Dear Friends,

It has been an exciting week in the Capitol. Monday was the last day for us to propose new legislation and, in the final hours before that deadline, Representatives deluged the Clerk's office with new bills. All will receive consideration first by the Speaker, who will assign them to one of a dozen House committees, where many of them will receive a public hearing. Some of the legislation I have introduced is listed here.

On Tuesday, the House debated competing proposals to temporarily divert Oregon's corporate kicker to establish a rainy day fund. To pass, these proposals required 40 votes, or two-thirds of the House. Despite their basic similarities, both failed on party-line votes.

Yesterday, however, House and Senate leaders - Republican and Democrat - broke the logjam with an omnibus agreement on tax reform that includes suspending the corporate kicker, creating a rainy-day fund, raising the corporate minimum tax, and raising the estate tax exemption. While the plan is far from perfect, it begins to improve tax fairness, stabilize our revenue system, and produce more revenue for vital programs such as Head Start. Under the leadership of House Speaker Jeff Merkley, I believe we are beginning to enter a new era of cooperation and problem-solving by the Oregon Legislature.

We do, however, still have a long way to go. As your legislator, I will continue to push for tax reform, including the permanent repeal of the kicker, greater corporate accountability, and other steps to make our tax system more stable and sensible. I welcome your thoughts.

An Online Conversation with the Community
Ben is eager to hear your thoughts on tax reform. Click to begin an online conversation about this important subject. To start, this conversation works like a survey - it contains just a few questions that should take you only a minute or two to complete.

This exercise has several purposes. It will (a) give Ben a better idea of what you are thinking about tax reform, (b) help you know how Ben formulates the major questions and our choices, and (c) open up lines of communication between you and Ben about substantive issues.

The survey is just the starting point for dialogue. We will be following up with respondents and developing this online tool - including branching out to different topics - over the coming months.

Upcoming Events in the Neighborhood
Over just the past six weeks, Ben has held eight public events in House District 46. We have been at a town hall meeting, cozy in coffee shops, and on street corners in the rain! In addition to e-mail and the web, invitations to these events have been hand-delivered to more than 1850 households in the district. Thanks to all of you who have come out to share your thoughts - and thanks to all the volunteers who have made it possible! (The photo to the right is from last Saturday, at SE 76th & Woodward.)

We hope to create an unparalleled level of accessibility to your State Legislature. This Saturday, you are invited to join Ben at the Bipartisan Café from 8:30-9:30am, or afterward, at the Johnson Creek Watershed event, which runs from 9am to noon. Information on these and other upcoming neighborhood events, as well as Ben's drop-in hours at the Capitol, is available on his online calendar.

We welcome your thoughts about other ways that Ben can connect with his constituents.

Policy Watch
In addition to some of the legislation that Ben has introduced, there are several thousand other bills winging their way through the legislative process.