Accomplishments

In times like these, experience matters, not as a credential, but as the ability to lead with steadiness, judgment, and care.

Teresa Alonso León served three consecutive terms in the Oregon Legislature, representing House District 22 from 2017 to 2022. Throughout her service, she focused on strengthening education, expanding access to health care, protecting working families, and making state government more accessible and responsive to the people it serves.

Experience That Matters and Delivers for Oregon Families

Delivering Local and Statewide Investments

Teresa helped secure funding for projects and services that strengthened local communities and supported families across Oregon.

Funding for the Woodburn Community Center
$5.9 million for Cherriots to purchase new low- and no-emission electric buses
$816,000 for Salem Police body cameras
$2 million for statewide immigration defense services through Innovation Law Lab
Funding for Woodburn’s Legion Park Athletic Complex
$172,000 for Salem Free Clinics to hire a new nurse
$323,700 for Chemeketa Community College to purchase a fire truck for firefighter training
$10 million for small and micro businesses with ITINs that were excluded from federal and state relief during COVID
$500,000 for Alianza Poder, including support for Spanish-language communication through Radio Poder and health outreach for low-income families

Supporting Working Families and Economic Stability

Teresa helped advance some of the strongest worker and family protections in the country, recognizing that economic stability is foundational to healthy communities.

Her work included:

Passing Paid Family and Medical Leave, providing paid time off for new parents, caregivers, and workers facing illness, with full wage replacement for low-income workers.
Securing overtime protections for farmworkers.
Supporting small and micro businesses, including directing $10 million in relief funds to businesses that were excluded from federal aid during the pandemic.
Protecting consumers from predatory payday lending practices.

These policies were designed to help families weather hard times without falling behind.

Strengthening Education and Opportunity

As Chair of the House Committee on Education, Teresa played a leading role in shaping Oregon’s education policy during a period of significant challenge and change

Her work included:

Chairing the Task Force on Student Success for Underrepresented Students.
Advocating for and helping secure over $300 million in education funding to address educator workforce shortages and expand summer learning opportunities.
Advancing cultural competency requirements in higher education to better serve students of color, first-generation students, and low-income students.
Supporting tuition equity so more students, including noncitizens and Native American students, could afford higher education.

These efforts were grounded in a belief that education should open doors, not reinforce barriers.

Protecting Community Safety, Dignity, and Access

Teresa worked to ensure Oregon’s laws reflect dignity, fairness, and access for all residents.

Her accomplishments include:

Strengthening Oregon’s sanctuary protections and prohibiting local law enforcement from working with federal immigration enforcement without a court order.
Protecting personal data held by the state to prevent misuse and unauthorized access.
Expanding access to driver licenses so people can get to work, school, and care for their families safely.
Requiring key state documents and business forms to be available in multiple languages to support small business owners and community members with limited English proficiency.

She also helped make the Oregon Capitol a language-access building, ensuring interpretation services are available so more Oregonians can participate in democracy.

A Record of Steady, Grounded Leadership

Across education, health care, economic stability, and community safety, Teresa Alonso León’s work has been guided by a simple principle: public systems should help families move forward, not make life harder.

Her record reflects steady leadership, practical problem-solving, and a deep commitment to the dignity and resilience of Oregon’s communities.

Legislative Career Highlights

First Legislator to run a Bilingual Office
- communicated in Spanish and English via social media
Helped found the Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) Caucus
Helped found the Capital Building Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee
Directed the chief clerk's office to communicate bilingual (Spanish/English) on their Facebook page.
Helped make the Capital Building a language access building.
- The Capital Building now has staff dedicated to ensuring we have translation services for anyone who needs it to give testimony during committee hearings.

Oregon State Representative (2017-2022)

Committees Served

Chair of the House Committee on Education (2020-2022)
Vice Chair of the House Committee on Education (2018-2020)
Member of the House Committee on higher education and workforce development (2017-2018)
Member of the House Health Care Committee (2017-2022)
Member of the Joint Ways and Means on Education (2018-2022)
Joint Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Services (2017-2018)