Street roots., January 18, 2013, Image 1

WWW.
JANUARY 18, 2013
,org
Oregon
new voice
Rep. Tina Kotek becomes the state’s new Speaker of
the House, on the support of a Democratic majority
and the expectations o f a state in need of change
«»F
BY JOANNE ZUHL
STAFF WRITER
,o mark her swearing in as the state’s newest House
Speaker, Oregon Rep. Tina Kotek presented lawmakers
with a gift, the book “Toward One Oregon.” It’s a
collection of writings intended to bridge the state’s cultural
and geographical diversities, and symbolic of the
interconnectivity Kotek has emphasized from the moment
she took the oath of office on Jan. 14.
“We’re one state,” she said, speaking with Street
Roots just days before the event. “You have issues in
your community that are the same as mine. They may
look different, but they are the same issues.”
Kotek has served Portland’s North and Northeast
state district since 2006, often as a champion of
human services programs for needy families who
were often on the short end of budget cuts. “That
focus won’t change,” Kotek says, now that she’s
T
s p e a k e r of t h e H o u s e . “I ’m g o in g to c o n tin u e to
ask hard questions and prioritizing those
vulnerable parts of our state, people who don’t
have a place to live or food on the table.”
We talked with Speaker Kotek about her
agenda moving forward, the momentum of
the Democratic majority, and where
Oregon’s financial footing will take us in
2013.
Joan n e Zuhl: How is Oregon’s
financial health? We haven’t heard good
news about money in a long time.
Tina Kotek: We haven’t. But the
revenue picture is improving slowly
but steady. The important word is
steady. Oregon’s actually doing
very well in terms of rebuilding
and bringing people back into
work. But we’re not going to
1
have all the money we need to
make up for all the cuts. So the
Ü
biggest thing for us is prioritizing
those dollars. There will be a lot of
interest in putting it into the schools. I
think we’re at the point now where our
schools can’t take any more cuts. And
if we’re really going to build for the
future, you need your schools to be
strong.
That being said, I’m very interested
in making sure we have essential
See KOTEK, page 4
Inside
Irvine Welsh
Sweet shots
Martial arts
A n interview with
the “Trainspotting”
author on his new
prequel to the trilogy
Seattle
photographer
Barry Sweet talks
about 40 years
covering the
Pacific Northwest
Page 8
How two veterans
turned to theater, art
Page 5
to express themselves
Page 11