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. Welcome back to Life and Legislation with Lucetta and Lucetta. So good to see you and connect again. We've got all kinds of things to to catch up on since our last recording and just first of all, how are you? How was your week? Are there any major things going on in the state of Oregon over the last 7 to 14 days?
[00:01:01] Speaker B: Hello. Good to see you as well. My week is great. I got to get out to Southern Oregon and do some camping last weekend and I just find Oregon so beautiful. So that's always a fun time for me. We explored the town of Elkton, which does not have a stoplight but several wineries, and it was lovely and made our way down towards Reedsport to our family space where we always go camping at Loon Lake.
[00:01:32] Speaker A: Amazing. You are a great example of work hard, play hard. We've talked about that before and I'm glad you're getting to do some some fun family times because I know your plate is still very full. As we've said on this podcast, you are somebody who does not take your quote unquote part time job at the state to mean part time. You do it more than that and that means working during the interim to do things that you are passionate about and that matter to you and are important to our state.
We've got a big thing coming up, right? And at the end of this month, close to the end of this month, on August 25th will be the very first Oregon Adoption Day and we talked about this in previous episodes. So if you're new to this podcast, Oregonians, go back. You might find more details in some of our earlier episodes, but maybe for those who it's been a while since they've listened, can you give a quick know recap pre previously on Life and Legislation with Lucetta.
What was the bill that you put forward that mattered so much to you personally and ended up having a tremendous impact across party lines?
[00:02:42] Speaker B: Yes. House Bill 2019 which designates a day, August 25th, and we start this year in Oregon to recognize adoption. So essentially Oregon Adoption Day.
And I was really excited to get this bill passed unanimously out of the legislature. The governor assigned it. And so we're gearing up to have a party on August 25 to celebrate adoption, which is so exciting.
[00:03:11] Speaker A: And that's this very special day for you personally, correct?
[00:03:14] Speaker B: Yes. August 25th was the day that I was adopted many, many, many years ago.
And I just, you know, I do feel passionately about the subject. Obviously it's personal, but also from so many different lenses just how impactful adoption is. And it was pretty cool to see people, my colleagues, stand up when I carried the bill on the House floor and, and they just stood up unprompted to share stories. And I had no idea that adoption had impacted so many, just right there in my very own chamber. But it was people who were adopted or people who had adopted or, you know, foster care program. There were just so many different ways in which adoption has touched so many lives that I think it's pretty great that we're just pausing for a moment to say, you know, this is, this is worthy of having a day.
[00:04:09] Speaker A: Yeah. And even I remember one of the gentlemen said that one of his parents had been adopted. And just going back a couple generations of what adoption can mean to the legacy of a family.
[00:04:23] Speaker B: Right. Yeah. It's wild when you actually just kind of sit and ponder that for a minute of. Of how things could be different.
[00:04:32] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think in my experience, it seems like people have kind of polarized views of adoption. They either have rose colored glasses on and can only think of the adoption stories you see in Disney movies, or the opposite, where they have just this very negative view that, this belief that, you know, every adopted kid has issues and you're going to make life so hard for yourself and it's going to be a disaster and they're going to turn on you and they're only going to, you know, there's just a narrative on both extremes.
[00:05:03] Speaker B: Right.
[00:05:04] Speaker A: Do you want to speak to that for a minute?
[00:05:07] Speaker B: You know, I think a lot of it has to do with personality.
And I am definitely more of an optimistic personality type. I do remember, and this wouldn't have mattered if I was adopted or not adopted, but I have a vivid memory of middle school and hearing, you know, my peers sort of go on and on about their parents and, you know, sort of being negative, you know, as middle schoolers probably do during that phase of life and sort of everything that was wrong with them at that point was because of their parents. And. And I just remember thinking, gosh, I don't. I don't want to do that. My parents are doing the best they can. And then revisiting that memory as a college student, when, again, that's another season of life where you're sort of breaking away from the family unit and sort of establishing your own independence. And hearing a lot of my peers during that season of life sort of go the opposite direction of whatever it was that their parents stood for. They wanted to test the waters the other way, which is, you know, probably also just a season that they all go through. But again, thinking, oh, I don't want to blame my parents for everything. So whether I was adopted or not, I probably would have sort of had that view.
But I happened to study child development in college, so the whole nature versus nurture debate was fun for me because I could really lean into that and wonder, well, was it nature or was it nurture? And I'm kind of like a real life experience experiment.
And in my 30s, when I was able to meet my biological parents, then that just added another layer of that. Nature versus nurture.
[00:06:49] Speaker A: Yeah, I love that. I was a sociology major, focused on family relationships and nature. Nurture was probably the topic of at least 50% of my classes. So you and I could. We could take a whole podcast episode just to talk about that, right?
[00:07:01] Speaker B: Yeah, it's. It's a fun one.
[00:07:04] Speaker A: I'm so grateful that you put forward this day to bring awareness, to just acknowledge. Acknowledge adoption, to celebrate it, to recognize the challenges, and to celebrate the beauty. All of the above. And clearly it was something that had touched so many people. It was not a polarizing bill. It was not something that was only for one party. Everybody really connected in some way.
[00:07:30] Speaker B: The bill was co chief sponsored by a Democrat colleague of mine, as well as other Republican colleagues. And I think that what we saw on the House floor when representatives started to stand up and just share their story, they were from every corner of that room. So I love to stumble upon a topic in that building that has nothing to do with parties. Yeah, that's my favorite. And this was definitely a home run topic for that, because adoption, like I said, I mean it. It doesn't have to do with Republican or Democrat. Oftentimes it's about having an avenue for children to have a space where they're loved and they have the potential to go forth and be the best they can be. And I'm obviously a firm believer, and every Child deserves that chance.
[00:08:23] Speaker A: Yep. And this covers all kinds of adoption. Just, I mean, could be international adoption, this could be domestic adoption, could come from. You could be adopting through the foster care system, you could be adopting an infant, you could be adopting a teenager, even embryo adoption, which I realize not a lot of people know that that is an avenue of adoption these days as well. So lots of ways to bring some hope to children of literally all ages.
[00:08:53] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. Definitely excited that we have it and we can elevate that conversation.
[00:08:59] Speaker A: With this being the first year to honor Oregon Adoption Day, what are the plans? Is there anything going on for Oregonians?
[00:09:09] Speaker B: Yes, I am excited. I'm super excited just, you know, to have this day and to just know that every year moving forward, we get to have a day where we get to celebrate and elevate adoption. So this year I feel like it kind of just came so fast. But we're definitely going to be pushing things out through our social medias. There will be a press release, we're going to host a little non formal open house.
We put out an ask through the story night social medias and just asking people if they wanted to share their adoption stories to please do so. I know that we've seen pictures come in of families that have adopted.
So I think, you know, this year will, will be light a bit just because of time, but, but we're definitely going to celebrate and then we'll just continue to build on it every year.
Yeah.
[00:09:59] Speaker A: And with that, I would, I would guess that anybody listening who might have a connection or an idea, organization or a business or anything, who wants to help, get involved in some way, you know, maybe plan something bigger for next year that they could reach out to you and say, hey, I want to get connected. I want to help elevate this conversation and I want to help celebrate.
[00:10:19] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. You know, there's obviously some organizations out there that are advocating right along with us and, and showing their support and those will be posted out through our social medias as well. So there's lots of ways to get involved and to help children in the process and, or to find out information if you're wanting to adopt or to just simply share your story around adoption.
[00:10:44] Speaker A: And it's really something for the whole community. Everybody can get involved and come alongside adoptive families and adopted kids and so forth.
Well, I know you have a heart for all children for so many things and adoption is one of the topics you're passionate about and there are some others as well. So I wanted to see if you could take a minute and share some of the other visions you have for the state of Oregon as it relates to kids and their learning and development.
[00:11:11] Speaker B: Yes, sure I did.
During our last interim so 2024, I hosted a couple roundtable discussions around intergenerational child care. And we have a few in the state, I believe Whoopsie Daisy Preschool is in central Oregon, maybe Redmond, and then there's Rosebud up in Portland. And these are models of preschool that are set inside senior home facilities, senior care facilities. And so it's taking multi generational approach where you have seniors pairing them up with preschoolers.
You take two different parts of society. You have the very young and then you have the seniors and you pair them up together. And oftentimes that helps with things they might be facing, such as loneliness.
I love these programs because they are actually set at a facility that has senior care living. So think of like a preschool and they have instant access to what could be seen as a grandparent. I mean, you know, you have, you have all of these seniors that are just living right there and they can pop over and read a story and every single child there can have a story read to them personally or you know, think about activities that they could do one on one with a grandpa, they could go out and do some gardening, or they could do a picture together, an art project together. But it's just really the concept of taking an extra set of hands in these grandpals and, and giving them to the preschoolers and that connectivity there, they've seen great success. It's given purpose to the seniors and it's given security and feelings of, of love obviously to the preschoolers that are getting a little more one on one attention. So I think it's, I think it's a wonderful idea.
[00:13:06] Speaker A: I could not possibly agree with you more. And just recognizing how often in our society today families don't live in the same area. Whereas you know, once upon a time you'll be way more likely to have three or four generations even all living in the same town, sometimes even the same house. Right? So you have all the, all the generations together where you're passing on stories and life lessons and you just have all the different hands available to serve each other and to, and to work as a family unit. And now I know so many of us, the, the little kids, their grandparents live in another state or sometimes another country. They don't get to see them very much and vice versa. You have all of these people who are, you know, in these senior homes that they don't get to see their grandkids, but maybe once a year, if that, they don't get visitors and they're very lonely and they have all the time in the world to give.
And then you've got the general, you know, those of us who are kind of in that middle age group where you feel like you have absolutely no time and you're running out of energy and running out of money and running out of resources and you see that, you know, maybe your kids are desperately need you and your parents desperately need you. And my goodness, to pair them together is such, such a beautiful model and I hope that that just takes flight. So with that, I mean, it's one thing to, hey, there's this really great idea, but then how do you make it a reality? Is there anything in the works, not.
[00:14:35] Speaker B: Necessarily legislatively other than I've, like I said, I've hosted some roundtable discussions. I don't know, like is, you know, when I think about, is there a law that if we pass that would help create this or pertain to this? And I'm just not sure exactly what that looks like legislatively, but I definitely think it's a conversation to continue having and just bring awareness because, you know, everyone that hears about it for the first time or, or maybe they've already heard about it, but usually people haven't heard about this concept and they're always like, oh my gosh, that's such a great idea. Of course, yes, we love it.
And I just think, you know, it really is a win win. It helps on both, both sides.
So I do want to continue that conversation.
[00:15:22] Speaker A: So if it's, you know, if it's such an obviously great idea, I guess what's the holdback? Why isn't it that every city in Oregon is doing this?
[00:15:32] Speaker B: Well, you know, money.
I think that both of those types of programs are heavily regulated and space is definitely something to consider.
So if you have an existing childcare center or an existing senior living facility, you know, maybe it, it doesn't have space to then merge the other group already into it. A lot of times, at least when I had my preschools, you know, we would do field trips to senior facilities and we would go in during the holidays and sing Christmas carols or we would go, you know, do something in the summer like a little program. But to actually immerse those two worlds together, I think it's probably more about space and then also just financially getting through all of the different regulatory hoops.
So maybe that's a way in which we could look at it legislatively. But that's something that, for me and a lot of my colleagues, we look at all the time, how to lessen regulation on any business in Oregon.
[00:16:39] Speaker A: I guess it's a completely different topic, but it just reminds me of something you shared in previous episodes about a bill you put forward that had that private public partnership to get some things, get some projects going.
[00:16:53] Speaker B: Right.
[00:16:54] Speaker A: And you just think, okay, well, what would it take to get some projects like this going where you could, I don't know, build more to existing spaces or build new spaces or find ways to combine them, find spaces that just aren't being used as much. And we have. We could put a greater use to them.
[00:17:13] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. And, you know, I mean, we. We have had a lot of conversations in the legislature about the child care desert that Oregon is in. So it's not new news that we need more child care facilities.
And this is a way in which maybe we could look at it that would be helpful if there were some tweaks on regulations or less regulations. Obviously, you want everyone involved to be safe and to make sure that these are spaces in which, you know, children are getting everything they need. And it's a safe space. But I think there's real potential to just a home run with, like I said, both ends of society.
[00:17:50] Speaker A: I love it. Well, again, listeners, if you have some great connection or a wonderful idea or want to collaborate and connect with Representative Elmer, then you can reach out to her. As always, we'll have links to all of these things in the episode notes for you to check out. Well, in our final five minutes here or so, is there anything else going on or any other hot topics you wanted to share?
[00:18:13] Speaker B: Yes, there is one last piece of super exciting news, and we probably touched on this before, but the governor did sign the Christmas tree bill this last week. And so the $3 million that I had asked for for our McMinnville Fire District was approved, and they will be getting that for a new substation and EMS services.
So I think that is super exciting. Fantastic.
We have such a large land area that our fire district services that this will be super helpful to have that second substation to house out of. So I am thrilled that that went through and they're able to utilize those funds.
[00:18:52] Speaker A: Now for me and for anybody else who might have just gotten a little bit lost. You said Christmas tree and then talked about firefighters, so I was hoping you could make that connection for me.
[00:19:01] Speaker B: I love that. I love. That's why you're the host. And you can remind me that sometimes I speak a language that doesn't exist.
There is a fond, a little, you know, title given to a large bill that is passed at the end of session that has all of the different money budget items in it. And in that there's going to be requests that each representative has made for their district. And so we call it the Christmas tree Bill because that would be the bill in which we find out if we get to take any money back to our district to fund a project.
[00:19:42] Speaker A: So that's this is making so much more sense now.
[00:19:46] Speaker B: It's a large budget bill.
[00:19:48] Speaker A: Great. The Christmas tree bill. Okay. We learned something new Oregonians. Maybe I was not the only one that didn't follow.
[00:19:55] Speaker B: Yes. Another way to look at it is that the bill has, one could say, like a bunch of different branches. So there's all these different lines in the bill that have money asks or money appropriations, but they don't relate. So think of it like a Christmas tree with all the different branches and then the ornaments are, you know, the money that's going to be going out to those different districts and those different projects. But it doesn't all relate to each other like most bills all have. Sort of they're for one purpose and everything within the bill relates to that purpose. This is different in that way.
[00:20:33] Speaker A: And so at the end, you're just hoping that you get to take your ornament.
[00:20:37] Speaker B: Yes. And the governor has the authority to line item veto, basically destroy an ornament. And so, you know, I just wanted to make sure that that didn't Happen and District 24 would indeed get its $3 million. So that was signed and we got it.
[00:20:55] Speaker A: Well, very, very exciting. And thank you again for the clarification. We've all learned something new. I love it.
And as always, than taking time out of your personal and professional life to hang out and record these episodes for your constituents and everyone in Oregon.
[00:21:13] Speaker B: Yes. Thanks for hosting, Jessica. You're great.
[00:21:17] Speaker A: Well, I'm full of questions because I don't know any of it, but I figured, you know, a lot of people are in that same boat where the political language is totally foreign and that's why we want to do this. So for everybody listening, whether you are really politically savvy or this is all new information to you, we're so glad you joined us. We hope that you got to know Lucetta a little bit better and learn something new about what's going on in Oregon politics and that you come back next time for our next episode.
