Carly Silva Gabriels, Washington County government relations manager, presented the county's 2026 legislative agenda to the coordinating committee, highlighting a central theme: opposing any new state mandates without funding and defending existing capital allocations, notably $1,250,000 for courthouse replacement planning that is at risk in the Oregon Department of Justice's cut list.

The county's priorities also include transportation funding stability and housing/homelessness principles. "The county is going to be opposing all new legislative mandates that do not allow time and funding for local government implementation," Silva Gabriels said, citing persistent county general‑fund gaps.

City representatives described complementary priorities. Andy Smith (Hillsboro) summarized an "Oregon Jobs Act" concept focused on land readiness for industrial development, expanded R&D tax incentives for advanced manufacturing and a proposed five‑year local option capital‑equipment property‑tax exemption. He and others urged careful drafting to avoid unintended local revenue losses.

Beaverton and Wilsonville officials emphasized aligned concerns: protecting the 50/30/20 transportation funding split, opposing repeal of time/place/manner protections for camping ordinances, limiting tolling in negotiated transportation packages, and technical fixes to last session's frontage‑improvement law to allow transportation impact review for certain small projects.

Committee members discussed how these priorities intersect with TriMet and regional transportation discussions. Several speakers urged coordination with the county delegation and noted the coming short session's 35‑day window for action.

Next steps: County staff will circulate slide materials and analyses, share legislative concepts and continue outreach to jurisdictions for coordinated sign‑on letters or committee comments during the short session.