Rep. Yunker: Xmas Tree (omnibus) bill filled with questionable $$

Rep. Yunker’s Statement on the House Passage of HB5006, the “Christmas Tree” bill
By Oregon State Representative Dwayne Yunker,

SALEM, OR – Representative Dwayne Yunker (R-Grants Pass) issued the following statement after the Oregon House passed House Bill 5006, nicknamed the “Christmas Tree” bill.

“House Bill 5006 that just passed out of the House is stuffed with some very questionable projects. The process for doling out state funding to local communities is fundamentally broken. We over-tax our local communities, and then allow a handful of Democrat majority-party leaders to use the funds for gifts for politically favored groups, and for playing ball in the legislature at the expense of everyday Oregonians. There’s a reason this bill is among the very last of the session. We must reform this process.”

Some of the projects funded in the bill:

• $4.5 million for immigration legal aid services
• $3 million for festivals in Portland’s Tom McCall Waterfront Park
• $5 million for affordable housing at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI)
• $10 million for the James Beard Public Market in Portland

“While Oregon families are struggling with inflation, housing instability, and wildfire threats, Democrats prioritized a pork-barrel wish list,” Representative Yunker added. “Every dollar spent in House Bill 5006 is a dollar not going to core state functions such as transportation and wildfire protection.”

A full list of the projects funded can be found at shorturl.at/GDEIr.

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