Approach
The County budget - is the largest power we have as a legislative body. It is up to the County to balance our budget while providing high quality, consistent, and impactful programs that so many of our friends, families, and neighbors rely on. I have a core set of questions I ask each department about their budget to get them to think about what impacts and unintended consequences their cuts will have on people.
I have a core set of questions I ask each department about their budget to get them to think about what impacts and unintended consequences their cuts will have on people:
- What are the impacts of your proposed budget on equity priority communities?
- What are the impacts of your proposed budget on equity priority communities?
- What other programs were being considered for reductions and what were the impact of those programs on equity priority communities?
- What were the thoughts/engagement with:
- County frontline staff
- Contracted frontline staff/service providers
- Consumers/patients/clients
- Did they have input into this budget process and how did their recommendations influence your decisions?
- Did any of your General Fund cuts act as leverage for state or federal dollars?
Fighting the affordability crisis: The focus of the budget should be affordability. Last budget, I refocused County Supportive Housing Services money on core homeless services. This year, the budget needs to ensure our safety net is delivering for families, whether that’s rent assistance, critical health services, or services for seniors and those with disabilities. With a $610,000 investment in eviction prevention programming, we can address the issue of people falling back into homelessness. We must save money everywhere we can to serve more people.
Good jobs with benefits: I led a trades and manufacturing workforce table, which identified $3.5 million in investments that would make it easier to connect Multnomah County residents with good paying jobs in the trades. A good paying job is the best path out of poverty, and that’s especially true during difficult economic times like these.
Holding the line against Federal overreach: All levels of government should prioritize the rights and humanity of the people they serve. At Multnomah County we still do, and we can help those who are being harmed by the federal government’s punitive assault on individual rights and freedoms. Upholding the constitution isn’t optional.
FY 27 Amendments
When I looked for offsets, I didn't just ask what was available. I asked what the full impact would be — not just on this year's budget, but on the people and programs on the other end of every dollar I moved. Some of how this county is structured today is the result of short-sighted decisions that postponed tough choices. I was and am not willing to do that. Postponing tough choices doesn't make them easier — it makes them more expensive, and it puts future boards in an even worse position.
People elected the Board to make these tough decisions and we should provide context to the choices we are making. There are no good cuts to social safety net programs. However, we cannot ease our discomfort today by creating structural problems we leave for the next board to solve. The FY 2027 budget was adopted June 4th after almost 12 hours of deliberation. I introduced 9 amendments and cosponsored another 4.
Previous Year's Amendments and Budget Notes
In FY2026, I introduced 8 amendments. Here is a breakdown of what they were and what they did.