Governor Kate Brown Statement on November Revenue Forecast

Statement

Governor Kate Brown today issued the following statement on the state's November revenue forecast:

"Today's revenue forecast, along with the good news that Oregon's unemployment rate has dropped to 4.4%, confirms that we have strong momentum for recovery from the economic impacts of COVID-19. And with a healthy ending fund balance, we have an opportunity to make targeted investments to close the gaps for Oregonians still in need. We must continue to center equity in our recovery efforts to ensure that the communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic due to historic disparities----Oregon's Black, Indigenous, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and people of color----benefit equitably from Oregon's strong economic recovery.

"As we head towards the February legislative session, I've tasked a subgroup of the Racial Justice Council -- that includes business owners and workers -- with developing a package of workforce investments for the February session aimed at helping people get back to work and improving career paths. And because lack of stable housing is often the biggest barrier to getting or keeping a job, I am also continuing my conversations with legislative leaders about policy solutions to help people access and retain stable housing.

"We also have the opportunity to leverage our state revenues with the additional federal resources that are coming our way from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, setting us up for tremendous possibilities to help Oregon's families and businesses continue to recover.

"As we recover, we must support the communities that have been disproportionately impacted. With these critical investments from the Biden-Harris administration, we can now ensure these communities have access to good-paying jobs, affordable broadband, reliable public transit, and other essential resources."

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