Dear Friends,
I am glad to report that the 74^th Legislative Session ended at 12:36 on Thursday, June 28.  We completed our constitutional requirement to submit a balanced budget.  We spent most of your taxes and revenue to fund State services and projects.  Please understand that some of your taxes were spent on “pork” project bills but we did fund some very good projects and budgets.  To complete our responsibilities and end the session by June 29^th as required by Senate Joint Resolution 1, we worked late just about every evening since my last Weekly to move the bills.  Last Saturday, we worked from 1 to 10 PM and Monday, we worked until about 11:30 PM. 
Having finished my work for you in Salem, Josie and I are ready to return to Sunriver and have more opportunities to meet with you and hear from you in person.  I want to thank my great staff of Legislative Assistants Leyla Estes, Josie Whisnant, and Jenny Lillge,  District Liaisons Woodie Thomas and Penny Tooley, and our Intern from Oregon State University, Justine Jephson.  I could not have served you without their great support.  Also, thank you all for your comments, suggestions, praise, support and prayers. 
God bless you all and thank you for the honor of serving as your State Representative.      
Sincere thanks,
Gene Whisnant

Highlights and Accomplishments of the 2007 Session
House Republicans focused on the principles of Building Oregon from the Community Up: successful students, responsible government, safe and healthy families and a robust economy. 
Taxes and the Economy
Throughout the session, House Republicans remained united against dozens of tax and fee increases.  We defeated Democrats’ effort to allow counties to impose a vehicle registration fee without a vote of the people. Millions of working Oregonians are now protected from having to send more of their hard-earned money to Salem.  Shortly after we introduced the Oregon Stability and Investment Plan, the Legislature approved a Rainy Day Fund to set aside money for future emergencies.
Education
I was very glad to support an historic $6.245 billion K-12 budget for the 2005-07. Schools will have 17 percent more revenue to reduce class sizes and expand educational programs.  We continued to push for education reform, finally succeeding in abolishing the wasteful and unnecessary CIM/CAM programs.  We demanded accountability as part of the record K-12 education budget; we worked to pass bi-partisan Chalkboard Project legislation to require independent state audits of school district finances.  As you may have read in a previous Weekly, I pushed legislation requiring that 65 cents of every education dollar be spent on classroom instruction but  there were not enough votes to pull it out of committee.
Public Safety
House Republicans led the way on strengthening the Oregon State Police; we called for dedicated funding that provides 24/7 coverage on Oregon’s highways.  We got tough on drunk drivers by creating the crime of refusing a test for intoxicants, and increasing the length of time ignition interlock devices must be used by those convicted of DUII.  We continued our fight against sexual predators by voting to extend statutes of limitations for sex crimes (HB 2153), and to create a new crime of online sexual corruption of a child (HB 3515).  House Republicans voted to crack down on identity theft (SB 447) and to increase Measure 11 sentences on career criminals who engage in repeated identity and property crimes (HB 3429).
Immigration Reform
The state has a responsibility to address illegal immigration. That’s why I co-sponsored number of immigration reforms to fix Oregon’s broken laws.  The legislation required proof of citizenship for voter registration.   We worked to require proof of legal presence for Oregon driver’s licenses, permits and ID cards, and require ODOT to report those who attempt to obtain these documents through fraudulent means.  Further, we insisted the state must implement the federal Real ID Act, and require ODOT to protect the personal information of applicants for driver’s licenses, permits and ID cards.  Another bill would have allowed law enforcement to investigate and detain violators of federal immigration laws and enable Oregon district attorneys to transfer illegal immigrants convicted of crimes to federal immigration authorities.
Natural Resources
House Republicans were successful in passing legislation to manage wild cougar and black bear populations.  We worked to make Oregon a leader in the production of alternative energies. This will boost agriculture and economic development in rural Oregon.  We protected Oregon agriculture by stopping Democrats from banning field and pile burning.  We passed legislation to protect access to natural resources, and to promote timber production to produce revenue for local governments and schools.
Health Care and Seniors
I was glad to vote to make prescription drugs more affordable by supporting legislation to expand access to the Oregon Prescription Drug Program.  The House voted to increase nutritional standards at schools to prevent childhood obesity and diabetes and to promote healthier eating habits.   Victims of domestic violence and sexual assault will be able to take leaves of absence from their jobs to receive treatment. We supported improving Oregon’s welfare-to-work program and increasing funding for community mental health care, while fighting Democratic cuts to vital seniors programs such as Oregon Project Independence.
Ethics and Government Accountability
The House passed additional ethics reforms to limit gifts, require more frequent reporting and increase penalties for ethics violations.  We directed the Secretary of State to take further steps in investigating government fraud. House Republicans called for the creation of a Legislative Audit Office to hold state agencies accountable for their spending of tax dollars but we were unable to pull the bill from committee.