February 1, 2023 3:20 a.m.

On Tuesday, Governor Tina Kotek unveiled her budget recommendations for the 2023-25 biennium.

A release said the document is titled, “Mission Focused” because of its focus on three top priorities: building more housing and reducing homelessness, improving access to mental health and addiction services and improving outcomes in early literacy and K-12 schools.

Kotek said, “Every Oregonian, no matter their race or zip code, deserves to have the same chances”. Kotek said, “My mission as Oregon’s Governor will always be to deliver results and move the state forward to build the Oregon we all want to live in. This vision for Oregon’s future cannot be realized in one budget cycle. But this plan provides a roadmap for how we are going to reach our state’s long-term goals”.

The release said Oregon is entering a challenging and complex budget environment with about $3.5 billion of one-time funding, spurred by resources from the federal government, about to expire. Kotek’s office said the recommended budget still includes a path to make targeted investments because of prudent budget management to build historic reserves in recent years.

Kotek has recommended keeping the existing $2 billion of reserve funds in place and redirect $765 million that would have been automatically added to these reserves into targeted investments aimed at better serving Oregonians in three key areas:

*Housing and Homelessness

*Mental Health and Addiction Services

*Early Learning and K-12 Education

A budget summary based on the governor’s top three priorities is available linked: https://www.oregon.gov/gov/Documents/missionfocused_23-25.pdf

A recording of Governor Kotek’s remarks from Tuesday’s press conference is also available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxllT6cR8d8