About Vicki

Vicki Berger is a life-long resident of Oregon’s House District 20. She has worked, owned a business, and raised a family in Salem. Vicki attended Salem public schools as did her three grown children. Vicki and her husband Jerry enjoy spending time with their four grandchildren.

Community Service

Support for public education has been a central theme of Vicki’s service to her community since she was first elected to the Salem-Keizer school board in 1988. In 1998, as a volunteer she co-chaired the “Classrooms for Kids” committee that successfully campaigned for passage of the school bonds to build West Salem High School and other new schools in the district. She has also served on the board of directors for the Salem Schools Foundation.

Vicki’s commitment to her community includes serving on Salem’s Downtown Development Board, the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce, the Salem Hospital Foundation, West Salem Rotary West Salem Business Association, and Oregon Capitol Foundation. As a long time supporter and member of the YMCA, Vicki was the first woman to be named president of the board of directors of the Salem Family YMCA. In 2001, the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce honored Vicki and her husband as Salem’s First Citizens.

Service in the Oregon Legislature

In November 2002, Vicki was elected to represent District 20 in Oregon’s House of Representatives. As a freshman legislator, Vicki was elevated to a leadership role as vice chair of the Trade and Economic Development Committee. She was also a member of the House Revenue Committee.

During her second term, Vicki was chair of the General Government Committee and vice chair of the Revenue Committee, two key legislative committees in the House of Representatives.

Elected to a third term in 2006, Vicki served in the 2007 legislative session on the Business and Labor and Revenue committees, and she was vice chair of the Elections, Ethics and Rules Committee.

During the 2009 legislature, Vicki was Vice-Chair of the Rules Committee and a member of the Revenue and Transportation Committees. Vicki’s leadership was recognized when she was chosen to serve on the Interim Legislative Emergency Board, which addresses important policy issues between regular sessions.

Vicki currently serves as the Co-Chair of Revenue, Co-Vice Chair of Rules, Co-Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Tax Credits, as well as the Interim Legislative Emergency Board and the Emergency Board Subcommittee on Education.

Vicki believes in working with members of both parties to achieve legislative gains that benefited all Oregonians. She:

• Led the way in passing the extension of Oregon Bottle Bill to include a deposit on bottled water;
• Worked hard to help create Oregon’s first Rainy Day Fund which gives us financial stability and protects Oregonians from having to make devastating cuts during economic downturns;
• Helped expand access to the Oregon Prescription Drug Program to make prescriptions more affordable for seniors;
• Sponsored legislation that eventually added 100 state troopers to keep our highways safer;
• Worked to add 18 percent to the budgets of local school districts, allowing them to reduce class sizes and restore programs that had been cut;
• Helped increase financial aid for college and university students while reinvesting in Oregon’s universities and community colleges; and
• Fought to increase penalties for those who commit violent crimes against women and children.

Vicki continues to be an outspoken advocate for common sense solutions to the challenges facing Oregon. Her legislative service is dedicated to:

• Creating quality jobs that support families and improve Oregon’s economic outlook;
• Reducing wasteful governmental spending while providing essential government services to our citizens; and
• Improving public education by stabilizing funding and expanding opportunities for community college and university students.