Lane County residents gathered for a town hall meeting Wednesday to ask questions and hear what lawmakers will focus on in Oregon’s legislative session that started Feb. 4. Senator Chris Edwards (D – Eugene), Representative Nancy Nathanson (D – Eugene) and House Majority Leader Val Hoyle (D – Eugene/Junction City) gave a brief overview of their priorities for this term and took questions and comments from the audience. 
Edwards, Nathanson, and Hoyle all spoke of what they saw as the main priorities for their districts. Health care, jobs, the economy, education, and government efficiency were the main issues they would like to focus on this term.
One important subject to the audience was health care. Several citizens shared stories of those suffering from the lack of adequate health care, and brought up the Affordable Healthcare for all Oregon plan act. The act, due this month, proposes a plan to cover every person who resides or works in Oregon. The complete text of the act can be found at www.hcao.org.
Nathanson’s response that she had signed the bill brought cheers from the audience. Edwards said he thought the bill was a good idea, but would not sign it until he had a chance to read it.
Another issue brought up was Lane County’s current justice system and public safety concerns. In response to concerns over the amount of money spent on jails, Hoyle shared Lane County has cut the safety budget over and over. She then brought up a county public safety measure put out by the county commissioners to restore 120 jail beds and 16 youth detention beds, reminding listeners if criminals are not in jail, then they are outside recommitting crimes and possibly ending up at state prisons, costing the state even more money. However, Hoyle agreed with one comment that the bill needs to explain the use and amount of funds better.
The environment was another topic of discussion. Citizens wondered what steps the legislature is taking to preserve and protect Lane County. The legislators answered that environmental legislation was passed last session and more is proposed for this one. There are plans for a water storage project that will store water gathered from rivers in underground aqueducts. It will irrigate farm lands during the dry season and the gathering process will not disturb wildlife. Also, a new bill that would ban the growing of canola has already gathered many signatures.
A few other issues to be discussed this session will include items such as gun control and initiative reform. The officials said in the last session, state legislators cleaned out the closet, getting rid of unnecessary laws and fixing ones that didn’t work. They plan to continue this work during the current session. All three legislators closed by sharing their hope for this year and reminding the public the importance of communication, inviting them to keep in touch with their state representatives.