It's been a little over a month since the 2023 session adjourned, and I've had a chance to connect with my family and reflect on all that we accomplished.

Let me start by thanking you – none of what we do in the legislature is possible without the steadfast support of your time, money, advice, and energy.

Working in the legislature sometimes means hard conversations and tough battles, and sometimes it means we come together across the aisle to get things done. In 2023, we had some of each.

We passed 653 bills, over 90% of them with bipartisan support. We made big investments in supporting our students in school, rebuilding our roads and bridges, revamping our public defender system, fighting wildfires, and banning dangerous ghost guns.

I especially want to highlight three critical achievements: 1) we increased housing production and support for reducing homelessness; 2) we made major leaps in job creation by investing in semiconductor research and production; 3) we protected access to abortion health care and gender-affirming care.

On abortion, our bill does three fundamental things: 1) ensures that the protections Oregonians had under Roe v. Wade are protected in state law, 2) protects health care providers in Oregon who provide abortions for out-of-state patients, and 3) it requires insurance companies to cover gender-affirming care for trans people. This arguably makes Oregon one of the most gender-affirming states in the nation.

Those abortion protections were the cause of the 42-day walkout by Senate Republicans — one of the longest walkouts in American history. I'm proud of my Democratic colleagues who stood firm and refused to allow our democracy to collapse under the pressure.

As we begin to gear up for this upcoming election, would you please consider making a one-time donation — or perhaps a monthly donation — to support my work leading the Senate Democrats and defending our Democratic values and priorities?

Yes, I'll make a monthly donation.

Yes, I'll make a one-time donation.

Not right now, but I'll consider a donation later.

Enjoy the last days of summer. There's nothing better than summer in Oregon — stay cool out there!

Rob

Senate President Rob Wagner
State Senator, District 19
Lake Oswego, Oregon