Bend Don’t Break: Emerson Levy, Oregon State Representative, House District 53

In this episode of Bend Don’t Break, Aaron Switzer sits down with Oregon State Representative Emerson Levy, an attorney, educator, and public servant representing House District 53. Emerson shares how her work is grounded in community input—from tackling lithium battery fires at local landfills to navigating complex legislation around liability, transportation funding, and environmental safety. She offers a candid look at how ideas become laws, and the role collaboration plays in moving policy forward.

Together, Aaron and Emerson explore the realities behind Oregon’s budget challenges, the failed gas tax vote, and the growing urgency around education reform in a tech-heavy world. Emerson also reflects on bipartisan problem-solving, the personal toll of public service, and her vision for stronger, more accountable governance. It’s a thoughtful conversation about leadership, transparency, and what it means to show up for community in a moment of change.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to the Ben Don't Break Podcast. We are powered by the Stors, Ben's locally owned media company and weekly newspaper. This podcast is our eddy in the rushing waters of local journalism. We are glad that you've taken some of your time to listen to us chat with the people who shape our local community. Support us through our member program at BenStorts.com.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Thank you to our presenting sponsor, Remax Key Properties, a family-owned, full-service real estate brokerage specializing in residential, luxury, commercial, new construction, and ranch and land properties. Their new state-of-the-art facility at 42 Greenwood Avenue is a modern collaborative space and the new home of the Ben Don't Break Podcast Recording Studio.

SPEAKER_02 0:45

I'm Erin Sweitzer, publisher of The Source and co-producer of this fine podcast with Megan Burden running the board off screen. Again, for all you listeners familiar with her format, we will try to incorporate her in and she will resist. Then just laugh in the background. We are here today with Emerson Levy. She is an attorney, educator, and dedicated public servant representing the communities of Oregon House District 53, including Ben, Redmond, Sisters, Tumilow, and Black Butte. Known for her collaborative, bipartisan approach to governance. She is committed to advancing the well-being of all Oregonians, especially children and families. She is a member of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means and co-chair of its Natural Resources Subcommittee and Emergency Board. Additionally, she serves on the Housing and Homelessness and Climate, Energy, and Environment Committees. Committees. She lives in Bend with her husband, their 11-year-old daughter, who is with us today, and energetic two-year-old puppy.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

That makes me sound like a big nerd, but you know, the truth isn't the truth is there. There might be a line vein of truth there. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, exactly. What's the puppy's name? Um, her name is Violet Eliza Levy. Okay. Um, she just turned two last week. We had a party. Um, Ida's made cupcakes, and she is an Aussie burnadoodle. Okay. So the Aussie part is really strong. So she, you know, they they want to hurt. Listen. Yeah. And she's so smart. So at 6 30 every morning, she rips off our blankets with her teeth and like has to get everyone up. Yeah. And it's time to go. Yeah. Yeah. And then once it's done, she sits on the couch, like, you're welcome.

SPEAKER_02 2:29

Yeah, I have an I have an Aussie. So you know. And when we have my wife and I are having coffee, there's a certain amount of time you can have coffee. Yeah. And then she's got to go. Yeah. It's time for the walk. So she and she lets you know she'll bark until you get the hell up.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

Yep. That that is our everyday.

SPEAKER_02 2:48

Yeah. Uh well, Emerson. Um, I we did the uh City Club Forum together that I um helped City Club moderate with, and and so I asked you a lot of stuff there. And I'm gonna ask you a lot of the same stuff because these I don't think my readers were there.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

That's perfect.

SPEAKER_02 3:04

They may have been, but one thing that I found fascinating when we were chatting was uh your love affair with batteries. Lithium, lithium batteries, yeah, and maybe it's lithium and not batteries, but you know how yeah, but you were uh integral and passing some legislation around that, and I found that fascinating, though again, it's probably my stream of nerd coming out in in conjunction with yours. But maybe talk a little bit about that legislation you worked on and why it's important.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

Yeah, absolutely. So the you know, lithium batteries they burn at about a thousand degrees, they're hot little fiery bursts of fire, really. And you know, this bill came to me when our waste haulers, um, and specifically our waste haulers in Deschutes County said, uh, you know, we're having at this time it was like 10 fires because it took us two years to pass. It takes takes time to pass legislation, especially kind of bigger stuff like this. And then it turned to 54 fires um at the landfill. It takes it cost about $10,000 to put one out. Wow. And they believe the source was lithium batteries. It, you know, we've had lithium batteries, but the the rate that they're in our waste stream um is just it's growing exponentially. And we don't have a really efficient way to recycle them, but now we do. So it's called a PRO, that's a producer responsibility organization. And the really cool thing about lithium is it's a precious metal, and that has an incredible amount of value. You know, most of the precious metals in the world come from China and Australia, and we don't have a strong supply chain of precious metals with this massive demand. So, in order to mitigate the cost of the program, you just recycle these precious metals again. So we went from having a hodgepodge program to a really inclusive program that eventually will pay for itself.

SPEAKER_02 4:58

And do you, where do you find the, I mean, how did you know how to navigate something like this? Did they lead you into this? Or, you know, it seems pretty, I don't want to say arcane, but it's, you know, it doesn't seem self-evident that this is something you need to jump into.

SPEAKER_01 5:13

It's like so it started with a problem statement. And I say all of my best legislation has never come from me. It's come from the community where they say there's a problem and just kind of scratched our head, okay, what are we gonna do? What are other states doing? Will a pro will a professional responsibility organization come along and be a partner? Because essentially we're saying you need to do this thing, and we, you know, you need to pay for it as well. You know, it's a about a penny a battery. Um, but and that's why it took two cycles. Yeah. And the only way you learn how to be an effective legislator is to time and really figuring out what is the best way I can I can bring people along and to understand the problem. So we really switched away from environmental hazards and that kind of stuff to really letting the waste haulers tell the story of their trucks catching on fire. And we talk about cost so much and risk with wildfires. And the only thing we can really do as legislators, and you you'll hear people all the time about I'm gonna lower your cost for this, or I'm gonna lower your cost for this. There's no like magic bullet for that. It's these little things. How can we reduce fire risk? The only thing that's gonna bring down your insurance is to reduce risk. So it's these little things combined, hopefully, that reduce fire risk. Yeah. But so yeah, we let the waste tallers tell the story. And we had it passed with zero, no votes. And you know, they came in like with their sweatshirts and whatever, and they said, you know, in the last five years, this is gonna be a huge problem, and my truck is catching on fire. They did an incredible job of telling the story in a way I never could. And so I just try and get out of the way of of people who have who are doing the job every day, yeah. And be a I see it as like a steward or a shepherd or whatever through the process.

SPEAKER_02 6:56

Do these things come through like as a member of the Ways and Means Committee? What does the Ways and Means Committee do? It's a great title.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

It I Ways and Means, it's so like it's so um a little, a little old, you know, it feels very parliamentary. Um, so it's the budget committee, essentially. And the way that the budget committee works is it goes through all the subcommittees. So you have the experts on those different subjects and they make recommendations to the Ways and Means Committee. And the process has changed over the last two years with our new co-chairs. People used to call the budget process in the state of Oregon just a black box. You never you just saw what came out of it, you have no idea what was in it. And now the the process is just remarkably transparent. But really, that's where the advocacy is. It's in ways and means. So, how can you make sure your thing gets out of the meeting? And so for me, that was every single day.

SPEAKER_02 7:49

Seems like giving a place where all the lobbyists line up.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Well, so that's the thing, it's a closed door.

SPEAKER_02 7:54

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

So, like lobbyists do interact with you know the ways and means co-chair's chief or staff, but those subchair meetings, those are closed doors, no lobby, um, sometimes no staff. Um, and we're just saying, okay, this is what's the most important thing to me.

SPEAKER_02 8:09

Yeah, I would like that.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

And but but they don't ever tell you that when you start, I by the way. Like they don't say, like, these meetings you're gonna have if you're a subchair is where you will like do the most effective advocacy. No, right. You just learn over time.

SPEAKER_02 8:21

Well, being there, I know one of the um, I mean, gas tax was such a big bugaboo uh this time around, and I'm sure that was a big ways and means committee item. And you know, I knew everybody kind of knew it was dead on arrival, especially when uh with what's going on in Iran. And but you guys started working as if it were gonna fail early, early on to kind of position yourself for the eventuality. Did you get there? I mean, the question that I've had around the gas tax is it still seems pretty important. It's incredibly important. And and so, and and I and what I what dismayed me, I guess, and all the arguments around it is everybody, you know, loves a punching bag and they loved beating up on the idea of an of a of a gas tax without really, I think, understanding, well, okay, what's gonna happen to Odot? What's gonna happen to this funding? Why do I care? And then I heard people over here, why do I care about a bridge in Portland as if our commerce isn't tied to the largest city in the state? But um I'll let you speak a little more to that.

SPEAKER_01 9:29

I think, you know, like backing several steps up is what I think the voters told us in that vote um in May to repeal the the gas tax, the you know, six cents that we decided to put on the gas tax plus some different fees on at the DMV. I feel like it was a signal that there wasn't enough transparency in the way we spend money. And you know, did we make the case for why we needed the money? And I think that's where we fundamentally failed.

SPEAKER_02 9:59

You know. Do you think you could have made the case for it?

SPEAKER_01 10:03

I think about this maybe every other day. And we are in an anti-attax environment, and and I understand that. Like I feel I feel pinched like everybody else. And so I really understand voters' frustration. And the case should have been this bridge is rated a six. And uh for for for listeners, if you're going across the white salmon bridge, it's rated a six out of 100. And it's not the only one, right? So our bridges are not safe, um, and they need they need extensive repair. We we didn't tell people that. So when you look at the polling, 41% of people think our roads and bridges are in great shape. Yeah. We didn't explain the maintenance budget, we didn't explain what happens if the pass gets closed. So for peop for businesses on this side of the mountain, that means your costs would have gone up substantially if you have to drop ship versus you know a trucking over over a Sandian Pass. So I think I I think we got the vote that we deserved, and maybe that gets me in trouble, but we didn't make the case. And it's our job to go back and say, you know, humbly, that we didn't make the case. I think one thing that we can do that I think is necessary is this process called zero balance budgeting. Um, and this is really in the weeds, but to say that you have to justify every expense. Right. Kind of like how you do your budget for your family, right? Um, this much I have this month, and this is what I can pay for. But in in the way we do our budgeting in Oregon is everything we've paid for that has a continuation on it, we just say we're gonna keep funding that, and what do you want on top of that?

SPEAKER_02 11:44

Right.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

I think we need to say you need to justify all the expenses.

SPEAKER_02 11:47

Still, even though they're moving forward. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

Yeah. Every budget runs that way. Yeah. Kit Zopper, I forgot what year was it, he did zero balance budgeting and found two billion dollars.

SPEAKER_02 11:57

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

So I think before we go back to the voters, we have to say here's what we've done, and here's our case.

SPEAKER_02 12:05

What's your temperature in the legislature for zero balance budgeting?

SPEAKER_01 12:09

I think a lot of people would be I think Is this an Emerson idea? It's not an Emerson idea. I I think I'm probably the one that's most obsessed with it. Um, but I think a lot of us would like like to see it. Yeah. Yeah. Because then we can say we've done everything.

SPEAKER_02 12:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

You know, but we haven't done everything.

SPEAKER_02 12:28

Yeah. I mean, I I know that um, you know, if any any social media platform, you just pick them if they're civic oriented. There's a pothole discussion and a roads discussion and a snow plowing discussion. And people are passionate about it. And and uh, you know, I but they're the same people who are voting, you know, they're they're they're first on to talk about, you know, this road is horrible, my car axle is gonna be destroyed. But they'll vote that down if you don't make the case. There's no connection between the two. I I I didn't get the vibe that there was a connection between a gas tax and the fact that I drive on the product of that gas tax every day.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

I mean, that's it's such a perfect example of not making the case that the only fund that we are allowed to maintain the roads with is the gas tax.

SPEAKER_02 13:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:20

So it just seemed like we were increasing costs, but you know, if you're not in the weeds on this stuff, you don't know, like, okay, you can only use this fund for this. I mean, I never knew that before I got into legislature. Right.

SPEAKER_02 13:32

Right. Like um schools is becoming more and more of a a bugaboo for the state. And um, you know, coming out of COVID, I think there were some serious warning signs, and that has just escalated over time. And I know I was surprised at the forum because I wasn't planning on asking any question about schools in that forum, it came up anyways. Uh, so I know it's a concern. I know Willamette Week has done some incredible reporting in Portland, and it's really raised the profile, I think, statewide about the situation we're facing. When you and you brought you were the one who brought it up. Was it me? I flagged it. I'm the worst. Because and then I thought, oh, she's coming in good. Um what are your what are your I mean, obviously concerns about recidivism, absenteeism, reading scores. Um, you know, I I do think it's gonna become something of a political uh potato in November. What do you what do you what are your thoughts?

SPEAKER_01 14:36

I think it's absolutely gonna be the political potato in November. I think parents are really frustrated. And and I imagine that teachers share the same frustrations. Um, but I think that we should have the best schools in the country. And I'm frustrated that we haven't heard that from the tippy top. I went to Massachusetts for a conference, and Mara Healy's like, we're number one in this, we're number one in this. She's the governor of Massachusetts. Um she's just like a very cool person. And she, I was like, that's amazing. I want to be Massachusetts, like they're they're number one.

SPEAKER_02 15:14

Right.

SPEAKER_01 15:15

And I just got that energy. It was almost a year ago, and I was just like, that is the energy that I want to bring to the legislatures, not just like making up for our failures, is I want to be the best. Yeah. And why, why shouldn't we be the best? And one of the biggest things that we have to reckon with, and everyone across the country has to reckon with, is the amount of technology we've allowed into our classrooms. Um, you know, first we were allowed to have the cell phones just in the classroom, which is so bonkers to me. Um, that you could have this massive distraction and device where you're trying to learn algebra. I remember when my grades started to go down in law school, it was when I brought a laptop. Randy that you put the internet and a screen in front of me, like I'm gonna be, I had a blog on cupcakes. I I was updating my blog, I wasn't learning torts. So, you know, that's just yeah, it's so obvious. It's just it's right there. And so, you know, we've removed cell phones from uh the classroom, you know, thanks to the governor's executive order. And now we're looking to codify that in next session. And I was talking to a teacher the other day, and they said it was like incredible, it's changed the classroom. Right. And then the next step is you know, should our kids be doing math on a Chromebook?

SPEAKER_02 16:29

Right.

SPEAKER_01 16:30

There's something that you know, we know there's a relationship between the brain and holding a pencil and writing. And that's kind of our next, uh, our next thing we're gonna take on are these policies. And then what role does AI play in our schools? Um, and just making sure that we have the guardrails, not being anti-tech at all, just what is appropriate. Because when we look at when the Chromebooks came into the classroom, this was pre-COVID, scores were declining. They line up. There's a there's a correlation that's very easy to prove of when Chromebooks came into the classroom, our students are not reading well. I people say uh kids can't read. The kids can read, they're not reading at the level that we need them to be at, right? They're not reading at the standard that we would like them to be at to be successful. Um and so that is the that's a big challenge, I think, coming up is you know, we fund our schools about middle of the pack, but our outcomes are uh, you know, at the bottom.

SPEAKER_02 17:27

Yeah, I remember being I I was such an early hater of of tech, and um and we could and I I remember personally, because our it our kids um were one of the first uh generations to be given iPads in the classroom. I remember thinking, well, using your word, it was bonkers, you know. They would, and we had a you know, we had a good relationship, and our kids would tell me pretty openly, you know, oh yeah, we've downloaded this. It was before they had put even those guardrails on, and there was so much junk that they were looking at on those pads, and we were trying to curtail their uh their tech consumption at home, and they were getting force-fed more tech consumption, and it was always that resounding drumbeat of like, oh, you're a Luddite. Yes, you're anti-tech, you don't want them to be prepared for the future. This is the future, and um yeah, I just don't believe that.

SPEAKER_01 18:19

Absolutely, and I think that's the argument now is that you know, we call ourselves the mom mob. Um, I had a meeting with them this morning, we're gonna do a town hall on a lot of these topics, but that yeah, that we're Luddites, that we're and that's not it at all. We're just saying our the kids are not in a conducive learning environment with all of this tech, and the science bears it out. And especially with our our young boys, we know that it's short, like it's it creates a short sort of like a short circuit of the frontal lobe. It makes you more reactive.

SPEAKER_02 18:52

And that frontal lobe for boys is already pretty small.

SPEAKER_01 18:55

It's it's already a challenge, and so they're like, oh, all these behavior problems, and like, well, you're we're feeding into our kids who are most vulnerable to have you know uh outbursts. Well, we're we're giving them that that brain signal to be more outburst. And then the same with our with our you know young women, especially at the age of 16, that comparative social media is is it rewrote rewrites or reroutes, sorry, the brain and dopamine, like the science, we know all this stuff. And so again, not anti-tech, gaming does not affect the brain like comparative social media does.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

Right.

SPEAKER_01 19:32

So it's just making the better choices, not saying computers are bad.

SPEAKER_02 19:37

Like, yeah, and I remember when we had the whole discussion about cell phones, and the and I think this goes to Oregon's education in general, and what you know, again, the Lamet League has been reporting is that the biggest challenge that I found, especially for us as a paper writing about these topics, is every district in the state gets to make their own rules. You don't have that Mississippi model that's top-down where you have an overarching. I mean, I don't really uh I'd really prefer it if I could find the best people in the state, let them govern education from the top down. And it's not Oregon's model.

SPEAKER_01 20:13

No, Oregon has such a long history of local control. And part of that, I always think that there's a bit of a libertarian streak in Oregonians or kind of like Mainers. Um, but I think that just like anything, what what are the guardrails on that? Yeah. And when we have kids are that are failing, like then that local control is no longer serving that student.

SPEAKER_02 20:37

Well, and you're getting multiple philosophies and you're getting phonics in one county and nothing in the other county. You got next door counties, one of them succeeding, one of them failing miserably. And um I worry that a lot of the a lot of the talk that'll go on at the legislative level, if it doesn't involve those kind of discussions, is gonna be like it's be philosophical.

SPEAKER_01 21:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:03

Because implementation is just so difficult.

SPEAKER_01 21:05

It's really challenging. And it but I think we found at the cell phone band that that implementation wasn't as hard as we thought it would be. Yeah. Um, I would say we're it's never gonna be perfect. Um, you know, my nephew is uh goes to a high school in Portland and you know he's figured out how to open his yonder packet, but like he honors it, you know, even though he knows how to open. And I was like, let me see it. And you know, I did the thing and I was like, of course. If if there's a game, it will be played, right? But even if 80% of our kids are not on their phones or following the rules, like that's a huge marker of success. Right. And so Chromebooks, those things, like what can we do that's reasonable without being overly philosophical because we have to implement this in 179 districts, 74.

SPEAKER_02 21:48

Right. Well, even as a baseline, if you're saying it at that level, it's helping parents also say it where you don't feel crazy or like you're like you're a Luddite out in the wilderness, because that's How we were when all this stuff was getting introduced in the school symbols, like, well, now we're standing against the whole district wave coming through.

SPEAKER_01 22:08

It's hard. And it, I remember when we were working on e-bike regulations, some parents came to me, can you say no? So I don't have to. And I kind of think a cell phones in classroom is the same way. Right.

SPEAKER_02 22:19

Yeah, I would. I mean, e-bikes, there's a whole nother one of my favorite things. The um I wanted to bring up the um liability waiver issue that passed through the legislature last time because I was speaking to someone who I promised sellren remain nameless, that um you worked as an incredible moderator during that whole process, and there were a lot of flashier uh names on that, but that when they wanted to actually get everybody to the table, that it was is there truth to that? Do you want to take a victory lap on that? Because I did get it from a from a reliable third party.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

Um that that's a very kind thing to say. Um, and possibly yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:05

I mean, and what struck me about that particular issue, and you mentioned it just a little bit earlier, is what I found, and and because through our event business, obviously I pay a lot of attention to waivers. And you know, waivers are the backbone of of races, of anytime you want to have any kind of competitors. And so I'm not in the same category. And that's the thing about that liability issue that it wasn't a one size fits all. In fact, it was hardly any of the same sizes in that that grew, but uh it took so long, you know, like walking that legislature through and again to a compromise that you know it probably was a good compromise because neither side was entirely happy. Um but that's what fascinated me about it because I came personally, I came I came around in a lot of ways on that legislature, legislation legislature, because at first I was advocating for personally, and then I realized like I didn't want to be a champion for insurers and you know the the rights of insurers versus the rights of individuals, but I know there was a question in there. Emerson, when so it just took a long time because that was what yeah, and I and I found it fascinating that everybody was really unhappy with the fact that this couldn't get done in a month, and that seemed to be even after the thing was all done, what I kept hearing is like, oh man, this this person pushed back and this person pushed back, and we had this and that. And I was like, sounds to me like it was just haggling for a really on a really important issue, and isn't that gonna happen?

SPEAKER_01 24:48

Yeah, it was really hard. I will not lie about how hard it was. It probably pushed me harder than anything I've ever worked on. Um, and I think because first there's an incredible amount of special interest involved, like that that's really hard. And I saw that up close, and it kind of I I think I can be like a little Pollyanna about things, and that it broke my heart a little bit because I think there was probably an even better bill that couldn't get through because of those like special interests. But that's the job, and that is um that is important too that you understand what each stakeholder needs. He would go late into the night, and I teach as well. I'm a professor, and so I would leave and go teach and then come back and like be waiting. It would just be crazy. It was just crazy, and you know, it's very kind of whoever it was that said that, but there was also a lot of other people. Uh, rep Wallen was just an incredible partner to me. Mike McLean uh was great.

SPEAKER_02 25:52

Um would have thought he's a great uh he keeps coming up as a pretty moderating voice helping to move that stuff through.

SPEAKER_01 26:02

Yeah, he's really becoming one of like my favorite people in the legislature. Um it was oh sorry, Ralph uh rep Helfridge. Um it was, you know, it was unlikely alliances and it was just such an interesting, it was just an interesting time. But you know, the thing that finally got us across, you know, we you know, we were on basic, I joke we were on the courthouse steps, just you know, we know, are we going to trial? Are we going to trial? You know, are we gonna settle that that kind of thing was I just said, let's just negotiate towards our values. Like what is the thing we all share? Yeah. And we all want people to be safe. And my argument the whole time was a lack of regulation is actually the least safe place to be because once insurers pull out and they will, or you have cover, or I always say you have insurance but no coverage, um, through like surplus lines and things like that, that activities will continue, but there'll be no insurance. There will be no recourse, but people are not gonna stop competing, not in this town. No, and so I think the lack of regulation was just really unsafe. And I really like safety. Yeah. And that's how we got there in the end, was just endless and it was painful. We all felt like we took a chunk, but I will say it was so cool to see my caucus come behind me, you know, when Jason and I are like, we both agree. And if we both agree, then we're they were there, you know, and and to it was pretty cool. And then having the minority leader say, All right, I'll bring all the votes. Like it was how bipartisanship is supposed to work, and it was looking back on it now, it was kind of beautiful, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 27:40

It but it was hard and it was beautiful in a political nerdy kind of way, and one of those.

SPEAKER_01 27:44

You're supposed to be fighting it out, right? Absolutely, that's what we did, and it wasn't just D or you know, R, it was kind of the way how different people view things. Um, and it was, you know, when I a month out I was uh tired and nothing, I felt really worn down by it all, and maybe like disillusioned. But now I'm like, that was great. Yeah, that was great.

SPEAKER_02 28:06

Well, I can say that you know, it it had so much public process and so much um advocacy from both sides that if you were paying attention, you could re you could understand it. I I think in a lot of issues, I don't feel that way. I feel like it's you know, you're reading media and um you you might be hearing directly from legislatures on on their positions, but on this one, the people who were for and the people who are against were actually making presentations, being at things like city club, being at forums, and and it took a long time to get to get all that out. I I can also I can also substantiate that for that period in which it was a big gray area, it was incredibly nerve-wracking to be in that environment because people were competing. We were still using waivers, we didn't know if they were gonna hold, we didn't know while while we had some insurance backing, you also knew like, well, this is easily punctured. And um, and I hope they come to a decision soon. So it wasn't a light, it wasn't a light piece of legislation. I think I don't think the general populace understands what this was about covering my kids in the event that they're you know, they understood it if it was snowboarding, but he didn't understand it if it was they were running a race or they were volunteering on a trail. Right, doing any of these kind of activities where you're you you do have to sign it. You can't really hold those people liable. And um, yeah, so kudos.

SPEAKER_01 29:34

Yeah, I mean, and one thing I do want people to realize that, you know, the if you're holding the race and there's not insurance, they can try and pierce, you know, what we call pierce the corporate veil or whatever, however it's structured and sue personally.

SPEAKER_02 29:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:47

And like that's a huge risk. And it was, you know, I had a meeting the other day and I um a river raft guide from Southern Oregon, she came up to me and she said, I've never been to the Capitol before, I never advocated for anything, like this is not my world. And she's like, and I built this little coalition of river raft guides, and now I feel like my business can go for generations. And of course I cried because of course I did. But it was just so cool because again, I felt so disillusioned, but now I think like that was great. Yeah. And and I think that for the you know, the opposition, I think we created a path for people to still have recourse. Yeah, and that was always the goal. That was never the goal to not give people the justice that they did.

SPEAKER_02 30:31

Sure, sure. Um we're coming to the end of our time. So looking bigger picture, I mean, there doesn't seem to be um somebody riding in with a train of money to save from all the federal cuts that have been coming down and the pressures that are put on state budgets. You're gonna be in the crosshairs when you go back. I'm sure you're grateful to have some time away from thinking about these type of things. But um, you know, what what do you think when you think about going back to the legislature and ways and means and and what that's gonna look like for you in the future?

SPEAKER_01 31:08

I think the well, I was just in Salem yesterday because I'm running a budget work group on the park shortfall. So $7 million short there. So, you know, how are we? I think first we're gonna figure out to figure out what is the problem, how big is it? Yeah. And, you know, a lot of that is gonna deal with the big, beautiful bill and the way it affects our healthcare system. Sure. So I in the optimistic view, it's an opportunity to look at the the ways that we're doing things and get more efficient and be better and make sure that we are insuring the most vulnerable. And Oregon, I think it's 96% of people are insured. That number will go down. Right. And that means all of the work we've done to keep people out of the ER, which is the most expensive way to care for someone. I mean, we're gonna have it's gonna be tough. There's there's no way around it. But it's not just Oregon Health Authority and insurance. I mean, we just have less money. Yeah. And so again, it we can see it as an opportunity to really make a leaner machine. Right. And we have to.

SPEAKER_02 32:06

I hear Mike McLean talking right now.

SPEAKER_01 32:08

I know, right? Yeah. He's gonna talk about the deficit. I think you're watching Mike and the math. So it's it's it's gonna, it's gonna be hard. It's gonna be it, uh it's how do we balance these budgets and maintain the services that Oregonians expect from us? And so that is a lot to do with what I call like mission creep. And I think we've had a lot of mission creep in some of our agencies. And what is the mission? And I even saw this with the the budgeting. So we asked when we did the, you know, we prepare for 5% cuts, prepare for 10% cuts. And I, you know, I manage the national resources and the agencies who were the most clear about their mission did the best work on their budget. And so I think really getting clear about what everyone's mission is and what services are supposed to deliver and build from there. But it will, it won't, it will not be without pain, especially as a healthcare town, like we'll see it at our ERs for sure.

SPEAKER_02 33:01

Yeah. Do you have um, I mean, you're you're there's got to be some kind of uh harder line of lobbying from actual departments within the state. I mean, you're used to, I think up it's been more of outside lobbying coming in for entities outside, but this feels like it's gonna be more personal, like it's more department versus department. And um, you know, what does that look like?

SPEAKER_01 33:28

I think the work group that we had yesterday is such a perfect example. The parks getting ahead, say, hey, we have a $7 million deficit. You know, we built a bi bipartisan bicameral group of how can we fix that seven million dollars, right? And and hypothetically, everyone has their seven million dollars. So it's like the parks is being really creative. Like, do we want to build more yurts and things like that? Yeah. You know, so it's also thinking outside the box. Um, but when we made the first round of cuts and then to natural resources, we were able to move things around and not really have any cuts. But each department was advocating for something really different. And so having that close relationship as a subchair with the agencies, so like DEQ wanted to keep their employees.

SPEAKER_02 34:07

Right. That seems important.

SPEAKER_01 34:10

Because they're really hard to train, right? They have a lot, some of them have PhDs. Once you lose them, you you've lost them and you've invested three years into training someone. So just really it's sitting down in a way that's probably not happened in a while and say, like, what is the most important thing to you? And how can you still deliver what you need to deliver for Oregonians?

SPEAKER_02 34:28

To end on a high note.

SPEAKER_01 34:29

Okay, something good.

SPEAKER_02 34:31

What are you excited about going back for? What do you, what do you want to, what do you want to tackle? What's a pie in the sky Emerson project?

SPEAKER_01 34:39

I mean, this I am for I'm really excited about all the work we're doing as our bipartisan, my camera mom group. Like it is just what are those things that are important to everyone? What'd you call it? The mom? The mom mob. The mom mob. It was a mistake. I meant to say mom squad, and then I was so tired. It was in the middle of uh of rec liability, and I said mob, and I was like, I just said mob on record, and then it just became a thing. So I'm really excited about the work that we're doing. But I'm just really excited for, and it it doesn't sound that exciting, but like good governance. Like I wanna, I wanna win. I want Oregon to be the best. And it's gonna take us time, but I think it's possible, but it's gonna have to start with oversight and accountability and all of those little things that add up to something big, but I I'm just ready to win. And I've never come into the legislature with that attitude. I've always come in with like, okay, what are we doing? What is my office doing? How can I serve my constituents? And now I'm I'm thinking bigger and thinking, why not us? Like, why aren't we? We can be the best. So let's do it.

SPEAKER_02 35:45

If people want to uh get in touch with you or learn about the things you're doing, is there a website they can go to?

SPEAKER_01 35:52

Yes. So my website is Emerson Votes. It's just E with one M like your microwave. And then uh you know, rep.emersonLevi at Oregon legislature or just Google my name and you it's very easy to get in touch with me and we're very responsive. Uh, I have great staff and we whatever it is, you know. Also, if I can do a quick plug, if you have questions with paid leave or you can't get a prescription and you're on OHP or whatever, like that is what my office is for. Like we I will we call up the insurance companies to get your prescription. Like use our office. That's like what constituent services are for.

SPEAKER_02 36:28

Emerson, thank you. Thanks for taking some time. I know it's a uh it's it should be relaxing for you, but it sounds like you've been in Salem, so you're not giving yourself any time off.

SPEAKER_01 36:37

Well, it's fifth grade graduation week, too.

SPEAKER_02 36:40

So all right. Well, this has been the Ben Don't Break podcast. If you like what you heard, go to bensource.com, click on the donate button and become a member, and you can have us continue these conversations with Emma Emerson. And uh this is your second time on the podcast.

SPEAKER_01 36:58

Second time.

SPEAKER_02 36:58

I know we'll we'll uh we will schedule a third. Emerson, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 37:02

Thank you. Megan, we didn't get you in. It failed.

SPEAKER_02 37:06

It happens. I know I'm bad. You've been listening to the Ben Don't Break podcast, powered by the Source Weekly. To read, hear, and see more of what we do, go to Benssource.com.