal level to see what kind of answers we can get. But as far as what we can do lawfully as a state representative, these are federal laws and we are state lawmakers. [00:24:02] Speaker A: Right. So it's not something that you can come in necessarily and do anything one way or the other. Correct. But to be that listening ear, and if people have questions about what happened or concerns or, as you say, fears. You welcome them to contact you, reach out to you, get some answers. And I'm sure to some degree, it's nice to know that you're having these conversations with your federal contacts to. [00:24:29] Speaker A: Have some clarity. [00:24:30] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. [00:24:32] Speaker A: Yeah. It's definitely. It's a big topic. It's important. And when you only get bits and pieces of it, it's hard. And I do think there's the assumption that every, you know, you sort of get pigeonholed, maybe that if you're. If you're with this party, this is what you believe all of the time, no matter what. If you're with this party, this is what you believe all the time, no matter what. And it's every. It's very black and white, and there's no gray. But I know you and I both really believe in the power of getting to know somebody personally and hearing individual stories. And sometimes the big layers get moved to the side and you understand a little more of, like, what does this actually look like in real life for that person? [00:25:17] Speaker B: Correct. [00:25:18] Speaker A: And what about that person and what about that group? And how is this all unfolding? Because it's one thing to have a theory, or how does this play out in theory versus how does it play out in reality? [00:25:29] Speaker B: Correct. Yes. Yep. [00:25:32] Speaker A: It's a lot that you have on your plate. [00:25:34] Speaker B: Yeah. And I do, you know, you touched on it like, you know, the pigeonholes of polarizing politics. Right. And I so encourage people to just say no, to just try to keep an open mind and really look at. Okay. I could see where if we go down this road, this could be really upsetting and there's a lot of emotion. Or if we go down this road, I could be really fearful and there's heightened emotion and maybe anger or whatever that emotion is. Let's lean into hearing all of the facts and how it affected this person, like you said, on a human level. And what can we do to bring assistance if that assistance is needed? What sort of answers can we gather to bring clarity so that we're not assuming something that maybe isn't 100% true on either path? So I think that just helps so much when we choose to do the disciplined work of. Of seeking that out versus hopping onto an emotional side. [00:26:37] Speaker A: Sure. Have there been any other things going on this week that we haven't covered? I know we're trying to just kind of do a flyover update of what's been going on, and then we'll come back for our next episode with a More in depth conversation on an interesting topic. [00:26:51] Speaker B: Yeah. Yesterday morning I had a nice breakfast with a group of people. They were mostly from construction, like concrete businesses and aggregate. And so having more conversation around Oregon Department of Transportation and this, you know, if the signatures stop the tax, then what happens to these guys and gals that work in these companies that are out there filling the potholes and doing all of those things. And it was a really good conversation. It was so great to hear how this particular bill and all of the rhetoric around the topic is affecting, you know, these people. Kind of like we were just saying with the ICE conversation. So it was great. They presented me with a legislator of the year award champion for their industries, which was so kind of them. And it has a big rock right in the middle. Appropriate, but it was, it truly was a refreshing conversation. They knew who I was as leader of the Republican party. But I have to believe that there were people in the room on both sides of the aisle. But we had conversation that wasn't polarizing at all. It was truly listening to all of the things that they're facing and then looking for solutions of what happens next and how do we make sure that Oregon roads are safe, you know, and one of the gentlemen was talking about, you know, how expensive roads are and good roads are expensive, bad roads are even more expensive, you know, and he said it is a real thing to think about a family out on one of our highways hydroplaning into another car having a horrible accident and horrible things happening. We have to make sure we are able to maintain our roads at a safe level. So there were some real eye opening conversations that were had Monday, but I found it to be very valuable and. [00:28:51] Speaker A: That overlaps with the tax conversation. [00:28:54] Speaker B: Right. [00:28:54] Speaker A: And again, one solution, a different solution. What's gonna happen if it all goes on pause? All back to the point of if you zoom in on an individual, on a family, on a business, on an organization and hear from them directly, how is this affecting you? What will happen if. What does this mean for you? Because so often you just see the people, big macro picture and that's part of your job as a representative to come to your constituents and see the micro and how that all plays out. [00:29:31] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:29:31] Speaker A: Well, thank you. [00:29:32] Speaker B: You're welcome. [00:29:33] Speaker A: For all that you are doing. I feel like before we wrap up though, you were on another podcast recently and getting to share thoughts and opinions and have big conversations. This particular one is a pretty well known podcast. Right. So I didn't know if anybody el wanted to define that conversation. I think it's about an hour long or so, so really detailed, lots of topics. You were on there with Christine Drazen. [00:29:59] Speaker B: Yes, Shelly Bossart Davis is the host and she had Christine Drazen and I on Oregon Doge is the podcast and we were talking all about business and labor committee, which now has several different changes of names, but economy and how it's affecting business here in the state of Oregon. But it was fun. It was a lively hour long conversation and I would encourage people to go listen to it. [00:30:25] Speaker A: Yes. And we can add that link in the episode notes. So if anyone's got a little bit of longer time and can dive in or listen to it in part, then presumably they'll learn a lot of new things. Yes. [00:30:35] Speaker B: Different tone and flavor than our Life and Legislation podcast, but all very relevant. [00:30:41] Speaker A: Well, you seem able to jump on any type of podcast or be in any kind of place and just speak to the audience that you have. [00:30:48] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [00:30:50] Speaker A: Well, thanks for taking time to do this. We'll come back for another episode. And again, as always, Oregonians, if you have questions or concerns or if there are topics that you feel like we need to discuss, if you're again, if you're like me and some of this doesn't quite make sense and you're confused or want more clarification or just want to feel more educated, we'd love to hear from you and know what things you'd like like covered in future episodes. Thank you so much for joining us on this episode of Life in Legislation with Lucetta, and we hope you come back and join us next time.