PHOTO: Local JCRC members meet with Rep. David Gomberg (D - Otis) during JCRC Lobbying Day at the Oregon State Capitol Wednesday, Jan. 12. (George Okulitch for The Jewish Review)

By ROCKNE ROLL
The Jewish Review
As the Oregon Legislature’s 2025 session forges ahead amidst the cramped quarters of a State Capitol under construction, members of Portland and Lane County’s Jewish Community Relations Councils ventured into the bustle and dust of the state house Wednesday, Feb. 12, to meet with elected officials on a wide swath of issues important to Jewish communities and citizens of all backgrounds.
While the JCRC has traditionally partnered with a variety of groups for an Interfaith Advocacy Day, capacity restrictions at the capitol made the large-scale efforts of past years untenable, so a dozen representatives from Oregon’s two largest Jewish communities forged ahead on their own. 
“We decided this time around that we wanted to meet with some of the key legislative leaders,” Jewish Federation of Greater Portland Chief Community Relations and Public Affairs Officer Bob Horenstein said. “We had meetings throughout the day, and they were, I think, very positive.”
Those meetings stretched throughout the day with both House and Senate leaders addressing several legislative priorities – the first being the formation of a state-level non-profit security grant program through the Oregon Department of Emergency Management. Sen. Floyd Prozanski, a Eugene Democrat, has already introduced a bill to do just that, and the group met with him to discuss it. 
“I think it was nice to see alignment with so many of our elected officials on our agenda items. The fact that we can really work in partnership with each other is important,” Federation Director of Educational Initiatives and Associate Director of Community Relations Rachel Nelson said. “It was really good to be in the building and to have these conversations face to face; hearing from each of our community members who are so passionate about different areas.”
Other priorities included maintaining the current local Medicaid funding system, which is based on taxes levied on companies which provide health care, as well as issues of immigration enforcement, climate change, and wage theft by construction contractors. While security grant programs are considered a priority amidst spikes in antisemitic activity, the agenda pursued by the JCRC would impact Oregonians far beyond the Jewish community. 
“We can’t just ask for it for ourselves,” Horenstein said of the security grant program outlined in Senate Bill 939. “We have a broad coalition now.”
“Any of these issues, we can talk about within the Jewish context, and we should. That’s why we’re there as a Jewish group,” he continued. “But we’re hoping to work with others to secure some of this legislation that’s really important.”
“We’re not simply advocating for ourselves,” explained David Fuks, who is part of the JCRC’s Legislative Action Committee and a former Chief Executive Officer of Cedar Sinai Park. “When we talk about Medicaid, we’re talking on behalf of the whole community. This is not just something from our own parochial needs. It reflects our commitment to the entire community, to the wellbeing of those that need the service enormously.”
In addition to Sen. Prozanski, JCRC members met with Sen. Rob Wagner, a Lake Oswego Democrat who was one of the leading legislative sponsors of Oregon’s Holocaust education law and is now Senate President, as well as Sen. Kate Lieber of Beaverton, a Democrat who in entering her first session as co-chair of the Joint Ways and Means Committee, Beaverton Democrat Sen. Lisa Reynolds and Eugene Democrat Sen. James Manning, Jr. On the House side, the group met with Rep. Courtney Neron, a Democrat from Wilsonville, Rep. David Gomberg, a Democrat from Otis and the leader of the Legislature’s Jewish Caucus, Rep. Ben Bowman, a Tigard Democrat and incoming House Majority Leader as well as Republican Rep. Christine Drazen of Canby, the House Minority Leader. 
While much of the JRCR’s legislative program aligns more closely with the Democrat’s policy priorities, building relationships and finding common ground is the goal of any meeting between policy advocates and elected officials, and the group’s meeting with Rep. Drazen was no exception. 
“She talked a lot about youth homelessness, that seemed to be her issue,” Horenstein explained. “She’s looking for ideas to help solve the problem of youth homelessness, of homelessness in general. And we said, ‘We’ve worked on that for a long time, and so maybe there’s something there.’”
Joy Manning, a member of the board of the Jewish Federation of Lane County, elaborated on how listening, not just advocating, is an essential part of the process.
“It’s a two-way street,” she said. “I think one of the biggest mistakes that citizen activists make is they make it a one-way street; if you get 15 minutes, they talk for the whole time and they never say to the legislator, ‘What are your priorities?’”
Where those priorities align, there’s opportunity to build relationships – which was a highlight of the day for Manning.
“We significantly increased our relationship and put ourselves more on [Legislators’] radar by saying things like ‘how can we help you with this bill? Do you need someone to come and testify from an ethical perspective or a community leader perspective on any of these?’”
Hank Kaplan, the former JCRC Chair, has a number of those relationships – there’s a picture of him on the wall in Sen. Wagner’s office from the signing of the Holocaust education bill that the Senator likes to mention when they meet, Kaplan said. Kaplan was with the group on Wednesday discussing a bill that would make it easier for the Bureau of Labor and Industries to get involved in instances of stolen wages, a model that has been successfully implemented in California and passed the Oregon House in the 2023 legislative session before a walkout by Senate Republicans stopped most legislation in its tracks. 
“[Human trafficking cartels] bring up undocumented immigrants to do these jobs and then they hang them out to dry. And there’s nothing that these immigrants are able to do within the system. Even if they could, their language skills are poor, etcetera, so they are badly exploited and most of them won’t bother filing claims,” Kaplan said. “The Bureau of Labor and Industries identifies the construction industry is one of the main industries where there is widespread wage theft. Of course, the legitimate contractors have trouble competing with those who steal money from their workers.”
“It is a Jewish value to make sure that workers are treated fairly,” Horenstein added. 
Beyond the connections with elected representatives, Manning appreciated the opportunity to build connections with folks from farther north along Interstate 5. 
“It was nice for the people who are active in the Eugene Jewish community and in the Portland-area Jewish community to get to know each other and to feel united, purposeful and less isolated,” she said. “That’s motivating and connecting and very worthwhile.”
She also pointed out that connecting with legislators isn’t just the job of those on the JCRC – it can be a valuable and important experience for everyone. 
“Everybody should be in contact with their legislators,” she said. “They need to hear from you. And everybody should be respectful, even if you have a legislator that you don’t agree with on some or many items.”
“It’s worthwhile to step up and take action,” Fuks added. “Call your state representatives, call your senators, and let them know that we take these issues seriously.”
Those interested in getting more involved can connect with Bob Horenstein by email at bob@jewishportland.org.