Rooted in Care Conference Remarks
April 25, 2026
Good morning! Thank you to For All Families Oregon for bringing everyone together to celebrate caregiving and provide an opportunity to learn new skills as advocates for change. I love spending time with Oregon parents, childcare providers, and family caregivers – you do essential work in our communities and our economy. Thank you!
One of the lessons I’ve learned most clearly in my years of public service continues to shape how I govern today: What working families need isn’t charity – it’s change. We need an economy that works for the people who make it run.
Throughout my time as Speaker of the House and now as Governor, I’ve worked with family advocates to deliver real, lasting wins for parents, kids, and caregivers. I’ve worked in partnership with community groups and labor organizations to make a fair economy more of a reality for workers. Oregon raised the minimum wage statewide. We made sure workers had access to paid sick leave. And we created the best paid family leave program in the country.
These achievements didn’t happen by accident. We did this together – because people like you never stopped fighting for a better future for all Oregonians.
I want simple things for our state. Every Oregonian should be able to afford a home. Every parent should be able to take their kid to the doctor without worrying about the bill. Every family should have access to high-quality, affordable child care. And every older Oregonian should be able to afford to age in place – in the community they love, near friends and family.
We are building this future together – a future where working families don’t just survive, they thrive. And no matter what you look like or where you were born, prosperity is a possibility for you – not a privilege for a few, but a promise for all.
While the Trump administration freezes childcare funding and undermines early childhood education, we’re going to move forward here in Oregon. I’ve launched the Early Childhood Care and Learning System Roundtable, bringing together state and national experts to build a clear roadmap to universal preschool across Oregon. I want to expand childcare for infants and toddlers and create the path to ensure that every 3- and 4-year-old can access high-quality learning.
I’m also committed to supporting the Employment Related Day Care program. I helped find the funding to keep this program going, and we must continue to work to reduce the waitlist – because working families need childcare to live their lives and get to work.
And our work goes beyond childcare. When the federal administration tried to rip away food assistance, I declared a hunger emergency, found emergency dollars to help food pantries, and then when the court said the Trump administration needed to release the money for SNAP, we worked through the night to restore SNAP benefits right away.
I’ve also convened the Medicaid Sustainability Group to ensure Oregon families who rely on the Oregon Health Plan don’t lose coverage in the wake of Trump’s devastating cuts. I’m committed to protecting reproductive health care and gender-affirming health care – because when people don’t have access to this care, it has terrible consequences to physical health, mental health, family stability, and our economy.
I have a clear message to those in Washington D.C. who think they can bully Oregon into abandoning our values: You’ve got it wrong. Oregon won’t stay quiet. And we’re not backing down!
I want to celebrate and recognize that women, immigrants and refugees, Black Oregonians, Indigenous Oregonians, Latine Oregonians, and AAPI Oregonians are the backbone of the care economy. People deserve dignity, fair wages, and respect for the essential work they do.
This gathering is about more than policy – it’s about our values. It’s about our shared belief that care work is valuable work. That families deserve support, not barriers. And that when we invest in care, we invest in Oregon’s future.
Thank you for all that you do. Oregon is a better place because of the care you provide.