The governor’s new office, a congressman’s lapsed license and a surge in Asian-Americans in Oregon politics are part of the week’s political news.

Governor moves down the street

Gov. Kate Brown’s office has moved out of the Capitol, across Court Street in Salem, to the State Library. It will also be where the next governor will work for over a year.  

The relocation is part of a major renovation of the 84-year-old art deco house of state government that will take nearly 1,000 days to complete.

Seismic retrofitting, restorations and improved systems and security are part of the three-part Capitol Accessibility, Maintenance and Safety (CAMS) project with a budget of $505 million.

Plumbing, electrical, disability access, security, and historic renovation were part of the first two phases, which will be finished later this year at a total cost of $130 million.

Much of the work went on while the Capitol was closed to the public in March 2020 as an emergency step to fight the spread of COVID-19. Most government staff worked from home, while lawmakers held virtual hearings. Lawmakers came to the capitol only a few days at a time to cast final votes on legislation. The building reopened to the public on July 12, 2021.

The third phase of work, dubbed “CAMS III” will be the most visible and disruptive period of the project. It comes with a $375 million price tag and requires closing off sections of the historic rotunda and government chambers on a staggered schedule stretching through 2023 and 2024.

The offices of lawmakers and at least two public hearing rooms will remain open in some form throughout the work.

Work will be done on the rotunda and dome, senate and house chambers, governor’s and other executive and legislative offices, and the press room. The CAMS III work began on May 1 and is scheduled to be completed in time for the late-January opening of the 2025 session of the legislature.

In the meantime, government workers, including the governor, will relocate temporarily to nearby government buildings. With the underground garage getting a makeover, parking will be a chore for all but top officials.

Barring unforeseen issues, the structurally stronger and renewed Capitol will return to its normal look and function after a combined four years and 10 months of impacts from the pandemic and the CAMS plan.

Politics and vetting vets: It’s a small world

Oregon is a small state, prone to odd intersections of political lives. To wit:

U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, would have to apply for a new veterinarian’s license from a state board led by the wife of the candidate who defeated him in the May primary.

State records show that Walter Schrader — the congressman goes by his middle name, Kurt — received a state veterinary license in 1977. Elected to Congress in 2008, Schrader has served as chair of the Veterinary Medicine Caucus.

But state records show that after 42 years, Schrader allowed his license to lapse in December 2019.

Schrader lost the May 17 Democratic primary to Terrebonne attorney Jamie McLeod-Skinner.

If Schrader wanted to resume his practice after he leaves office in January, he’d apply for a new license from the Oregon Veterinary Medicine Examining Board.

The board’s interim executive director since December 2020 is Cass McLeod-Skinner. She’s Jamie’s wife.

Cass McLeod-Skinner is also the executive director of the Oregon Board of Chiropractic Examiners. She stepped into the additional work of leading the veterinary board after the previous executive director, Lori Maakinen, retired in December 2020.

State records show Cass McLeod-Skinner has a base pay of $119,899 and earned total compensation in the 2021 fiscal year of $120,109.

Gov. Kate Brown announced she plans to fill the veterinary board commission job and was accepting applications until the end of June. No announcement has been made on an appointment.

Schrader is paid $174,000 per year as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Starting next year, the paycheck will go to either Jamie McLeod-Skinner or Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer, depending on the outcome of the November election.

Asian Americans ascendant in 2022

Members of Oregon’s Asian American communities are taking a larger role in state politics.

Republicans recently named Gresham restaurant chain owner Justin Hwang, a South Korean immigrant and naturalized American citizen, as state party chair.

Five Oregon Democrats who came to the United States as refugees are favored to win heavily-Democratic seats in the House in November. It would give Oregon the largest Vietnamese-American legislative group in the nation.

Portland attorney Khanh Pham has served in the House since 2020 and is seeking re-election. The other four — dentist Hai Pham of Hillsboro, restauranteur Daniel Nguyen of Lake Oswego, school attendance coach Hoa Nguyen of Portland, and optometric doctor Thuy Tran of Portland — all won primaries in heavily Democratic districts.

After the collapse of the South Vietnamese government in 1975 to an invasion by communist North Vietnam, 1.4 million people came to the United States. While the largest numbers settled in Orange County and San Jose in California, sizeable communities also settled elsewhere along the West Coast, Texas, and Louisiana. 

Vietnam accounts for the fourth largest Asian immigrant group in the U.S., behind India, China and the Philippines. Korean immigrants count for over 1 million of the estimated 44.5 million immigrants in the United States.