The Excellent The Good House

Rep. Dacia Grayber

OVERALL RATING

8.27

8.64 INTEGRITY

8.25 BRAINS

7.91

Effectiveness

A firefighter for Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue in her day job, Grayber, 48, rocketed to the top of this year’s rankings. “Smart, tough and a quick learner” was a typical assessment. People say the experience of helping her husband, also a firefighter, battle for insurance coverage for what the couple believes was workplace-induced cancer shaped her. Grayber led passage of a bill that extends retired public employees’ ability to come back to work for unlimited hours without losing pension benefits. She also shepherded a bill aimed at curbing violent extremism.

Grayber chaired the House Committee on Emergency Management, General Government, and Veterans. She (along with Sen. Kathleen Taylor) led passage of Senate Bill 592 to step up state inspection of dangerous workplaces. “She does a very good job of retail politics,” says another lobbyist. “Not surprised people like her.”

Rep. Ben Bowman D-TIGARD

OVERALL RATING

8.23

8.35 INTEGRITY

8.74 BRAINS

7.58 EFFECTIVENESS

Bowman, 31, our rookie of the year in the House, is a rookie in name only. A lanky former legislative staffer, he won election to the Tigard-Tualatin School Board before capturing his House seat. He works in school administration and hosts a political podcast with Reagan Knopp, the son and chief of staff of Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp (R-Bend). He’s a seventh-generation Oregonian in Salem to do things rather than make a name for himself. “He’s smart, hardworking and a team player,” says a progressive lobbyist. “He hired good staff and knows what he’s doing.”

Bowman worked on a bill that ensures treatment for people possibly exposed to HIV, and is on track to win passage of a bill that would transfer Southwest Hall Boulevard from state to local control. “Best new legislator,” says a health care lobbyist. “Does his homework, thoughtful, willing to move, and accessible.”

Rep. Rob Nosse

D-SOUTHEAST PORTLAND

OVERALL RATING

7.72

7.69 INTEGRITY

7.81 BRAINS

7.65 EFFECTIVENESS

A former union organizer now in his fifth term, Nosse, 55, chaired the busy House Committee on Behavioral Health and Health Care, which handled big bills on hospital staffing, expansion of mental health and addiction treatment, and Measure 110, the controversial 2020 drug decriminalization bill. His biggest win, passage of a hospital staffing bill, came 20 years after workers first propsed it.

An everyman who uses the Hawthorne Boulevard coffee house Oui Presse as his district office, Nosse has a lot of fans, in part, one lobbyist says, because he’s an open book and, unlike most lawmakers, he carefully reads the bills that come before him. “The legislator easiest to relate to, puts the work in every day to stay educated on issues and listen to others,” says a health care lobbyist. The knock on him: He’s not always firm in his beliefs. “Can be swayed by the last person he talks to,” says a health care lobbyist.

D-NORTHWEST PORTLAND OVERALL RATING

7.57

7.85 INTEGRITY

8.24 BRAINS

6.61

Effectiveness

A Kaiser pulmonologist in her day job, the second-term lawmaker moved away from health care this session to focus on arguably the state’s most pressing issue as chair of the Housing and Homelessness Committee. In that role, she pressed for passage of House Bill 2002, which would set goals for speeding development, and House Bill 3414, which would chop away many state and land use protections and rules that advocates and developers say impede housing production. “Wants to roll up her sleeves and solve problems through collaboration,” says one lobbyist.

Dexter, 50, also led the charge on House Bill 2395, aimed at reducing opioid overdose deaths. “Her focus on fentanyl poisoning will literally help save lives,” says a lobbyist. The knock on Dexter: “Still suffers from smart-doctor syndrome.”

OVERALL RATING

7.53

7.77 INTEGRITY

7.28

Brains

7.55 EFFECTIVENESS

Sanchez, 61, took a major step up this session, trading her gavel as chair of the House Judiciary Committee for co-chair of the budget-writing Joint Ways and Means Committee. She’s handled the jump with the calm assurance that has marked her four terms. A longtime leader at the Native American Youth and Family Center, she helped raise 18 foster children.

A person in recovery, Sanchez has pushed for greater access to mental health and addiction services and, unsuccessfully, higher beer and wine taxes. “Sanchez has called an all-out war on alcohol and believes that taxation is the key to making us all stop drinking,” says one critic. She killed a bill on the House floor that would have expanded home delivery of beer and cider. It’s unusual for a bill to die after it’s sent to the floor and even rarer for the beer and wine industry to suffer a setback. “Just because she’s quiet,” says a progressive lobbyist, “doesn’t mean she’s not tracking.”

7.49

7.62 INTEGRITY

8.09 BRAINS

6.75 EFFECTIVENESS

Reynolds, 59, is sometimes overshadowed by the other members of the westside medical corps—Sen. Elizabeth Steiner and Rep. Maxine Dexter. The low-key pediatrician chairs the House Committee on Early Childhood and Human Services. “Smart and savvy,” says a lobbyist who is much more critical of the other two doctors. She worked with Republicans to pass a bill requiring insurers to pay out 70% of the value of a home’s contents even if the homeowner has no inventory of possessions—a win for people in the rural fire belt. She came up just short on a bill that would have banned flavored tobacco statewide. Not everybody loves Reynolds. One staffer says she smacks of “elitist entitlement,” but the consensus is, she’s growing into her job. “Has really stepped up her game for the ’23 session,” says a public sector lobbyist. “Most improved sophomore.”

Rep. Hai Pham

D-HILLSBORO

OVERALL RATING

7.44

7.84 INTEGRITY

Rep. Ken Helm

D-SOUTHWEST PORTLAND

OVERALL RATING

7.2

7.5 INTEGRITY

Rep. Daniel Nguyen

D-LAKE OSWEGO

OVERALL RATING

7.06

7.61 INTEGRITY