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Oregon State University Government Relations Update | October 2024

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Welcome to the new OSU Government Relations Newsletter.

With this this new communication, we’ll highlight some of the work conducted by the office, updates from the state legislature and congressional delegation, university engagements with elected officials and other OSU news. The newsletter will be sent at least quarterly. You’ve received this inaugural addition because you were subscribed to our updates previously. We encourage you to share this newsletter with your colleagues. They can also sign up by using this link.

Senator Ron Wyden joins President Murthy at the OSU vs. Purdue Football Game. On September 21, Senator Wyden joined Beaver Nation at Reser Stadium to help cheer the football team on to a win against Purdue. Senator Wyden also visited with Athletic Director Scott Barnes and Benny the Beaver on the field, engaged with special guests from across OSU and industry in the state who are leading on robotics and artificial intelligence and watched some of the game with leaders and friends from OSU colleges of Business, Forestry, Agriculture, and Engineering. Go Beavs!

State Relations

Quarterly, when the state legislature is not in session, legislators come to Salem for interim committee hearings for what is known as Legislative Days. These meetings provide opportunities for committees to receive briefings and updates on issues under their jurisdiction.

Associate Vice Provost for Economic Development and Industry Relations, Rebecca Robinson testifying before the House Economic Development, Small Business, and Trade Committee.

The House Economic Development, Small Business, and Trade Committee invited Rebecca Robinson, associate vice provost for Economic Development and Industry Relations (EDIR), to testify on OSU’s engagement in the outdoor products segment. She shared information on OSU’s Center for the Outdoor Economy, OSU-Cascades outdoor products degree and marker space and the vision for the Innovation District at OSU-Cascades. Other panelists spoke on the mass timber and food/beverage sectors, additional target sectors for OSU’s new EDIR division. We are very appreciative to the chair, Representative Daniel Nguyen, for the committee’s focus and invitation.

The Senate Rules and Executive Appointment Committee heard from citizens who the Governor submitted for Senate confirmation for appointment to numerous state boards and commissions. Five new OSU trustees were confirmed by the Senate for appointment or reappointment:

  • Lisa Hale, CEO of Grace Bio-Labs, a woman-owned, global biotechnology company headquartered in Bend.
  • Toby Luther, CEO of Lone Rock Resources, a balanced and diversified real assets and natural resources investment company in Roseburg and chair of the Ford Family Foundation.
  • Camille Palmer, associate professor and associate school head of nuclear science and engineering.
  • Julie Manning (reappointment) former vice president for Marketing, Communications and Community Health Promotion at Samaritan Health Services and past mayor of Corvallis.
  • Susan Clark (reappointment), an accountant with University Facilities, Infrastructure, and Operations.

For further information or questions or to flag specific issues or actions of interest, please reach out to Katie.Fast@oregonstate.edu.

Federal Relations

Congress completed a last sprint of activity in September prior to breaking for an extended recess on September 26 to prepare for the November 11 election. Congress will not be back in session until November 12 and then will have limited days in session to complete work before this Congress officially ends on January 3, 2025.

The main activity OSU working on with Congress is the status of funding to maintain federal government operations and the fiscal year 2025 appropriations legislation. Importantly, on September 26, Congress enacted a clean continuing resolution to maintain government operations and programs with level funding through December 20.

The outcome of the federal election in November has an outsize influence on how the parties in both the House, Senate and the White House will position on negotiations. We can’t yet predict how things will go until the election shows us what the future political balance of power will be across Congress and the White House. Currently, both the House and Senate have set up wide differences in priorities and funding levels for fiscal year 2025 spending across government which would have varying impacts across the research and education programs that the OSU community cares about.

We also continue to work on other bills on deck for action by Congress before the end of the year. Key bills include the Farm Bill, the National Defense Authorization Act, and we’re tracking select other smaller bills members of the OSU community have flagged for interests or concerns.

As the last quarter of the Biden administration nears, agencies are working hard to continue to issue and advance programs and funding, particularly Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funds, and to prepare for the new Congress and administration, including the early stages of a fiscal year 2026 budget request. Processes have slowed down on the regulatory front, and we will reconsider our expectations for the future regulatory agenda with national colleagues following the outcome of the November elections. For further information or questions or to flag specific issues or actions of interest, please reach out to Gabrielle.Serra@oregonstate.edu.

Tribal Relations

Join OSU for events dedicated to decolonizing narratives and histories while showcasing Indigenous people’s resilience, creativity and innovation. A list of planned activities for the week of celebration October 12-17 can be found at indigenous.oregonstate.edu.

These events are open to everyone, emphasizing learning and fostering positive representation. Indigenous Peoples’ Week shifts the narrative from perpetuating harmful myths and stereotypes to celebrating Indigenous people at OSU and beyond.

For further information or questions or to flag specific issues or actions of interest, please reach out to chance.white-eyes@oregonstate.edu.

Additional Updates

  • OSU President Murthy went to Washington, D.C. to meet with federal officials from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science Foundation’s Technology Innovation and Partnerships Directorate. On October 1, President Murthy had discussions with officials from these offices focused on strategic initiatives of shared interest to both the Federal Government and OSU for science, engineering, innovation and workforce development. President Murthy promoted OSU’s interests in CHIPS, AI, protecting global collaborations while balancing research security needs, and the potential impacts from signature Federal initiatives to drive innovation important to Oregon, such as the NSF Engines Program and the EDA Tech Hubs. 
  • U.S. Department of Energy Office of Water Power Technologies Office visited OSU. On September10-12, Acting-Director Matt Grosso and Chief Engineer Lauren Ruedy from US DOEWPTO joined OSU and the Pacific Marine Energy Center’s annual all-hands meeting to engage with the regional center’s faculty, students, and partners working to advance marine energy research, development, and testing. The PMEC and PacWave teams also provided the WPTO leaders and guests with a tour and showcase of the significant construction progress this summer of PacWave, the DOEWPTO-supported offshore, grid-connected wave energy technology test facility being built off the coast of Newport. More information on construction progress can be found here.
  • National Science Foundation (NSF) Director Sethuraman Panchanathan visited OSU. On August 26, OSU hosted Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan on the Corvallis campus to engage with members of OSU faculty, students, and staff community, and to showcase some examples of what makes OSU unique. President Murthy with Vice President Irem Tumer hosted a half-day of engagements with the director, including an opportunity for him to speak directly to and with members of the OSU research community doing signature work with NSF. OSU also promoted the new PRAx facility and OSU’s efforts to drive arts integration with STEM; highlighting the culture of collaboration and leadership with OSU and the state in semiconductor R&D. We also showcased OSU’s unique strengths and promising students in coastal resilience, marine energy and robotics.
  • Senator Bill Hansell promoted the AgriStress Helpline hosted by OSU Extension during the Pendleton Round-Up. After Senator Hansell sponsored the successful legislation, 9,000 bandannas were distributed by OSU team members during the Pendleton Westward Ho! Parade on August 23. The former University of Oregon alum then took the time to snap a photo with OSU alum, Bryan Wolfe.

Get Involved

Election day is coming up quickly. Oregon’s vote-by-mail system makes it easy to vote, as long as you are registered. To vote in the November 5 election, you must register by October 15. You can review your voter registration information through the Secretary of State’s website. For those that still need to register, TurboVote makes it efficient for all citizens to register, update registration information and receive election reminders.

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