In a move that will strengthen the influence of the Oregon Legislature’s only physician, Lisa Reynolds has been selected to head a brand-new Senate committee focused on young children and families as well as substance use disorders and mental health.
A Democrat from northeast Washington County, Reynolds served three terms in the state House before the Washington and Multnomah county commissions appointed her to fill the vacancy created by Elizabeth Steiner’s election as state Treasurer.
Her career treating kids guides her work as a lawmaker, Reynolds told The Lund Report.
“As pediatricians, we sometimes get a little chip on our shoulder,” she said, “because children are often left out of the conversation when it comes to health care expenses or health care resources.”
The new Early Childhood and Behavioral Health Committee will increase the Senate’s focus on Oregon’s behavioral health crisis as well as social factors that can affect childhood development, said Sen. Deb Patterson, who added that the workload of the sometimes “swamped” health care committee she chairs will be reduced.
“We need to make sure there are early intervention, school-based services, out-patient [services] for kids and more inpatient,” Patterson, a Salem Democrat, told The Lund Report.
“As pediatricians, we sometimes get a little chip on our shoulder because children are often left out of the conversation when it comes to health care expenses or health care resources."
Senate President Rob Wagner appointed Reynolds to head the new committee. “Sen. Reynolds has a lot of legislative experience from her time in the House,” he wrote in his latest legislative newsletter, “and it’s great to have a physician back in the Senate.”
It makes sense to place early childhood health and behavioral health in the same committee, Reynolds told The Lund Report.
“If we could improve services and surround people with what they need in the early childhood range, we would do better in our behavioral health outcomes,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds has been a strong voice in health care policy, pushing for a ban on flavored tobacco products, stronger hospital charity care requirements, and more hands-on oversight of the Oregon Health Authority, among other things.
Oregon has ranked poorly for access to mental health and substance use treatment for adults. Youth also face a dire lack of options.
In recent years, lawmakers have poured record amounts of money into behavioral health.
Last year, Reynolds successfully pushed for $27 million to fund youth prevention and recovery programs as well as support for families with young children.
Reynolds said she plans a similar focus for the upcoming session and will use her position as chair of the new committee to advance what she calls a “Momnibus” legislative package.
The package will include multiple bills that would expand funding for housing, tax credits and substance use disorder treatment for pregnant and postpartum mothers. It will also fund more training for doulas and other traditional health care workers, diversifying the perinatal work force.
Last year, an investigation by The Lund Report with the University of Oregon Catalyst Journalism Project found that most Oregon school children are not getting evidence-based substance use prevention despite the proliferation of dangerous drugs like fentanyl and rising rates of youth substance use disorder.
Reynolds, who supported funding last year to alert children to fentanyl’s hazards, said she will back another bill on youth prevention this year.
Other health committee changes
Meanwhile, four new lawmakers will join the Oregon House Behavioral Health and Health Care Committee:
- Darin Harbick, a newly elected Republican from Lane County, who has a business background.
- Shannon Isadore, a newly elected Democrat from northwest Portland, who is a psychotherapist.
- Emily McIntire, a southern Oregon Republican who serves on the Eagle Point School District board.
- Lesly Muñoz, a Democrat from northern Marion County who is a union organizer.
They’ll replace State Rep. Ben Bowman, D-Tigard, who is now serving as majority leader, Rep. Charlie Conrad, who lost his reelection, and former-Rep. Maxine Dexter, who was elected to Congress.
State Reps. Thuy Tran and Dwayne Yunker are moving to other committees. Another member leaving the committee is State Rep. Christine Goodwin, a Canyonville Republican who lost her bid for state Senate. Replacing Goodwin as GOP vice chair is Tillamook dentist Cyrus Javadi.
Other changes in the Senate include:
- Newly elected Diane Linthicum, a Republican from Klamath County, will replace Daniel Bonham on the Senate Health Care Committee.
- Reynolds is also joining the Health Care Committee, replacing fellow Democratic Senator Chris Gorsek.
- Gorsek will serve on the Senate Early Childhood and Behavioral Health Committee, along with Patterson and Linthicum. State Sen. Dick Anderson, R-Lincoln City, will serve as its vice chair.