Episode Transcript
[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.
[00:00:41] Speaker A: Hi, Oregonians, and thank you for tuning in to this episode of Life and Legislation with Lucetta. I'm so glad to sit here with you because it's been a couple of months since we've had a chance to record a podcast episode and get some information out to the listeners, and that is largely because your schedule has been insane. I don't know what other word to call it. I mean, it felt like you were doing 24 hour days for all of May and all of June, but now, deep breath, long session is over.
We get to actually sit here in person and catch up. So let's start with your personal life. How are you doing? How are the grandkids? And have you been able to do anything fun since getting a break?
[00:01:26] Speaker B: Yes.
May and June were just crazy. And it did feel like 24 hours a day, especially towards the end of June. I sort of jokingly, but I don't know if it, how, how serious I was with the joke part, said that I, I felt like I, I'm permanently altered and if I had stayed, it would have been a negative, permanent alteration.
So I was glad when we hit sine die and those last few weeks.
[00:01:53] Speaker A: Hold on, you just said a word that a lot of people are like, what was that?
[00:01:56] Speaker B: Sine die. And I'm not saying it correctly. That's how we in Americ, but it's a Latin term, okay? That means done, you're finished. And so in Oregon, it's written into our constitution that there is a finished date for the legislature and for us. Signing die was the last Sunday of June. So midnight of whatever day is when we constitutionally have to be done.
You can adjourn sooner if you want. And we ended up adjourning or having sign die the Friday before at about 11:30, 11:40 at night.
[00:02:31] Speaker A: It sounds like you're saying sign or die.
[00:02:33] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, baby, die. Tiny die.
Tiny die. It was a positive word because it meant we were done.
[00:02:42] Speaker A: All done.
[00:02:43] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:02:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:45] Speaker B: Surreal. Wild, Crazy.
[00:02:48] Speaker A: I mean, you've done this before. Like you've had a few years of this, but this seems like this was a different year.
[00:02:52] Speaker B: So different this year if I was, you know, the minority deputy leader, so second in charge as far as what all of that leadership entails, which just a lot of that means you're in on more conversations and trying to solve more problems. I also was in a super minority, which I hadn't been in before.
[00:03:12] Speaker A: Right.
[00:03:13] Speaker B: Which is the new speaker of the House. So that was different as well. So, yeah, there was, there were some key differences that really created a, a journey on this session that I hadn't had before.
[00:03:25] Speaker A: Right. So when you get to this final moment, and also we will circle back to how, how the family's doing and the grandkids. But just thinking of this day, it was almost midnight.
When it's finally there, do you just sit there like, this is surreal. Do you go out and celebrate? Do you just try not to fall asleep on the drive home and then do nothing? But in one of our previous episodes, we said, what are you going to do? And you said you'd like to maybe just stare out the window and not think about anything. Did you get that day?
[00:03:51] Speaker B: Yeah, Monday that I remember, I didn't get out of my, I think I, I threw on some shorts or something when I woke up, like, you know, to go outside. And I never changed. They were probably mismatched and I never changed from that. I just, I just stayed there. Yeah. When, when sine die happens, the speaker announces it, she hits her gavel. It's the last bill that we pass and that we vote on, which is, we're now declaring signee die. Uh, they open up, we're on the House floor in the House chamber and the Senate is in, across the building in their chamber. And the back doors of each chamber open and you can see each other. And right now, because of construction, you can't walk the whole way. You can walk a little and then there's a big chasm there. But we did, we went out and we're like, woohoo. And we're waving to the senators and there's like a celebration for sure. People are, you know, this one was a little different. Some people were very angry because we didn't pass the super majority's biggest, their, their, their biggest goal was to get a transportation package across the finish line. And that didn't happen.
And that is a big deal. That's probably, you know, top of the news feed. The layoffs that happened with odot, Oregon Department of Transportation, more layoffs are looming.
That was a big deal, and that was a lot of what led up to it. We had the governor in the building on Friday addressing us in a very admonishing way.
She was not happy that this was still looming and hadn't been taken care of. One of the only committees left that was still even meeting was rules, which I'm a part of. And so we got to sit through that.
Hundreds and hundreds of people there testifying, also angry.
[00:05:42] Speaker A: Yeah. So it was presumably both sides of the argument. Were there testifying or.
[00:05:47] Speaker B: Yeah. The governor was the only one who testified in favor.
[00:05:49] Speaker A: Oh, okay.
[00:05:50] Speaker B: Yeah. Everyone else was not.
So it was just wild. I don't know. It was wild. And of course, by then, there's. I felt like that final week. Every day was a life. We started out on Monday, and Monday was one of the worst days of the session for me. It was just a very hard day.
And I was like, oh, my gosh, that was crazy. So glad it's done. Tuesday, I literally, like, leapt for joy when I saw a colleague in the parking garage. I'm like, thank you for being here. Because Monday I felt like it was me and everyone who hated me and a lot of my colleagues weren't there, and. And it just. It was a tough day. But, you know, I thought, okay, well, it's over. Well, no.
Progressively, as that week went on and we're there longer and longer and longer. And then Friday night, you know, it was midnight, after midnight before we got out, and I mean. Yes. So staring out the window. And it was more just like you get done with a war or a battle, and then you're just sort of numb and just there. But your brain needs to rest because you're sort of physically still in that fight or flight and heightened state of, okay, what else is coming at me? But I need to be prepared.
[00:07:04] Speaker A: It's not like your body just suddenly relaxes and all of your muscles are ready to go and your brain's clear. It doesn't. It doesn't just.
[00:07:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:12] Speaker A: Snap back to that overnight.
[00:07:13] Speaker B: Yeah. And I did find. I. I knew this from my first long session, but it's so important. I amped it up even more this time. It's like you're pre for a marathon. I mean, my eating gets stricter, my working out. I. You know, you might think, oh, well, you don't have time. You have to make time, because there's no way you won't make. I wouldn't make it.
[00:07:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:35] Speaker B: So I have to keep my body, my physical body ready for this. In this gruel, I have to mentally be alert, so I'm fueling myself correctly. I have to get my sleep. I can't plan things late during the week because my brain can't be mushy. So it's very much training for that marathon.
[00:07:55] Speaker A: Well, you ran the marathon. You got through it. And I imagine with. With anything, you know, anything related to politics, once you finish a session, there are going to be things you're really happy about and things that you're really unhappy about.
[00:08:07] Speaker B: Right.
[00:08:07] Speaker A: I mean, that's just the nature of it. But we'll. I'll ask you in a little bit, what are some of the new laws that made it through? But first, we'll let your brain just kind of take a little break from legislation.
How's grandmotherhood? GIGI Y yes, it's great. Gigi Hood.
[00:08:23] Speaker B: It's great. Oh, my goodness. Lottie and Tatum are the best. I got to spend time with them yesterday. I had Lottie in the morning and then both of them in the afternoon for an hour and a half while their moms went and worked out. Or actually all their parents went and worked out. I think all four of them went.
They both decided to not love it at the same moment. And my heart went out to parents of twins. I was just like, wow, that's a lot. I mean, at one point, I had both of them scooped up in each arm and were bouncing and walking and, you know, and I'm like, look at each other. Be happy cousins. And we eventually got there. We read Llama Llama and. And did the things, and then they ended up falling asleep. But they're great. Learning their little personalities.
[00:09:06] Speaker A: Yes. And how old are they now?
[00:09:08] Speaker B: They're almost four months. Oh, my gosh. Days away from four months.
So it's crazy.
[00:09:14] Speaker A: And in true real life fashion, and getting to know our state representative on a personal level in her real life, a car just pulled up with a grandchild.
[00:09:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:25] Speaker A: I go greet him, which is so fun.
Well, hello, handsome. Welcome to your first podcast.
[00:09:33] Speaker B: What do you think, buddy? You're the youngest person we've had on here.
[00:09:37] Speaker A: Do you have some thoughts to share? Are you going to get into politics like your Gigi? Don't do it, Hayden.
So are you getting to have, you know, a regular Gigi role, like, certain days of the week?
[00:09:50] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I do. I have a day with each of them, which is nice.
[00:09:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:55] Speaker B: And then some joint time.
And so, yeah, it's been. It's been good. As soon as I finished, we. But I think that the next week was the week of the 4th, so holiday weekend, and we went with the family up to Tri Cities for the fourth Washington. And so that was nice just to kind of get away and to have everyone there and catch up. And then it's only been a couple weeks since then, so still kind of settling. Trying to, you know, give myself time to settle, but then start tackling some home projects that were neglected and still have the puppy, who doesn't look like a puppy, but he is only nine months old.
[00:10:32] Speaker A: Right. And just because, you know, nobody can. Can see any visual here, maybe you can tell the breed of dog and how big he is.
[00:10:39] Speaker B: Now he's a rottweiler and he's pushing a hundred pounds and he still has another year to grow. So he's. He's a lot. And in his adolescent stage, I would say. So we've been trying to do walks every morning to work on all of the things he needs to work on to be a mannerly dog.
So. Yes.
[00:10:59] Speaker A: Oh, man, you're gonna get to, like, ride him at some point. He's that big. He's like a little horse.
[00:11:04] Speaker B: Yes. He's very interested in the babies. In fact, yesterday when I had them here and I put one in the crib, the dog Finn just put his feet right up there and wanted to look inside and was concerned if they would cry. And. And it reminds me, there is the childhood book, Good Dog Carl, which is a Rottweiler, and Carl is sort of like the nanny.
[00:11:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:24] Speaker B: And so I hope Finn assumes that role.
[00:11:28] Speaker A: Good job, Finn. Yeah, maybe we'll have him on the podcast. He can bark up a. A few thoughts.
[00:11:34] Speaker B: He'd eat the microphone, so that be good.
[00:11:38] Speaker A: Well, I'm glad you get to have all this glorious family time and a little bit of rest. Hopefully your muscles and your mind and everything is starting to settle into a little bit of normalcy.
Looking back over the long session, though, and I will mention listeners, if you're not already on Lucetta's newsletter list, then you can check a link in the podcast Episode Notes and get your name on there. So that way you'll get these updates of what's going on in the legislature and get some updates there in a Cliff Notes version, what are some of the things that happened in the long session, like maybe what new laws came out of this particular long session.
[00:12:20] Speaker B: So I did mention, you know, the transportation package, which really was the biggest thing to address this session. And we, we did not get that across the finish line. There were several different versions. The Republicans did have a bill that would have addressed the issues that we have in Oregon around transportation without increasing taxes. That bill didn't even get a hearing, which I thought was unfortunate. And I think this is what happens oftentimes when there are super majorities or super minorities. I think the whole process, you know, of democracy is compromised because the super majority simply doesn't need the minority party.
[00:13:06] Speaker A: Right.
[00:13:06] Speaker B: And, and that, that to me is a negative. You know, I'm not saying I don't care who the super majority is. I think the minority voice plays an important role. Unfort we weren't given that opportunity. And so the package that the majority was presenting kept growing and it became ginormous massive. It would have been the largest tax hike in the history of our state to the tune to 12 to 15 billion dollars in new taxes and fees placed on the taxpayer.
So it was massive and it was just too much. It was overreach. And it came out really late in the session by the point that it really was completely reveale.
There wasn't enough time to work it. I think maybe the presiding officers thought that, you know what, we have the super majority, so it doesn't matter, we have the votes to pass it. But there were enough people within their own party that said no.
[00:14:03] Speaker A: Okay, I was curious because you figure if you got the numbers, you can pass kind of whatever you want again, regardless of which side you're talking about.
[00:14:10] Speaker B: And I think that was what they thought too. But there were enough that said no, like this is too much, we can't do this. And so that combined with the Republicans, they didn't have the votes.
[00:14:22] Speaker A: And so for something like this, that's, that's. There isn't. Let's say there's an issue, for example, this one, that both sides agree is an issue. It sounds like everyone sees that this is an issue. Everyone wants to fix the issue, but you have two different ways, or maybe even three or four different ways that people within the political world find to solve it.
And so for this, it never, it never got, quote, unquote, solved during this session. So it's. The issue is still there. Then you go back in however many months for your short session.
Would something like this get brought up again in the short session? Okay.
[00:15:03] Speaker B: You know, there's other ways that I think it could be solved during the interim.
I mean, I will be as bold to say that I don't think we needed to do the layoffs. I Think there are other sources that we could have tapped to get us to the short session to where we could solve this. But that isn't a choice that I have the power to make.
[00:15:23] Speaker A: Right.
[00:15:24] Speaker B: So here we are. And it is, obviously it's a negative. You know, we don't want to go into our winter months and not be able to snow plow the pass.
And we don't want to be able to not fix the potholes and not do the things that Oregon needs and deserves to have functioning roads.
So I think that it is definitely a tragedy that these layoffs have happened. And I don't think that because we didn't pass the $15 billion tax increase, we had to go about it this way. We still passed the budget. ODOT still has its budget.
It just didn't get the increase, which needs to be addressed. But the way in which it was addressed is too, in my opinion. So that was something that definitely was top of mind for everyone by the end of the session. Some other things, though, I would say positives for District 24. For my district, I was able to secure 3 million that will be coming in to the fire department.
And they are going to be doing a new substation on the north side of their district, which will be able to house their ambulance, ems. This, I mean, I think that's amazing and wonderful. They have a lot of ground to cover, and so it's hard. Where our fire station is right in the middle of downtown.
[00:16:43] Speaker A: Right.
[00:16:44] Speaker B: Kind of a tough, tricky spot to.
[00:16:46] Speaker A: Get out and get to wherever they need to be.
[00:16:47] Speaker B: Yeah. So I was thrilled for them and glad to see that we were able to get that done.
[00:16:53] Speaker A: What do you think, Tatum? Good idea. You could be a firefighter someday.
[00:16:56] Speaker B: He likes it.
I know we've talked about it before, but, you know, both of my bills were signed, the Adoption Advocacy Day and the Youth Suicide Awareness Advocacy Day. And I think those are huge wins and I'm excited that the governor has signed them. So they are official law now.
So that's pretty great. And there will be continuations from both of them, from what they've now established and elevating the conversation. Both of those conversations will continue to have opportunities to point back to those two bills and have more forward movement on both of those subjects. So I think that's great. I was also part of a bill around menopause, which is something that many women obviously are aware of. And I think I mentioned this before. I don't know if I have on our podcast because I don't know if we talked about it, but it was wild to me to discover in doing the research for that bill, that women were never a part of a clinical trial until the late 90s.
[00:18:01] Speaker A: Really?
[00:18:02] Speaker B: Isn't that wild?
So how does.
[00:18:05] Speaker A: For anything.
[00:18:06] Speaker B: For anything.
[00:18:08] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:18:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
For anything. So think. I mean, we're going to be real here. Think of feminine products, feminine hygiene products, tampons. I mean, they had never been tested on women.
[00:18:21] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh.
[00:18:22] Speaker B: Right, Right.
[00:18:24] Speaker A: So.
[00:18:25] Speaker B: Or anything, you know, the hormones that. Obviously, women are different than men, and we have different ways in which our bodies are made and ways in which they operate and all of that. We had never been part of a clinical trial until the 90s. DDS, so.
[00:18:39] Speaker A: So I'm thinking, I mean.
[00:18:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:41] Speaker A: Not so the menstrual cycle.
[00:18:43] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:43] Speaker A: Menopause.
[00:18:44] Speaker B: Right.
[00:18:45] Speaker A: Birth.
[00:18:45] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:45] Speaker A: Pregnancy. Fertility treatments. Breast cancer.
No. Clinical trial.
Wow.
[00:18:52] Speaker B: Yeah.
So, you know, this phase of life that all women go through, there really wasn't a lot of tools offered to women.
It was just more like, you know, oh, get a little fan to pack around if you're having a hot flash or, you know, whatever. But there's actually so much research and so many new things that have been discovered and ways in which we can lead our best life. Like, we don't have to just suffer and never be able to sleep through the night again and have depression or have weight gain or have all of the things that menopause and perimenopause brings on. Like, there's ways to help us. So this bill allows us now to be covered by insurance.
[00:19:41] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:19:42] Speaker B: Yeah. So this was a bill to say women now can seek treatment for menopause and it will be covered.
[00:19:48] Speaker A: Wow.
So that's amazing. It was interesting because I know there were some other topics that came up about getting insurance coverage. Right. I think we talked a little bit about wanting insurance to cover fertility treatments. And that one paused out.
[00:20:01] Speaker B: That was one that I sheep sponsored. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that one passed on both chambers and then didn't come out of Ways and Means, which is where the funding aspect happened.
I think that the legislators making those decisions in Ways and Means felt like this one would have a huge price tag.
Thinking of how expensive.
Okay. It's okay.
We got it. We understand.
But we won't stop. We'll continue to work on that. And I, I, you know, I think that the awareness that was raised.
Yeah. Infertility during this session was a great step forward.
[00:20:40] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:20:40] Speaker B: The conversations that we had and the testimony that we got to give. And so we'll continue work on that. And there's such a good group. There are good groups out there that are helping legislators with that, too. So.
[00:20:53] Speaker A: Wow. So many things. And it, I mean, I know you're on a technical break, but as you, as you mentioned, in order to get some things done, especially with bills that either, you know, stalled out or paused or didn't make it through, presumably you and several others are going to be doing some interim work to be ready for the short session coming up.
[00:21:11] Speaker B: Yes, we are. I am.
There's several things.
One of them that is developing here that I'm excited about is some export. There's an export caucus, trade, exports. Okay. So there have been issues at the, the federal level with the tariffs and different things. And obviously that's affecting all the states. Oregon's unique because we're a West coast port. It's definitely affecting us. And so we put together a legislative trade or an export caucus. Trade and export caucus. Again, caucus is a group of people. There's lots of different types of caucuses. Obviously you have the Republican caucus and the Democratic caucus caucus, but then within that you have bipartisan caucuses. I'm part of one around wine because District 24 is all about wine. And so I was brought into this trade caucus because of wine. And a lot of our wine growers are looking for other places to export wine to.
So we have a legislative trip coming up to Vietnam. Vietnam is very interested in purchasing our wine, and that would be a new market for us. And I think it would be very beneficial to District 24 and beyond, obviously for my winemakers. So that one is exciting and we are prepping for that will be in September. Okay.
[00:22:32] Speaker A: Well, it sounds like we can do a whole other episode about wine.
[00:22:34] Speaker B: Yes. And then we'll continue, continuing to have conversations around water and regional water solutions. Water's always a big topic in our state and it was a big legislative topic as well. So we will continue to work on that. I have some things already scheduled this month and next month month around all things water.
Yeah.
[00:22:55] Speaker A: Well, I want to thank you, Mr. Tatum, for joining us on this conversation.
It won't be long before you'll have some, some words to share.
[00:23:08] Speaker B: Well, but I can't wait to hear them, Tatum.
[00:23:11] Speaker A: Well, I will let you get back to your full Gigi time on a nice day off.
Thank you. Thank you for taking time to catch up and talk about this. We'll circle back in about a week and hear some more and, and get some more information out to our Oregonian friends. So listeners, if there's a topic that you want to know more about, or if you have a personal or a political question for Lucetta you'd like us to address on the podcast, there will be a link in the episode notes so you can email that question and hopefully we can get that covered for you. Thank you so much for tuning into this episode. We hope you learned something new and got to know Lucetta a bit better. And as always, Lucetta, thank you for taking time to do this. We really appreciate it. We hope you join us next time for our next episode.
