KLAMATH FALLS — The Oregon Legislature’s Joint Ways and Means committee will be meeting on the Klamath Community College campus from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, April 25. They will meet in the Building 4 commons. Attendance is open to the public.
The 23-member committee focuses on state budget spending and is one of the most influential in the Legislature. Its subcommittees include capital construction, education, general government, human services, natural resources, public safety, transportation, and economic development.
It will be taking testimony from local government officials, students, and citizens regarding appropriating state money to various projects. KCC’s President Dr. Roberto Gutierrez, School of Cosmetology Director Stacy Peterson and Associated Student Body President Jacob Gonzales are among those registered to speak to the group about college funding, including capital toward a school of cosmetology building on campus.
Klamath County Commissioner Derrick DeGroot and Oregon Child Development Coalition CEO Donalda Dodson will speak about the planned KCC/OCDC Childcare Learning Center proposed for the campus.
The Ways and Means committee has been traveling the state for the past several weeks taking testimony on budget spending.
Committee members are: Co-chairs Sen. Kate Lieber and Rep. Twana Sanchez; co-vice chairs Sen. Fred Girod, Reps. David Gomberg and Greg Smith; Sens. Dick Anderson, Daniel Bonham, Anthony Broadman, Wlnsvey Campos, Lew Frederick, James Manning Jr., Mike McLane, David Brock Smith, Janeen Sollman, Reps. Ben Bowman, Vikki Breese-Iverson, Jami Cate, Christine Drazan, Paul Evers, Emerson Levy, Mark Owens, Ricki Ruiz and Andrea Valderrama.
Friday, there will be optional tours of Klamath County schools will be at Shasta Elementary at noon, Stearns Elementary at 1 p.m., Mazama High School at 2 p.m. and Henley High School at 3:15 p.m.
On Saturday, April 26, the group will tour Kingsley Field Air National Guard Base at 8 a.m.; have a roundtable discussion with community leaders at Oregon Institute of Technology at 10 a.m. and a tour of OIT at 11 a.m. There will also be an optional ground-breaking ceremony for its Transformations Wellness program at Klamath Works, 1930 S. Sixth St. at 2 p.m.
BREAKOUT:
Here are a few ways to participate in the committee’s visit:
- The KCC event on April 25 will be live streamed at: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/citizen_engagement/Pages/Legislative-Video.aspx
- To register to testify: Ways and Means Joint 2025 Regular Session – Oregon Legislative Information System
- To submit written testimony: Oregon Legislative Information System
For more information about KCC and its programs, visit www.klamathcc.edu.
