OREGON
Saturday, February 5, 2022
East Oregonian
A11
State of the state: Brown sees positives amid turmoil
By LAUREN DRAKE
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — Gov. Kate
Brown delivered her fi nal
state of the state address
Thursday, Feb. 3, acknowl-
edging the turmoil the
state has faced under her
tenure — from the global
pandemic, to unprecedented
wildfi res, historic fl oods and
ice storms, as well as deep
political divisions.
But she quickly took
an optimistic turn, noting
Oregon’s economy is strong,
unemployment is low and
her leadership style — as a
collaborator — has resulted
in tangible wins for the state.
“Over and over, I’ve seen
the power of collaboration
and innovation during my
time as governor,” Brown
said.
One example she cited: a
historic deal recently struck
between environmental
groups and Oregon’s timber
industry.
“These two groups could
not be more opposed. For 50
years, they have been chal-
lenging one another with
ballot initiatives and fi ghts
in the Legislature. The
‘Timber Wars’ of Oregon
are not an urban legend;
they were real,” the gover-
nor said.
The two groups are
now closer to updating the
Forest Practices Act with the
understanding they would
avoid an epic and expensive
battle over Oregon’s forests.
The governor’s other
high points:
• Graduation rates have
increased for kids by 8%
since she took offi ce, and
there has been a record
investment in schools.
• The number of children
in foster care has decreased
by 11% to about 5,000 kids,
the lowest number in 16
years.
• The state’s largest
transportation package was
passed.
• The state passed a
comprehensive reproduc-
tive health package.
And while COVID-19
has hit every state hard,
Oregon is the third in the
nation for lowest cumulative
case counts, the governor
said. The governor has come
under fi re for having some
of the strictest COVID-19
restrictions.
This legislative session,
the governor plans to push
for a $200 million package
to bolster the state’s work-
force, particularly in health
care, tech and manufactur-
ing and construction.
“We must do more than
give people particular job
skills … We need to help
Oregonians create a career
ladder. We need to take
an entry-level job, like a
certifi ed nursing assistant,
and provide the skills to
advance to careers in para-
Kristyna Wentz-Graff /Oregon Public Broadcasting
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, in her offi ce at the state Capitol fol-
lowing her fi nal state of the state address Thursday, Feb. 3,
2022. Brown acknowledged the turmoil the state has faced
during the pandemic as well as noting Oregon’s economy is
strong and unemployment is low.
medicine, nursing or health
care administration. That’s
turning a job into a career,”
she said.
The investment will be
targeted at those who have
been particularly hard hit by
the pandemic.
“ T he fa m il ies who
have faced discrimination
and barriers to economic
opportunity for generations
simply due to who they are,
where they live or the color
of their skin,” she said.
The governor noted that
to get people back to work,
they need stable housing and
child care.
She is also pushing for a
$400 million investment in
aff ordable housing and $100
million investment in child
care.
“Child care is a basic
necessity; it is just as critical
to our economic recovery as
infrastructure,” Brown said.
“For working parents, child
care is infrastructure.”
The governor spoke of
the skyrocketing prices
of homes in Portland and
the housing crisis that is
evident across the state from
Coos Bay to Ontario. She
spoke of the million-dol-
lar condos being built on
the same city blocks where
people are sleeping in tents,
huddling over fi res to stay
warm. There are more than
15,000 Oregonians who are
believed not to have homes.
With the state’s budget
doing well, it’s a chance to
address the entrenched issue
that has been decades in the
making, she said.
“There’s an old saying in
politics: Don’t tell me what
your values are. Show me
your budget, and I’ll tell you
what your values are.”
But, Brown said, it’s
not just about investing
resources.
“It’s about fi xing a system
that has been rigged against
working families, particu-
larly families of color. We
must keep our eyes fixed
on the deep racial dispari-
ties in housing stability and
homeownership caused by
decades, centuries of racism
in housing policies in this
country.”
Finally, the governor
addressed climate change.
“Every year I have been
governor, we have seen
more extreme weather than
the last. We have expe-
r ienced u nprecedented
devastation, from historic
drought to expansive fl ood-
ing to a deadly heat dome
and massive power outages
from winter storms,” Brown
said, adding Oregon needs
to transition to low carbon
energy sources.
Former House Repub-
lican Leader Christine
Drazan, who is now running
for governor, offered a
contrasting viewpoint on
Brown’s time in offi ce.
“Brown’s failed policies
have left Oregonians paying
billions more in taxes,
undermined public safety,
and cheapened the value
of an Oregon diploma,”
Drazan said in a written
statement. “Her top-down
approach to responding to
the pandemic has been a
disaster for Oregon fami-
lies and employers, yet she
continues to double down.
... Oregonians desperately
need new leadership.”
And Senate Republican
Leader Tim Knopp, R-Bend,
noted the governor’s speech
didn’t speak to public safety
issues.
“Crime is at record
levels here in Oregon, but
you wouldn’t know that by
listening to the governor’s
speech,” Knopp said in a
statement. “People don’t
feel safe and Republicans
share their frustration and
anger. The lack of urgency
Democrats have brought to
this crisis is shocking. The
governor’s workforce pack-
age won’t do anything for
our economy if people don’t
feel safe to work or do busi-
ness here.”
Brown has been a fi xture
in the state Legislature since
the 1990s. This is expected
to be her final legislative
session because she cannot
run for governor again due
to term limits.
Oregon bridges continue to age MEET OUR HERMISTON TEAM!
By PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — The latest
report about bridge condi-
tions on state highways
off ers bad and good news for
Oregon motorists and truck
drivers.
The good news: The
Oregon Department of Trans-
portation is making progress
in seismic reinforcement of
state bridges, and work is
scheduled to start later this
year on the George Aber-
nethy Bridge, built in 1970,
which carries Interstate 205
across the Willamette River
between West Linn and
Oregon City. The work will
eventually cover nine bridges
in a seven-mile stretch of
Interstate 205 between Staf-
ford Road and state Highway
213 in Oregon City.
The bad news in the 2021
report ODOT released last
month: The percentage of
Oregon bridges deemed to be
in “good condition” contin-
ues to fall, from 40% two
decades ago, to 24% in 2021.
While Oregon has relatively
few state bridges in poor
condition, the report also
says ODOT is hovering at
the edge of the 78% goal it set
for bridges maintained in fair
condition, and that percent-
age has been dropping for the
past fi ve years.
Time is working against
state bridges, more than half
of which were built before
1970, during the interstate
highway era. A bridge has a
normal lifespan of 50 years,
although its usefulness can be
extended.
Under a 2017 state trans-
portation fi nancing law, $12
million is generated annually
for bridge repairs, up from
$10 million back in 2018. The
recent federal infrastructure
fi nancing law, which Presi-
dent Joe Biden signed on Nov.
15, will yield a total of $268
million more earmarked for
bridge repairs over the next
fi ve or six years. The federal
law also off ers opportunities
for states to seek competitive
grants for bridge work.
Still, at the rate of three
bridges annually, it will take
900 years to replace the 2,750
bridges in the state system.
ODOT estimates its bridge
maintenance backlog at $5
billion.
Robert Van Brocklin
of Portland, chairman of
the Oregon Transportation
Commission, said the new
federal funding helps with
bridges and other transpor-
tation needs — but it is not
enough.
“We can make progress
on many of our goals, but we
cannot solve the vast majority
of our funding problems with
the money from this legisla-
tion,” he said in a statement
after a commission meeting
Jan. 20. “We also need to
pursue other revenue sources
to produce sustainable trans-
portation funding to invest in
a reliable, diverse transporta-
tion system.”
The bridge problem is not
new. After state highway
offi cials posted load limits
on some bridges on Inter-
state 5 — Oregon’s main
north-south corridor — the
2003 Legislature approved a
$2.5-billion fi nancing plan,
$1.6 billion of which went to
fi xing state and local bridges
on key freight routes.
In addition to I-5 and I-84,
Oregon’s main east-west
route, ODOT identifi ed these
highways as Fix-It priority
routes a decade ago: U.S.
Highway 97 through Central
Oregon; U.S. Highway 20
between Bend and Burns,
U.S. Highway 26 between
Portland and the north coast,
state Highway 18 from the
Portland area to the coast;
parts of U.S. Highway 101 on
the coast, and state Highway
58 from south of Eugene to
Highway 97.
But the report says import-
ant bridges, such as the
Columbia Slough Bridge that
off ers access to the industrial
area on Marine Drive in Port-
land, are left out because they
are not on state highways and
not on priority routes. Built
in 1933, the main span of
that bridge has steel girders
supported by a concrete foun-
dation, but 11 other spans are
timber.
Unlike pavement condi-
tions on highways, there are
few alternatives for poor
conditions on bridges, other
than load limits or long
detours.
As for seismic reinforce-
ment, the ODOT report says
that work has been done on
the northern half of vulnera-
ble bridges on Highway 97 —
a north-south route that cuts
through Central Oregon —
and construction will start on
bridges in the southern half.
Of four seismic projects
in Southern Oregon, one
is complete, one is under
construction, and two are in
design.
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