Oregon Representative Hudson And Ruiz Speak at Forum

On May 16, state Reps. Zach Hudson and Ricki Ruiz, Democrats who represent House districts 49 and 50 in the Oregon Legislature in Salem, participated in a forum in the MHCC Visual Art Gallery Theatre.

Just days before the May 20 special election that decided the fate of MHCC’s proposed $136 million bond measure, the two discussed federal and state budget concerns and other pressing issues during the session. The forum was moderated by The Advocate’s S. Cousins and Christopher Keizur from The Gresham Outlook newspaper.

Ruiz is currently the co-chair on the Ways and Means Subcommittee On Education (which drafts budget bills), while Hudson chairs the House Committee on Higher Education.

Major topics of discussion included funding for community colleges, potential cuts to federal programs including the Head Start program, and the Trump administration’s increased use of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to attempt to mass-deport undocumented immigrants and otherwise target minority groups.

The following is an abridged summary of their responses.

On expanding / encouraging community college options for students:

Ruiz said he would like for there to be more opportunities for students to get bachelor’s degrees at community colleges.

RUIZ: “I feel like you don’t need to be traveling to Eugene if you are from Gresham or Troutdale or Wood Village, Fairview, if you want to get your bachelor’s degree. Going to Eugene or Corvallis, or even downtown Portland, to get your bachelor’s degree might be daunting.

“So, I know Mt. Hood is offering bachelor’s [degrees] I believe in nursing and maybe cyber security. I say we continue to expand on those opportunities because why have to go all the way [elsewhere]... when you can stay here and get a job here, that’s what community is all about. I think we should explore that.”

HUDSON: “Another thing we’ve really been hearing, especially from people who are coming back to education, is the need for childcare and a way to find childcare that can match a student schedule and many people are trying to navigate employment and college at the same time as family obligations. So, looking for ways to support [a] statewide childcare system and even on student- centered childcare system is one of the things that we’ve been working on this legislative session.”

State/federal impact on community college funding:

HUDSON: “…I’m always looking for ways to increase the community college support fund, public university support fund. The only option that colleges have if the support from the state is not enough is to raise tuition. And when you raise tuition, you have fewer students who are able to attend and or who endure a greater hardship in order to attend.”

[Ruiz and Hudson discussed the Trump administration’s efforts to cut off several federally funded programs and to impose import tariffs on a vast number of items – moves they said will hurt education nationally and reduce the amount of funding the state has to use to fund education.]

RUIZ: “Oregon is a very trade dependent state and tariffs are obviously hitting Oregon uniquely very hard which is going to affect revenues that come to us that help fund things like community colleges.”

“[Budget] numbers are very difficult to draft [in Salem] because a lot is changing at a federal level. If we were to lose federal money it’s only gonna create bigger problems.”

HUDSON: “Federal money is really important for programs for our students, especially things like Title 1, which is reading support for schools in low-income areas. And asking the state to backfill that would mean taking it [funding] away from somewhere else. So I think it’s really important to keep that federal funding.

“Some services that have their own line items through the Higher Education Coordinating Commission for instance Support for programs like TRIO, a really important program here on campus, that funding comes from the state, but it’s really important to keep up that kind of funding so that because those are programs that help support students and keep them here and let them be successful here.”

On potential federal budget reductions for Head Start programs, such as the one based at the MHCC Gresham campus:

RUIZ: “The worry of federal funding is real; we saw federal freezes on Head Start programs.”

The fear of those [funds] being frozen again is real. And, if you were to ask us, do we have the money to fill what the government gives to Head Start or do we have to fill the $1.5 billion that comes from the federal government to the K12 system – the answer is no.”

HUDSON: “If we were to lose our Head Start programs, that would definitely impact some students now and some families now, especially those who are relying on Head Start for childcare and for kindergarten readiness.

“But the impacts later on are something that we’re always going to feel – even if, like, we are able to bring back Head Start in another administration. If we have that gap in Head Start, well, those Head Start programs are correlated with kids reading at grade level in third grade; kids reading at grade level in third grade are correlated with to high school graduation outcomes; high school graduation outcomes are correlated are correlated to career success.

“And we might not see it for 20 years, but I’m really worried that we will have this lasting impact from losing a program for our youngest children.”

On ICE enforcement actions and other pressures on immigrants:

HUDSON: “There are attacks at the federal level and those are something we have to deal with and the disagreements between state and federal – not only policy but how that policy is carried out is a real thing… We are doing everything we can, we are working with our governor and our attorney general who are also very much in support of the most vulnerable member of our community and will continue to do so.

“[The] Oregon Opportunity grant, for instance, is not tied to citizenship and so we are offering undocumented Oregonians the chance to participate in our statewide higher education and the federal government can’t tell us not to and so we can keep doing that.”

RUIZ: “If ICE is here, we cannot tell them how to operate … We can’t tell them to stop.…It is by law our local law enforcement cannot work with ICE, but ICE can operate by themselves.”

“There (have) been definitely targeted arrests already happening and unfortunately I wish I, we, could say we can stop that but we can’t. And that’s the sad part. We’ve fought so hard for years to give our immigrant undocumented LGBTQ+ trans community the voice and rights they deserve to have … and in the blink of an eye it’s all being taken away.

“The only system that can help us right now is the judicial system and I hope that continues to stand strong, ’cause that’s what’s helping us right now.