Secretary of State presents $135 million biennial budget; flags elections backlog, IT and translation needs

Secretary of State Tobias Reed told the Oregon Senate General Government Subcommittee that his office is requesting $135 million for the 2025–27 biennium to support archives, audits, corporations, elections and administrative functions.

The request seeks $135,000,000 in total: $28,400,000 (about 21 percent) in General Fund, $102,100,000 (about 76 percent) in other funds and $4,600,000 (about 3 percent) in federal funds, and would support 264 positions. Reed described the package as a “stability approach” for the coming biennium and said he expects to return to the committee in 2026–27 with a more comprehensive assessment.

Reed said the office is structured around five main program areas — archives, audits, corporations, elections and administrative services — and highlighted key figures and strains. He noted the Archives Division handled more than 6,000 records requests in 2024 and that the corporation filings operation processed about 84,000 new business registrations last year, contributing to about 524,000 active business entities statewide. For audits, Reed said the proposed budget is approximately $33 million and that the audits division includes roughly 72 FTEs.

"We are aimed at earning the trust of Oregonians," Reed said, describing integrity, accountability and competence as his priorities for the office. He also cited audit return-on-investment figures: "For every dollar that we spend on audits, we save the state $61," a metric he offered as evidence of oversight value.

Why it matters: the office is heavily…