On Jan. 6, 2023, Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden visited Grant High School as part of his “Listening to the Future” tour, which he described to the audience as, “a chance for all of you to educate me on what’s important to you.” During the meeting, hosted in the Grant library, Wyden answered questions from students on topics such as Universal Basic Income (UBI), urban crime, gun violence and the climate crisis.
Wyden began the meeting with a brief address on the two-year anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection on the United States Capitol, during which he denounced the violence committed by the mob. Shortly thereafter, he began taking questions from students.
When asked for his opinions regarding the establishment of a universal basic income — the issuing of a guaranteed uniform wage to all citizens — Wyden replied that “fundamental changes to inequality in the United States” are needed.
Wyden also mentioned “leading the fight” for the reduction in federal taxes by $1,000 for “qualifying” children, as well as the low-income housing tax credit allocated to the construction of affordable housing for low-income citizens. He also believes that these programs will function better with “billionaires paying their fair share.”
Wyden believes that a proper solution to the ongoing housing crisis, which disproportionately affects communities of color, is his Decent Affordable Safe Housing for All (DASH) Act. The DASH Act would provide affordable housing in underrepresented communities and augment programs for lower-income families, which Wyden says is a “strong step in the right direction.”
Funding for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and Title I is critical, especially for low-income students, says Wyden, who works on the Senate Budget Committee. The Committee oversees federal spending, and Wyden holds that backpedaling the 2020 Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund isn’t appropriate when considering the continued spread of flu, COVID-19 and Respiratory Syncytial Virus cases in schools.
As the climate crisis continues, climate refugees — those leaving the countries most affected by climate change — are increasingly immigrating to the United States. “We’re a better and stronger country because of immigration,” says Wyden, who didn’t address how to accommodate climate refugees.
Wyden helped propose the National Prescribed Fire Act of 2021, a bill that would allow for prescribed, contained burns of forest underbrush during the winter months in order to curb the spread of wildfires during dry summer months. However, the senator didn’t mention his support for the “Dirty Deal” pushed by West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin for the Infrastructure Reduction Act, which contradicts his cosponsorship of the Green New Deal and opposition to carbon-heavy energy.
“Right now, there’s just too much delay in solar and wind and geothermal, so I want at every possible opportunity to speed up permitting for renewables,” Wyden said of the act, which would expedite fossil fuel projects and weaken key environmental protections.
Responding to an audience question, Wyden mentioned that he plans to change the corporate subsidies that, according to a 2022 study by The B Team and Business for Nature, contribute approximately $1.8 trillion per year to harmful environmental practices.
During the meeting, Wyden also touched on his proposal for the CAHOOTS Act (named for the Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets program in Eugene, Oregon) in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The act would provide $1 billion in Medicaid of the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill to CAHOOTS-like programs across the United States as a means of preventing potentially violent police responses to mental crisis calls. Wyden does not support the ongoing calls to defund the police.
On the topic of gun violence, Wyden says that he supports background checks for all future gun owners. “Obviously, we’ve got a lot more to do, and to me, it seems like we should be keeping guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them,” he says, “Particularly military-style weapons.”
President Joe Biden recently signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act with the intention of expanding national mental health investments and background checks. The bill was spurred by the May 24, 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
When a student asked Wyden how to address Congressional political polarization, the senator replied, “Political change is trickle-up … If you’re going to end polarization, you’ve got to get behind what I’m doing these next two weeks.” He emphasized the importance of civil discussion with community members.
In response to Grant Magazine’s question on the impetus for his 1,027 town hall meetings (as of early January 2023) and the “Listening to the Future” tour, Wyden says, “I just don’t believe you do this job right by sitting behind your desk 3,000 miles away, so the combination of the town hall meetings, ‘Listening to the Future’-kind of program(s) we have today means that … I can say, ‘This is what the actual people say.’”
