Senator Bonham: 5 flaws with Kotek’s budget

Looking at the Governor’s budget proposal – throwing money at our problems is not the solution
By Oregon State Senator Daniel Bonham
& Oregon Senate Republican Leader,

Speaking of 2025 priorities, the Governor released a budget proposal with promises of pie-in-the-sky fixes to larger institutional problems.
We can all agree – housing, education, mental heath and addiction issues are top of mind this upcoming legislative session. What I will never agree with — is the fallacy that throwing more money at the problem ALONE will actually solve it.

Here are some of her budget asks and my response:

• $1.8 billion for housing – Until we reduce regulatory fees making building so expensive, incentivize construction trade and work to increase our housing supply through financial investment incentives – this issue will be more of the same. The simple math of the Kotek plan= government subsidized construction of housing through politically connected non-profits results in an expensive housing unit that needs to be subsidized to live in… quite frankly Oregonians can’t afford either.

• 10% increase in education funding – While I agree we need to invest in our kids, our state needs to increase school choice, diversify education options and focus on key skills such a reading, writing and STEM. We cannot continue to fund the same broken system. We need restoration of graduation standards so that our diplomas aren’t simply confirmation of attendance – an Oregon diploma needs to have value and signal to the world that a recipient is duly educated and job-ready.

• Re-route $140 million to addiction treatment and mental health – Until we mandate mental health or addiction treatment – while ensuring people are receiving wrap-around services, we are just throwing money at the problem.

• $1.75 billion for the Oregon Department of Transportation to address budget shortfalls – Not only does this unfunded request undoubtedly mean new taxes, but Oregon is currently one of the most expensive states to drive in, with nothing to show for it. We have a spending problem, not a funding problem.

• “Trump proofing Oregon” – Monies and policies are said to have Oregon join the resist movement against Trump. Not only would the majority party be using taxpayer money for political accolades — they are fear-mongering by offering “solutions” in search of a problem. A true “counter” to the federal administration is just working to make their residents’ lives better.