Bipartisan Unity Takes Center Stage at City Club of Central Oregon

Overview:

City Club of Central Oregon held a bipartisan conversation on pressing regional issues, federal cuts, and future legislative priorities.

In a display of bipartisan unity, lawmakers from Central Oregon gathered in Bend on Sept. 18 for a City Caucus meeting hosted by the City Club of Central Oregon. The event brought together Sen. Anthony Broadman, Sen. Mike McLane, Rep. Emerson Levy and Rep. Jason Kropf to review the outcomes of the 2025 legislative session and look ahead to the challenges facing the region in 2026.

The Source’s Founder and Publisher Aaron Switzer moderated the event, guiding the discussion around the region’s most pressing challenges: wildfire resilience, youth mental health, and looming budget shortfalls. Legislators engaged in an open dialogue with each other and the public, offering both warnings and solutions for the road ahead.

Budget crisis looms large

One issue unified all voices on the panel: the mounting fiscal crisis caused by federal cuts and unsustainable spending.

The Source’s Aaron Switzer steered the City Club dialogue with thoughtful questions about government funding and the changing face of the local community.

“We’re the fifth-highest nation in per capita state spending,” said Mike McLane. “Whether we like it or not, we are going to hit a budget crisis. This is not just financial — it’s moral. We are mortgaging our kids’ futures.”

Broadman agreed, calling the budget shortfall the “biggest challenge next year,” but added that he sees the turbulence as “an opportunity to give Oregonians a voice in shaping the state’s core priorities.”

Levy, a self-described fiscal moderate, was more blunt. “The choices the federal government is making on economic policy are killing us. Tariffs don’t work, and what works even less is creating uncertainty in the economy,” she said. “We’re short $800 million now, and $2 billion within a year.”

Kropf emphasized the practical consequences of this budget crisis: “We won’t be able to backfill all the essential services we rely on federal funding for — health care, food stamps, wildfire suppression. Those cuts are coming.”

A historic win for wildfire prevention

Despite the grim economic outlook, legislators highlighted key bipartisan wins from the last session. Chief among them was SB 3940, a landmark bill establishing sustainable funding for wildfire prevention. Broadman called this “an existential issue for Central Oregon.”

“Having lived through the Flat Fire, we know these disasters are not abstract,” Broadman said. “We passed the first-ever sustainable funding model for wildfire prevention in our state’s history. It’s bipartisan, it includes a new tax on nicotine, and it draws from the Rainy Day Fund. This will save lives and property.”

Broadman argued that proactive investment in tools like fuel reduction and landscape resilience could save the state millions in future suppression costs. “When it comes to public safety, we can’t afford to be reactive anymore.”

Protecting youth and mental health resources

Levy, whose legislative focus has centered on children’s safety, discussed a major win for Deschutes County: securing funding for a new 15-bed youth mental health facility in Redmond. Working alongside Broadman, Levy helped ensure that young people in crisis will have dedicated mental health beds available in their community.

“This was a basic, urgent need,” she said. “Before this, there were no mental health beds for kids in the region. Families had to drive across the Cascades hoping for space, and sometimes were forced to transport their children themselves — while in crisis. That’s unacceptable.”

With this new facility, youth will be able to access care closer to home. Levy also mentioned upcoming legislation to protect children’s digital data, part of a multi-state effort launching in 2027.

The City Club meeting packed the venue to capacity on Sept. 18. Credit: Sarah Isak-Goode

Judicial reforms: free speech and public safety

McLane and Kropf, both involved in legislative judiciary work, highlighted critical reforms related to civil commitment, free speech and defamation protections.

“We’ve made it harder to sue survivors of sexual assault for defamation,” said McLane, describing a new law that protects survivor statements made in good faith. “We’ve raised the legal standard to match what’s used in cases involving public officials — unless there’s proven malice, you can’t sue.”

McLane also addressed the increasing threats against public officials, calling it a “sobering national trend” that required legislative action. Laws now define clearer thresholds for when threats cross into criminal behavior.

Kropf spoke on reforms to Oregon’s civil commitment law, which allows the state to intervene when someone is in a mental health crisis.

“This was over a decade in the making,” he said. “We’ve made it easier for intervention to happen when someone is truly a danger to themselves or others, but we’ve done it in a way that protects civil liberties. And we’re backing that with $65 million in new behavioral health infrastructure statewide.”

Mosaic Medical and community collaboration

A local success story shared by all was the $4 million secured for Mosaic Community Health’s new campus in Bend. Legislators explained how the process starts with community input and ends with bipartisan coordination in Salem.

“Mosaic had tried for years to get funding,” said Levy. “The difference this time was the strength of the Central Oregon caucus. We presented a united front.”

Kropf added that this kind of regional partnership is what makes the Central Oregon delegation effective. “We’re not just bringing money back. We’re solving problems.”

The Central Oregon caucus: A new model for cooperation

The Central Oregon Caucus brings together Republicans and Democrats from both legislative chambers to advocate for Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson counties. The bipartisan group is co-chaired by Broadman and Rep. Vikki Breese-Iverson.

“We formalized it over beers at Monkless [Brewing],” McLane said. “But it was born out of necessity — we knew budget fights were coming, and we needed to be united.”

According to Broadman, now chair of the caucus, the group receives support from local chambers, regional business alliances and constituents. “This region deserves a voice, and we’re committed to making sure it’s heard,” Broadman said.

“We genuinely like each other,” Levy explained. “We disagree, sure, but we all show up to serve. That’s what matters.”

This article appears in the Source September 25, 2025.