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Back to Legislative Report Education Legislative Report - Week of 6/26 Education Update By Anne Nesse Budgets for Early Childhood Education, ‘Child Tax Credit Bill’, K-12 biennial budget, Birth to Grade 12 Educational Literacy Bill, make historical investments in 2023. The following paragraphs are explanations Bills the League has been interested in and supporting throughout the session, headed toward passage into law the week of June 20-25, now that a quorum exists in the Senate: A number of legislators from the Joint Ways and Means Committee that approved HB 3198-B ,the Literacy Bill for passage, June 20, stressed that continuous follow up by our legislative body was necessary for the effectiveness of any statewide program like this. ‘This Early Literacy for Success Bill is just the beginning of a hopefully successful effort to teach reading that is proven to be successful for all students, designed for working with all young peoples’ ages, abilities, and backgrounds.’ The League submitted written support for this Bill on April 3, in House Education. A Capitol Chronicle article here gives you examples of districts in our state that may be presently using unapproved methods of reading instruction. The large budget requested for this program ($140M), reflected the fact that any new statewide standards will have difficulties with implementation, if we do not have enough, or sufficiently trained staff. This Bill passed in the Senate on 6/25, funded with a lesser amount of $90M. The ‘Child Tax Credit Bill’, HB 3235-B , passed in the Senate on 6/25, will help somewhat to relieve childhood poverty in our state. The amount of the refundable tax credit and income limits were reduced from the original Bill. This Bill in its original form was supported by the League in written and oral testimony on February 27. The Joint Committee on Tax Expenditures unanimously passed the scaled down version of this Bill last Tuesday, June 20, establishing a $1,000 tax credit per year, for those children and families living in severe poverty, at an approximate cost of $37.5M. HB 2656-B sponsored by Rep. Nathanson, passed in the Senate 6/22, and was of interest to the League. The Bill allows an opt-out statewide survey of student answers to critical questions, that can help legislators and administrators make better decisions in the future, and allocate funds where needed.The survey will be administered yearly throughout the state, and is designed ‘to improve the health and well-being of all students in this state and to help them succeed.’ SB 283-B , passed in the Senate 6/23. It is an omnibus Bill, beginning to address the workforce shortages in public education, that are happening everywhere in the nation. The League was represented on one committee for this Bill. This Bill begins to establish a statewide data system on the educational workforce. It directs Teacher Standards and Practices Commission to develop a plan to establish and maintain a statewide portal for jobs in education. It includes bargaining agreements, for pay for planning time, and lunch periods. It requires each public education provider to encourage members of educational workforce to participate in surveys related to the educational workforce. It prescribes increased pay requirements, for additional percentage of wage to licensed educators and classified school employees who provide significant special education support. It directs DOE to establish and maintain Safe School Culture Grant program to develop network of instructors certified in nonviolent crisis intervention methods. It establishes just cause requirement for classified school employees related to dismissal, demotion and discipline. It establishes Task Force on Substitute Teachers. The total biennial State School Fund Budget was raised to an historic $10.2 Billion, as reported in our last newsletter. And paired with other revenues to a total of $15.3 Billion, an overall 12.3% increase. Oregon moved closer to giving free school breakfasts and lunches for all students, to help childhood hunger, increase learning, and avoid discrimination. This concept was something the League’s action team was supportive of during the session. The Oregon Food Bank was coordinating this effort, and this was announced in a recent press release here . SB 91-B , passed in the Senate on 6/23. It helps to pay families who care for highly disabled children at home, who cannot be educated at school, utilizing Federal matching funds. A Capitol Chronicle article explains the legislative support for this Bill here . SB 531-A , tried to establish a Summer and After-School Learning and Enrichment Grant Program, similar to what was designed to work during school closures during Covid. This directed DOE to administer a grant program. Money would come from the General Fund, but this Bill did not succeed in passage. We are not currently sure whether, or how, this grant program might be included into the total budget of this summer or the next school year, in relation to the Literacy Bill? Three Bills that the League testified on this session involving education, did not make it past their first hearing: SB 854 required a curriculum to be designed statewide, concerning climate change, adaptable to grades K-12, within all subject areas, with input from DOE, DEQ, OHA, and interested stakeholders within each school district. This received front page news in the Oregonian, as well as a large amount of positive testimony from students and teachers. However, because it was interpreted to be mandatory, this will have to wait until possibly several pilot projects, or a study Bill is designed? HB 2601 , required our State Treasurer to exit from certain carbon-intensive investments, subject to fiduciary duties. to develop a plan to protect state investments from risks related to climate change, and to issue periodic reports on actual and planned progress towards completion of the duties imposed under the Act. Divest Oregon was the Coalition that presented much of the testimony, as well as a thorough data report from Rep. Pham and Sen. Golden. The League’s testimony also emphasized the non-partisanship of this Bill. HB 2750 , prohibited charging of fees as a condition of participating in interscholastic activities (including requiring participation in fundraising activities). It authorized use of moneys in Statewide Education Initiatives Account for costs incurred by school districts and public charter schools as result of this prohibition. The League’s written and oral testimony emphasized this could allow for more types of interscholastic activities in public school, allowing for increased equity in education. Here is a summary of what Early Childhood Education received in the budget bill from the Joint Ways and Means Committee: $55 M for Facilities $23 M for Employment related Day Care $10 M for Birth to 5 Literacy Programs $18.6 M for Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Educatio Here is a summary of what was included in the final funding Bill SB 5506-1 the “Christmas Tree Bill” for education: Department of Early Learning and Care (DELC): $5 M for technical assistance $1.7 M for Imagination Library Program Oregon Department of Education: 42.4 M Lottery $600,000 to replace state IT system $5 M Black Studies Success Plan $1.5 M for migrant/multilingual instruction team $100 M School Capital Improvement Matching funds $15 M for connecting Oregon Schools broadband grants Higher Education Coordinating Commission: $20 M Oregon Conservation Corps OSU, $250,000 Climate Service After School Care By Katie Riley SB 531 - Summer and After School Care – This bill would have provided funding for school-age kids this summer. Last year a similar bill provided $50 million and served thousands of low-income kids. This year’s bill received a hearing and was referred to W&Ms, however, it did not get assigned to a W&Ms subcommittee. It never had a work session or a funding recommendation. Schools were given extra money for summer school and could spend some of that money for extended care, depending on the school district. SB 858 – Children’s Service Districts – The bill would have provided citizens with the ability to gather signatures to have local ballot measures to form children’s service districts. A public hearing was held in Senate Finance and Revenue, but a work session was never scheduled. The bill was opposed by the League of Oregon Cities (mayors) and the Association of Oregon Counties.

We are working to defend democracy from escalating cyber-attacks and disinformation. Policy debates are determining the future of our democracy, the internet, and privacy. Privacy and Cybersecurity 2020 About the Study We are working to defend democracy from escalating cyber-attacks and disinformation. Policy debates are determining the future of our democracy, the internet, and privacy. U.S. state and national policymakers have joined the global debate over digital protection of personal information, mined for multi-billion dollar advertising revenues. Experts now characterize media manipulation as ‘information disorder.' The impact of artificial intelligence on MDM, mis-, dis, and mal- information deserves intense scrutiny going forward. Read our 2020 study for an overview, analysis and comprehensive references to contemporary technology, global policy development, the history of privacy, and our key findings. LWVOR Privacy and Cybersecurity positions were adopted in January 2020, in LWVOR Issues for Action, on p. 16 . Privacy and Cybersecurity Position- Adopted: January 2021; Amended January 2021 Cybersecurity is the prevention of damage to, protection of, and restoration of computers, electronic communications systems, electronic communications services, wire communication, and electronic communication, including information contained therein, to ensure its availability, integrity, authentication, confidentiality, and nonrepudiation. This position statement addresses Elections, Information Security, Personal Information Protection, and Electronic Business and Social Media. Elections Security The election process is the foundation of our representative form of government. Election integrity, accuracy, transparency, and trustworthiness require vigilance to ensure security protections. Security requirements include and are not limited to: verifiable ballots; ballots that can be recounted and audited; up-to-date hardware and software, supported by vendors, tested, and secure; protected voter registration databases; election staff/volunteers with cybersecurity expertise; cyber-damage contingency plans; risk-limiting audits; attention to disinformation and misleading ads. Protect voters’ ability to exercise an informed opinion on electoral matters. Explore limiting the unfettered electronic circulation and amplification of election misinformation (e.g., targeted disinformation campaigns, manipulated media, anonymous disinformation, and algorithmic and robotic disinformation campaigns). Information Security Government, individuals, and organizations (including the private sector and critical infrastructure), all require strong cybersecurity protections and effective deterrents to assure national security, economic and social stability, and personal information integrity. Create consistent information privacy laws and regulations across all organizations (government, private, for-profit, and non-profit) that eliminate gaps, inconsistencies, and overlaps. Regulate all technology-enabled organizations (e.g., internet platforms, online intermediaries, business-to-consumer platforms), not shifting sectors, so that organizations are subject to a uniform set of laws and regulations. Regulate all categories of information in the same way, regardless of the type of organization or sector that collects that information. Apply a baseline set of regulations to all types of information, regardless of the type of organization or sector collecting that information. Apply regulatory requirements to organizations according to their size and complexity, the nature of data covered, and the risk posed by exposing private information. All information (including third-party data transfers) needs sufficiently flexible protections to address emerging technologies and scientific evidence while serving the common good by balancing the demands of stakeholders and vested interests. The ubiquitous information and communication technologies (ICT) of today’s pervasive digital services, platforms, and marketplaces require a global governance perspective to address their societal and economic impacts: Harmonize laws and regulations across jurisdictions to protect individuals and assure the trustworthy flow of information across all boundaries—government, organizations, industry sectors, states, and countries. Aim to develop flexible regulatory structures that can quickly adapt to social and scientific realities and technical and economic policy challenges. Use forward-looking, collaborative mechanisms such as experimentation and learning, test-and-evolve, and post-doc effectiveness reviews. Incentivize specific outcomes that facilitate anticipating and adapting to rapid changes. State laws that become inconsistent with future comprehensive federal privacy standards may be preempted, while more stringent laws may remain. At a minimum, citizens' information protection rights should be comparable to those of citizens around the world—both current and future protections that may be established. Current European Council personal information protections include the ability to: be informed of what personal information is held and why access information held by an entity request updating or correcting of information request manual processing in lieu of automated or algorithmic processing request transfer of information to another entity withdraw prior consent to process data or object to specific situation consent request deleting personal information. Personal Information Protection Uniform privacy rights need to protect personal privacy and prevent known harm. Establish uniform information protections for personal and behavioral data that can be linked to an individual or devices. Prevent harmful uses of personal information by all information processors who collect, store, analyze, transfer, sell, etc. Expand the legal definition of “harm” to include physical, monetary, reputational, intangible, future, or other substantial injuries and to provide individuals the right to legal remedy. Assure that personal information collection, use, transfer, and disclosure for economic or societal purposes is consistent with the purpose for which individuals provide their data, and does not cause them harm. Shift the focus of information protection from individual self-management when submitting data (e.g., opt-in, obscure notice, and choice disclosures) to organizational stewardship in protecting individuals’ personal privacy. Expand personal information privacy definition to address rapidly changing information and communication technologies, accelerated networking between businesses, and automated collection and dissemination of data, which together subvert personally identifiable information, de-identification, re-identification, and data anonymization. Electronic Business and Social Media: Cybersecurity Responsibilities Organizations conducting electronic business and social media commercializing personal information both bear the responsibility for protecting information and must be liable for failure to protect individuals from harm. All organizations--including third-party receivers: Must protect individuals’ transferred information across multiple organizations to ensure end-use accountability. Have a duty to safely collect, use, and share personal, sensitive information. Should use comprehensive information risk assessments, take proactive measures to implement information security measures, and be held accountable for fulfilling these risk management obligations. Are held accountable for misuse of personal information by strengthening both state and federal laws, rule-making, and enforcement powers. We support the right of free speech for all. The digital tools of information and communication technology (such as algorithms and artificial intelligence) can selectively distort or amplify user-generated content. The resulting disinformation, digital manipulation, false claims, and/or privacy violations may endanger society or harm others. Compel private internet communication platforms (applications, social media, websites, etc.) to be responsible for moderating content. Define liability for damages and provide for enforcement for failure to moderate content. Privacy and Cybersecurity Today LWVOR Privacy & Cybersecurity Study , PDF, 61 pages Links Many bills passed in final 2023 legislative session days after the 43-day Senate walkout. See our Sine Die Legislative Report for links to our testimony, including references to our work over several sessions and future ongoing effort; all reflect privacy and cybersecurity. Elections SCR 1 : Condemning Election violence. SB 166 : Election Worker Protections. HB 3073 : Candidate and Incumbent Data Privacy Protection. HB 2107 : Automatic Voter Registration expansion. HB 2585 : Oppose ending “Motor Voter” voter registration. HB 5035 : Software, Risk-Limiting Audits and Election Security in the SoS’s Budget. Cybersecurity HB 2049 : Establish the Cybersecurity Center of Excellence. HB 2490 : Defend our cybersecurity plans from Public Disclosure. HB 2806 : update cybersecurity and privacy statute for critical infrastructures, etc. Privacy SB 619 : Protect Consumers’ Personal Data. HB 2052 : Data Broker Registry, First in the Nation. SB 5512 : the Judicial Department budget, for Citizen Participation and Access. HB 3201 : Broadband Assistance. Public Records HB 3111 : State Employees, Volunteers, and Retirees Information Privacy SB 510 : Public Records Advisory Budget. HB 5032 : Public Records Advocate funding. Previous Next

ABBY RENNER (she/her) ABBY RENNER (she/her) YC Climate Team Coordinator youthoutreach@lwvor.org

Back to All Legislative Reports Natural Resources Legislative Report - Week of 2/3 Natural Resources Team Coordinator: Peggy Lynch Agriculture/Goal 3 Land Use: Sandra U. Bishop Coastal Issues: Christine Moffitt, Peggy Lynch Columbia River Treaty: Philip Thor Dept. of Geology and Mineral Industries: Joan Fryxell Emergency Management: Rebecca Gladstone Forestry: Josie Koehne Elliott State Research Forest: Peggy Lynch Northwest Energy Coalition: Robin Tokmakian Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife: Melanie Moon Oregon Health Authority Drinking Water Advisory Committee: Sandra Bishop Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board: Lucie La Bonte Water: Peggy Lynch Wildfire: Carolyn Mayers Ways and Means Natural Resource Budgets/Revenue: Peggy Lynch Jump to a topic: Air Quality Agriculture Budgets/Revenue Climate Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Dept. of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) Dept. of State Lands (DSL) Elliott State Research Forest (ESRF) Emergency Services Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) Land Use & Housing Natural Resources Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) Pesticides Water Wetlands Wildfire Air Quality Bills we are watching: SB 726 Requires the owner or operator of a municipal solid waste landfill to conduct surface emissions monitoring and report data as specified in the Act. LWVOR to support. HB 3244 : Replaces the requirement that an owner or operator of a municipal solid waste incinerator conduct continuous monitoring or sampling of specified air contaminants with a requirement that the monitoring or sampling be conducted annually. LWVOR would oppose. The bill relates to the Reworld facility out of Keiser and League members have testified of their concerns in past years. Agriculture By Sandra Bishop Chair Jeff Golden announced four specific Senate bills that will be considered by the committee: SB 78 – Replacement dwelling bill; SB 77 – home occupation reform bill; SB 73 – Spot zoning reform; and SB 79 – prohibits certain dwellings on resource lands. LWVOR will watch and may support with our strong positions on the protection of Oregon’s valuable agricultural lands. Budgets/Revenue By Peggy Lynch Following are the budget bills we are watching in Natural Resources: Dept. of Agriculture: SB 5502 Dept. of Agriculture Fees: SB 5503 Columbia River Gorge Commission: SB 5508 DEQ: SB 5520 . Governor’s budget DEQ Fact Sheet Public hearing tentative set for mid-March Oregon Dept. of Energy: SB 5518 Oregon Dept. of Energy Fees: SB 5519 Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife: HB 5009 Oregon Dept. of Forestry: SB 5521 Dept. of Geology and Mineral Industries: HB 5010 Public hearing Feb. 5-6; Meeting materials Dept. of Land Conservation and Development: SB 5528 Governor’s budget DLCD Fact Sheet Public hearing Feb. 3-4; LCDC 1/24 presentation ; Meeting Materials Land Use Board of Appeals: SB 5529 Oregon State Marine Board: HB 5021 Oregon State Parks and Recreation Dept.: HB 5026 Public hearing tentative set for March 8 Dept. of State Lands: SB 5539 Water Resources Dept.: SB 5543 Governor’s budget WRD Fact Sheet Public hearing Feb. 18-20. Here is a summary of the Governor’s budget. Governor's Budget and Agency Request Budget documents are/will be available online here . Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board: HB 5039 . Tentative public hearing Feb. 23-24 Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board 6-Year Limitation: HB 5040 Limits expenditures of lottery funds from the Watershed Conservation Grant Fund for local grant expenditures by the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board for a six-year period beginning July 1, 2025. Oregon Business Development Dept.: HB 5024 Oregon Dept. of Emergency Management: SB 5517 Office of the Governor: SB 5523 Oregon State Fire Marshal: SB 5538 Dept. of Transportation: SB 5541 Dept. of Administrative Services: HB 5002 Legislative Administration Committee, Legislative Assembly, Legislative Counsel Committee, Legislative Fiscal Officer, Legislative Revenue Officer, Commission on Indian Services and Legislative Policy and Research Committee: HB 5016 Lottery Bonds: SB 5531 : an average debt capacity of $564 million in each Biennium Emergency Board: HB 5006 General Obligation Bonds, etc.: SB 5505 : an average debt capacity of $2.22 billion per Biennium Six-Year Limitation/Bonds: SB 5506 Limits for the six-year period beginning July 1, 2025, payment of expenses from fees, moneys or other revenues, including Miscellaneous Receipts, but excluding lottery funds and federal funds, collected or received by various state agencies for capital construction. The next Revenue Forecast will be Feb. 26th. The legislature will use that forecast to do a final rebalance of the 2023-25 budget. Then the May 14th forecast will be the basis for the legislature to determine the 2025-27 state budget. Climate By Claudia Keith and Team See the Climate Emergency section of this Legislative Report. T here are overlaps with this Natural Resources Report. We encourage you to read both sections. Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) By Peggy Lynch The League supports SB 830 , a bill that m odifies provisions of the on-site septic system loan program to allow for grants. It also allows for the program to consider mobile home parks in need of septic upgrades. Here is the Onsite Wastewater Management Program 2025 Rulemaking webpage . Because of the League’s work on SB 391 (2021) and additional bills in 2023, a League member is serving on the rules advisory committee to address sewer availability and accessory dwelling unit (ADU) issues. There are two additional meetings set for Feb. 13 and 26. You are welcome to Sign up for email updates about this rulemaking via GovDelivery . The League will again serve on an annual rulemaking advisory committee on water quality fee increases. Dept. of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) By Joan Fryxell On Jan. 28th, the House Committee on Climate, Energy and Environment received a presentation on the proposed pilot project on Geologic Carbon Sequestration Potential in Oregon. Follow up materials were provided. Dr. Day-Stirrat, DOGAMI Director, presented the information. He stated that the target horizons are the porous zones at the tops and bases of lava flows, which are the appropriate zones, as they are highly porous (have a lot of gaps) and permeable (the gaps are well connected). The sample he circulated was clearly from the intact center of the flow, as it was quite solid, but still had holes in it. The project described is only to drill a test well to evaluate feasibility of injecting brines (a.k.a. any sort of water solution, possibly saltier than we want to drink) infused with carbon dioxide. Some test injections will need to be done to evaluate this correctly, but clearly this proposed project is not intended to be a production well for ongoing injection of brines. $10 million from the Common School Fund (CSF) should cover the scope and duration of the project. Because the land is located on CSF land where future viable private projects could pay to lease the land, the CSF money is considered by the State Land Board as a good investment. Drilling is expensive, and drilling through a stack of basalt flows is likely to be relatively slow (therefore more expensive). To characterize the well, they will want to retrieve cores at intervals, also expensive and time consuming. More drilling info below under background information. Monitoring wells will need to be drilled a little distance away from the pilot well, to monitor how the pilot well responds to pumping brines down the hole. This keeps an eye on pore pressure down at the horizon of interest, as well as can retrieve brines to see if leakage is occurring as well as how effective the mineral production of calcite is going. The Dept. of Environmental Quality will need to approve well drilling permits. Committee members raised a number of questions with answers here: “Carbon isn’t the problem; other greenhouse gases are the problem”. Carbon dioxide levels have doubled in the last 200 years, and clearly are a major problem. Other greenhouse gases are also a problem, at a secondary level. Methane, for example, is a potent greenhouse gas, but its residence time in the atmosphere is fairly brief, on the order of a few years to a decade. Carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere indefinitely. As Dr. Day-Stirrat said, methane can be injected underground, but it will remain a gas, and can leak back up to the surface. “Take carbon out of the air, don’t the trees need that?” Plants do take up carbon dioxide (and give off oxygen), but even getting the carbon dioxide levels back to 280 ppm (pre-industrial revolution) will not hurt plants. The forests were in fine shape throughout human history, as well as back into the fossil record to the first land forests ~300 million years ago. “Source of brine?” Not discussed at length, but one possibility is to pump up the fluids down there (the brines), inject carbon dioxide, and pump them back down, in a cycle. That’s probably the cheapest way to go. “Is it bad to plug the holes in the basalt with calcite?” This is a question of scale, really. Pores will be plugged with calcite for some radius around the well, but these zones are really pretty tiny compared with the extent of the layers in the Columbia River Basalts. Reducing porosity is generally not detrimental to the rocks. “How many years have we been tracking atmospheric carbon dioxide?” We have records of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere that extend back about 500 million years all the way up to today, utilizing different techniques, but the data set is quite robust. “What is the seismic impact of pumping?” That is exactly what hydrofracturing (fracking) is – enough fluid is pumped down to the horizon of interest to counteract the prevailing pressure regime enough to fracture the rock. This is being done industrially in a number of places, and has been done long enough that the mining engineers and drillers have a very good idea of how much pressure is needed to fracture the rock. Injecting carbonated brines with the intent of making calcite doesn’t need this high level of pressure, so it can be done without increasing the seismic risk to the area. “What is displaced when we put things into the subsurface?” Dr. Day-Stirrat said “the pressure goes up”, which is true but not helpful, really. Even at relatively shallow depths like 2500 feet, things behave a little differently than they do at the surface, and we’re talking about fluids in pore spaces. The fluids are at least a little compressible, and again, we’re talking about a relatively small radius around the well in a very large system. “Injection vs eruption vs earthquakes”. Iceland is on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a spreading center, so it exists by repeated volcanic eruptions. Movement of magma produces earthquakes, and this has been ongoing the entire history of the island, whether people have been around or not. These injection wells are shallow and small in comparison, and the magma movement is not affected by them. Background information: Basalt is particularly good for carbon sequestration in terms of its chemistry and its texture. It contains relatively high amounts of calcium, as well as magnesium, both of which readily combine with carbon dioxide to form carbonate minerals (calcite and magnesite, respectively), which are stable solids which will stay in the rock indefinitely. Texturally, the basalt is in the form of lava flows, which override the land surface with all its roughness, and the tops of the flows typically break up as they cool while the interior continues to move. These broken zones are ideal for fluids to travel through. Drilling: Normally a drill string and bit rotates, which chews up the rock to make the hole get deeper. The rock chips then circulate up with the drilling mud, are retrieved and logged, so the rock type is known, and changes are recorded. To get a core (like what was handed around in the session), the whole drill string is pulled up, and the bit is replaced with a coring bit, which preserves a cylinder of rock in the center. Once the interval to be cored is drilled, the whole drill string is pulled back up, the core is retrieved, and the normal bit is put back on, the whole drill string is fed back down the hole, and drilling resumes. Normal drilling is faster and cheaper than drilling for a core, so it is done unless there is a lot of interest in exactly what the rock is. Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels: They have fluctuated considerably over geologic time, with a high of about 4000 ppm in Cambrian time, to a low of 180 ppm in the last glacial period. However, the rate of change has always been much slower, which allows some accommodation by the plants and animals living at the time. The rate of change over the last 200 years is far too fast for these accommodations to take place. Dept. of State Lands (DSL) By Peggy Lynch The Director of DSL published a p roposed increase in permit fees for Removal/Fill program: “ Oregon’s Removal-Fill Law helps protect wetlands and waters by requiring permits to remove or add materials in wetlands, rivers, streams, lakes, and other waters of the state .” A League member served on the rulemaking advisory committee . “ The statutory Common School Fund heavily subsidizes Oregon’s removal-fill permitting process .” “ Visit the DSL website to see a draft of the proposed rules and program fees, all related materials from the rulemaking process, and the online comment form: www.oregon.gov/dsl/Pages/rulemaking.aspx . The comment deadline is February 17th at 5:00 p.m.” The next State Land Board meeting is Feb. 11. Elliott State Research Forest (ESRF) The ESRF Board will meet Feb. 5th. Here is the agenda, meeting materials and a zoom link. Emergency Services By Rebecca Gladstone HB 2581 : The League spoke and filed testimony in support of a statute change, substituting the word “seismic” with “hazards”, to coordinate coverage efforts through the State Resiliency Officer. A work session is scheduled on Feb 5 at 1pm, in H Comm On Emergency Mngmt, Gen Gov, and Veterans . SB 505 The League is preparing testimony for this bill to fund grants for county emergency liaisons, public hearing scheduled for Feb 4 at 1pm, in Sen Comm On Vets, Emergency Management, Fed and World Affairs . Oregon Dept. of Forestry (ODF) By Josie Koehne SB 404 State Board of Forestry shall convey forest lands within a county to the county if the board of county commissioners of the county determines that conveyance of the forest lands to the county would secure the greatest permanent value of the forest lands to the county. LWVOR will oppose. See also the Wildfire section of this report below and the separate Climate section. Land Use & Housing By Peggy Lynch HB 3013 : Details the process by which a permit or zone change that is based on provisions of a comprehensive plan or land use regulation that fail to gain acknowledgment is voided and any resulting improvements or uses are removed or revoked. LWVOR supports with -1 amendment. The following is a beginning list of land use (and housing-related) bills we are following: HB 3062 : Requires local governments to map sensitive uses as part of a comprehensive plan. LWVOR may support. HB 2138 : Expands allowable middle housing and expands middle housing requirements to include urban unincorporated lands. LWVOR may have comments. Some provisions we support; others not so much. HB 3145 : Allows the Housing and Community Services Department to use Local Innovation and Fast Track Housing Program Fund moneys for factory-built housing. LWVOR should support. May have overlap with Housing portfolio. HB 2316 : Allows designation of Home Start Lands to be used for housing. LWVOR will oppose. HB 2347 : Authorizes the Department of Land Conservation and Development to provide planning assistance for housing production to federally recognized Indian tribes and makes other technical changes to laws relating to land use planning. A -1 amendment will be considered at a public hearing on Feb. 5th in House Housing. HB 2950 A bill to update Goal One and Public Participation is being sponsored by Oregon’s American Planning Association. The League is interested in the bill, but has some concerns. We understand there will be an amendment proffered. SB 462 : Requires the Oregon Business Development Department to establish an education course for land use planners for local governments, special districts and state agencies. LWVOR supports educational efforts but there are other training opportunities, so this proposal might be redundant. SB 525 : Amends expedited land division criteria and processes. LWVOR has concerns. May need to oppose. Knowing that infrastructure is a hot topic this session, you might find these slides ( Infrastructure 101 Webinar, Password: !zI0siD% ) from the Regional Solutions Team of interest. See also the Housing Report in the Social Policy section of this Legislative Report. Natural Resources HB 3173 – Establishing OregonFlora in Statute: OregonFlora provides comprehensive information about ~4,700 vascular plants in Oregon to the public, state and federal agencies, educational institutions, businesses; consumers, and scientists, providing significant economic, social, and educational benefits. Long-term and sustainable funding is needed to ensure that OregonFlora can continue to provide this service. This bill creates an initial appropriation of $400,000 per biennium made to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission for distribution to Oregon State University. HB 3173 info sheet . The bill has widespread support statewide and the League hopes to see this program that supports many natural resource areas funded this session. Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) By Lucie La Bonte The OWEB program began in 1993. In 1994, several pilot watershed councils developed. After passage of Measure 66, the Governor’s Watershed Enhancement Board became the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board funded with 7.5% of lottery funds. There are now 92 Watershed Councils in Oregon. These watershed councils partner with various state and federal agencies bringing economic development to rural areas by improving watershed habitat. Funding includes proceeds from the Oregon Lottery, federal grants and loans and, more recently, General Funds to support additional programs added to the agency’s mission. OWEB has established a Strategic Funding Plan developing strategies to fund their programs and projects throughout the state. The Board and Staff work together updating the funding plan to ensure secure funding for restoration projects. The Legislature is a partner and generally approves funding for OWEB. The Strategic Funding Plan was reviewed at the January Board Meeting and will be updated in April. Pesticides HB 2679 directs the State Department of Agriculture to classify certain pesticides containing neonicotinoids as restricted-use. The League has supported a similar bill in past sessions. Water By Peggy Lynch The Governor has added “water” as her environmental priority this session as reported in this Oregon Capital Chronicle article.: “ Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and her natural resources adviser Geoff Huntington consider water quality and availability a top priority this legislative session …. Huntington said the governor’s office will back a package of bills that gives state agencies more statutory authority to manage water allocations and regulations in Oregon. Much of that is being sponsored by Rep. Ken Helm, D-Beaverton, and Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane, who co-chair the House agriculture and water committee.” The League provided testimony on HB 2168 at the House Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water Committee. The bill requests $5 million for the on-site septic loan program, another $5 million for the Well Water Repair and Replacement Fund and monies to help the Oregon State Extension Service reach out to potential recipients. The bill is scheduled for a Work Session on Feb. 3rd. Water bills we are following: HB 2988 : Instructs the Water Resources Department to take certain actions related to aquifer recharge and aquifer storage and recovery. HB 3108 : Requires the Water Resources Department to implement additional rules and requirements for the review of limited license applications for an aquifer storage and recovery permit HB 2803 : Increases certain fees related to water. LWVOR will support. Expect amendments. Needed to provide current service level staffing at WRD. Oregon Water Data Portal debuted Jan. 31st. The multi-agency effort to release a beta version of the pilot portal for the Oregon Water Data Portal project debuted on January 31. The pilot portal is accessible at https://www.oregonwaterdata.org/ . Changes to the pilot portal will be made intermittently from input received during the beta testing until June 2025, as resources allow. The League has supported this project so that there is ONE PLACE where Oregonians can find water information. This Oregon water data pilot portal was developed through a collaboration with multiple Oregon agencies, Oregon State University, and the Internet of Water Coalition. The pilot was developed based on the experience and knowledge of this group as well as the input and questions the team has received through various engagements. The objective of this initial pilot portal is to test functionality using limited data and will evolve over the next six months as data are added and improvements are made based on user feedback. We will continue to build our understanding about user needs and experiences through this pilot portal phase. Users can provide feedback about the beta version of the pilot portal by completing a survey or emailing OWDP@deq.oregon.gov . The objective of a water data portal is to bring together Oregon’s water data and information into a single point of access so that water decision makers and others can find the data, and to improve data access and integration for better water-related decision-making. League members may want to check the U. S. Drought Monitor , a map that is updated every Thursday. Here is a more complete website about drought in Oregon. We all need to pay attention to the potential for harmful algal blooms. “When in doubt, stay out.” V isit the Harmful Algae Bloom website or call the Oregon Public Health Division toll-free information line at 877-290-6767 to learn if an advisory has been issued or lifted for a specific water body. Wetlands A bill of concern to the League related to our removal/fill program has been filed: SB 400 . As proposed, the League will oppose. Another wetlands-related bill we will be watching: HB 2054 . Wildfire By Carolyn Mayers The League watched a meeting of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Wildfire on January 28, which addressed how wildfire losses impact homeowner insurance in Oregon, with comparisons to the CA insurance market for context. Andrew Stolfi, Director and Insurance Commissioner, Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, spoke first, laying out the overall unfavorable landscape in the insurance industry due to increasing huge natural disaster payouts. He pointed out that the double-digit premium increases people are experiencing, even in “non-high disaster areas” are due to the increase in large claims. His presentation , as well as those of the other two speakers at this meeting, clearly illustrate the problem, and some possible approaches to solutions, when it comes to wildfire. Of note, Commissioner Stolfi pointed out that Oregon’s homeowner insurance rates, by one measure which excludes condos, are still less than half the national average, in spite of the fact that there has been an average of approximately 50% increase in rates between 2018 and 2023. This is remarkable, given the fact he also pointed out - that losses in the past 10 years are tracking 10 times the total for the past 4 decades. Finally, he shared that in spite of the feeling among consumers that many people are experiencing non-renewals, that actual number is .only 78% of policies. All these figures and more are included in his presentation. He was followed by Michael Newman, General Counsel for the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS), which is a non-profit organization focused on wildfire risk mitigation at the parcel and neighborhood level. They have recently received permission to offer their program to homeowners in Oregon. One item they are working on is developing a “Wildfire Prepared Neighborhood Benchmark”. This is a program they hope to offer to homeowners at the neighborhood level to help 1) mitigate wildfire risk of loss and increase survivability and; 2) help reduce participants’ homeowner insurance rates, or at least slow rate increases. At the end of the presentation, Senator Jeff Golden commented that another attempt at funding a grant program through the State Fire Marshal for “Neighborhood Protection Cooperatives”, which has failed repeatedly in previous sessions, is forthcoming at this Legislative Session in the form of SB 85 . Rounding out the discussion was Kenton Brine, President, Northwest Insurance Council, who reiterated the unsustainable nature of rapidly increasing disaster payouts by insurance companies exceeding premiums collected. Increasing magnitude of disaster claims, which is also influenced in no small part by the large increase in the cost of construction materials used in rebuilding. He sited the fact that in 2023, $1.12 was paid out in claims for every $1.00 collected in 2023. Finally, this article from the Oregon Capital Chronicle explores the relationship between wildfire and insurance availability. Volunteers Needed What is your passion related to Natural Resources? You can help. V olunteers are needed. The long legislative session begins in January of 2025. Natural Resource Agency Boards and Commissions meet regularly year-round and need monitoring. If any area of natural resources is of interest to you, please contact Peggy Lynch, Natural Resources Coordinator, at peggylynchor@gmail.com . Training offered.

Back to All Legislative Reports Natural Resources Legislative Report - Week of 3/3 Natural Resources Team Coordinator: Peggy Lynch Agriculture/Goal 3 Land Use: Sandra U. Bishop Coastal Issues: Christine Moffitt, Peggy Lynch Columbia River Treaty: Philip Thor Dept. of Geology and Mineral Industries: Joan Fryxell Emergency Management: Rebecca Gladstone Forestry: Josie Koehne Elliott State Research Forest: Peggy Lynch Northwest Energy Coalition: Robin Tokmakian Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife: Melanie Moon Oregon Health Authority Drinking Water Advisory Committee: Sandra Bishop Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board: Lucie La Bonte Water: Peggy Lynch Wildfire: Carolyn Mayers Ways and Means Natural Resource Budgets/Revenue: Peggy Lynch Please see Natural Resources Overview here . Jump to a topic: Air Quality Agriculture Budgets/Revenue Climate Coastal Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Dept. of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) Elliott State Research Forest (ESRF) Emergency Services Forestry (ODF) Governance Land Use & Housing Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) State Land Board Water Wildfire AIR QUALITY SB 726 requires the owner or operator of a municipal solid waste landfill to conduct surface emissions monitoring and report data as specified in the Act. LWVOR supports. The public hearing on this bill was held Feb. 24 in the Senate Committee On Energy and Environment . See the article in the Statesman Journal. See also the Climate Emergency Legislative Report this week. HB 3244 : Replaces the requirement that an owner or operator of a municipal solid waste incinerator conduct continuous monitoring or sampling of specified air contaminants with a requirement that the monitoring or sampling be conducted annually. LWVOR would oppose. The bill relates to the Reworld facility out of Keizer and League members have testified of their concerns in past years. AGRICULTURE By Sandra Bishop The following Senate bills will be considered in the Senate Committee On Natural Resources and Wildfire on March 6 : SB 78 – Replacement dwelling bill and SB 77 – home occupation reform bill. SB 73 – Spot zoning reform; and SB 79 – prohibits certain dwellings on resource lands. LWVOR will watch and may support with our strong positions on protection of Oregon’s valuable agricultural lands. Also, we are watching HB 3158 relating to photovoltaic solar power generation facilities on lands zoned for exclusive farm use. Allows certain photovoltaic solar power generation facilities on lands zoned for exclusive farm use to operate alongside farm or allowed nonfarm uses on a tract. LWVOR is watching this one before taking a position. The League is watching HB 2947 , a bill that would direct the Oregon State University Extension Service and the College of Agricultural Sciences of Oregon State University to study the distribution and occurrence of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) found in biosolids applied to agricultural fields that do not produce crops intended for human consumption. BUDGETS/REVENUE By Peggy Lynch Following are the budget bills we are watching in Natural Resources: Dept. of Agriculture: SB 5502 tentative 3rd week of March; Dept. of Agriculture Fees: SB 5503 tentative 3rd week of March; Columbia River Gorge Commission: SB 5508 DEQ: SB 5520 . Governor’s budget DEQ Fact Sheet Public hearing tentative set for mid-March Oregon Dept. of Energy: SB 5518 info hearing 2/10, Meeting Materials , public hearing 2/11 Oregon Dept. of Energy Fees: SB 5519 info hearing 2/10, public hearing 2/11 Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife: HB 5009 , tentative public hearings Mar. 31 & Apr. 1-2; Oregon Dept. of Forestry: SB 5521 . Tentative public hearings March 10-12; Wildfire Funding Workgroup Work Session/report to be a part of the ODF budget presentation. The Workgroup will also present their report regarding potential wildfire funding solutions to the Joint Committee On Ways and Means Subcommittee On Public Safety on March 5 and to the Joint Committee On Ways and Means Subcommittee On Natural Resources on March 6. Dept. of Geology and Mineral Industries: HB 5010 Public hearing Feb. 5-6; Meeting materials LWVOR testimony Aggregate industry testified against the staffing and fee increases. LWVOR points out that KPM #4 , mine inspections has consistently NOT met the small 20% target so, if staffing is needed to meet that target AND fees increased to pay for them, we will continue to support. LWVOR supports SB 836 . Dept. of Land Conservation and Development: SB 5528 Governor’s budget DLCD Fact Sheet Public hearing Feb. 3-4; LCDC 1/24 presentation ; Meeting Materials LWVOR testimony Land Use Board of Appeals: SB 5529 Public hearing Feb. 27 LWVOR testimony . SB 817 is a bill to request a minor fee increase (Work Session Mar. 4 in Senate Committee On Natural Resources and Wildfire ) Oregon State Marine Board: HB 5021 . Public hearing Feb. 17; Meeting Materials **Oregon State Parks and Recreation Dept.: HB 5026 info hearings March 3-4, public hearing March 5. Meeting Materials Dept. of State Lands: SB 5539 Water Resources Dept.: SB 5543 Governor’s budget WRD Fact Sheet Here is a summary of the Governor’s budget. Governor's Budget and Agency Request Budget documents are available online here . Info Mtg. & Public hearing Feb. 18-20. Meeting Materials . LWVOR testimony . And the fee bills: support HB 2808 and HB 2803 . Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board: HB 5039 . Info mtg. & P ublic hearing Feb. 25-27 LWVOR testimony . Meeting Materials Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board 6-Year Limitation: HB 5040 (Limits expenditures of lottery funds from the Watershed Conservation Grant Fund for local grant expenditures by the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board for a six-year period beginning July 1, 2025.) Info mtg. & P ublic hearing Feb. 25-26 Oregon Business Development Dept.: HB 5024 Oregon Dept. of Emergency Management: SB 5517 Office of the Governor: SB 5523 Oregon State Fire Marshal: SB 5538 info hearing 2/19, public hearing 2/20. See more in the Wildfire section of this report. Dept. of Transportation: SB 5541 Dept. of Administrative Services: HB 5002 info hearings 3/03-5, public hearing 3/06. Meeting Materials Legislative Administration Committee, Legislative Assembly, Legislative Counsel Committee, Legislative Fiscal Officer, Legislative Revenue Officer, Commission on Indian Services and Legislative Policy and Research Committee: HB 5016 Lottery Bonds: SB 5531 : an average debt capacity of $564 million in each Biennium Emergency Board: HB 5006 General Obligation Bonds, etc.: SB 5505 : an average debt capacity of $2.22 billion per Biennium Six-Year Limitation/Bonds: SB 5506 (Limits for the six-year period beginning July 1, 2025, payment of expenses from fees, moneys or other revenues, including Miscellaneous Receipts, but excluding lottery funds and federal funds, collected or received by various state agencies for capital construction.) CLIMATE By Claudia Keith and Team See the Climate Emergency section of this Legislative Report. T here are overlaps with this Natural Resources Report. We encourage you to read both sections. COASTAL LHas the Jordan Cove Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) project reared its head again? League members may remember this proposed project that would have allowed a pipeline across land from southern Oregon to Coos Bay and then would have created an LNG export facility on unstable lands on the edge of the Bay. LWVOR supported local Leagues in objecting to the project, including engaging with state agency permit applications. The project eventually pulled out as they lost permit approvals. But we have been informed that a new filing to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has been proposed and the applicant is stating that new federal support should supersede state permitting. We will share more as we learn more. A bill League is following is SB 504 related to shoreline stabilization. Our coastal partners have been working with the sponsor and a -4 amendment has been filed that focuses on “non-structural nature-based solutions” instead of “bioengineering”. A work session was held. The -4 amendment was adopted unanimously on Feb. 25 in the Senate Committee On Natural Resources and Wildfire and the bill has been sent to Ways and Means. The League is pleased to see the bill numbers for kelp and eel grass conservation ( HB 3580 ) Eelgrass Action Bill (HB 3580) and protection of Rocky Habitat ( HB 3587 ). Here is a one-pager : Rocky Habitat Stewardship Bill (HB 3587) . The League signed on to letters of support f or both HB 3580 and HB 3587. We asked for funding for a staffer in the Dept. of Land Development and Conservation budget to continue to address rocky habitat, an element of the Territorial Sea Plan which the League has supported. DEPT. OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (DEQ) By Peggy Lynch The League has signed on to a letter in opposition to HB 2642 .because we believe that the DEQ should retain the power to implement vehicle emission testing. Emissions testing in Oregon began in the mid-1970s as a method of reducing air pollution from trucks and cars in order to ensure compliance with the landmark federal Clean Air Act of 1970. A public hearing was held on Feb. 18 in the Joint Committee On Transportation . The League supports SB 830 , a bill that m odifies provisions of the on-site septic system loan program to allow for grants. It also allows for the program to consider mobile home parks in need of septic upgrades. A work session was held on Feb. 25 in the Senate Committee On Natural Resources and Wildfire where it passed unanimously and now heads to the full Senate for a vote . HB 2947 had a public hearing in the House Committee On Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water on Feb. 10th related to treated sewage being used on farms. OPB provided great coverage of the concerns related to this usage. See also an article about this issue in this report under Agriculture. Here is the Onsite Wastewater Management Program 2025 Rulemaking webpage . Because of the League’s work on SB 391 (2021) and additional bills in 2023, a League member served on the rules advisory committee to address sewer availability and accessory dwelling unit (ADU) issues. On Feb. 26 the advisory committee approved the Fiscal Impact Statement. A public comment period is expected in May. You are welcome to Sign up for email updates about this rulemaking via GovDelivery . The League again served on an annual rulemaking advisory committee on water quality fee increases. A meeting was held on Feb. 25th where the committee agreed to forward their recommendation for the allowed annual 3% fee increase to the DEQ Director. To learn more about this rulemaking and the advisory committee you can view the rulemaking web page at: Water Quality Fees 2025 . DEPT. OF GEOLOGY AND MINERAL INDUSTRIES (DOGAMI) By Joan Fryxell On March 6th the Technical Review Team (TRT) will be meeting on the Calico Resources proposed Grassy Mountain gold mine near Vale in Malheur County. The TRT will discuss Best Available Practicable and Necessary Technology (BAPNT). Information will be available online . The League provided testimony in support of SB 836 , a bill that would significantly increase permit fees for mining related activities. See the agency’s presentation to understand the reasons for these increases. ELLIOTT STATE RESEARCH FOREST (ESRF) You can read the latest about the Elliott State Research Forest in their latest press release. Included is that t he Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL) is seeking comments on administrative rules for the Elliott State Research Forest. The comment period is open from February 3 - March 5 (closes at 5 p.m. Pacific). Then DSL is seeking comments on the proposed Elliott State Research Forest Operations Plan. Click here to view or download the proposed plan, project overview map, and appendices. Click here to view only the proposed plan (PDF) The 45-day comment period is open until 5 p.m. on March 31. Here is a more complete notice of the plan with opportunities for virtual public meetings. EMERGENCY SERVICES By Rebecca Gladstone The League spoke and filed testimony on HB 2581 in support of a statute change, substituting the word “seismic” with “hazards”, to coordinate coverage efforts through the State Resiliency Officer. The bill has passed the House. The Senate Committee On Veterans, Emergency Management, Federal and World Affairs will hold a public hearing on March 6th. FORESTRY (ODF) By Josie Koehne HB 3103 , a bill that would d irect the State Forester to establish “sustainable” harvest levels for harvesting timber on state forestland and develop a timber inventory model to inform sustainable harvest levels while ignoring the court affirmed “greatest permanent value” will be heard on March 3rd in the House Committee On Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water . T he League will OPPOSE . Governor Kotek is proposing SB 1051 , sponsored by Sen. Kayse Jama, that would move the hiring authority for the State Forester from the Board of Forestry to the Governor with Senate confirmation. Requires the state forester or deputy to be a practical forester. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Rules where it’s not subject to the same deadlines as other bills and where it will likely be heavily debated. The Oregon Board of Forestry will meet for a public meeting on March 5 at 8:30 a.m. The full agenda is available on the board’s webpage . See also the Wildfire section of this report below and the separate Climate section. GOVERNANCE Our partners in the Oregon Conservation Network alerted us to a series of bills related to rulemaking which we might oppose: HB 2255 , HB 2303 , HB 2402 and HB 2427 . We are also concerned with HB 3382 , since the requirements of the Secretary of State to gather ALL the state agencies’ rulemaking, including all materials, would be overwhelming to individual state agencies that provide that information on their rulemaking websites. We may sign on to a letter explaining our concerns to legislative leadership. Because the League is often engaged in rulemaking, we regularly comment on legislation that would affect changes in Oregon’s current Administrative Rules. We have provided testimony in opposition to HB 2692 , a bill that would create complicated and burdensome processes for agencies to implement legislation with their rulemaking procedures . On Feb. 19, the Governor provided expectations and guidance for state agencies related to rulemaking and customer service. Upon outreach to the Governor’s Office, the League has been invited to participate in a discussion of rulemaking processes and committee membership selection. LAND USE & HOUSING By Peggy Lynch The League provided testimony in support of the Land Use Board of Appeals budget: SB 5529 . We will also follow SB 817 , a bill to request a minor fee increase (Work Session Mar. 4 in Senate Committee On Natural Resources and Wildfire ). The League attended a webinar on the proposed 2025 Natural Hazards Risk Assessment . You can watch the webinar on DLCD’s YouTube Channel . Among the items of interest was a proposed verbiage change from using “climate change” to “future considerations” so as to not trigger issues with the federal government since this document is used as part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)’s grant process. Business Oregon’s Infrastructure bill, HB 3031 , with a -1 amendment to clarify the criteria to be used to access the proposed $100 million fund had a public hearing on Feb. 26 in the House Committee On Housing and Homelessness . Although there are a few issues yet to resolve, the League supports this important funding bill. LWVOR testimony . Governor’s news release . Bills we are following: HB 2316 : Allows designation of Home Start Lands to be used for housing. These lands are currently a variety of state-owned lands scattered around the state. HB 2400 Allows the owner of property outside an urban growth boundary to site an additional dwelling on the property for occupancy by a relative of the owner. HB 2422 Requires that lands zoned to allow density of one or fewer dwellings per acre to be considered a rural use. HB 3013 : Details the process by which a permit or zone change that is based on provisions of a comprehensive plan or land use regulation that fail to gain acknowledgment is voided and any resulting improvements or uses are removed or revoked. LWVOR supports with -1 amendment. A public hearing was held Feb. 3rd. HB 3062 : Requires local governments to map sensitive uses as part of a comprehensive plan. A public hearing was held Feb. 20th. HB 2138 : Expands allowable middle housing and expands middle housing requirements to include urban unincorporated lands, filed at the request of the Governor. A public hearing will be held on March 3rd in House Committee On Housing and Homelessness where a -1 amendment is posted as a “gut and stuff” for the bill. We expect to see additional amendments before the bill moves forward. At this time, the League is not planning to testify on this bill. HB 3145 : Allows the Housing and Community Services Department to use Local Innovation and Fast Track Housing Program Fund moneys for factory-built housing. LWVOR should support. Not sure if in our Housing portfolio or Land Use. HB 2347 : Authorizes the Department of Land Conservation and Development to provide planning assistance for housing production to federally recognized Indian tribes and makes other technical changes to laws relating to land use planning. The bill passed the House 49-7 and now moves to the Senate. HB 2950 A bill to update Goal One and Public Participation is being sponsored by Oregon’s American Planning Association. The League is interested in the bill, but has some concerns. We understand there will be an amendment proffered. A public hearing was held Feb. 12th in the House Committee On Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water . Because of the requirement to do rulemaking, the bill, if passing the Committee, will be sent to Ways and Means. SB 462 : Requires the Oregon Business Development Department to establish an education course for land use planners for local governments, special districts and state agencies. LWVOR supports educational efforts but there are other training opportunities so this proposal might be redundant. A public hearing was held on Feb. 19 in the Senate Committee On Housing and Development . SB 525 : Amends expedited land division criteria and processes. LWVOR has concerns. May need to oppose. See also the Housing Report in the Social Policy section of this Legislative Report. OREGON PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT (OPRD) The OPRD budget will be considered this week. The Legislative Fiscal Office notes : During the November 2024 meeting of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Commission, the Department provided an update outlining concerns for the long-term sustainability of OPRD’s operational funding. The Department asserted that the largest known challenge for the 2025-27 biennium is addressing the gap between projected operational revenues and anticipated expenditures. Throughout this biennium as well as the next, OPRD’s operational budget is dependent on an existing beginning balance. This means the current level of expenditures, given projected revenues, is unsustainable for the long-term. While the dedicated programs remain sustainable, operational expenditures are outpacing Lottery Funds and non-dedicated Other Funds revenues used to support agency operations. OREGON WATERSHED ENHANCEMENT BOARD (OWEB) By Lucie La Bonte On Feb. 25th, OWEB presented their budget ( HB 5039 ) to the Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on Natural Resources. The presentation included information regarding the life cycle of grants and funding that OWEB receives and passes on to grantees through the reimbursement process. Turnaround time is within 2 weeks for reimbursements. Staffing continuity is important for local folks. They have an engaged Board of 18 that makes allocation decisions. There are multiple state and federal agencies, tribal and local representation. OWEB has made 900 grants this year. They have new programs: Protect over 12,000 acres of Agriculture Land, Working Lands Funds, and Water Source Protection.There were questions from the committee on weed control, invasive species and sustainability. 9%-10% of funding is used for staffing. There are no requests for new staffing in the budget, but there is one request to make a limited duration position permanent. A public hearing was held Feb. 26th. HB 5039 is the agency’s budget bill. HB 5040 Limits expenditures of lottery funds from the Watershed Conservation Grant Fund for local grant expenditures by the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board for a six-year period beginning July 1, 2025. STATE LAND BOARD (SLB) By Peggy Lynch The State Land Board met on Feb. 27th to begin the process of recruiting for a new DSL Director, with an appointment targeted for June 10. The next regular meeting is scheduled for April 8. WATER By Peggy Lynch LWV Deschutes County submitted a letter in support of SB 427 , a water rights transfer bill meant to protect instream water flows. HB 3106 is the Oregon Water Data Portal funding bill for which the League provided testimony in support. The multi-agency effort to release a beta version of the pilot portal for the Oregon Water Data Portal project debuted on January 31. The pilot portal is accessible at https://www.oregonwaterdata.org/ . Users can provide feedback about the beta version of the pilot portal by completing a survey or emailing OWDP@deq.oregon.gov . A public hearing was held on Feb. 26th in the House Committee On Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water where a -1 amendment was shared that would create an entire multi-agency system for gathering the water data needed for good decision making. The League has yet to determine if this new proposal is good for Oregon. See the following Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board presentation and the Internet of Water Coalition presentation . A work session will be held on Mar. 3rd on HB 3341 in the House Committee On Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water . It appropriates moneys to the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board for the Community Drinking Water Enhancement and Protection Fund. The League supported the establishment of this fund in past years. Other water bills we are following: HB 3525 is related to tenants’ right to well water testing. The League submitted testimony in support. HB 3526 would require well water test reporting in property sales. The League supported this concept in past sessions and did again this session. HB 3364 makes changes to the grants programs at the Water Resources Dept. Testimony provided comments and concerns with agreement that all parties would continue to work on finding agreement on an amendment. HB 3419 is the major broad set of water policy changes that is now described by the various amendments posted since this is really a “gut and stuff” bill! The committee Co-Chairs announced that more amendments are expected. Per Rep. Owens: the -2 and -3 amendments on HB 3419 will NOT move. HB 2988 : Instructs the Water Resources Department to take certain actions related to aquifer recharge and aquifer storage and recovery. A public hearing was held Feb. 12th. HB 3108 : Requires the Water Resources Department to implement additional rules and requirements for the review of limited license applications for an aquifer storage and recovery permit HB 2803 : Increases certain fees related to water. LWVOR will support. Expect amendments. Needed to provide current service level staffing at WRD. HB 2808 : Increases fees related to wells. LWVOR will support. Needed to provide current service level staffing at WRD. HB 3573 , a bill that addresses funding for a variety of water measurement strategies. We expect a hearing next week in the House Committee On Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water . The League supports. The Co-Chairs of the House Committee On Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water are working on a broad package of water-related bills, the 2025 Water Package . There is a Water Caucus raising the awareness of the need to address Oregon’s water needs. League members may want to check the U. S. Drought Monitor , a map that is updated every Thursday. Here is a more complete website about drought in Oregon. We all need to pay attention to the potential for harmful algal blooms. “When in doubt, stay out.” V isit the Harmful Algae Bloom website or call the Oregon Public Health Division toll-free information line at 877-290-6767 to learn if an advisory has been issued or lifted for a specific water body. WILDFIRE By Carolyn Mayers The Wildfire Funding Workgroup will present their report regarding potential wildfire funding solutions to the Joint Committee On Ways and Means Subcommittee On Public Safety on March 5 and to the Joint Committee On Ways and Means Subcommittee On Natural Resources on March 6. There are six concepts . Each will have its own bill number, submitted by Rep. Lively who was an ex officio member of the Workgroup. Sen. Jeff Golden released a plea for a comprehensive solution to our wildfire crisis. Volunteers Needed What is your passion related to Natural Resources? You can help. Volunteers are needed. The long legislative session begins in January of 2025. Natural Resource Agency Boards and Commissions meet regularly year-round and need monitoring. If any area of natural resources is of interest to you, please contact Peggy Lynch, Natural Resources Coordinator, at peggylynchor@gmail.com . Training will be offered. Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Climate Emergency , Governance , and Social Policy report sections.

KARISHMA CHIDAMBARAM (she/her) KARISHMA CHIDAMBARAM (she/her) Youth Media Director youthmedia@lwvor.org

KYRA AGUON (she/her) KYRA AGUON (she/her) Youth Events Co-Chair youtheventschair@lwvor.org

Back to All Legislative Reports Governance Internships Legislative Report - Week of January 26 Governance Team Coordinator: Becky Gladstone and Chris Cobey Artificial Intelligence: Lindsey Washburn Campaign Finance Reform: Norman Turrill Conflicts of Interest/Legislative Ethics: Chris Cobey CEI - Critical Energy Infrastructure : Nikki Mandell and Laura Rogers Cybersecurity Privacy, Election Issues, Electronic Portal Advisory Board: Becky Gladstone Election Systems: Barbara Klein Emergency Preparedness: Cate Arnold Immigration, Refugee, and Asylum: Claudia Keith Redistricting: Norman Turrill, Chris Cobey State Audit Working Group: Sheila Golden Voting Rights of Incarcerated People: Marge Easley Please see Governance Overview here. Jump to a topic: Campaign Finance Reform AI, Cybersecurity, and Privacy Governance volunteers will be watching for these possible bills. If you don’t see your issues covered, please contact us to help; we provide training, lwvor@lwvor.org . For elections, systems, audits, and open primaries, redistricting, campaign finance reform and updating voting software, voting rights for the incarcerated Emergency management, including critical infrastructure threats around Oregon. We need volunteers to help, training is provided. Cybersecurity, Privacy, and AI. Immigration, DEIJ, hate and bias crimes Please see LWVOR Legislative Reports and subscribe to our weekly email LR summaries , starting again in February 2026. Campaign Finance Reform Norman Turrill HB 4024 was dramatically passed during the last hour of the 2024 legislative session. It is a complex set of campaign contribution limits and other reforms that Oregon has never had before, and Oregon is one of the last states to adopt. In the nearly two years since, the previous and current Secretaries of State have accomplished little to implement the bill’s provisions. ORESTAR needs an upgrade, since it uses decades-old technology. However, the contribution limits in HB 4024 do not require changes to ORESTAR. The SoS is still trying to include the costs of replacing ORESTAR as part of the computer system needed to implement HB 4024. An RFP (request for proposal, from vendors) is said to be issued for this computer development work in January. The deadline for implementation for the contribution limits in the bill is January 1, 2027; the remainder of the bill must be implemented by January 1, 2028. So, because of the delays, time is very short. Therefore, there is talk in the legislature about (further) delaying the implementation. Also, a “placeholder” bill has been submitted by the Interim Senate Rules committee for technical fixes that may be necessary for the bill. The SoS is also asking for more money for implementation without any good estimate of what will be needed. The Joint General Government committee has deferred a $25 million request until the short session. In spite of the delays, SoS Read maintains that he is committed to implementing HB 4024. AI, cybersecurity, and Privacy JCIMT Summary Stephanie Haycock and Rebecca Gladstone The Joint Committee for Information Management and Technology (JCIMT) will focus for the 2026 session on a comprehensive strategy to strengthen digital transparency and public infrastructure against evolving technological threats, by modernizing state AI and data security policies. The Oregon Cyber Security Center of Excellence (OCSCE) Biennial Report included successful workforce development. The presentation stressed critical election security funding is needed to protect from foreign interference, especially to rural counties. They note growing supply chain breach risks from third-party vendors . Nik Blosser, Oregon Chief Privacy Officer, outlined a roadmap to establish an enterprise-wide executive branch privacy program, to standardize how state agencies collect and protect personal information. The DoJ presented updated implementation and enforcement on the Oregon Consumer Privacy Act, SB 619 Enrolled (2023, see League testimony ). It includes new citizens’ rights to track their data and opt out of its sale. The Department of Justice noted that the privacy violations "cure period" has ended, signaling a shift toward formal enforcement against non-compliant businesses. The Oregon Dept of Consumer and Business Services presented an implementation update on HB 2052 Enrolled (2023) for Oregon’s Data Broker Registry with rulemaking, hiring, and enforcement progress. See League testimony . This mandates that third-party data brokers register with the state and disclose how consumers can opt out of data collection. JCIMT legislative concepts were introduced: • LC 300 (Downcoding): Aims to regulate health insurers using AI to automatically reduce provider reimbursements by requiring notification and an appeals process. • LC 301 (Cyber Security): Requires local governments and special districts to report cyber incidents to the State CIO within 48 hours to improve real-time coordination. Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Climate Emergency , Revenue , Natural Resources , and Social Policy report sections.

Back to All Legislative Reports Natural Resources Legislative Report - Week of 1/23 Natural Resources Team Coordinator: Peggy Lynch Agriculture/Goal 3 Land Use: Sandra U. Bishop Coastal Issues: Christine Moffitt, Peggy Lynch Columbia River Treaty: Philip Thor Dept. of Geology and Mineral Industries: Joan Fryxell Emergency Management: Rebecca Gladstone Forestry: Josie Koehne Elliott State Research Forest: Peggy Lynch Northwest Energy Coalition: Robin Tokmakian Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife: Melanie Moon Oregon Health Authority Drinking Water Advisory Committee: Sandra Bishop Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board: Lucie La Bonte Water: Peggy Lynch Wildfire: Carolyn Mayers Ways and Means Natural Resource Budgets/Revenue: Peggy Lynch Budgets/Revenue Climate Coastal Issues Elliott State Research Forest Land Use/Housing Toxics Water Wildfire Volunteers Needed Natural Resources By Peggy Lynch Everyone is awaiting Governor Kotek’s first biennial budget. Ways and Means Subcommittees can’t begin hearing agency budgets since agencies have to follow the Governor’s requests. Her budget needs to be “balanced” with the revenues forecasted back on November 16 unless she proposes additional revenue. BUDGETS/REVENUE Want to know how the legislative budget process works? The Legislative Fiscal Office (LFO) provided a document to help legislators and the public understand. CLIMATE By Claudia Keith and Team See Climate Report in the Climate Emergency section of this Legislative Report. T here are overlaps with this Natural Resources Report. We encourage you to read both sections. COASTAL ISSUES By Christine Moffitt Coos County, City of Coos Bay, and City of North Bend have been working on updates to the Coos Bay Estuary Management Plan (CBEMP). The County file number assigned to this project is AM-22-005 . Here is a link to the LWV Coos Study and meeting s and a link to a memo by League member Moffitt. At this time, LWV Coos is asking stakeholder agencies to review the Draft Coos Bay Estuary Management Plan (Parts 1 and 2) and the Coos Estuary Map Atlas for concurrence with the agency’s requirements and interests. Comments submitted by February 20, 2023 will be addressed as possible in the document draft submitted for the post-acknowledgement plan amendment process to DLCD on March 1. Comments outside of the current work scope, including comments associated with a Full Plan revision, are welcome. These comments will be included in the packet provided to staff as part of the final draft. Please send comments to: Amanda Ferguson, IPRE, (541) 409-2522, afergus4@uoregon.edu AND/OR Jill Rolfe, Coos County Community Development Director, jrolfe@co.coos.or.us The Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC) hosted a virtual meeting on January 27. Agenda . ELLIOTT STATE RESEARCH FOREST By Peggy Lynch On Jan. 20, the Oregon State University (OSU) Board of Trustees received a presentation on the projectstatus and OSU’s work. The Board will need to formally approve OSU’s participation in the next few months. The Forest will become a separate public entity on July 1 with its own Board of Directors. LAND USE/HOUSING By Peggy Lynch On Jan. 23 Senate Housing and Development received a presentation on System Development Charges—used to pay for infrastructure needed for new development. LWVOR supports state help for these charges for low-income and even middle income (up to 80% AMI) developments. Duncan Wyse, Oregon Business Council, shared with the Joint Committee on Semiconductors that Oregon needs to set aside two parcels of land that are at least 500 acres and ready for development by a semiconductor manufacturer, as well as several smaller plots of land for similar purposes. A legislator pointed out the need for land for more housing if new manufacturing plants are built. KGW provided good meeting coverage . The League wants to remind legislators that Washington County’s prime agricultural land is also an industrial land usage and cannot be replaced! HB 2899 : Building on wetlands is cost prohibitive—and from the League’s view should not be allowed. This bill removes certain lands from definitions of buildable lands for purposes of urbanization, including floodways, wetlands, and special flood hazard areas. This ensures that the state has a more accurate calculation of buildable lands. The League will be watching this bill. We support the concept, but have concerns about implementation. HB 2203 : Allows RVs used to provide security of farm use to be sited on lands zoned for EFU. Public Hearing was held on 1/19. LWVOR has concerns around waste disposal, drinking water availability and other services. However, the testimony focused on the ability of forestry to use this provision in law so the agricultural industry should be able to do the same. HB 2889 : Establishes Oregon Housing Needs Analysis within the Housing and Community Services Department. LWVOR supports. You can watch a presentation of this concept in the Jan. 17 House Housing Committee. See also the Housing Report in the Social Policy section of this Legislative Report. TOXICS By Paula Grisafi HB 3043 LWVOR joined others in support of the Toxic Free Kids Act Modernization bill. Thousands of chemicals lurk in products our kids use every day, and children are far more vulnerable to toxic chemicals than adults. And parents should not have to be expert chemists or have to shop in specialty stores in order to obtain safer products. Read LWVOR testimony . WATER By Peggy Lynch According to the US Drought Monitor, nearly 64% of Oregon is experiencing moderate (D1) to exceptional (D4) drought conditions. Changes over recent weeks include a number of improvements and degradations. Reservoir storage contents in most U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (including Klamath) projects are measuring well below average, with many showing similarities to the past couple water years. The League is reviewing HB 3100 , a bill that updates requirements for the Integrated Water Resources Strategy (IWRS). Section 1 of the bill has many positive additions, but Section 2 requires yet another standing Advisory Committee. Committees take staff time and resources and the Water Resources Commission provides adequate oversight. We’ll listen to others as we consider testimony on this bill, but we wholeheartedly support the guidance of the IWRS as it links multiple water agencies towards “abundant clean water for all”. We all need to pay attention to the potential for harmful algal blooms. “When in doubt, stay out.” V isit the Harmful Algae Bloom website or call the Oregon Public Health Division toll-free information line, 877-290-6767, to learn if an advisory has been issued or lifted for a specific water body. We have an on-going drought throughout Oregon and League members may want to check the U.S. Drought Monitor , a map that is updated every Thursday. WILDFIRE By Carolyn Mayers The League monitored the Senate Committee on Natural Resources January 18th meeting with an update on SB 762 (2021). Meeting summary can be found here . Meeting materials, including detailed reports may be found here . “ We no longer have a fire season. We have a fire year.” Mark Bennett, Chair, Wildfire Programs Advisory Council. An update on the progress of the Wildfire Programs Advisory Council was presented by Chair Bennett. Highlights included a summary of work completed in 2022, and a statement that future work will include increased emphasis on Community Wildfire Risk Reduction. Homeowners’ cultural traits should be considered when promoting wildfire mitigation efforts, OSU study finds: About one-third of housing in the lower 48 states of the U.S. now lies in the wildland-urban interface, where they are more susceptible to wildfires, prior research has found. A survey answers: Should Oregonians be allowed to build homes in areas of high and extreme risk? Jan. 25 th News Update on the Wildfire Exposure (Risk) Map—a postponement. HB 2898 : A wildfire recovery bill that continues the allowance that recreational vehicles may remain on a lot with a single-family dwelling that was damaged by natural disaster. It extends this allowance until December 30, 2030 for dwellings destroyed in 2020 wildfires. The League has concerns about wastewater and other services that are needed and that this bill might perpetuate these vehicles where long term housing should exist. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED Above you can see the names of League volunteers who covered one or more issues. V olunteers are needed. What is your passion related to Natural Resources? You can help. Carolyn Mayers/Wildfire and Paula Grisafi/Toxics have joined the team. Thanks! The 2023 Legislative Session is at hand with over 2,000 bills already filed. Help! Natural Resource Agency Boards and Commissions meet regularly and need monitoring. If any area of natural resources is of interest to you, please contact Peggy Lynch, Natural Resources Coordinator, at peggylynchor@gmail.com . Training will be offered.

Back to All Legislative Reports Social Policy Legislative Report - September Interim Social Policy Team Coordinator: Jean Pierce • After School and Summer Care: Katie Riley • Behavioral Health: Trish Garner • Criminal Justice/Juvenile Justice: Marge Easley / Sharron Noon • Education: Jean Pierce / Stephanie Engle • Equal Rights for All Ballot Measure: Jean Pierce Kyra Aguon • Gender-Related Concerns, Reproductive Health, Age Discrimination: Trish Garner • Gun Safety & Gun Issues, Rights for Incarcerated People: Marge Easley • Hate and Bias Crimes: Claudia Keith/ Becky Gladstone /rhyen enger • Health Care: Christa Danielsen • Housing: Debbie Aiona and Nancy Donovan Jump to topic: Criminal Justice Housing Meeting Basic Human Needs Mental Health Services for Children and Youth Criminal Justice Karen Nibler and Jean Pierce Senate Judiciary discussed SB 337 on 9-27. The bill formed a new Public Defense Services Commission, to become effective 1-1-2024. The staff is recruiting new defense attorneys for unrepresented clients residing In jails. Currently, the average time is 16 days without representation. The W&Ms Joint Public Safety heard that the goal is a 10-day limit. Caseload size and salary levels are under consideration now and regional offices were proposed. The new agency will move to the Governor’s Office in 2025. The Department of Corrections appealed for increased funding for Community Corrections supervision for those on adult probation or released on parole. The closer supervision results in less recidivism and return to custody. Coffee Creek Correctional Facility for women has been under review based on complaints and has begun implementing gender-informed practices recommended in a Gender-Informed Practices Assessment Report. Police and sheriff representatives discussed Ballot Measure 110 impacts. They reported that only 1% of those cited for drug possession got assessments and there was no incentive to go for treatment. Emergency responders and Emergency Rooms were strained by overdose incidents and deaths increased. There is a need for accountability and detox facilities. The House Behavioral Health and Health Care committee heard that each quarter there has been a steady increase in the number of people being served by 110, with most of the services provided for housing and peer support. This committee was also told that the workforce shortage is one of the biggest challenges. W&Ms Public Safety reviewed agency status with demands on funding. The Oregon Judicial Departments submitted a Compensation Report with a 6.5% increase. The Department of Public Safety Standards and Training reported on the operation of 60-person classes and new instructor positions. Housing By Debbie Aiona and Nancy Donovan The Senate Interim Housing and Development met September 27, 2023, as part of the Legislature’s quarterly Interim Legislative Days. The focus of this housing meeting was current challenges, such as ongoing efforts to reduce homelessness and produce affordable housing. Likely, these topics will be addressed in the February 2024 session, along with updates on implementing bills passed in the last session, and other issues needing more work. The following items were covered in the meeting. Emergency Homelessness Response Background: Oregon’s Housing Affordability challenge , a state economists’ report, shows homelessness is primarily a housing problem. Individuals make up 70% of the unhoused population . A majority of unhoused people do not have a substance use disorder. Among individuals, the rate is higher (national data: 25 – 40%) than among families. According to a 2022 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report presented to the U.S. Congress, Oregon has the 4 th highest rate of unsheltered homelessness in the nation. There are an estimated 18,000 unsheltered people in Oregon and just under 5,200 year-round shelter beds (2022 data). In response, House Bill 5019 allocated General Fund dollars to addressing the crisis. LWVOR presented testimony in support of HB5019. Shelter and Rehousing Funds were allocated to the Multi-Agency Coordination (MAC) groups covering larger cities and to rural local planning group areas separately to foster collaboration and communication. The MAC groups have received $85.2 million to create 600 new shelter beds by January 10, 2024. As of July 31, 2023, 40 households had been rehoused. Rural local planning groups received $26.135 million with the goal of creating 100 new shelter beds and rehousing 450 households by June 30, 2025. HB 5019 investments are increasing local shelter capacity by funding shelter rehab, acquisition, and operation. Shelter bed funding must be used to add new shelter bed capacity into a region. Prevention Keeping people in homes they already have is the most effective and humane way to prevent homelessness. HB 5019 allocated $33.6 million to support homelessness prevention through two existing programs: the Oregon Eviction Diversion and Prevention program and the Eviction Prevention Rapid Response program. These programs provide rent assistance and other prevention services, including legal services. The goal is to prevent 8,750 households from becoming homeless. Combined, these programs have already assisted 1,261 households through July 31, 2023. The rapid response program is available to renters on the verge of eviction and provides legal and other services. The goal is to prevent 1,750 evictions statewide. The program helped 45 households through July 31, 2023. Housing Production Advisory Council On January 10, 2023, Governor Kotek signed three executive orders to tackle Oregon’s housing and homelessness crisis. Executive Order 23-04 establishes a statewide housing production goal of 36,000 units per year and creates a Housing Production Advisory Council (HPAC) to develop comprehensive budget and policy recommendations to meet this goal. This annual housing production goal represents an 80% increase over current annual trends. The state will need to double its annual housing production to address the current shortage and to keep pace with annual housing needs. HPAC’s final report and recommendations are due by December 2023. The production plan must be equitable and affirmatively advance fair housing Infrastructure and Housing Infrastructure funding is critical to meeting Oregon’s housing production goals. The League of Oregon Cities described the progress made by the cities of Wilsonville, Newport, Salem, and Baker City. This involves coordinated investments in drinking water, sewer, stormwater, and transportation systems to address Oregon’s housing needs. Infrastructure strategies include utility fees, system development charges, special assessments, urban renewal, reimbursement districts and local improvement districts. Meeting Basic Human Needs By Jean Pierce Implementation of HB3235 (2023) created a refundable child tax credit for families earning $30,000 or less. LWVOR testimony supported this legislation. It is intended to reduce poverty through an equitable and progressive tax system. At this stage of the implementation, an FAQ sheet is being created The League has been asked to suggest questions likely to arise for the public, for instance: What do you want to know about our administering the credit? What information will help Oregonians determine their eligibility for the credit? What information will help eligible Oregonians better understand and claim the credit? League members are invited to send their recommended questions to SocialPolicy@lwvor.org . Mental Health Services for Children and Youth By Jean Pierce We anticipate legislation addressing barriers to mental health services for children. The Senate Interim Human Services heard from Chair, Senator Gelser Blouin, who described legislation plans that appear to be related to LWVOR positions. It calls for a well-coordinated comprehensive mental health service delivery plan with community-level services accessible to all income levels, demonstrating coordination of all levels of government. Senator Gelser Blouin’s “Psych Under 21” bill would improve access to the state Medicaid plan by: Defining categories of mental health needs covered Creating evidence-based assessment tools to determine eligibility Creating the infrastructure needed to access services Disregarding parental income – Medicaid would cover expenses after their private insurance runs out Providing targeted case management addressing multiple needs

Jim joined the League of Women Voters of Oregon as Voter Newsletter Editor in 2023. Jim Buck Voter Newsletter Editor Jim joined the League of Women Voters of Oregon as Voter Newsletter Editor in 2023.

Back to Legislative Report Revenue Legislative Report - Week of 2/9 Revenue Team Coordinator: Peggy Lynch REVENUE Patricia Garner, Josie Koehne, Peggy Lynch It’s here! The long-awaited Revenue Forecast that will guide the spending for the 2026 legislative session, was delivered at the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee meeting on Feb. 4th. Carl Ricidonna, Oregon’s State Economist, provided his report, along with Michael Kennedy, Senior Economist. See pages 17 and 20 for the important numbers. And the Legislative Revenue Office’s Forecast Summary : Projected 2025-27 Net General Fund Resources are up $252.7 million (0.7%) from the 2025: Q4 forecast. Projected 2025-27 Lottery resources are up $33.8 million (1.8%) from the 2025: Q4 forecast. Projected 2025-27 Combined net General Fund and Lottery Resources are up $286.5 million (0.7%) from the 2025: Q4 forecast. This Revenue forecast is better than the last forecast, and it appears there is just a 20% chance of a recession. Oregon’s revenue outlook is doing better than predicted due the highest corporate earners doing especially well last year with higher productivity. 5% of corporations are paying 90% of the tax. Lottery revenues are also up. However, the personal income tax revenues were only modestly up, and lower income earners are again hardest hit by a nearly 3% inflation rate with few new jobs. Unemployment is also up but not at an alarming rate. In all this will reduce slightly the revenue hole caused by HR 1 and our state income tax connection to it. Because of the importance of this presentation here is a list of news articles covering the forecast: Oregon Capital Chronicle on Feb. 4 . OregonLive . OPB In the last legislative report, we shared the various budget gaps that legislators are facing, from Medicaid and SNAP to education and addressing transportation funding. Although this forecast was helpful, it is still $450 to $1 billion less than needed. So, cuts will happen. However, there are some actions the legislature is considering to decrease the effects of funding loss for services Oregonians value. One is SB 1507 shared below: At the Senate Finance Committee meeting on Feb. 4, the version of SB 1507 which was initially introduced sought to reduce a number of taxes equal to/conditioned on a statewide retail sales tax with proceeds to be directed to specifically defined purposes. The legislation is largely intended to ameliorate some of the impacts of federal H.R.1 . At the outset of the hearing Chair Anthony Broadman indicated that there were likely additional amendments in the pipeline besides those posted online. Committee members are, for example, working through the jobs credit provision which is currently set at a $12.5 million cap per year. The -3 amendment is fairly straightforward. It entirely replaces the initial version of SB 1507 and updates Oregon’s connection with the federal Internal Tax Code by replacing effective dates of “2023” with “2025.” The -4 amendment also seeks to replace the initial version of SB 1507 and is no longer in consideration. It closes certain federal tax loopholes for purposes of Oregon taxation, which will result in increased taxpayer payments and state revenue. They include (1) deductions for car loan interest, (2) gain from the exchange or sale of small business stock deducted on personal income tax returns, (3) certain machinery and equipment tax deductions. Subject to an annual total amount of tax credits of $12.5 million, taxpayers can also claim $1,000 personal and corporate income tax credit for every new job they create in Oregon, which credit can be carried forward for 3 years. Oregon’s earned income tax credit is also increased from 9% to 14% of a taxpayer’s federal earned income tax credit, and for taxpayers with a dependent under 3 the credit is increased from 12% to 17%. The -5 amendment reiterates - 4 but also adds clarifying language. For example, when seeking the new job tax credit, Dash 5 provides that new jobs are to be determined by comparing the average annual employees of a taxpayer in a 12-month period ending on June 30th of the current tax year as compared to the same 12-month period in the previous tax year. Here is the Legislative Revenue Office summary of the -5. The tax credits are capped at an annual total amount of tax credits of $12.5 million. The latest amendment is the -6 which includes the following: 1. Removes the vehicle loan interest deduction 2. Increases Oregon’s EITC from 9% to 14% of federal EITC amount, or from 12% to 17% for taxpayers with a dependent under the age of 3 at close of tax year. This is a great help to low-income earners. 3. Disconnects from personal income tax exclusion for gain from the exchange or sale of qualified small business stock. 4. Disconnects from bonus depreciation provision. This item was hotly contested in the Feb 4 hearing which allows a business to take 100% depreciation in the first year. 5. Credit for taxpayers creating jobs allows $1,000 × number of jobs created in the year, capped at 10 new jobs per year. Wages paid must be at 150% of the local minimum wage. These credits are capped at $12.5 million per year and end in 2031. All these credits apply to tax years starting in 2026. On Feb. 5 th , a -6 amendment was posted. Here is the Staff Measure Summary of the -3 and -6 amendments that replace the measure and we expect to be voted on in Committee Monday. Public Hearing Feb. 4. Work Session Feb. 9. The League supports the bill with amendments as it has the potential to bring in over $300 million but had wished for additional disconnect items to help with Oregon’s revenue needs. The Oregon Capital Chronicle provides this article . Here are Oregonlive and Salem Reporter articles on HB 1507. Then the Full Ways and Means Committee met for hours Feb. 3 rd to hear from Oregonians as shared in this Oregon Capital Chronicle article. On Feb. 5 th , hundreds of Oregonians rallied in Salem in support of a disconnect ( KDRV article). The Full Ways and Means Committee met Feb. 6 th and introduced 6 budget bills for the session. The LCs (Legislative Concepts) will be assigned bill numbers after their introduction AND the League expects amendments by the end of session: LC 319 : Amends an incorrect internal reference in a law relating judicial compensation. Program Change Senate bill. LC 321 : Modifies previously approved lottery bonding provisions. (Includes monies for the Port of Coos Bay) Bond Authority Senate Bill. LC 322 : Establishes and modifies limits on payment of expenses from specified funds by certain state agencies for capital construction. Capital Construction 6-year limitation Senate Bill LC 323 : Establishes biennial appropriations and expenditure limitations for ______ for the biennium ending June 30, 2027. Placeholder for agency allocation changes Senate Bill. LC 324 : Approves certain new or increased fees adopted by state agencies. The bill includes the Dept. of State Lands Wetlands processing fees set forth during rulemaking for which the League engaged. Fee Ratification House Bill. LC 325 : Establishes biennial appropriations and expenditure limitations for ______ for the biennium ending June 30, 2027. Placeholder House Bill. LC 326 : Establishes biennial appropriations and expenditure limitations for ______ for the biennium ending June 30, 2027. Placeholder House Bill. LC 327 : Modifies certain biennial appropriations made from the General Fund to specified state agencies and the Emergency Board. Establishes and modifies limitations on expenditures for certain biennial expenses for specified state agencies. The items populated in this bill as introduced reflect tentative decisions made by Ways and Means during the January Legislative Days. Omnibus Budget House Bill. Though LWVOR does not have a position regarding the conclusion shared by the author of this article , the information about future PERS costs is important. The two increases mean that by 2029, PERS contributions will have increased almost 80% over the 2023-2025 biennium, from $5.26 billion to $9.35 billion, over 25% of payroll. The Dept. of Administrative Services (DAS) is reviewing state building usage and leases to find efficiencies and reduce state costs per this presentation in the W&M General Government Subcommittee on Feb. 2 nd . Here is the material from the Oregon State Debt Policy Advisory Commission . Tentatively the General Obligation bond capacity for the 2026 session is $513 million and $86 million lottery bond capacity. Bills we may be following: SB 1562 : Allows city and county services for which net local transient lodging tax revenue may be used to be provided either directly by the city or county or indirectly by a special district. Changes the division of allowable uses of net local transient lodging tax revenue from at least 70 percent for tourism related expenses and no more than 30 percent for city or county services, to at least 40 percent and no more than 60 percent, respectively. Allows units of local government with restricted grandfathered local transient lodging tax regimes to take advantage of the new provisions of the Act. Establishes biennial reporting by local governments of amounts and uses of local transient lodging tax revenue. HB 4148 : Allows city and county services for which net local transient lodging tax revenue may be used to be provided either directly by the city or county or indirectly by a special district. Changes the division of allowable uses of net local transient lodging tax revenue from at least 70 percent for tourism related expenses and no more than 30 percent for city or county services, to at least 40 percent and no more than 60 percent , respectively. Allows units of local government with restricted grandfathered local transient lodging tax regimes to take advantage of the new provisions of the Act. Establishes biennial reporting by local governments of amounts and uses of local transient lodging tax revenue. The LOCAL Act, adjusts the post-2003 lodging tax distribution so that local governments may adjust the percentages, with up to 60% used for critical local services and infrastructure, such as first responders, and at least 40% dedicated to tourism promotion and facilities. The LOCAL Act is a bipartisan collaborative bill that updates outdated restrictions so communities can better balance supporting tourism with maintaining residents' quality of life. Public hearing Feb. 9. HB 4125 : Prescribes methodology for the preparation of revenue estimates used in the budgeting process and as applicable to the surplus revenue refund process. Applies to estimates prepared on or after January 1, 2027. Requires the Department of Revenue to estimate the difference in surplus revenue calculations using stated methodologies, and transfer an amount equal to the difference for use for various purposes. Establishes the One-Time Emergencies and Finance Fund. Public hearing Feb. 2. HB 4136 : Disallows, for purposes of personal income taxation, a mortgage interest deduction for a residence other than the taxpayer’s principal residence, unless the taxpayer sells the residence or actively markets the residence for sale. Establishes the Oregon Homeownership Opportunity Account. Transfers an amount equal to the estimated increase in revenue attributable to restrictions on the deduction of mortgage interest to the account, for the purpose of making down payment assistance payments. Applies to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026. SB 1510 : Updates the terminology used to describe certain income earned by multinational corporations to reflect a change in the term used in federal law. Aligns sunset dates for earned income tax credit provisions with the underlying sunset date for the credit. Expands the tax credit for certified film production development contributions to allow the use of contributions for the production of commercials. Applies to fiscal years beginning on or after July 1, 2026. Provides an exception from the annual filing requirement for the property tax exemption for property burdened by an affordable housing covenant used for owner-occupied housing. Applies to property tax years beginning on or after July 1, 2027. Public Hearing Feb. 11. SB 1511 : Requires the Legislative Revenue Officer to study the estate tax. Directs the Legislative Revenue Officer to submit findings to the interim committees of the Legislative Assembly related to revenue not later than December 1, 2027. Public Hearing Feb. 11. SB 1586 : Modifies the tax credit allowed for semiconductor research. Creates and amends certain programs offering tax breaks related to advanced manufacturing, enterprise zones and regionally significant industrial sites. Directs certain state agencies to establish deadlines within which the agency intends to process applications for permits and make the deadlines available to the public. Directs certain state agencies to publish a catalog of permits issued by the agency within 60 days after the effective date of the Act. Adds rural reserves in Washington County to Metro to be used for high technology and advanced manufacturing purposes. See more on this omnibus bill in the Land Use section of the Natural Resources Report. The League has major concerns about sections of this bill. Oregonlive provided this comprehensive assessment of the bill. SJR 201 : Kicker Reform: Proposes an amendment to the Oregon Constitution to require a portion of surplus revenue that would otherwise be returned to personal income taxpayers to be used for funding public kindergarten through grade 12 education, community colleges and wildfire prevention and suppression, if surplus revenue exceeds a certain threshold. Refers the proposed amendment to the people for their approval or rejection at the next regular general election. OPB covered a story about the bill . NO public hearing has been scheduled at this time. HB 4014 : Requires the Legislative Revenue Officer to study the state financial system. Public Hearing Feb. 2. HB 4125 : Prescribes methodology for the preparation of revenue estimates used in the budgeting process and as applicable to the surplus revenue refund process. Public Hearing Feb. 2. See other sections of the Legislative Report about the cuts in each area and what’s being considered to address the revenue shortfall.

I have a Bachelors in Education from Pennsylvania State University and a Masters and PhD in Sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I was a Professor at Illinois State University, where I taught Child Development and Family Relations, for about 20 years. I engaged in interdisciplinary, qualitative research with the same research team from the time I was a graduate student until I retired. In collaboration with Dr Brenda Krause Eheart, Founder of Hope Meadows/Generations of Hope, we studied the Generations of Hope Community, Hope Meadows, from its inception in 1994 until about 2014. A Generations of Hope Community is an intentionally created, intergenerational neighborhood, where some of the residents face a specific challenge around which the community organizes. Hope Meadows was developed to support families adopting children from the foster care system. Three problems (unused housing on a decommissioned Air Force base, adoptive families in need of support, and senior citizens looking for purpose) were united to form a unique solution — Hope Meadows. With substantial funding from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, we applied what we learned from Hope Meadows to the development of intentional, intergenerational communities across the nation. These communities were designed to support not only families adopting children from foster care, but various other groups of people facing social challenges. Bridge Meadows in Portland was one of the first programs modeled after Hope Meadows (https://bridgemeadows.org). We moved from central Illinois to Cove, Oregon in 2021 to be near our son and daughter-in-law. We live on 75 acres with our four hens, three cats, two dogs and three horses. When we’re not tending to way-too-much property, my husband of 52+ years, Chris, and I enjoy hiking, gardening, camping, reading, and riding our horses. We joined LWV when we moved to Cove, but didn’t participate until the summer of 2024 when I was asked to help with a voter registration drive at Eastern Oregon University. With support from the LWVOR, we held an informational meeting on November 1, 2024 to see if our neighbors in Union County were interested in establishing a local LWV Unit. In December 2024 the LWVOR Board recognized the Union County Unit. We are thrilled with the interest and enthusiasm and we currently have over 35 members. I am a co-leader and Unit Coordinator for the League of Women Voters of Union County Unit. Also, in the Fall of 2024 I was appointed to the Eastern Oregon University Head Start Advisory Council. My intentions are to help LWVOR by adding a voice from Eastern Oregon (an underserved part of the State), helping new Units to get started, promoting civil discourse in diverse communities, and collaborating with other nonpartisan organizations. Marty Power Director I have a Bachelors in Education from Pennsylvania State University and a Masters and PhD in Sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I was a Professor at Illinois State University, where I taught Child Development and Family Relations, for about 20 years. I engaged in interdisciplinary, qualitative research with the same research team from the time I was a graduate student until I retired. In collaboration with Dr Brenda Krause Eheart, Founder of Hope Meadows/Generations of Hope, we studied the Generations of Hope Community, Hope Meadows, from its inception in 1994 until about 2014. A Generations of Hope Community is an intentionally created, intergenerational neighborhood, where some of the residents face a specific challenge around which the community organizes. Hope Meadows was developed to support families adopting children from the foster care system. Three problems (unused housing on a decommissioned Air Force base, adoptive families in need of support, and senior citizens looking for purpose) were united to form a unique solution — Hope Meadows. With substantial funding from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, we applied what we learned from Hope Meadows to the development of intentional, intergenerational communities across the nation. These communities were designed to support not only families adopting children from foster care, but various other groups of people facing social challenges. Bridge Meadows in Portland was one of the first programs modeled after Hope Meadows (https://bridgemeadows.org ). We moved from central Illinois to Cove, Oregon in 2021 to be near our son and daughter-in-law. We live on 75 acres with our four hens, three cats, two dogs and three horses. When we’re not tending to way-too-much property, my husband of 52+ years, Chris, and I enjoy hiking, gardening, camping, reading, and riding our horses. We joined LWV when we moved to Cove, but didn’t participate until the summer of 2024 when I was asked to help with a voter registration drive at Eastern Oregon University. With support from the LWVOR, we held an informational meeting on November 1, 2024 to see if our neighbors in Union County were interested in establishing a local LWV Unit. In December 2024 the LWVOR Board recognized the Union County Unit. We are thrilled with the interest and enthusiasm and we currently have over 35 members. I am a co-leader and Unit Coordinator for the League of Women Voters of Union County Unit. Also, in the Fall of 2024 I was appointed to the Eastern Oregon University Head Start Advisory Council. My intentions are to help LWVOR by adding a voice from Eastern Oregon (an underserved part of the State), helping new Units to get started, promoting civil discourse in diverse communities, and collaborating with other nonpartisan organizations.

Back to All Legislative Reports Social Policy Legislative Report - Week of 1/30 Social Policy Team Coordinator: Jean Pierce • After School and Summer Care: Katie Riley • Behavioral Health: Trish Garner • Criminal Justice/Juvenile Justice: Marge Easley / Sharron Noon • Education: Jean Pierce / Stephanie Engle • Equal Rights for All Ballot Measure: Jean Pierce Kyra Aguon • Gender-Related Concerns, Reproductive Health, Age Discrimination: Trish Garner • Gun Safety & Gun Issues, Rights for Incarcerated People: Marge Easley • Hate and Bias Crimes: Claudia Keith/ Becky Gladstone /rhyen enger • Health Care: Christa Danielsen • Housing: Debbie Aiona and Nancy Donovan Housing Criminal Justice Housing By Nancy Donovan and Debbie Aiona Last week Governor Kotek underscored the urgency of addressing Oregon’s housing emergency by sharing details of her request to the Legislature for $130 million for the purpose of sheltering homeless families and individuals. There are approximately 18,000 homeless Oregonians, with about 11,000 of those unsheltered. This is no longer just an urban problem; communities throughout the state are struggling to meet the need. Governor’s initial spending package includes: $33.6 million to prevent 8,750 households from becoming homeless by providing rent assistance and eviction prevention services; $23.8 million for 600 low-barrier shelter beds and housing navigators available to assist people in need of shelter and services; $54.4 million to rehouse at least 1,200 unsheltered households through prepaid rental assistance, block leasing 600 vacant homes; and other re-housing services; $5 million to support emergency response for Oregon tribes, $5 million to build capacity in culturally specific agencies serving homeless households; $2 million for sanitation services; $1.8 million for emergency response coordinated by Oregon Housing and Community Services and Office of Emergency Management. Housing Production and Accountability Office (HPAO): The Governor’s budget also creates the HPAO, within the Department of Land Conservation and Development, jointly managed with the Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) . The office will provide technical assistance and support to local governments and housing developers working to reduce land use and permitting barriers to housing production. HPAO will also hold local jurisdictions accountable to state housing and land use laws to clear the path to increased housing production in cities and counties across the state. The office is funded with revenues from the DCBS Building Codes Division. Manufactured housing ( HB 2983 ): Manufactured housing fills a critical need for low-income and affordable housing. LWVOR submitted a letter. In support of a bill that will provide funding for 1) ongoing park preservation; 2) new park development and construction financing for non-profits, co-ops, and housing authorities; and 3) development by Department of Land Conservation and Development of model manufactured home park codes and cottage cluster efficiency measures. Oregon Households Struggling with Housing Costs : A recent post from the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis explains that renter households are much more likely than homeowners to struggle to pay for their basic needs, including housing. Of Oregon renters finding it difficult to pay for housing, 21% (124,000) live below the federal poverty level, 44% (262,000) spend more than 30% of their income on housing, 54% (316,000) do not have enough residual income to pay for other necessities, and 63% (369,000) have incomes below MIT’s Living Wage Calculator . There are overlaps in the numbers, but this provides a clearer picture of the degree to which hundreds of thousands of Oregonians struggle to pay their housing costs. Criminal Justice By Marge Easley The League submitted testimony in support of SB 529 , heard in Senate Judiciary on January 31. The bill modifies alternative incarceration programs to specifically address the chronic disease of addiction. A very high percentage of individuals are incarcerated because of addiction issues but are not eligible for treatment programs until just before release. More timely treatment is needed to end the cycle of addiction, particularly in light of the fact that the smuggling of drugs and alcohol into prisons is an ongoing problem in our correctional institutions. The League will be keeping an eye on HB 2320 , which was heard in House Judiciary on January 31. It establishes a 17-member Juvenile Justice Advisory Commission within the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission. Members would be appointed by the Chief Justice, the Governor, and the Senate President and would conduct policy analysis and make recommendations to the Legislature related to the juvenile justice system. The bill is a work in progress, and hopefully more details will be forthcoming about the Commission’s exact function and administration funding needs. We will also be monitoring the progress of two bills related to domestic violence, both heard in House Judiciary on February 2. HB 2933 allocates $10 million from the General Fund to Oregon Domestic and Sexual Assault Services (ODSVS) to meet the growing need for community-based programs that provide confidential, trauma-informed safety and support services. 5,245 survivors received emergency shelter between July 2021 and June 2022, but there were 6,610 unmet requests for shelter during the same period. HB 3018 provides $6 million to provide permanent, affordable housing to end housing instability for survivors.

Back to All Legislative Reports Climate Emergency Legislative Report - Week of October 13 Climate Emergency Team Coordinator: Claudia Keith Coordinator: Claudia Keith Efficient and Resilient Buildings: vacant Energy Policy: Claudia Keith Environmental Justice: vacant Natural Climate Solution Forestry: Josie Koehne Agriculture: vacant Community Resilience & Emergency Management: see Governance LR: Rebecca Gladstone Transportation: see NR LR Joint Ways and Means - Budgets, Lawsuits, Green/Public Banking, Divestment/ESG: Claudia Keith Find additional Climate Change Advocacy volunteers in Natural Resources Please see Climate Emergency Overview here. Jump to a topic: Highlights Key Climate and Energy Issues Natural and Working Lands Recent National and State News Looking Ahead Climate Lawsuits and Our Children’s Trust Highlights It is not clear at this point what to expect for the 2026 short session. Likely leadership will continue to focus on challenging fiscal issues, Federal Executive Branch constitutional / overreach issues affecting fiscal and policy issues and the Governor’s on-going priorities. As in previous short sessions the League plans to work independently and with our coalition partners on critical pragmatic focused legislation. But they have not shared their climate/energy priorities for the 2026 session. Key climate and energy issues New legislation in effect in fall 2025 Several energy-related bills from the 2025 session became effective in late September 2025 (91 days after the session's conclusion on June 27). Key legislation includes: Microgrids: HB 2066 directs the Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC) to establish a regulatory framework for microgrids. Grid enhancement: HB 3336 requires electric companies to plan for the deployment of grid-enhancing technologies (GETs). Investment reporting: HB 2081, the "Climate Resilience Investment Act," requires the State Treasury to analyze and report on climate change-related risks to the public employee retirement fund (PERS). Failed or stalled initiatives During the 2025 regular session, a number of significant climate and energy proposals did not pass but could be revisited in the future. These included: "Right to a clean environment": Senate Joint Resolution (SJR 28) , a proposed constitutional amendment, failed to pass. Climate Superfund: Bills ( SB 682, SB 1187 ) that would have established a climate superfund to cover the costs of climate change did not pass. Fossil fuel divestment: A bill ( SB 681 ) to prohibit fossil fuel investments by the State Treasury failed. Future policy discussions Policymakers and advocates have already set the stage for continued climate and energy debates: Oregon Energy Strategy: The Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE) solicited public feedback in September 2025 for a new energy strategy to help the state meet its climate goals. Ongoing debates: Issues such as utility costs for large users, transportation policy, and wildfire funding were discussed in the 2025 regular session and are expected to continue in future sessions. Looking ahead The interim work in September and October 2025, including the House Committee on Climate, Energy, and Environment (CEE) meetings, helped to shape the climate and energy policy agenda for future sessions. Further interim legislative days are planned for November, 2025 and January, 2026. In addition, potentially effecting 2026 session, SCEE Committee Hearing included Invited Speakers Only , which heard presentations regarding: Washington’s Climate Commitment Act Green Banking: Maine’s Blue Economy Task Force Impacts of Federal Actions on Oregon’s Solar Industry The House CEE heard presentations on the Impacts of Recent Federal Actions on Energy and Environment-Related Agency Operations and Renewable Energy Development in Oregon. Natural and Working Lands (NWL) By Josie Koehne The Oregon Climate Action Commission (OCAC) report from the Oregon Department of Forestry on the NWL Fund was very minimal and did not include how much of the Fund ODF has been spent-- repeating what the Fund wis intended to fund and just a little on the seed banking with no financials or timeframes. In addition, the recording of the Sept 3 was without any visuals, was completely inaudible and one presentation had not been posted. The League complained to Chair Kelly and now the presentation and a better recording have been posted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVuDrjTwZew&t=8066s listen around 1:45. Oregon Climate Equity Network Meeting Sept. 4, 2025 The long session largely focused on expensive issues other than climate. New leadership was not well-positioned to meet the moment. With 4,000+ bills there was a lack of clear, unified priorities among the Democratic supermajorities. Climate advocates were on constant defense to prevent stalling and weakening of bills. A number of Key learnings: Need to cultivate champions now more than ever. Utilities still hold a lot of power, but their constant opposition works against them. Legislator reputation and abilities can make or break a bill. Committee leadership matters – see above. Governor’s input (when offered) can be decisive. One-time funding should be avoided; advocates should not come back with requests year after year. Legislative Days, Sept. 29–Oct. 1: Need to fill Amy Schlusser’s seat on the Environmental Quality Commission with a climate advocate – she now works in Gov. Kotek’s office. One more EQC seat to fill as well. The President is trying to rescind all IRA investments, which would drastically impact our state budget. The budget reconciliation act accelerates phase-out of solar/wind tax credits; rescinds unobligated funding from EPA programs; implements FIAT restrictions that complicate supply chains for renewable energy; and provides selective support for nuclear, hydrogen, clean fuels. USDA is blocking siting of solar on “prime farm land.” ODOE Energy Strategy comments were due 9/22. . Major pathways include energy efficiency (buildings and transp.), strategic electrification, clean electricity, low-carbon fuels for hard-to-decarbonize applications, resilience. Feedback and themes from the Nine Tribes focused on energy independence, affordability, decision making, funding access, and consultation. Calls for 42 near-term actions. ODOE will get major pushback from O&G and utilities. 2026 session (Feb. 2-March 9) priorities: Building Resilience: electrification of homes and buildings, managed transition off Natural Gas, resilience to climate harms. Clean Grid Collaborative: Address statewide transmission restraints, continue to work toward a state transmission authority. Governor support would be key. Move Oregon Forward: Road usage charge fix – raise rate from 20 mph to 30 mph; transit funding – remove the 2028 sunset. Cap and Invest conversation. Legislators are facing a critical vote on the transportation package, and they are already being attacked. Industry is trying to persuade them that the “easy fix” is to divert money from the Climate Protection Program . DEQ CPP President Wagner said no to moving forward SJR 28 , the right to a healthy environment amendment. Concerns are that it would trigger a GOP walkout, issues with the title of the proposed amendment. Likely no action in short session but still a target for the next long session. Recent National and State News Oregon to accelerate siting of renewable energy projects to beat Trump’s incentive deadline | OPB “Today, Governor Tina Kotek signed Executive Order 25-25 to accelerate the pace of renewable wind and solar project development in the state ... Oregon officials decry Trump administration’s revocation of scientific finding on carbon emissions - OPB Oregon Lawmakers Pass Transportation Funding Stopgap, Leaving Critical Investments in Safety and Climate for Another Session | Climate Solutions Special Session Update: The Path Ahead for Transportation - Oregon Environmental Council How Oregon Can Leverage Its Nature for a Brighter Future | The Pew Charitable Trusts Oregon DOE September 2025 Newsletter — Energy Info Calendar Looking Ahead Oregon Climate Action Commission | October 10, 2025 | Via Webinar Energy Facility Siting Council | October 23-24, 2025 | Maupin and Via Webinar Current Rulemakings ( click to see details ) Other Stakeholder Groups ( click to see details ) 2025 CUB Energy Policy Conference | October 3, 2025 | ODOE Sponsoring + Presenting League of Oregon Cities 100th Annual Conference | October 2-4, 2025 | ODOE Sponsoring 2025 ACEEE National Conference on Energy Efficiency as a Resource | October 7, 2025 | ODOE Presenting Government-to-Government Summit | October 7, 2025 | ODOE Attending Regional Energy Symposium | October 9, 2025 | ODOE Presenting Can Oregon and Washington Price Carbon Pollution ? - The Climate Trust, Published: September 30, 2025, Ecosystem Marketplace's Carbon Program BPA will buy wave-energy power generated at Oregon coast test site. | Oregonian, (Related: LWVOR's Coastal study included a discussion of wave energy: 2012 – Coastal and Nearshore Oregon: Using and Protecting Our Natural Resources An overview of the complex, interconnected issues and challenges that must be addressed in making decisions to manage the natural resources of the coastline; reflects the economic, social, and cultural impacts of these management decisions with particular emphasis on marine reserves and ocean energy. Coastal and Nearshore Oregon (48 pgs; pdf) Executive Summary (5 pgs; pdf) Acronym List (2 pgs; pdf) Mapping the Dynamic Oregon Coast (pdf) Coastal Study Presentation (pdf) Links to additional Information (Word document) NPR for Oregonians Oregon is set to lose an additional $400 million in federal grants awarded for climate action along with a number of other states. Trump called climate change a ‘con jo b’ at the United Nations. Here are the facts and context | PBS News There are two major federal and global economic tax issues effecting CE: the US tariff program rolled out by the current admin and reaction to it and CBAM and CBAT, EU Carbon border tax. (Brookings) Climate Lawsuits and Our Children’s Trust Here is one example of how to track ODEQ Climate Protection Program cases. Basically, there are a number of active federal lawsuits , Climate Litigation Oct 3 Updates Another source: Columbia University Law - Sabin Climate DB lists 91 lawsuits , (active and dismissed) mentioning Oregon. Climate Lawsuit News October 03, 2025 Sabin Center for Climate Change Law & UNEP Release a New Climate Litigation Report October 03, 2025 Climate Litigation Updates (October 3, 2025) September 26, 2025 The Sabin Center and Climate Policy Radar Relaunch The Climate Litigation Database October 3, 2025 - Grist : The kids who sued America over climate change aren’t done yet September 29, 2025 - Inside Climate News : Climate Activists Thwarted in U.S. Courts Are Headed to an International Tribunal for Review September 29, 2025 - Rolling Stone : Inside the Fight Against Trump’s Alaskan Pipe Dream September 26, 2025 - E&E News: Juliana climate case arrives at international court VOLUNTEERS NEEDED : What is your passion related to Climate Emergency ? You can help. V olunteers are needed. The short legislative session begins in January of 2026. Many State Agency Boards and Commissions meet regularly year-round and need monitoring. If any area of climate or natural resources is of interest to you, please contact Peggy Lynch, Natural Resources Coordinator, or Claudia Keith Climate Emergency at peggylynchor@gmail.com Or climatepolicy@lwvor.org . Training will be offered. Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Governance , Revenue , Natural Resources , and Social Policy report section

Back to All Legislative Reports Social Policy Social Policy Team Coordinator: Jean Pierce • After School and Summer Care: Katie Riley • Behavioral Health: Trish Garner • Criminal Justice/Juvenile Justice: Marge Easley / Sharron Noon • Education: Jean Pierce / Stephanie Engle • Equal Rights for All Ballot Measure: Jean Pierce Kyra Aguon • Gender-Related Concerns, Reproductive Health, Age Discrimination: Trish Garner • Gun Safety & Gun Issues, Rights for Incarcerated People: Marge Easley • Hate and Bias Crimes: Claudia Keith/ Becky Gladstone /rhyen enger • Health Care: Christa Danielsen • Housing: Debbie Aiona and Nancy Donovan Note: Education reports after January, 2024, are included in Social policy reports. Education reports prior to February, 2024, can be found HERE . Please see the Legislation Tracker for 2025 Social Policy bills . Jump to topic: Age-Related Issues After School and Summer Behavioral Health Child Care Education Gun Policy Housing Legislation Immigration Age-Related Issues By Patricia Garner The House Committee on Early Childhood and Human Services unanimously approved HB 3497 - Amendment 1 which requires 14-plus State agencies to consider the effects of their actions on older adult populations. It also establishes a Shared Future Oregon Task Force to develop a comprehensive framework to promote healthy aging and intergenerational connections, to prepare for the growth of Oregon’s older population and move Oregon towards becoming an age-friendly state. The bill now goes to Ways & Means for further consideration. After School and Summer By Katie Riley This past week was extremely busy as HB 3039 was dropped. It which would have appropriated moneys from the General Fund to the Department of Education and required the Department of Education to study methods for increasing the availability of summer and after-school academic and enrichment programs. HB 200 7 which would modify requirements for the summer learning program to emphasize literacy and accountability was amended to HB 2007-A and heard in the House Committee on Education, the Senate Committee on Education, and the Joint Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Education where it was passed. The accompanying funding bill HB 5047-A was also heard at the same time and passed. HB 5047 provides $35 million for summer 2025 and $47 million in 2026 and 27. It also funds the bill with a special summer learning grant fund outside the general fund; thereby, establishing a sustainable funding source that allows for advance planning. It is disappointing that the funding for HB 2007 will be tightly focused on literacy and testing and will not go to all districts; however, it is encouraging that funding will be provided for summer learning, the funding is being established in a separate source outside the general fund, and it will be provided over three years to allow for advance planning. It is hoped this bill will set a precedent for future allocations that will include specific funding for after school hours care with enriched programming that allows more opportunity for children to enjoy their time outside regular school hours while being inspired to pursue academics toward interesting career paths. HB 3941 , which was introduced to allocate $4,990,000 for a grant program to establish up to 5 community schools at $170,000 per year in matching funds, was scheduled for a work session on April 7th but it has been removed from the schedule. It is now dead. SB 1127 , which would have provided for grants to develop and provide educational activities during recess, lunch or after school for Title I elementary schools, was voted down in the Senate Committee on Education. It was noted that school foundations might be a better source of funding for these activities. Behavioral Health By Stephanie Aller and Patricia Garner SB 527 , which would provide grants to train high school students for entry-level behavioral health careers, was passed on April 3 and was referred to Ways and Means. HB 2056 - 1 , which appropriates $64,800,00 for community mental health programs, passed unanimously in the House Behavioral Health and Health Care Committee. It now heads to Ways & Means. HB 2059 (Behavioral Health Facilities), for which the League submitted testimony , will have a work session on April 8. The bill as amended provides $90 million for residential behavioral health facilities. HB 2467 - 3 : On April 3, 2025, the House Judiciary Committee held a Public Hearing on HB 2467 – Amendment 3 which seeks to define when and how a person can be civilly committed. These changes were submitted by the Forensic Health Work which was convened by the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Oregon (NAMI) and was chaired by Representative Jason Kropf. This Work Group included a wide group of individuals, organizations, elected officials, and judicial and legal officials. The changes are largely in line with those suggested in a proposed Amendment 1 which was discussed in a LWVOR Legislative Social Policy Report dated March 24, 2025, but was not formally filed. As stated in the Work Group Report, the ambiguity and breadth of current civil commitment standards has led Oregon courts to require a significant degree of acuity before authorizing civil commitment. Amendment 3 articulates specific factors which can support civil commitment on the basis of danger to self, danger to others and the inability to meet essential needs. It also provides guidance to courts by specifying what factors they “shall” and “may” consider. Critically, the bill acknowledges the importance of anosognosia which impairs individuals’ ability to recognize they have a mental illness, making them unlikely to seek or comply with treatment. Amendment 3 also authorizes courts to consider whether it is reasonably foreseeable that a person will engage in behavior that results in or is likely to result in harm to self or others, or fail to provide for basic personal needs in the near future, even if such behaviors are not “imminent.” A Work Session on the bill has been scheduled for April 8, 2025. Child Care By Katie Riley and Patricia Garner HB 3011 , which establishes the Early Childhood Education Workforce Development Fund and appropriates moneys in the fund to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to provide funding to community colleges and public universities in this state that offer early childhood education degrees and certificates will have a work session on April 8th in the House Committee on Higher Education and Workforce Development. Testimony was submitted earlier in support of this bill. HB 2593 which would direct the Department of Early Learning and Care to study the impact on student parents and working parents who are on the Employment Related Day Care subsidy waitlist (currently over 10,000) is scheduled for a possible work session on April 8th in the House Committee on Early Childhood and Human Services. HB 3835 - with Amendments 1 and 2 passed unanimously in the House Early Childhood and Human Services Committee and was sent for further consideration to Rules. Chair Hartman and Representative Rob Nosse made it very clear that they sent this bill to Rules with the understanding that it was being transferred for further discussion and not to die in the Committee. It is important to note that a bill addressing the same issues ( SB 1113 ) whose Chief Sponsor is Senator Gelser Blouin is scheduled for a Work Session on April 8, 2025. HB 3835 proposes significant changes in the use of restraint and seclusion of children in schools and child-care settings, as well as out-of-state placements of children. As it relates to schools, the bill defines these terms while also clarifying that wrongful restraint or seclusion does not include age-appropriate disciplinary measures aligned with the child’s development state and individual needs. Corporal punishment, wrongful restraint or wrongful seclusion are prohibited. Involuntary seclusion is permitted only if the student’s behavior poses a risk of imminent serious physical harm to the student or others, including animals, and there is not a less restrictive intervention which will reduce the risk. The OR State Board of Education is directed to adopt rules regarding investigations related to restraints and seclusions. Child-care settings include child caring agencies; proctor, foster, certified and adjudicated foster homes; and developmental disabilities residential facilities. The bill defines abuse of a child in these settings, including such acts as wrongful restraint, seclusion, involuntary servitude or trafficking, as well as failing to make reasonable efforts to protect the child from abuse, willfully inflicting physical pain or injury, verbally abusing a child by threatening significant physical or emotional, misappropriating money from any account held jointly or singly by a child in care, engaging in sexual abuse or harassment, and permitting a child to be photographed, filmed or taped in a manner that depicts sexual conduct or contact. Physical intervention in these settings is permitted if intervention is necessary to break up a physical fight or to effectively protect a person from an assault, other serious physical harm or sexual contact. There are a number of provisions regarding the process for releasing records regarding restraint or inclusion. Out-of-state and congregate care placements of children by the Department of Human Services (DHS) are allowed if the child requires specialized services and treatment and no suitable child-caring agencies are available in Oregon. The treatment provided by the placement must have rules consistent with those established by Oregon Health Authority (OHA). OHA may not place a child in an out-of-state placement unless it has verified that the placement is in good standing with the out-of-state’s licensing authority. DHS and the OHA are required to establish rules for the out-of-state placement approval process. DHS is permitted to place a child in a congregate care residential setting that is not a qualified residential treatment program and to extend the length of placement in a residential care facility or shelter-care home if certain standards are met. Both DHS and OHA are required to submit quarterly narrative reports to the Oregon System of Care Advisory Council. Education By Jean Pierce Federal Actions affecting Education in Oregon It is well-known that Governor Kotek has been focusing on literacy instruction, proposing $100 million more grant funding in the budget and urging passage of HB3040, which would study methods for improving early literacy outcomes. However, this week the Oregon Department of Education ended 5 math and literacy projects because the U.S. Department of Education terminated more than $2.5 million of funding 10 months ahead of schedule. The money had been approved by Congress in response to needs identified during the pandemic. The suspended programs include: Math Instructional Framework - Development of a math instructional framework to ensure students across the state are receiving the highest quality math instruction to support their learning and boost their outcomes. Oregon Literacy Practitioners Network - Establishment of a network of Oregon literacy ambassadors sharing best practices among educators to improve the quality of literacy instruction students receive around the state. Oregon Adolescent Literacy Framework Professional Learning Resources - Development of training modules, a collection of research and other literacy resources, as well as practical tools to support educators implementing the newly released Oregon Adolescent Literacy Framework for grades 6-12 in their classroom instruction. Instructional Framework - Development (including research and engagement) of a statewide instructional framework so that regardless of zip code Oregon students can count on excellent instruction. Regional In-Person Training For Educators - In partnership with Oregon’s Education Service Districts, provide five summits throughout the state (along with a communication campaign) for teams to use the new instructional resources in Early and Adolescent Literacy and prepare to bring this learning into their schools and classrooms. On April 4, the Supreme Court agreed – on a temporary basis - to permit the federal administration to suspend $65 million in teacher-training grants that the government contends promote diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Oregon has been receiving money through both of the grant programs affected –the Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) program and the Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP). Oregon's focus with SEED funding has been to increase the size and diversity of the workforce. TQP grants supported training teachers for high-need schools and subject areas. Ban on Book Bans Based on Discrimination SB1098 : This bill passed the Senate with no amendment.The measure prevents licensed teachers, schools, and school districts from prohibiting the selection, retention, or use of library materials, textbooks, or instructional materials on the basis that the materials contain perspectives, stories, or are created by individuals or groups that are members of protected classes under Oregon's anti-discrimination law. A minority amendment and report which would have gutted provisions pertaining to discrimination failed to pass on the Senate Floor. Testimony supporting the bill far outweighed that in opposition.The floor discussion of the bill is captured on the recording beginning at 57:47. Other bills of interest: HB2009 / SB141 , which requires the Department of Education to study the adequacy of public education in this state, will have public hearings and work sessions on April 7 in both, the House and the Senate Education Committees HB 2251 , which directs school districts to adopt a policy that prohibits the use of student personal electronic devices, will have a work session in House Education on April 7. Testimony is mainly in support of the bill. HB 2729A - 6 , which appropriates $7,000.000 to increase school-based health care services, passed on a party line vote in the House Judiciary Committee. It was referred to Ways & Means. HB3004 , which directs the Youth Development Division to establish a statewide community violence prevention program, has a work session scheduled for April 7 in the House Committee on Education. HB3037 , which is designed to reduce the burden on small districts applying for grants, received a recommendation of Do Pass from the House Education Committee, which referred it to Ways and Means. SB1126 which prohibits withholding recess as a form of punishment, will be heard in Senate Education on April 7. Higher Education This week the House Higher Education Committee heard from leaders of public colleges and universities, who testified once again that Oregon is in the lowest quintile for state funding for higher education, and consequently the state ranks in the top fifth for tuition. Accordingly, our graduates have higher student debt than those from any of our surrounding states. The Oregon Council of Presidents is requesting $1.275 Billion for the Public University Support Fund this biennium, but that would still be 3-4 times less than needed in order to bring us up to average state spending on higher education. And, of course, higher ed institutions are currently experiencing much uncertainty regarding the future of federal grant monies, which pay for a number of faculty positions in the state. Gun Policy By Marge Easley As committee deadlines loom, gun bills are stacking up, and ambitious House and Senate agendas currently list hearings and/or work sessions for ten bills related to firearms on either April 7 or 8. There are lots of moving parts at the moment, and we will soon see whether some may have amendments, are folded into one omnibus bill, or fall by the wayside. House Judiciary Work sessions on HB 3884 (allows a firearm licensee to store a firearm temporarily for an individual), HB 3075 (implementation of Measure 114) and HB 3076 (licensing of gun dealers) in House Judiciary are slated for April 7. A public hearing and possible work session on HB 3074 is slated for April 8. We have just learned that the -1 amendment of this bill will replace SB 203 —a study of extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs) that aims to increase their frequency of use in Oregon. Senate Judiciary On April 7, public hearings and possible work sessions are scheduled for SB 696 - ban on rapid fire devices- ( League testimony );, SB 697 -age 21 to purchase a firearm- ( League testimony ); SB 698 - expand “gun-free zones” in public spaces- ( League testimony ); and SB 429 -72-hour wait to transfer a firearm- ( League testimony ). They will also hear SB 243 and its amendments which combine some or all of the previous four bills. SB 1015 (establishes a grant program for community violence reduction) is on the agenda for April 8. Housing By Nancy Donovan and Debbie Aiona On April 2, the Senate Committee on Housing and Development scheduled a hearing on SB 1155 aimed at assisting pregnant persons and their families attain stable housing . Under this legislation, Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) would create a program targeted towards low-income pregnant persons and their families that would help them obtain safe, accessible and affordable housing. Owners of rental housing projects financed by OHCS would be allowed to set aside housing units designated for program participants. OHCS would give priority to the rental housing development applicants by modifying their existing scoring criteria. The housing would be subject to a state affordable housing covenant, in which housing affordability for low-income households is maintained for at least ten years. The housing must be sized to meet the needs of the family and located in proximity to employment, schools, community and health services, commercial centers, and other community assets to benefit family members. Without the challenges of housing instability, this pilot program will help low-income households pursue goals for their future. The League wrote testimony in support of this bill. Immigration By Becky Gladstone and Claudia Keith Bill # Description Policy Committee Status Fiscal M$ Chief Sponsors+ Comments SB 149 Immigration Study SCJ PH & WS 4/7 Y Sen Jama DHS SB 599A Immig status: discrimnation in RealEstate transactions H Judiciary Sen Campos SB 611 Food for All Oregonians - for undocumented SC HS - JWM Work Sess 4/8 Y Sen Campos Rep Ruiz SB 703 a bipartisan immigration status update funding bill JWM 6 Sen Reynolds, Rep Neron, Ruiz, Smith G Testimony HB 2548 Agricultural Workforce Labor Standards Board. HC LWPS WS 4/7 Rep Valderrama, Nelson , Munoz League Testimony HB 2976 funding for interpretation of indigenous languages. JWM Rep Hartman HB2788 funding to nonprofits to assist w lawful permanent resident status / legal aid - HC ECHS - JWM dead Rep Neron, Ruiz, Sen Reynolds * likely end of session Reconcilation Bill HB 2586 nonresident tuition exemption for asylum seekers. Sen Ed RepHudson, SenCampos HB 2543 fundsfor universal representation and gives funds to Oregon State Bar for legal immigration matters HC Jud ? 15 Rep Valderrama, Sen Manning Jr, Rep Walters, Andersen, McLain, Sen Campos DAS - see sb 703 HB3193A Farm Worker Relief Fund JWM 10 Rep Marsh, SenPham, RepValderrama OHA HB 5002 Oregon Worker Relief Fund JCWM-GG ? 7 Das Public Safety By Karen Nibler The Public Defense Services Consortium has been in front of the Ways and Means Public Safety Committee recently. Since it has been reorganized, the presentations by the staff have been detailed with attorneys working under the new system giving their perspective. The new agency operates under the Executive Branch. The House Judiciary Committee listened to proposals for public defenders in County Circuit Court Districts. HB 3376 proposes an office of district defender in each county court. The Early Childhood and Human Services Committee heard testimony on HB 3835 which deals with restraint and seclusion practices within foster care placements and special education programs. The testimony was extensive and the bill will undoubtedly be amended. Look for new developments. Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Climate Emergency , Governance , and Natural Resources report sections.

Back to All Legislative Reports Governance Internships Legislative Report - Week of 1/15 Governance Team Coordinator: Becky Gladstone and Chris Cobey Artificial Intelligence: Lindsey Washburn Campaign Finance Reform: Norman Turrill Conflicts of Interest/Legislative Ethics: Chris Cobey CEI - Critical Energy Infrastructure : Nikki Mandell and Laura Rogers Cybersecurity Privacy, Election Issues, Electronic Portal Advisory Board: Becky Gladstone Election Systems: Barbara Klein Emergency Preparedness: Cate Arnold Immigration, Refugee, and Asylum: Claudia Keith Redistricting: Norman Turrill, Chris Cobey State Audit Working Group: Sheila Golden Voting Rights of Incarcerated People: Marge Easley Jump to a topic: Senate and House Rules Committees AI and Elections, EPAB (Electronic Portal Advisory Board) Election Methods Campaign Finance and Redistricting By Norman Turrill, Governance Coordinator, and Team Senate and House Rules Committees The Interim Senate Rules and Executive Appointments Committee met 1/10/24 and introduced three legislative concepts (LCs) for the Public Records Advisory Council (PRAC) to study public records requests fees charged ( LC 196 ); make youth sporting events grants available ( LC 195 ); and to make many changes in an election law clean-up bill ( LC 194 ). The Interim House Rules Committee met 1/11/24 and introduced many LCs: LC 22 proposes an amendment to the Oregon Constitution to require the Legislative Assembly to impose by law a state property tax to fund public safety and define taxable property. LC 46 sets the convening date and time of electors of the President and Vice President of the United States and sets procedures. LC 47 requires all notary public applicants to complete a course of study. LC 251 requires the Governor to fill a vacancy in the office of U.S. Senator by appointment within 30 days until a special election can fill the vacancy. LC 266 requires the Oregon Health Authority to study Oregon’s addiction crisis. (Placeholder relating to addiction.) LC 267 requires the Oregon Health Authority to study access to behavioral health treatment in this state. (Placeholder relating to behavioral health.) LC 268 requires the Secretary of State to study how best to improve Oregon’s campaign finance system. (Placeholder relating to campaign finance.) LC 269 directs the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission to study the deterrent effect of different sentences on the use of controlled substances in public places. (Placeholder relating to community safety.) LC 270 requires the Secretary of State to study how to improve Oregon’s voter access. (Placeholder relating to elections.) LC 271 requires the Oregon Government Ethics Commission to study Oregon’s government ethics laws. (Placeholder relating to government ethics.) LC 272 requires the Oregon Health Authority to study access to health care in this state. (Placeholder relating to health care.) LC 273 requires the Housing and Community Services Department to study housing (Placeholder relating to housing.) LC 274 requires the Oregon Government Ethics Commission to study public meetings. (Placeholder relating to public meetings.) LC 275 requires the Public Records Advisory Council to study public records. (Placeholder relating to public records.) LC 301 removes the requirement that the word “incumbent” appear on the ballot with the name of incumbent candidates for the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Oregon Tax Court, and circuit court. AI and Elections, EPAB (Electronic Portal Advisory Board) By Rebecca Gladstone No developments yet on our Senate Commemorative Resolution (SCR) for Alice Bartelt from Sen Wagner. The Electronic Portal Advisory Board (EPAB) met in November, 2023, highlighting the Oregon Digital Equity Plan draft; see consolidated documents . Expect several Artificial Intelligence (AI) bills this session. In mid-November, Sen. Woods’ staff asked us to work on an elections AI bill (LC 132), paraphrasing highlights here: AI means digital technology used to create an image, audio or video recording of an individual’s appearance, speech or conduct that a reasonable person would believe depicts a real individual but that did not actually occur. The bill requires disclosing any form of AI use in campaign ads and communication. A filing officer believing an election law or rule violation has occurred shall proceed promptly as though they had received a complaint. Time periods in the bill range from 3 days to 5 years. Circuit courts are directed to prioritize these restraining orders, prohibitions, or injunctions, which may be issued without proof of injury or damage to any person. Civil penalty enforcement is not to exceed $10,000. Being effective on passage could impact Oregon 2024 campaigns. Notwithstanding ORS 260.005 (10)(c)(B)(i), a campaign communication may involve aggregate expenditures of any amount. States’ legislation underway: Thanks to Joint Committee Information Management and Technology Admin. Sean McSpaden, for renaming our HB 2049 group to the AI group, sending ongoing reading, some here: Governor’s Kotek’s Executive Order (EO-23-26) – to establish a State Government AI Advisory Council. News Release (November 29, 2023) Racing to Keep Up: Consumer Data Privacy and AI Advancements , National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) (November 28, 2023). Forecast ’24: Privacy and broadband access are ongoing concerns for 2024 legislative sessions, but breakthroughs in artificial intelligence are outpacing lawmakers’ ability to respond. NCSL Artificial Intelligence 2023 Legislation (Updated September 27, 2023). In 2023 legislative sessions, at least 25 states, Puerto Rico and DC introduced AI bills, and 15 states and Puerto Rico adopted resolutions or enacted legislation. NCSL Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Elections and Campaigns – November 7, 2023. AI Background: Sen. Woods notes that AI is not new, cites Alan Turing, “the Father of AI,” and the 1950 Turing Test, to test a machine’s ability to convincingly carry-on human conversation. From The Guardian, Dec 7, 2023, Eliza, a 1960s computer program, beat the viral AI chatbot ChatGPT at the Turing test, designed to differentiate humans from artificial intelligence, by 27% to 14%. But OpenAI’s GPT-4 chatbot tricked study subjects more than Eliza did, succeeding 41% of the time. AI’s vast AI scope See the Dec 4, 2023 New Yorker on the AI Revolution: Human beings “think linearly. You give instructions to someone on how to get from here to Starbucks, and you give them individual steps,” he said. “You don’t give them instructions on how to get to any Starbucks location from anywhere. It’s just hard to think that way, in parallel.” Election Methods By Barbara Klein On 1/11/24 the Joint Committee On Ballot Measure Titles and Explanatory Statements held a work session and public hearing on HB 2004 (a Ranked Choice Voting bill from 2023 that the LWVOR supports). Currently it is known as Legislative Concept 60 (LC 60). See LWVOR testimony . This same committee is preparing ballot titles for two other legislative referrals: ( LC 59 ) would set up a process for the Oregon House of Representatives to impeach statewide elected public officials and for the Senate to convict impeached officials. ( LC 58 ) would create a commission to determine the salaries of state level public officials. Campaign Finance and Redistricting LWVOR has endorsed circulating petitions. They can be downloaded, printed, signed and returned by mail from Honest Elections for IP 9, Campaign Finance Reform, and People Not Politicians for IP 14, Redistricting. Initiative petition signature filing is due July 5, 2024. Watch for legal status updates.

Back to Legislative Report Education Legislative Report - Week of 2/27 By Anne Nesse, Education Portfolio Informative hearings were held concerning our State Treasury, and a proposed plan to decrease carbon-intensive investments in favor of a cleaner energy economy. We also heard informative reports on statewide early childhood care. On Thursday, 2/16, LWVOR submitted written testimony on HB 2601 . I delayed posting this, as our virtual testimony was delayed, due to the number of persons testifying, and then delayed due to the winter storms. The committee chair has promised to hear all previously registered virtual testimony. A copy of our written testimony is linked here . Rep. Pham, a Chief Sponsor of the Bill, presented a convincing case for support, recorded here . Her testimony included graphs on the increased performance of non-fossil fuel related stocks, creating increased returns for our State Treasury, and increased PERS benefits. Rep. Pham ended with the statement that current fossil free investments are showing returns on investment 5X greater than more carbon intensive investments. Rep. Golden, and Rep. Gamba testified in support, as well as a coalition of representatives from the organizing group, Divest Oregon, which includes the OEA and 100 other state groups. Only a few testifiers were not in support, or suggested amendments. This bill also brought support from the former New York Controller, Tom Sazillo, testifying on how well New York State was proceeding in its transition towards a fossil free economy, within its investment portfolio. The House Committee on Early Childhood and Human Services held an informational hearing on Home-Based Child Care throughout the state on 2/20. Joe Baessler, Ass. Director, Oregon AFSCME, presented a well documented report, along with others. It was obvious that home-based care is the most flexible type of child care for workers living with unusual work schedules, or who ride the bus. These home-based child care centers (10, or up to 16 children), are all licensed by the state. Workers are trained and complete CME to remain licensed. It was reported there are however major issues, with ERDC, Employment Related Daycare, including late or missing payments, and no health care or retirement benefits adequately reward workers. Not all our new providers even know about our ERDC Program. It was reported that, “Infant care is very difficult to find, every county is a child care desert, and 70% of counties are child care deserts for 3-5 yr. olds.” The greatest problem is finding, maintaining, and paying the workforce adequately Mr. Baessler stated. “Without a workforce, more facility space is useless.” Then 3 Bills were heard to help increase the workforce, through the Department of Early Learning and Care (DELC): HB 2991 , HB 2504 , and HB 3029. It was unclear how these Bills would positively affect the childcare workforce to meet present needs. We are also reminded that near the start of this session SB 599-A , which was written last session to increase the renters’ ability to create child care centers in approved rental units, had passed on the floor of the Senate, 27-3. It will now move to the House. Some follow-up work was done in this Committee on 2/22, as well as a few other bills introduced. House Education also met on 2/20. There were a lot of kids with bike helmets supporting HB 3014 in a public hearing to amend the statute about the way we are allowed to fund transportation to school, or for after school activities. These amendments could fund free transit, and “walking, or bike riding school bus programs”, to allow safer transport of children to and from school. I understand this is to involve adults supervising students who walk or bicycle to school. These statutes have not been changed or evaluated since 1991. We may be able to apply for additional funding from the Dept. of Transportation. Amendments may be needed. House Education also held a public hearing on HB 2189 , the need for TSPC to ensure pathways to hire otherwise qualified individuals to teach Career and Technical Education (CTE) in some districts. In Senate Education 2/21, a work session was held on SB 819 , awaiting -3 or -5 amendments, on what is considered restricted access to a school day, especially important for teachers, students, and parents to have a voice in these decisions. This Committee also discussed SB 414, to establish ventilation system assessments throughout our state, in order to increase the circulation of air in classrooms, and bring them up to date for health standards. Lori Sattenspiel, from OSBA (Oregon School Board Association), reminds us of the millions of dollars this will require throughout our state, and that federal dollars may be necessary. Amendments may still be needed? Rep. Neron, on 2/21 in Senate Education, introduced SB 426 , a Bill requiring ODE to give technical assistance to school districts for integrated pest management plans. Both Morgan Allen from COSA (Coalition of Oregon School Administrators), and Lori Sattenspiel from OSBA recommended amendments. House Education 2/22, introduced HB 3037 , in public hearing, directing OSU Extension Service to collaborate and collect data along with ODE, relevant to the students who participate in outdoor school. Sen. Weber, Sen. Dembrow, and Rep. Wright, as well as many others, all testified as to how life changing Oregon Outdoor School has been for their own children, and grandchildren. It was generally stated that this schooling occurs at an opportune time for students during 5-6th grade, is based on “hands on science and exploration of the environment”, and creates lasting bonds for many students. This particular bill is for data collection, to make sure we are not leaving some students out of this important facet of their education. The remainder of the week canceled hearings due to inclement weather.

The League of Women Voters of Oregon conducts voter education and pro-democracy advocacy, and believes it is critical to understand the potential consequences of the recall process as part of our elections framework. Considering the growing use of the recall, LWVOR decided in 2023 to examine the process in detail to consider updating its position. Assessing the Recall Process In Oregon About the Study The League of Women Voters of Oregon conducts voter education and pro-democracy advocacy, and believes it is critical to understand the potential consequences of the recall process as part of our elections framework. Considering the growing use of the recall, LWVOR decided in 2023 to examine the process in detail to consider updating its position. What is recall? Oregon voters in 1908 amended the state Constitution to allow for recall of public officials. A recall election enables voters to remove an elected official from office before the official's term has ended. A total of 19 states now permit recall of state officials, while 39 states allow recall of public officials at the local level. Procedures differ greatly across the country. This study examines Oregon law and process, as well as practices in other states where recall is permitted. Voters and the courts have since modified Oregon’s recall process several times since 1908 to clarify who is subject to recall, the number of valid signatures required to qualify a recall petition, procedures for filling vacated seats, and the role and methods of elections officials overseeing the recall process. Article II, Section 18, of the Oregon Constitution establishes requirements. Assessing the Recall Process In Oregon Full study: Assessing the Recall Process In Oregon , PDF Links The Historical Development and Use of the Recall In Oregon , PDF Voters' Pamphlet 1984 , PDF Previous Next

Jean was introduced to the League in 2008 after she retired as a Professor of Educational Psychology at Northern Illinois University. Her first experience was serving on the national League’s study committee which developed the Federal Role in Public Education position. She headed the equity part of the study. After that experience, she joined the LWV of Illinois Issues and Advocacy Committee, which she chaired from 2014-2023. In 2023 she moved to Oregon, joining the Washington County Unit and the LWVOR Action Committee. Currently, Jean serves as Chair of the Action Committee for the state League. She is the Coordinator of Social Policy, with a focus on Education issues. Jean Pierce 2nd Vice President and Action Chair Jean was introduced to the League in 2008 after she retired as a Professor of Educational Psychology at Northern Illinois University. Her first experience was serving on the national League’s study committee which developed the Federal Role in Public Education position. She headed the equity part of the study. After that experience, she joined the LWV of Illinois Issues and Advocacy Committee, which she chaired from 2014-2023. In 2023 she moved to Oregon, joining the Washington County Unit and the LWVOR Action Committee. Currently, Jean serves as Chair of the Action Committee for the state League. She is the Coordinator of Social Policy, with a focus on Education issues.