Governor Brown Offers Last State Of The State: 'A Pivotal Moment'

PORTLAND, OR — "I stand here today at a pivotal moment for Oregon. Since I took office the world has fundamentally changed. Despite these difficult times, we have accomplished incredible things. Oregonians have come together to weather these storms, and our state is better for it."

That was Governor Kate Brown standing before state legislators delivering her final state of the state speech on Thursday afternoon.

Brown, who can't run for reelection, touched on many of the themes that have dominated discussion over the past two years: COVID-19, COVID-19, AND COVID-19.

Everything goes back to that somehow and she uses the opportunity to show how things relate to that.

Remarkably, she points out, is that despite the tragedy of the past two years, there s much to be proud of, using as an example, the state's economy, which she says "is stronger than it was before the pandemic."

She talked about the decrease in the number of kids in foster case, the increase in the number of kids who graduated from high school o time, and the passage of a large transportation package.

"Over and over, I've seen the power of collaboration and innovation during my time as governor," she said.

Despite the successes, Brown concedes that there's still problems ahead.

"I will level with you, housing affordability and homelessness are not issues we can solve overnight," she said.

"Child care is a basic necessity, it is just as critical to our economic recovery as infrastructure. For working parents, child care is infrastructure."

Brown was Secretary of State when John Kitzhaber was forced to resign as governor. She stepped in, proved herself, and got reelected. As she looks to her last year in the job, she says that crises don't define things as much as how people react to them.

"As I enter my last year as governor, I still have moments where it feels surreal to have sat in the nice, and guided our state through a global pandemic," she says.

"While COVID-19 may have defined these times, it doesn't need to define our lives."