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Back to Legislative Report Revenue Legislative Report - Week of 3/9 Revenue Team Coordinator: Peggy Lynch REVENUE Patricia Garner, Josie Koehne, Peggy Lynch The short session is over. The Governor still has to decide if she’s signing the legislation. And the work is not done. There was not enough revenue to fund the 2025-27 budget without cuts and new legislation as shared below. The Feb. 4 Revenue Forecast guided the spending for the 2026 legislative session. 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 . LWVOR participated with several other volunteer and non-profit organizations in the unofficial Oregon Revenue Coalition that worked together to find ways to preserve Oregon revenue in the light of lost federal income from Congress’s passage of H.R.1 which would cut major sources of funding for Medicaid, SNAP and many other services. ( Signed on to letter in January.) We focused on a bill to limit the damage caused by Oregon’s rolling connection to federal income tax law, since legislation to disconnect from the federal law failed in the 2025 long session. This session SB 1507 A passed (Senate (17-13) on Feb. 16 and House (34/21/4/1) on Feb. 25 ) that disconnected from certain sections of the federal code that the Legislative Revenue Office (LRO) reported would save Oregon $311.6 million in revenue this biennium and $313.9 million in the 2027-29 biennium, while providing increased funding for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) at a cost of $26.2 and $52.7 million per biennium respectively. The League has long supported an increase in the EITC. Summaries of the 44-page bill and its amendments can be found here . LWVOR testimony in support. At least one legislator is considering collecting signatures to place portions of the bill on the ballot per this Oregonlive article. Of concern is that the referral process allows petitioners to select parts of the bill. In this case, they could leave off the increase in the EITC while only asking voters to stop the disconnect—which, in part, is expected to pay for that EITC increase. HB 5204 is the final bill that balances the budget as required by state law. In the bill, the legislature made over $128 million in cuts , mostly in agency services and supplies and by not filling vacancies and shifting remaining funds around to fill in some gaps. This was fewer cuts than anticipated at the start of the session. But they also funded or rebalanced some agency programs and staff. The -2 amendment was adopted . See the 4 Analysis documents for the budget additions and reductions, Budget Notes and final LFO recommendation. Passed the House and Senate Mar. 6. Oregonlive article and the Oregon Capital Chronicle addressed the 2025-27 budget rebalance. The Oregonian did a final budget review . SB 1601 was the Program Change bill. The -3 amendment was adopted and includes rebalance of ODOT’s programs in Section 11-23 and clarifies the 1% of lottery monies for county fair upgrades and repairs. Passed the Senate and House Mar 6. SB 5701 amends the limits established during the 2025 legislative session for the maximum amount of bonds and other financing agreements that state agencies may issue. The proceeds from the issuance of bonds are included as revenues in agency budgets. The -2 amendment and the LFO Recommendation includes increases in general obligation and lottery revenue bonds authorized. Bond sales are not anticipated until the spring of 2027. Passed the Senate and House Mar. 6. SB 5702 : Establishes and modifies limits on payment of expenses from specified funds by certain state for capital construction . Capital Construction 6-year limitation. -1 amendment LFO Recommendation Mar. 5 passed Senate. Mar. 6 passed House. SB 5703 : Modifies amounts allocated from the Administrative Services Economic Development Fund, Veterans' Services Fund, Criminal Fine Account, Oregon Marijuana Account and Fund for Student Success. Mar. 5 passed Senate. Mar. 6 passed House. HB 5203 : 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. LFO Recommendation Mar. 6 Passed the House and Senate. 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 a bill. This omnibus bill, with amendments, would provide an opportunity to explore additional tax policy for consideration in the 2027 session. It is easier to understand the many provisions of SB 1510 by reviewing the summary provided by the Legislative Revenue Office of the bill and its -4 amendments . Feb. 24: Passed the Senate (28/1/1). Passed the House Mar. 4. HB 4014 : Establishes the Task Force on Taxation of International Income with the amendments. -2 amendment replaced the “study” bill. Staff Measure Summary . Due to this complicated tax policy, parties agreed to use the interim to consider impacts on this federal tax policy on Oregon revenue. Passed the House floor (32/26/2). On to the Senate floor at adjournment. Business interests want to have this conversation behind closed doors rather than an open public Task Force. The bill died but the conversation will continue. SB 1511 : A bill modifying the estate tax that would have increased the $1 million exemption to the estate tax to $2.5 million failed this session. The tax rates would have been greatly increased for the highest valued estates but fewer estates would pay an estate tax. For the first biennium, the revenue would have been about the same as our current estate tax SB 1511 . The revenue staff provided this analysis on the A -3 amendment that was approved by the Senate) with no expected revenue loss for this biennium, but $35 million by 2029-31. The bill did not pass out of House Revenue by end of session, but may be back in the long session. Two bills focused on increasing tax incentives for economic development faced intense debate and scrutiny, and one , SB 1586 , was withdrawn on March 3 due to much public outcry about tax breaks for data centers and the expansion of the Metro’s Urban Growth Boundary into land zoned as rural agricultural land, in violation of the 2014 Grand Bargain. OPB provided an article on this contentious bill. LWVOR testimony in opposition to the bill and additional testimony opposing the -7 amendment . The bill remained in Senate Finance and Revenue at the end of session, but is likely back in some form in 2027. The other economic development bill, HB 4084 A introduced by Governor Kotek, would fast track the permitting process for certain new business development t o be completed within 120 days, by means of a specially appointed Joint Permitting Council to oversee the each permitting agency’s permitting process. This section of the bill aligns with a federal program: Permitting Council’s FAST-41 Assistance for States. In addition, in the bill as introduced, all local property taxes abatements for Enterprise Zones were to be extended. This bill was also controversial because of these extensions since it would allow data centers which are hotly contested throughout the US, and which are the primary recipients of these tax credits, to not pay local property taxes for many years. After several amendments, three were incorporated into the final bill. LWVOR comments . The final bill included these provisions as summarized by LRO: Removes the $40 million General Fund appropriation to OBDD for deposit into the Industrial Site Loan Fund. (However, HB 5204 included $10 million for the Regional Infrastructure Fund, $5 million to support horse racing events at county fairgrounds, $5 million cash and $10 million bonds into the Industrial Site Loan Fund, and $10 million in lottery bond funds. The bonding bill provided targeted investments in sewer and water projects statewide to help with increased housing development demands.) Modifies SB 1507 (2026) to limit the tax credit for job creation to certain specified qualified industries. To qualify for the tax credit, a taxpayer must receive an attestation-based certification from Business Oregon, who will develop the tax credit application process, establish job creation determination methodology, and further define the term “qualified industry” through rulemaking. Excludes any qualified property of an authorized business in an enterprise zone with an operating data center from entering into a written agreement with the enterprise zone sponsor to 1) extend the period during which the qualified property is exempt from taxation beyond the allowable three years; 2) agree to flexible hiring timelines; and 3) approve alternative performance criteria. Prohibits data center properties from authorization as an eligible business firm prior to 90 days after the adjournment of the 2027 legislative session. An amendment was added at the end that puts this one-year moratorium on all new data center development certifications by Business Oregon, starting three months after the close of session. This allows the Governor’s Oregon Data Center Advisory Committee time to consider the various impacts of data center development on Oregon, and to report back to the Legislature with their recommendations. It also limits the existing Standard Enterprise (for urban areas) tax break to three years, but allows all other currently operating data centers, including those in rural areas of the state, to continue to receive tax breaks through the extended time periods as outlined in the bill. Oregonlive provided a great analysis of the impact of data centers. Oregonlive update on data centers in this legislation. Oregon data center operators will save nearly a half-billion dollars in local property taxes this year through three different incentive programs. Kotek’s legislation, House Bill 4084 , would expand the fastest growing of those three programs. 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. The -7 amendment adopted that changes the percentage to 50/50 and passed the House floor Feb. 25 (40/12/4/4). Mar. 5 Passed the Senate (23/6/1). SJR 201 : Kicker Reform: Proposed 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. OPB covered a story about the bill . T he League has long supported kicker reform but we also note that, with our new state economist, another kicker is not expected in the near term. The bill did not get a Work Session. 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. The bill had one public hearing on Feb. 16 and died in committee. The League is hopeful that a version of this bill will return in 2027. HB 4125 : Prescribes methodology for the preparation of revenue estimates used in the budgeting process and as applicable to the surplus revenue refund process — potential kicker reform. Public Hearing Feb. 2. The bill died in Committee . On Feb. 20, the US Supreme Court declared that President Trump does not have authority to impose widespread tariffs under a specific federal statute. Oregon’s Attorney General, Dan Rayfield, led the coalition of states arguing that the President did not have this authority. HB 4061 B passed that provides monies to help Oregon businesses hurt by these tariffs. Budget Report . The bill passed the House on Mar. 3 and passed the Senate Mar. 6. On Thursday Mar. 5, Rayfield and officials from 23 other states filed a lawsuit against the new tariff at the U.S. Court of International Trade, with Oregon again leading the way. “Budget aftershocks from the Trump cuts to Medicaid and SNAP will keep hitting Oregon in future years,” said Senator Jama. “Oregon lawmakers must continue working together to make resources stretch and to help families thrive.” As we await the May 20th Revenue Forecast, we watch for data that may change the forecast. Oregonlive reports that Oregon exports are down. Then we now have a war with Iran that, so far, has increased gas and diesel prices. That increases costs to state agencies, local governments, Oregon businesses and individuals. Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain — supply more than a third of the world’s urea, an important nitrogen fertilizer, and nearly a quarter of another one, ammonia. And they all use the Strait of Hormuz to export their products. So that means less food production and an increase in food prices. The February national jobs report was not good (loss of almost 100,000 jobs) and the national unemployment rate rose to 4.4%. (In Oregon, we’re at 5.2%.) As we watch the U.S. and Oregon’s economy, we note the Oregon Capital Chronicle Jobs Report article , of special concern as Oregon is an income tax state. According to this Oregonlive article , Oregonians are working the fewest hours since 2010. Oregon workers are spending less time on the job, another indication that the state’s labor market continues to sag. The average Oregonian worked less than 33 hours a week in December, according to federal data. That’s the lowest number since 2010, when the state was still digging out from the Great Recession — even worse than the sharp decline that accompanied the pandemic. As we continue to be concerned about the economy, we note a study related to AI: Brookings Institution study on AI job losses and adaptability points out metros most at risk – Portland Business Journal Roughly 30% of workers displaced by artificial intelligence will struggle to find new jobs, according to a new report from the National Bureau of Economic Research and Brookings Institution. While 70% of highly AI-exposed workers would likely be able to transition to another job, the rest may have trouble adapting “due to limited savings, advanced age, scarce local opportunities, and/or narrow skill sets. ”What’s more, of the displaced workers in low-adaptive jobs, 86% are women. The League will continue to work with the Oregon Revenue Coalition and others as we address the need for increased revenue to pay for the services Oregonians need. The Ways and Means Co-Chairs warn of increased demand and federal funding cuts for the 2027-29 and 2029-31 biennia. It's time to work with state agencies as they develop their 2027-29 budgets. Here’s some budget guidance that agencies have received: 2027-29 Budget Guidance: Governor's Letter and CFO 2027-29 Budget POP Guidance . Bottom line: The Governor has asked state agencies to provide a “neutral” budget. If they want to add a program or staff, they need to find a program or staff to remove from their budget request. You can contact the agency you want to engage with as they work to provide proposals to the Governor around June. See other sections of the Legislative Report for information about specific agencies or areas of concern.

Back to All Legislative Reports Governance Internships Legislative Report - Week of 2/17 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: Campaign Finance Reform Social Policy, Immigration, Hate Crimes Government Ethics Campaign Finance Reform The Portland City Auditor wants to ask the Legislature to nullify (preempt) the campaign finance reform Charter Amendment approved by 87.4% of Portland voters in 2018. This would undermine the express desires of Portland voters and open the doors to a deluge of big money flowing into Portland elections. It is unclear if the Auditor will convince city representatives to lobby for this idea in the Legislature. Social Policy, Immigration, Hate Crimes By Becky Gladstone Numerous bills followed here have not been scheduled for hearings. Their committees are still introducing members to their issues. Weather cancellations included Joint Information Management and Technology IT modernization planning. Here are recent bill updates: HB 2341 , ( League testimony in support), passed unanimously in a work session. The bill would add veterans’ email addresses to shared information in providing services. HB 5017 ; League testimony was presented and heard in support of this Oregon State Library budget bill. HB 2570 is scheduled for a work session 19 Feb. League testimony was submitted and presented in support of this privacy bill to make new [non]disclosure law to keep PII (personally identifiable information) confidential for employees working with OSHA investigations or inspections. SB 473 creates a new crime of threatening a public official. League testimony in support was written and presented. Sen Prozanski, Sen Judiciary Chair, suggested forming a work group for this complex issue. We are researching these: HB 2710 , to put victims of child abduction onto the list of those able to join the Address. Confidentiality Program. A public hearing was cancelled due to weather. HB 3012 , relates to 16 or 17 year-olds voting in school district elections, and it has not been scheduled for a hearing. HB 3384 , a County Clerks’ bill to alter the election calendar to allow not processing petitions during election season, has not moved since a Feb 3 public hearing. We are watching for amendments and intend to support it. SB 18 would increase penalties for election law violations. A public hearing was almost scheduled, but was withdrawn for this complex bill, with amendments already underway. Government Ethics By Chris Cobey HB 2727 further limits what lobbying a legislator can do after leaving office. It was heard in House Rules Feb. 10. The League supported this bill with testimony . HB 3130 would allow unpaid school district board members to not file statements of economic interest (SEIs) with the Government Ethics Commission. It was heard in House Rules Feb. 10. The League opposed this bill with testimony , since conflicts of interest do not depend on the size of a school district or if a public official is paid or not.

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 Legislative Report - Week of 2/9 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 2026 Social Policy bills . Jump to topic: Behavioral Health Criminal Justice Education Gun Safety Healthcare Housing Behavioral Health Trish Garner HB 4028 was heard in the House Behavioral Health Committee. It relates to how insurers, the Oregon Health Authority and coordinated care organizations can conduct audits of behavioral health care providers. The bill delves into the details of the auditing process. It seeks to ensure these audits are conducted fairly and that everyone knows and follows the same rules. There are time limits for the completion of audits and health care professionals must review them. Providers cannot be charged for conducting the audit. A 5-year lookback period is prescribed. As might be anticipated, most of the providers testified in favor of this legislation; the auditing entities largely opposed them. Amendments may be forthcoming. HB 4069 and HB 4069-1 The House Behavioral Health Committee held a public hearing on this bill which mandates that residential treatment facilities, detoxification and sobering centers and mobile crisis intervention teams develop and implement written safety plans for workers and the built environment which will be filed with the Oregon Health Authority. If the facility uses individuals who work in a situations or locations without a colleague nearby or close supervision, it must include protections for them as well. HB 4083 and the HB 4083-1 . A public hearing was held in the House Behavioral Health Committee on this bill which arose out of Governor Tina Kotek’s Behavioral Health Talent Council, chaired by First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson, a former social worker. It is designed to “cut the red tape” for behavioral health worker licensure and to ease a bottleneck that has formed due to a lack of qualified clinical supervisors. It requires the Oregon Health Authority to create a uniform credentialing process for behavioral health providers, along with an accompanying internet portal. Coordinated care organizations are barred from adding any additional requirements. Another portion of the bill expands the types of behavioral health professionals that can provide supervision to social workers and licensed professional counselors. For example, social workers could now be supervised by psychologists, marriage and family therapists and professional counselors, and vice versa. Finally, the State Board of Licensed Social Workers is placed under the supervision of the State Mental Health Regulatory Agency, joining the Board of Psychology and the Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists. Most behavioral health care workers oppose the mutual supervisory provisions, arguing that the current process is working well and oversight should be conducted by the professionals familiar with their area of expertise. The number of people sending in testimony opposing the bill far exceeds its supporters. HB 4127 was heard in the House Committee on Health Care. A Work Session has been scheduled for next week (February 10 th ). It seeks to ensure that nonprofit reproductive health care providers who are not eligible to receive federal Medicaid funds or who are not enrolled in the Oregon medical assistance program will be reimbursed for covered services using state funds. Two providers meet the criteria here: Planned Parenthood affiliates of the Columbia Willamette and of Southern Oregon. HB 4127 represents an effort to stem the tide of anti-abortion efforts which coalesced in the passage of federal House Resolution 1, signed into law on July 4, 2025, and its one-year prohibition on Medicaid reimbursement for these providers. On July 29, 2025, several states, including Oregon, filed a complaint in federal court seeking an injunction against the prohibition on federal reimbursement to these prohibited entities. As of November 21, 2025, the prohibition remained in effect as the matter remained pending before the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. SB 1532 was heard by the Senate Committee on Human Services and a Work Session on it is scheduled for next week (February 10 th ) . It modifies the authority of the Oregon Department of Human Services regarding residential and long-term care facilities, developmental disabilities services and children in care. Using specified criteria, ODHS is required to impose a license condition based on a preliminary or substantiated finding of “immediate jeopardy.” Immediate jeopardy takes place when a residential or long-term care facility fails to comply with an ODHS rule that has or is likely to cause serious injury, serious harm, serious impairment or death of a resident. A preliminary finding means one that is objective and based on the evidence available at the time the ODHS conducts its investigation. SB 1532 -1 and -2 require ODHS to pay providers of attendant care to clients with intellectual or developmental disabilities at different rates depending on whether they also reside with their clients . It also changes out of state placement requirements if the child is Indian or has an eating disorder. Criminal Justice By Marge Easley and Sharron Noone The Senate and House Judiciary Committees got off to a quick start by scheduling hearings on several important bills during the first few days. The League submitted testimony on SB 1515 , which establishes a new post-conviction process for wrongful conviction cases to correct flaws in the current system. The Oregon Attorney General must review a wrongful conviction petition within 180 days, and applicants may petition to have their cases reopened if convictions were based on discredited forensic science, including hair comparison, bite mark analysis, and comparative bullet lead analysis. Two bills related to the recent actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were on the agenda on February 3 in House Judiciary. Passionate public testimony made it clear that the lives of immigrant and non-immigrant communities throughout Oregon have been greatly impacted by the overzealous and often violent actions of ICE agents. League testimony on HB 4114 included this excerpt from a LWVUS statement issued on January 26: “The League of Women Voters condemns the escalating actions by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that put people at risk, deny individuals their constitutional rights, and undermine the democratic values meant to protect us all.” A -1 amendment narrowed the bill considerably by eliminating a requirement for ICE agents to give 48 hours’ notice to the Oregon Department of Justice before any actions within the state. The bill as amended relates only to 4 th Amendment rights by allowing an individual whose privacy and civil rights are violated by the warrantless actions of a federal or out-of-state law enforcement agent to file a civil suit against that agent. The League also submitted testimony on HB 4138 , which establishes identification requirements and places prohibitions on facial coverings for federal law enforcement officers. A -3 amendment changed the bill by requiring federal law enforcement agencies that operate in the state to maintain and post written policies regarding identification on uniforms and the wearing of facial coverings. These policies should affirm “the agency’s commitment to transparency, accountability, and public trust.” Education By Jean Pierce This week LWVOR submitted testimony supporting three education bills: SB 1538 prohibits discrimination in education related to immigration or citizenship. Currently, access to a public education is protected by a Supreme Court ruling from 1982. However, Oregon needs to ensure that right is guaranteed. In 2023, Oregon’s immigrants paid $2.1 billion in state and local taxes which help fund public education. LWVOR wrote testimony in suport. HB 4079 requires public schools to inform parents, students, and community members when ICE is present on the campus. This would assure immigrants that they have accurate information to base decisions protecting their children. LWVOR submitted testimony in support. HB 4149 directs school districts to enroll and provide services for homeless students. Currently, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act assures unhoused students of their right to a free, appropriate, public education, but that act is managed by the U.S. Department of Education, which has experienced severe staffing cuts recently. LWVOR submitted testimony in support. Gun Safety By Marge Easley HB 4145 , which makes modifications to Measure 114 (2022), was heard in House Judiciary on the first day of the session. Despite the short notice, supporters of the Second Amendment showed up in force to oppose it. This significant gun bill sets out in detail how the firearm permitting portion of Measure 114 will be implemented, dependent on a positive ruling by the Oregon Supreme Court on its constitutionality. The League delivered testimony in support of the bill, which we believe will make the permitting process work more efficiently and effectively. The bill does the following: Specifies where to apply for permits for those who live in both incorporated and unincorporated areas Defines permit eligibility requirements Provides that all records related to the permitting process are exempt from disclosure Extends the time limit from 30 to 60 days for a permit agent to either issue or deny a permit Sets limits on the fees charged by the permit agent and the Oregon State Police Establishes alternatives for the required firearm safety training course Provides civil and criminal liability exemptions where applicable Provides an exception to the permit requirement for current and retired law enforcement officers Requires that state court actions challenging the legality of the Act be filed in Marion County Circuit Court Healthcare By Christa Danielson Bills for which LWVOR submitted testimony: HB4054 bill addresses the area of AI downcoding. During a visit to a health care facility a billing code is generated by the healthcare provider. Sometimes AI technology is used by an insurance company to automatically change the billing code to a lower code with less reimbursement without informing the provider. This bill would require reporting of downcoding events by AI to the physician or other healthcare provider for transparency LWVOR submitted testimony supporting the bill. SB1527-1 bill would provide access to screening with colposcopy when there is an abnormal pap. The National Health Resources and Services Administration HRSA: Health Resources and Services Administration has agreed that further testing with colposcopy would be considered screening with an indeterminate or low-grade pap but that screening recommendation will not be in place until 2027. The Oregon Capital Chronicle published an article describing the bill . LWVOR filed testimony in support. The Senate Health committee is recommending DO PASS as amended. SB 1570-1 provides safety for healthcare providers and patients. It would require consistent established guidelines from administrative areas in healthcare about how to interface with Federal Immigration Services. LWVOR wrote testimony . Bills we are tracking: HB4040 This is a large bill attempting to fix many technical areas. It is generally well perceived. We will continue to track this bill as it does cover some aspects of getting people onto Medicaid faster while they're in the hospital. HB 4147 would require reporting by employers who have greater than 50 employees as to how many of their employees are on the Oregon Health plan. We are currently tracking this bill. Housing Debbie Aiona and Nancy Donovan Now that the 2026 session is officially underway, the Senate and House Committees are meeting to review housing proposals during this short session. Committee agendas and bills are posted to meet the 35-day deadline. Information on the 2026 session is live ! The Housing Alliance, of which we are a member developed lists of priority bills selected by its membership. We are tracking housing bills and reporting on their status during the weekly sessions. House Interim Committee on Housing and Homelessness HB 4036 would preserve low-cost housing at risk of being lost due to expiring contracts or physical deterioration. Investing to maintain these properties is more efficient and cost-effective than building new units. During the next ten years 87 properties with nearly 3,000 units are at risk due to expiring federal project-based rental assistance. An investment of bond funds will protect tenants from losing their homes. A public hearing was held on Feb. 3 with a possible work session on Feb. 10. HB 4123 would add clear provisions to Oregon’s Landlord Tenant law regarding the disclosure of confidential information on certain personally identifying, financially sensitive and other private information. Landlord–tenant confidentiality laws establish rules governing how landlords and property managers collect, use, store, and disclose information about tenants and rental applicants. Under this proposal, private information may not be disclosed without the tenant’s written consent unless in response to a court order. A public hearing was held on Feb. 5 with a possible work session on Feb. 10. Senate Committee on Housing and Development SB 1576 would require the Department of Consumer and Business Services to adopt rules to conform to the state building code so that it aligns with federal fair housing accessibility requirements and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards. A key requirement is that in new, large multi-unit residential buildings at least 10% of units must be wheelchair-accessible. OHCS would not be authorized to fund new government-subsidized rental developments unless they meet the accessibility requirements. A Public Hearing was held on Feb. 5 and a work session is scheduled on Feb. 10. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED : What is your passion related to Social Policy? You can help. Volunteers are needed. We particularly need help tracking legislation concerning Public Safety Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Climate Emergency , Governance , and Natural Resources , and Revenue report sections.

Back to All Legislative Reports Climate Emergency Legislative Report - September Legislative Days 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 Jump to a topic: Climate Emergency Oregon Climate Action Commission - OCAC OCAC Biennial Report Environmental Quality Commission Meeting Highlights Climate Litigation and Congressional Climate Resolution Volunteers Needed Climate Emergency By Claudia Keith, Climate Emergency Coordinator and Team Department of Environmental Quality Climate Protection Program: Action Alert and Testimony LWVOR published a September ALERT related to an Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) Climate Protection Program Sept 26 rulemaking public hearing. This meeting was scheduled late August to provide for more public comments. OPB: ‘Public will get a little longer to weigh in on Oregon’s program to cut carbon emissions.’ The League continues to advocate for strong ODEQ Climate Protection Program (CPP) rules. We have been participating in the CPP rulemaking process since its inception in 2021. Find the most recent LWVOR testimony for the CPP rulemaking public hearing here . Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) action: DEQ plans to present the final CPP rulemaking proposal, including any modifications made in response to public comments, to the EQC for a decision at its Nov. 21-22 meeting. The goal continues to be a 2025 CPP implementation. Oregon Climate Action Commission - OCAC (formally Global Warming Commission): September 17, Meeting Highlights DEQ Consumption-Based Emissions (CBE) Inventory and Project Report DEQ staff briefed OCAC on the agency’s draft report and recommendations on opportunities to reduce Oregon’s consumption-based GHG emissions , mandated by 2024 HB 3409. Staff had previewed an earlier draft of this report during OCAC’s August meeting. While Oregon’s sector-based emissions peaked in the first decade of this century, CBE have continued to soar, so our overall carbon footprint has gone up, not down. DEQ and its consultant, the Stockholm Environmental Institute (SEI), identified many ways Oregon can reduce its CBE—e.g., by reducing embodied emissions in new construction, the largest governmental source, through green building codes, product regulations and standards, financial incentives, etc. The report also presents marginal abatement cost curves (“bang for the buck”) for various policy initiatives. Draft recommendations: 1. The Legislature, in consultation with OCAC, should adopt a goal to reduce CBE. 2. The Legislature, OCAC, and state agencies should take more action to reduce CBE. Address high-impact categories of emissions and activities with high emissions- reduction potential. Enable consumer awareness and choices through structural and policy changes that make low-carbon choices more easy, affordable, equitable, and accessible. Align with other statewide priorities, such as increasing affordable housing, reducing negative health outcomes, and reducing food insecurity. Consider “product stewardship” approaches that engage producers of products and materials sold into Oregon. Center human well-being in policy design, paying particular attention to equity considerations, including needs and opportunities for low-income, BIPOC, and residents in rural areas. Engage cross-cutting/cross-sector approaches that can reduce multiple sets of emissions while also generating co-benefits to society. Minimize rebound effects by focusing on reducing consumption of commodities with high emissions intensities. 3. DEQ should update its CBE inventory on a timely and more frequent basis. OCAC Biennial Report The Commission reviewed and discussed draft recommendations for potential inclusion in its Biennial Report, due to the Legislature on 12/1/2024. OCAC intends to adopt the final recommendations in October. Sources of the following draft recs were OCAC’s Roadmap to 2030, the Natural and Working Land’s (N&WL)priorities, and DEQ’s CBE work. Recommendation 1: Support robust and continuous implementation of existing climate programs and regulations. Restore the CPP with same scope and ambition as before. Develop policies and programs that maximize the existing grid infrastructure, accelerate new transmission and renewable energy siting, and advance regional energy markets. Increase funding for Oregon Public Utility Commission oversight of HB 2021 and CPP implementation. Increase funding for ODOE’s Community Renewable Energy Grant program, Heat Pump programs, and Solar + Storage program; ODHS’s Community Resilience Hubs and Network Grant program; DEQ’s EV Rebate programs; and OHA’s Healthy Homes program. Recommendation 2: Update Oregon’s statutory Green House Gas (GHG) emission goals consistent with best available science – revisiting Senator Dembrow’s bill, SB522A , which failed to pass in 2023. Recommendation 3: Appropriate an additional $10 million to the N&WL Fund and to the Oregon Agricultural Heritage Program to increase carbon sequestration. Recommendation 4: Investigate options and create a sustained source of state funding to increase sequestration in N&WL, including consideration of a setting up a Green Bank to use the state’s bonding capacity to incentivize private investments. Recommendation 5: Adopt a goal to reduce Oregon’s CBE. Recommendation 6: Take targeted actions to reduce CBE from transportation, the built environment, and food waste. Recommendation 7: Direct and fund DEQ to update the CBE inventory every 2 years, and direct OCAC to report on progress toward the state’s CBE reduction goals as part of OCAC’s Biennial Report to the Legislature. Senator Dembrow and Commissioner Apter urged a special focus on transportation-related measures to prevent the expected transportation package from increasing GHG emissions. Other commissioners suggested developing additional recommendations related to climate adaptation and resilience. Oregon Environmental Justice Council Environmental Justice Mapping Tool Extension Request was adopted in Aug . New proposed deadline moves to June 2027. Other past and future OEJC meeting details find HERE. Environmental Quality Commission Meeting Highlights Report on the portions of the 9/26-27 EQC meeting bearing on the CPP 2024 rulemaking. Oral public comment on Thursday afternoon heavily favored the OCEN partners' positions. The commissioners' Friday morning discussion made it clear that they had also heard plenty from the regulated businesses, some of whom had suggested that EQC drop this rulemaking and invite the legislature to develop a cap and trade program. The commissioners expressed their determination to move forward with rules for a climate program that will be a model for best practices, providing Oregon businesses with long-term regulatory certainty to bring forth the appropriate investments and giving climate skeptics no reason to point to Oregon as an example of what not to do. The following major issues rose to the top. Community Climate Investments (CCI) program accountability: Industry, especially NW Natural, has challenged the validity and expense of this program as the primary alternative vehicle for CPP compliance. Commissioners expressed support for the program but with guardrails to ensure maximum accountability and investment performance. Chair Donegan stressed the need for a laser focus on the quality, tradability, and bankability of CCI projects to make sure these are attractive investments for potential buyers. Do the CPP rules need to define the vetting process for eligible CCI entities and projects more rigorously? DEQ's McConnaha noted that the Equity Advisory Council is set up to help prioritize work plans and that the proposed third-party fees will fund a full FTE for DEQ to oversee CCI performance. Comm. Schlusser noted that many CCI projects are likely to link with and leverage existing programs such as those of Energy Trust, but attribution of results may become challenging. Donegan suggested that the final rules should clarify EQC's role, if any, in overseeing fund allocation. CCI prices are a related concern. Donegan said the proposed price of $126 per CCI appears less expensive than the cost of neighboring states' compliance instruments, given that the CPP would award most emission allowances free off the top. Real worry is the decarbonization cost passed on to consumers over time. As our emissions cap declines and covered entities have to buy more CCIs, our program could become more expensive than California’s. McConnaha said in 2 years of experience with the CPP, we saw overcompliance with the program requirements without the CCI program in place. So while the focus on the CCI price is understandable, it’s only one of many variables affecting CPP compliance. Treatment of Energy-Intensive Trade Exposed (EITEs) industries: Public comments show widespread support for creating this new category of regulated entities (manufacturers that face competition from outside Oregon), favored with a slower emissions cap trajectory to prevent job losses in Oregon and emissions "leakage" to other states. A movement emerged late in the rulemaking process advocating that DEQ develop a method to regulate these entities according to the specific carbon intensity (MT CO2e/per unit produced) of each manufacturing process. DEQ has pledged to address this proposition and the regulation of industrial process emissions in a near-future rulemaking. Recognition of “early” emission reductions: DEQ proposes a large one-time distribution of compliance instruments to fossil fuel suppliers in 2025 to recognize what those suppliers would have banked or traded by the time the program was invalidated. DEQ believes it is important to honor those suppliers’ early emissions reductions. Environmentalists vehemently oppose this on the grounds that it would oversupply the market with compliance instruments and could derail the CCI program early on. McConnaha maintained that the move to shorter compliance periods (2 years vs. 3) will spur overall market activity for compliance instruments, including CCI investments. Comm. Moynahan asked what would be the consequence if DEQ rescinded this proposal. McConnaha replied: a tighter market with fewer instruments available and less certainty for the regulated entities. OCEN has urged DEQ to consider adopting several changes to mitigate the worst impacts of this measure, including distributing the additional compliance instruments over 10 years, beginning with the second compliance period. It is hard to know whether DEQ will revise any of the proposed rules before EQC votes on the final rulemaking in November, but formal public input is done. Stay tuned! OEA: Oregon Revenue Forecast Sept Report published 8/28/24 I encourage you to notice the number of times climate is mentioned in this report, it appears a model for climate risk disclosure. This may be the only state revenue forecast in the country that clearly addresses most climate related risks. Climate Litigation and Congressional Climate Resolution Sept 2024 Updates to the Climate Case Charts | Columbia University Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Oregon Cases – 78 as of Sept 2024 News: Some of these topics may be addressed in 2025 session Oregon continues to be in the top ten states, the State Energy Efficiency Scorecard , released by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), evaluates states across six key policy areas related to renewable energy Bill McKibben in Portland: July 5, 2024. - Greg Martin McKibben gave an address on climate change at the First Unitarian Church in Portland last week. He spoke compellingly for some 40 minutes, starting with the worst disaster news and moving on to more optimistic themes, including the potential of senior activism to make a critical difference. This recording begins with a series of intros, including promotion for Third Act Oregon. McKibben starts at around the 25-minute mark . His advocacy on this subject is nothing short of amazing. Where are Fracking Bans in Place? ‘Statewide fracking bans are in place in five states: Vermont, New York, Maryland, Washington, and Oregon (Oregon’s moratorium ends on January 2, 2025). California currently has a moratorium on fracking in place and a full ban will start in October 2024. Individual counties across the country have also passed their own fracking bans.’ POSTED IN POLLUTION: HCN.: Preventing the next ‘Fukushima’ As oil and gas operations at Portland’s CEI Hub grow , so do the chances of a catastrophic spill. Isobel Whitcomb September 1, 2024 OPB : Energy demand from data centers growing faster than West can supply, experts say “In a webinar hosted by regional transmission authorities, data centers were called a “major challenge” for the energy industry, as well as extreme weather” US delays Oregon floating offshore wind lease auction amid 'low interest' | Windpower Monthly US shelves Oregon offshore wind auction after protest from governor – MarketScreener :Reuters: (Reuters) -The Biden administration on Friday canceled a planned auction of offshore wind development rights off the coast of Oregon after the state's governor said she did not support the sale. Oregon’s biggest gas company isn’t as green as it claims- EHN Agency that approves energy rate hikes explains How and Why Behind Decisions. Volunteers Needed Request to Local Leagues; please let us know your climate, resilience, or sustainability advocacy actions. Please consider joining the Climate Emergency portfolio team; We collaborate with Natural Resource Action members on many Climate Change mitigation and adaptation policy topics. Volunteers are needed. Orientation to Legislative and State Agency advocacy processes is available.

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: 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 - Week of 3/9 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 2026 Social Policy bills . Jump to topic: Child Care Behavioral Health Criminal Justice Education Gun Policy Healthcare Housing Immigration Reproductive Healthcare Summer Learning Behavioral Health Trish Garner HB 1532 has passed both chambers and has been signed by the Speaker of the House. It delineates certain aspects of the OR Department of Human Services’ authority regarding residential and long-term care facilities, including requiring ODHS to impose a license condition on such a facility if a person is in “immediate jeopardy.” ODHS is also allowed to place a child in care in an out-of-state placement that is not licensed as a child-caring agency if the placement is in a relative foster home or pre-adoptive family place, is in an eating disorder program approved by that state’s Medicaid program or is pursuant to the OR Indian Child Welfare Act. HB 1533 has passed both chambers and been signed by the Speaker of the House. It permits a court to limit, deny, or prohibit contact between a foster child and the foster child's sibling to ensure safe and appropriate contact between the siblings. It also expands the Oregon Foster Children’s Bill of Rights to include the right to (1) be protected from abuse, exploitation, neglect, intimidation and inappropriate use of restraint or seclusion, (2) have access to a free and appropriate public education; (3) be assigned an attorney to represent the child’s interests; and (4) maintain, have access to and be able to transport to their personal belongings. HB 1546 B has passed both chambers. Because the Senate added an amendment after passing the House, It had to be sent back to the House for its consideration. The bill attempts to restrict the impact of AI (“artificial intelligence”) chatbots that are increasingly affecting the lives of children, as well as adults. The system must remind a user that it is using AI. AI operators are required to set up a protocol to deal with persons with suicidal or self-harm ideation which are more stringent if the user is under 25. The Amendment added language requiring AI operators to use clinical best practices and expertise on how it will provide additional information for a user who continues to express this ideation. HB 1547 has passed both chambers and been signed by the Speaker of the House. The bill authorizes the Oregon Board of Psychology to issue licenses to “behavioral health and wellness practitioners “ after completion of relevant education, clinical hours and training. HB 1547 also sets standards for licensure. HB 4039 has passed both chambers and been signed by both the Senate President and the Speaker of the House. It changes the method that Oregon Health Authority must use in setting payment rates for coordinated care organizations , which are the regional networks which receive and manage state and Medicaid funding and then distribute it to health care providers based on their services. It also mandates that CCO’s establish a transparent, data-driven process when developing capitation rates, which are the set amounts of Medicaid funds Oregon pays a CCO per member, per month to cover that person’s healthcare. The bill also requires that CCO’s use a part of their income or reserves to address social determinants of health and health disparities. Finally, the Oregon Health Policy Board is mandated to establish a review process for collecting public comment when setting rates. HB 4069 has passed both chambers and been signed by both the Senate President and the Speaker of the House. It requires residential treatment facilities, detoxification and sobering centers and mobile crisis intervention teams to develop and implement written safety plans for workers and the built environment to be filed with the Oregon Health Authority. If the facility uses individuals who work in a situations or locations without a colleague nearby or close supervision, it must include protections for them as well. HB 4070 has passed both chambers and been signed by both the Senate President and the Speaker of the House. The bill provides that the Oregon Health Authority must ensure that access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment and services is comparable to medical and surgical treatment and services . Crisis stabilization centers are required to have the capacity to screen individuals for physical health needs. Subject to legislatively appropriated funding, services must be made available to all persons with mental health, substance use disorders or intellectual or developmental disabilities. HB 4083 has been signed into law by the Governor. It requires the Oregon Health Authority to create a uniform process to credential behavioral health care providers. By June 30, 2027, it must select this system and by July 3, 2027, coordinated care organizations must begin using it. It also requires the State Board of Licensed Social Workers and the OR Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists to adopt rules that would allow behavioral health providers of a type other than those licensed by these boards to provide supervision to individuals seeking authorization to practice. Child Care By Katie Riley SB 1535A related to the Employment Related Day Care (ERDC) lack of funding to meet the needs of their extensive waitlist was approved to temporarily pause the requirement that gives TANF recipients priority eligibility for the waitlist and make it optional and to establish a work group to study the cost and availability of liability insurance as well as other liability issues affecting child care providers. The work group is to provide a report by November 1, 2027. The Department of Early Learning and Care (DELC) also was approved to move a surplus of approximately $67 million due to a lack of use of the Oregon Prenatal to Kindergarten (Oregon Head Start) and Preschool Promise federal funds to help address the ERDC deficit of approximately $80 million. It was recommended that the existing programs be reviewed for possible changes. The two programs with surpluses may have lower enrollments due to their partial day coverage for enrollees vs the ERDC coverage for all day care. Criminal Justice By Marge Easley & Sharron Noone Immigration Bills In a race to the finish line, only a handful of the thirteen bills in the “immigration justice package” successfully passed through both chambers, on largely party line votes. Bills that are soon to become law in the criminal justice category include: Warrantless Searches : HB 4114 allows Oregonians to sue in cases of warrantless searches of property by law enforcement or anyone acting under color of law. This is a rejection of the federal rule, known as the “open fields doctrine” that allows such searches. Oregon joins six other states (Mississippi, Montana, New York, Tennessee, Vermont, and Washington) that have enacted similar laws. See League testimony. Court Immigration Protections: HB 4111 prohibits data about a party’s or a witness’s immigration status from being used in a civil case and prohibits employers from retaliating against workers who update their employment authorization status. Immigration Policies: SB 1594 directs the Oregon Office of Immigration and Refugee Advancement to create model policies relating to citizenship or immigration status. Law Enforcement Uniform Rules: HB 4138 specifies identification requirements for law enforcement uniforms and prohibits facial coverings except in certain narrow instances. See League testimony Bills that died along the way include HB 4091 (limits use of the Oregon National Guard) , SJR 203 A (forbids secret police in Oregon), SB 1563 (allows for civil action against law enforcement officer), HB 4117 (appropriates money from General Fund to Universal Representation Fund, established in 2022 to provide grants to nonprofits who work with immigrants), HB 4150 (prohibits contractors for state agencies to transport individuals for deportation), HB 4143 A (authorizes state to withhold money from federal government if federal money is withheld from Oregon) Other Criminal Justice Bills The League also supported the following bills that await the Governor’s signature: HB 4045 requires communication providers to respond to a search warrant withing a specified time when domestic violence is involved. See League testimony . SB 1515 modifies provisions for wrongful convictions to allow for more timely compensation and to allow for review of cases involving discredited forensic science disciplines. See League testimony Education By Jean Pierce Bill which the League supported and the Governor signed SB 1538 A creates a new protected class in educational antidiscrimination law (schools cannot discriminate based on immigration or citizenship status), and guarantees admission to Oregon school districts’ instructional programs The League submitted testimony in support Bills which the League supported passed both chambers: HB 4079 A requires public schools to inform parents, students, and community members when ICE is present on the campus. This would assure immigrants that they have accurate information to base decisions to protect their children. The League submitted testimony in support of the bill. HB 4149 directs school districts to enroll and provide services for homeless students. The bill codifies provisions of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act in Oregon law. LWVOR submitted testimony in support. Bills that did not advance: SB 1555 would have eliminated the Quality Education Commission and made other changes related to how public education is funded. There is no question that the current system of determining this level of funding is flawed in Oregon. The Quality Education Commission has not used evidence-based practices in its model calculating school funding needs. While SB1555 raised a number of issues that the legislature should address, there was no time for these issues to be resolved in the short session SJR 201 would have allocated part of Oregon’s “kicker” tax refund to the state school fund . Ninety-seven percent of the testimony opposed the bill. Gun Policy By Marge Easley One of the biggest disappointments in the waning days of the session was the behind-the-scenes deal-making between the two parties that caused HB 4145 to be stripped of nearly all its provisions before its final passage on the Senate floor. The initial purpose of the bill, sponsored by Rep. Jason Kropf, was to provide implementation details for Measure 114 (2022) as well as delay implementation until 2028 to give agencies sufficient time to institute the changes needed for the required firearm permitting system. See League testimony for the original version. Court challenges have held up the measure since 2022, but it is hoped that the Oregon Supreme Court will deliver a favorable ruling on its constitutionality within the next few months. After much passionate opposition HB 4145 A was able to pass the House on a party-line vote. However, when it passed to the other chamber, Senate Democrats needed a bargaining chip to avoid a Republican walkout. Thus, a deal was made to pass a gutted version of the bill, leaving only the provision that delayed Measure 114’s implementation until 2028. Despite this setback, Rep. Kropf reiterated his commitment for gun violence prevention and vowed to bring the bill back in 2027. Healthcare Christa Danielson Bill which the League supported and the Governor signed: SB 1527–A prohibits cost sharing on colposcopy. Makes colposcopy part of screening procedure. See League testimony. Bills which the League supported that passed both chambers SB 1570 establishes protections in healthcare facilities. Requires hospitals to have policies around law-enforcement at hospitals and to designate private areas in the hospital.. See League testimony. SB 1598 Requires insurance to pay for recommended vaccines. Allows pharmacies to use standing orders. See League testimony. Other Bills: SB 1575 establishes new requirements for hospice programs to be constructed by OHA. Prevents fraud, favors good care. This is going to Governor’s desk. Enrolled HB 4040 Numerous fixes to a variety of administrative issues in health care. Testimony has been given in previous years about multiple parts of this bill. Enrolled. HB 4054 . Down coding by AI. Not going further, died in committee. Housing Nancy Donovan and Debbie Aiona Bills Governor Kotek has signed into law SB 1523 Enrolled Electronic Barriers to Residential Tenancies The Governor signed this bill on March 5, 2026. It will require landlords to provide tenants and prospective tenants with non-electronic means of conducting business. Tenants will have the option of submitting rental applications on paper rather than through a tenant portal. The bill also requires landlords to provide access to common areas by means other than software loaded onto smartphones, such as keys, access codes, fobs, etc. Bills awaiting Governor Kotek’s signature SB 1576 Enrolled Housing Accessibility Act: This legislation requires the Department of Consumer and Business Services and Housing and Community Services Department to adopt rules that conform to the state building code so they align with federal fair housing accessibility requirements and American National Standards Institute standards. The rules will apply to multi-family housing and will increase the future supply of housing accessible to people with disabilities. SB 5702 Enrolled Affordable Housing LIFT : Local Innovation and Fast Track (LIFT) Affordable Rental Housing Program received approval for an increase of $75 million in Other Funds (Article XI-Q Bonds) capital construction with a six-year expenditure limitation to acquire, construct, remodel, repair, equip or furnish real property in which the Housing and Community Services Department will take an operational or ownership interest to provide affordable rental housing for Oregonians with low-incomes and citizens in historically underserved communities and communities of color. The increase brings the total of other Funds for capital construction expenditure limitation approved for the LIFT program to $540 million. HB 4036 Enrolled Affordable Housing Preservation Bonds: This bill establishes the Housing Opportunity, Longevity and Durability (HOLD) Fund to support the preservation of affordable housing that it at risk of loss. It would authorize the use of $25 million in Article XI-Q general obligation bonds into the fund. Money could be used for acquiring, constructing, remodeling, repairing, equipping, or furnishing affordable housing that is or will be operated by the state. Preserving existing low-income housing is a cost-effective and efficient way to maintain our supply. HB 4123 Enrolled Tenant Information Privacy Protections: This bill will add clear provisions to Oregon’s Landlord Tenant law regarding the disclosure of confidential information on certain personally identifying, financially sensitive and other private information. The amendments would allow landlords to share tenant contact information with repair and maintenance workers and release confidential information if required by an administrative or judicial warrant. HB 4128 Enrolled Restricts large investors from purchasing single-family homes : This bill places restrictions on the purchase of single-family residences by certain large institutional real estate investors and related entities. Before such entities could purchase the home, it must have been listed for sale to the general public for at least 90 consecutive days. Immigration Bills with League testimony SJR 203 Oregon Constitutional Amendment Prohibiting Secret Police See Criminal Justice SB 1538 Enrolled Public schools educate immigrants See Education SB 1570 Enrolled Where ICE can go in hospitals See Healthcare HB 4079 Enrolled Public schools must inform about ICE presence See Education HB 4091 Oregon National Guard Activation & Authority See Governance: Privacy & Protections HB 4114 Enrolled Rules for Operations of Federal Agents or Agents from Another State in Oregon See Criminal Justice HB 4138 Enrolled Requires ID and prohibits face coverings for law enforcement agents See Criminal Justice Other Bills Bill # Description Policy Committee Status Fiscal M$ Chief Sponsors+ Comments HB 4117 Universal ( legal) Representation & worker relief Funding Died in Committee 11 16 See HB 5204 end of session reconciliation bill. SB1505 Establish Workforce Standards Board Died in Committee Not posted Sen Interim Committee on Rules Home and community based services – likely in next session SB 1581A School Meals Died in Committee Not posted yet 11 Not all districts needed this HB 4089A Wage theft Passed, waiting for Governor to sign Minimal 6 SMS House vote 33, 9 Funding HB5204 Refugee Emergency Response and immigration legal services See Gov public statements 4.5 See HB 5204 end of session reconciliation bill News, Updates and other Resources: Oregon lawmakers approve key immigration bills to shield immigrants from Trump deportation campaign - oregonlive.com Office of Immigrant and Refugee Advancement: OIRA Update : February 2026 Oregon Legislature: Experiences of Immigrant and Refugee Oregonians Will Inform State Responses to Federal Immigration Practices Senate Bill 1594 directs the Oregon Department of Justice to consult with Office of Immigrant and Refugee Advancement Experiences of Immigrant and Refugee Oregonians Will Inform State Responses to Federal Immigration Practices Oregon Moves to Ensure Community Voice in Immigration Policy Updates PDF Document · 211 KB Immigration Policy Updates Important Policy Updates from OLIS Reproductive Healthcare Trish Garner SB 1568 requires Medicaid coverage for a minimum of 12 visits by doulas , 24 hours of doula services or a comparable combination of visits and service hours, as well as coverage for these services of up to $3,750 per a 12-month period. Lactation counseling services must also be covered without prior health care provide referral. After passing in the House, an Amendment was added In the Senate which clarified that OHA is required to adopt qualification criteria for birth doula and postpartum doula. The bill was approved by the House as amended. Bills which the League supported passed both chambers HB 4088 has passed both chambers. The League provided testimony in favor of the bill. It declares that it is Oregon’s policy to ensure that people are allowed to get reproductive health care and gender identity treatment services . Several protections are given to providers of these services, including directing public bodies not to cooperate with investigations into reproductive and gender affirming care and a ban on extradition by the Governor related to a person’s engagement with these activities. Disclosure of public records regarding providers of these services is expanded from a person’s name, and home or professional address to also include images and home telephone numbers. Senators Kim Thatcher and Mike McLane had filed a Minority Report which essentially converted the bill into a study bill, reportable to the legislature by September 15, 2027. It was not adopted. HB 4127 has passed both chambers. The bill ensures that certain providers, including Planned Parenthood affiliates of the Columbia Willamette and of Southern Oregon, are paid for their services . The League submitted testimony . Summer Learning By Katie Riley The Ways and Means Joint Subcommittee on Education held an information session regarding the report from the Oregon Department of Education on the results of implementation of the 2025 legislative session SB 2007 which provided funding over three summers for summer school care (2025-2027). The results have received praise both in print and from legislators in the committee, although there were many questions in the hearing asking for more detail on findings and a separate article asked if the expenditure was worthwhile. Approximately 74% of the recipients reported meeting their literacy-based goals and an additional 24% reported partially meeting them. The goals were set by each recipient and were not the same across the board. This issue will be addressed by ODE in the future. ODE is conducting a competitive process for the 2026 allocations. There was no explicit mention of the participation of students in after school hours programs although some community based organizations administered the grants. Please see the Legislation Tracker for 2026 Social Policy bills for which the League submitted testimony. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED : What is your passion related to Social Policy? You can help. Volunteers are needed. We particularly need help tracking legislation concerning Basic Needs: Food Basic Needs: Income Juvenile Justice Public Safety Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Climate Emergency , Governance , and Natural Resources , and Revenue report sections.

Back to All Legislative Reports Natural Resources Legislative Report - Week of 1/16 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: Water: Peggy Lynch Wildfire: Carolyn Mayers Ways and Means Natural Resource Budgets/Revenue: Peggy Lynch AGRICULTURE AIR QUALITY BUDGETS/REVENUE CLIMATE COASTAL ISSUES DEQ DSL FORESTRY GOVERNANCE HANFORD LAND USE/HOUSING NWEC OWEB RECYCLING TRANSPORTATION WATER WILDFIRE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED Overview Bills have been filed, “first read” and assigned to committees. But this does not guarantee they will receive public hearings. That decision first rests with the Committee Chairs in consultation with their Vice Chairs. Final determination is always with Legislative Leadership. Filing deadline is Feb. 21 for most bills. AGRICULTURE Bills being reviewed by the League: SB 47 : Directs Environmental Quality Commission and Department of Agriculture to enter into a memorandum of understanding to allow the department to exercise exclusive jurisdiction over air quality laws, water quality laws and land quality laws that apply to agricultural lands, operations and equipment. HB 2121 : House version of SB 47. SB 399 : Would limit water use for confined animal feeding operations, known as CAFOs. HB 2667 : Would put a pause on all new CAFOs for the next several years. AIR QUALITY Our friends from Neighbors for Clean Air have set their 2023 agenda : Particulate Air Pollution. BUDGETS/REVENUE We are all awaiting Governor Kotek’s Governor’s Recommended Budget (GRB)—due by Feb. 1. The next Revenue Forecast is Feb. 22. The House Revenue Committee provided an overview/audio of Revenue issues. The meeting is worth listening to. CLIMATE By Claudia Keith and Team See Climate Report in the Climate Emergency section of this Legislative Report. There are overlaps with this Natural Resources Report. We encourage you to read both sections. HB 2236 : P rohibits governor and specific agencies from taking measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions unless authorized by Legislature. COASTAL ISSUES By Christine Moffitt Bills being reviewed by the League: HB 2190 (Relating to offshore wind). DEPT. OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (DEQ) On January 19, the Environmental Quality Commission announced two finalists for consideration to become the new Director of the Dept. of Environmental Quality: Current Interim Director Leah Feldon and Jamie McLeod-Skinner, regional emergency coordinator with the Oregon Department of Human Services and is also founding partner and attorney with MS Sage Consulting in Central Oregon. The Commission will hold a special meeting in February for the Commission, staff and the public to engage before the Commission makes its decision. Bills being reviewed by the League: SB 47 : Directs Environmental Quality Commission and Department of Agriculture to enter into a memorandum of understanding to allow the department to exercise exclusive jurisdiction over air quality laws, water quality laws and land quality laws that apply to agricultural lands, operations and equipment. HB 2121 : House version of SB 47. DEPT. OF STATE LANDS (DSL) By Peggy Lynch Bill possibly supported by the League: HB 2238 : Fees related to removal or fill permit applications, wetland delineation reports and general authorizations. FORESTRY On February 7 from 1 – 4 p.m. there will be a virtual meeting open to the public to learn more about the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Forest Management Plan (FMP) and Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). This meeting will provide an update on the FMP, the HCP, and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. A proposed agenda and additional details will be provided closer to the meeting date. RSVP is requested; you can do so by clicking here. More information is available online at the Western Oregon State Forest Management Plan Website and the Western Oregon State Forest Habitat Conservation Plan Website . See “Wildfire” below for a report on the Oregon Wildfire Council. GOVERNANCE By Peggy Lynch Bills being reviewed by League members: HB 2480 : new or increased fees adopted by state agency do not become effective unless approved by three-fifths of each chamber of the Legislative Assembly. LWVOR opposes. SB 660 : No new/increase in agency fees unless approved by legislative assembly. LWVOR opposes. SB 43 : Requires agencies to post certain information about rulemaking on agency websites and a long list of other requirements. LWVOR opposes. HANFORD By Marylou Schnoes) The Oregon Hanford Cleanup Board will hold a virtual meeting on January 18. A full meeting agenda, including how to participate, and other meeting materials is available on their website . LAND USE/HOUSING By Peggy Lynch Bills being reviewed by League members: HB 2203 : Allows RVs used to provide security of farm use to be sited on lands zoned for EFU. Public Hearing 1/19. LWVOR has concerns around waste disposal, drinking water availability and other services. 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 House Housing Committee on Jan. 17. SB 70 : A “correction” to SB 16 (2021 ), a bill that would have allowed 100 homes on farmland and which we opposed , but passed yet never implemented. At first glance, we will oppose SB 70 as well. HB 2211 : Redefines "historic home" to include dwellings built before 1974 for the purpose of serving as accessory dwelling unit to home newly constructed on rural residential lands. LWVOR opposes as we have in past sessions. HB 2749 : C hange the RR lot size for ADUs from 2 acres to 1 acre or 1/2 acre. LWVOR has concerns. HB 2758 : Change the RR lot size for ADUs from 2 acres to 1 acre or 1/2 acre. LWVOR has concerns SB 534 : Requires Oregon Facilities Authority to provide financing for infrastructure and predevelopment costs for moderate income housing. LWVOR may support. HB 2258 : Extends sunset of Oregon Industrial Site Readiness Program. LWVOR has supported this data-driven program. HB 2027 : Requires Housing and Community Services Department to study housing —a potential “gut and stuff” bill. Expect major amendments. HB 2202 : Prohibits counties from allowing use of certain new dwellings on resource lands as vacation occupancies. SB 580 : Relating to climate rules for land use planning. HB 2207 : Limits standing in appeals of land use decisions. HB 2260 : Relating to system development charges impacting housing . HB 2210 : Relating to parcel sizes of resource lands. HB 2487 : Allows lands zoned for exclusive farm use to be used for weddings or events east of the summit of the Cascade Range. HB 2659 : Requires LCDC to update rules adopted in response to the Governor's executive order on climate to address specific issues. HB 2406 : Directs Energy Facility Siting Council to adopt standards for siting, construction, operation and retirement of energy facilities that generate electricity from renewable energy sources, addressing impacts of energy facility's equipment waste recycling and disposal needs over lifetime of energy facility. HB 2989 : Directs ODOE & DLCD to convene work groups to examine barriers, opportunities and other issues related to renewable energy and transmission project siting in Oregon. SB 673 : Requires Deschutes County to approve certain applications to develop manufactured dwelling or recreational vehicle parks outside the urban growth boundary. LC 3914 is a redraft of HB 2701 (2021). It creates a pilot program under the bill and allocates $1.5 million into an Systems Development Charge fund. Pertains only to cities under 15,000 and small population counties. Allows a developer to build multi-family housing with a waiver of SDC’s provided the City agrees and the developer and subsequent owner enters into a covenant with the State whereby the rent cannot be increased above a statutory threshold for at least 10 years. With the agreement, the State reimburses the City or County for the full cost SDC’s. A bill ( HB 2659 ) for the City of Springfield regarding “Climate Friendly & Equitable Community” rules (not yet first read). The Citizen Involvement Advisory Committee (CIAC) is meeting Jan. 27. The agenda and meeting materials for a CIAC joint meeting with the Land Conservation and Development Commission are now available online. This is a hybrid, virtual and in-person meeting. See also the Housing Report in the Social Policy section of this Legislative Report. NORTHWEST ENERGY COALITION (NWEC) By Robin Tokmakian 2023 Priorities for NWEC: RE-Building Task Force: The RE-Building Task Force was established during last year’s legislative session by SB 1518 . The task force has been hard at work to determine how to reduce emissions from new and existing buildings in the state. The task force released a draft report earlier in December. Bills will be developed from the concepts considered by the task force and will be introduced when the legislative session starts in January. Clean Lighting Bill: Appliance Standard Awareness Project (ASAP) has proposed a bill to phase out the use of linear fluorescent lamps due to their mercury content . The bill would also result in energy savings and emissions reductions, and follows similar legislation recently adopted in California . Other things to keep an eye on: Portland General Electric Securitization Bill : We expect Portland General Electric to propose a bill around securitization. A bill draft that was shared with NWEC seeks to allow a utility, with the approval of the Oregon Public Utility Commission (OPUC), to issue bonds and securitize debt for costs and expenses associated with events subject to federal or state declaration of emergency (think fires or ice storms). PGE has been discussing the issue with many stakeholders and we expect the bill to come up early in the session. Oregon Siting Bill: As in Washington, there are many discussions in Oregon about clean energy siting. NW Energy Coalition has been, and will continue to, engage and assess any proposals that may arise from discussions. Oregon Budget : Congress’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will provide a massive amount of new funding to the state of Oregon. There will no doubt be many discussions about how to allocate those new federal funds. OREGON WATERSHED ENHANCEMENT BOARD (OWEB) OWEB will hold a virtual 2-day meeting, on January 24 and 25 from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The agenda and staff reports for the meeting are now available. RECYCLING By Kathy Moyd New: Zero Waste Package aims to reduce Oregon’s waste and includes these five bills: Right to Repair ( SB 542 ): Will reduce electronic waste and save people hundreds of dollars a year by allowing them to repair their own electronics. Styrofoam Phase Out ( SB 543 ) : Phases out the use of styrofoam in food to-go containers, as well as bans the use of highly carcinogenic PFAS chemicals in food packaging. Reduction of Single-Use Packaging ( SB 544 ): A bill that will require a 25% Reduction of Single-Use Packaging in 10 Years. Reusable Containers ( SB 545 ) : Updating Oregon law to allow for reusable containers to be used in the bulk section of the supermarket and for eating out. No New Permits for Chemical Recycling Plants : While the name might sound nice, chemical recycling leads to localized air pollution and is not healthy for people or the environment. Bill not yet filed. TRANSPORTATION T here will soon be new sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, curb ramps and more to make walking and rolling to school safer, easier and more accessible for all. ODOT Commissioners 1/12 approved 26 Safe Routes to School projects totaling $32.4 million, with a focus on under-resourced neighborhoods: all awardees are Title 1 schools (schools where 40% or more of the student population is low-income). WATER By Peggy Lynch An update to the Morrow/Umatilla County nitrate contamination issue: Morrow and Umatilla counties have long faced nitrate pollution in some people’s drinking water. The federal funding aims to establish a long-term fix. A follow up article with resident frustrations. Bills being reviewed by League members: HB 2647 : Harmful Algal Blooms. SB 399 : Limiting water for livestock use. HB 2813 : Relating to sources of drinking water. SB 710 : Relating to groundwater use decisions affecting surface water sources SB 553 : Requires Department of Environmental Quality to study water reuse. HB 2023 : Salmon Credits . LWVOR had concerns with this bill in 2021. HB 2248 : Requires Water Resources Department and Department of Environmental Quality to study impacts of wildfire on water quality of streams and tributaries. HB 2929 : Authorizes WRD to seek injunctive relief if person has engaged, or is about to engage, in activity that is or will be in violation of certain water laws. HB 2590 : Requires DEQ to study both requirements related to subsurface and alternative sewage disposal systems that create barriers to siting and construction of accessory dwelling units in areas outside urban growth boundary and solutions to eliminate barriers. HB 2988 : Establishes Community Benefiting Water Infrastructure Investment Program. HB 3002 : Requires LPRO to study water service rates and rate schedules. LWVOR is interested in this bill. We all need to pay attention to the potential for harmful algal blooms. A news release explains the signs you should note. “When in doubt, stay out.” Visit 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. 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. Oregonians need to celebrate the early snowfall and the rain these past weeks. But we must hope that the snow stays on until well into May or June. WILDFIRE The Wildfire Programs Advisory Council was scheduled to meet Jan. 20. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED Above you can see the names of League volunteers who covered one or more issues. Volunteers are needed. What is your passion related to Natural Resources? You can help. If not actually serving on a rules advisory committee (RAC), you could simply monitor and report back on their work. 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 Governance Internships Legislative Report - Week of 5/22 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: Campaign Finance Redistricting Cybersecurity and Legislative Delays Rights of Incarcerated People Ethics Issues Election Methods By Norman Turrill, Governance Coordinator, and Team Campaign Finance No bills on campaign finance have yet been scheduled for a hearing and are unlikely to be scheduled considering the walkout in the Senate. For campaign finance reform, the League wants true reform without loopholes for large special interest organizations. Redistricting People Not Politicians has started collecting signatures on IP 14 petitions downloadable from its website. Thousands of signatures have been collected, but more donations are needed. Cybersecurity and Legislative Delays By Rebecca Gladstone Sine die is technically imminent as the Speaker invoked House Rule 8.15(6) and the Senate President, Senate Rule 8.16 on May 23, a full month before the projected final session date, June 25. This reduces the 72-hour advance public hearing notice and 48 hours for all other meetings to 24-hours. It is hard to know what we can effectively influence with no news of the Senate walkout abating. We are standing by, watching carefully. Please contact your State Senator and Representative to encourage them to support these bills for cybersecurity and election software updates ( outdated software is a security risk) : HB 2490 : This cyber omnibus bill awaits second and third Senate floor readings, scheduled and subject to change. The League urges maximum protection of public health, safety, and the environment. Defending our critical infrastructures is at stake ( our testimony ). SB 167 includes election software updates. Outdated software is a cybersecurity risk. See our testimony in support, 2023 and 2019: “These aging computer programs are like the roof starting to leak. We see evidence of strain and do not want to wait further to begin remedial work from scratch in 2021” - League testimony , HB 2234 (2019). HB 2052 : This Attorney General’s Data Broker bill was assigned to W&Ms Transportation and Economic Development on May 22. League testimony in support was filed before the current -7 amendments. We are also concerned that these cybersecurity bills stopped for lack of a Senate quorum. HB 2107 A was re- rescheduled for Senate floor reading on May 30, after passing in the House, 34 to 25. See earlier reports for this Oregon Health Authority extension of automatic voter registration. HB 2806 , relating to public meetings and cybersecurity, was re- rescheduled to May 30 and 31, with dates subject to change. See our testimony . HB 2049 : is not yet assigned to a W&Ms subcommittee, referred March 3 Do-Pass with amendments, A-Engrossed. See our testimony in support. HB 3127 : We are following this “TikTok” bill, relating to the security of state assets. Was re- rescheduled for May 30 & 31, dates subject to change. SB 619 A : This Attorney General’s Data Broker bill had a May 24 work session in W&Ms Public Safety, no vote published. It passed Sen. Judiciary April 3, went to W&Ms April 12, with Do Pass with amendments by prior reference. See our testimony . SB 1073 A was referred to W&Ms April 10, to establish a state Chief Privacy Officer (CPO). See our supportive testimony including related bills and the hearing video , details in previous reports. Not yet assigned to a subcommittee. __________________ SB 510 Enrolled : The Senate President has signed this Public Records Advocate and Council funding bill, after passing from the House floor May 23, 45 ayes, 1 excused, and the Senate floor April 17, 28 ayes, 1 excused. HB 2112 Enrolled is an updated public records law, with League support, see our testimony . SB 216 Enrolled : We are pleased to see enrollment of this bill to protect personal data in health care business with public agencies. CURRENT CYBER NEWS: Curry CO computer system ‘starting from scratch’ after ransomware attack , OPB, May 15, 2023 Oregon’s Curry CO determined to move forward after ransomware attack , OPB, May 19, 2023 Vermont Cybersecurity Council to Extend Protection Beyond State Gov , GovTech.com , May 15, 2023 Cyberattacks on City and Municipal Governments , Cyber Defense Magazine, May 17, 2023 Utah cyber audit finds shortfalls across state , Statescoop.com , May 19, 2023 Organizations reporting cyber resilience are hardly resilient: Study , CSO Online, May 18, 2023 Oregon leads $2.5 million multi-state settlement with EyeMed over data breach affected millions nationwide . KTVZ.Com May 17, 2023 A different kind of ransomware demand: Donate to charity to get your data back , Cyberscoop.com , May 18, 2023 Dallas says it 'will likely take weeks to get back to full functionality' after ransomware attack , City of Dallas, TX, The Record, May 18, 2023 Rights of Incarcerated People By Marge Easley Adults in custody will now be afforded more educational opportunities with the House passage of SB 270 Enrolled on May 23. The bill authorizes the Department of Corrections (DOC) to enter into agreements with any community college or post-secondary academic program to offer instruction to adults in custody, as long as enrollment is consistent with DOC administrative rules and federal Pell Grant regulations. Ethics Issues By Chris Cobey HB 2038 A : Requires statement of economic interest to include certain information about sources of income for business in which public official or candidate, or member of household of public official or candidate, is officer, holds directorship or does business under if source of income has legislative or administrative interest and 10 percent or more of total gross annual income of business comes from that source of income. Prohibits candidate or principal campaign committee of candidate from expending campaign moneys for professional services rendered by certain businesses required to be listed on candidate's statement of economic interest. Creates exceptions. 5/23: House Rules work session scheduled. SB 168 B : Expressly prohibits public employees, while on job during working hours or while otherwise working in official capacity, from promoting or opposing appointment, nomination or election of public officials. 5/19: From House Rules work session 5/18; recommendation: Do Pass with amendments and be printed B-engrossed; 5/22: House second reading. SB 661 Enrolled : Prohibits any lobbyist from serving as chairperson of interim committees, or certain legislative work groups, or legislative task forces. Provides exceptions. 5/16: Passed House, 57-0-2-1; 5/18: Awaiting Governor’s signature.. Election Methods By Barbara Klein HB 2004 A (a Ranked Choice Voting bill) was scheduled for the 3 rd reading and voted on by the House members on May 23, 2023. The bill passed (35 yea, 25 nay), and was sent to the Senate. The details of the -2 amendment were summarized in the governance area of the previous LWVOR Legislative Report. The RCV coalition supporting HB 2004 A met with members and leadership of the Oregon Association of County Clerks on May 24. LWVOR took part in that meeting with praise for the clerks, and recognizing our shared interests in protecting the vote. LWVOR shared with the clerks our view that the RCV system protects the voice of voters in several ways. As Sine Die was declared imminent, and a walkout of Senate members continuing, it is unclear (but doubtful) if the bill will be voted on in this session. More input from the clerks was sought in consideration of a short-session bill early next year. Briefly discussed was the RCV initiative, IP 27 , which would expand the provisions and offices covered by the current bill above. Since our previous report, IP 26 (constitutional amendment by All Oregon Votes) received a certified title , “Amends Constitution: Changes election processes. All voters/candidates for certain partisan offices participate in same nomination procedure.” (This is similar to the certified ballot title for IP 16, which All Oregon Votes appealed to the Supreme Court, but which the Court approved without change. IP 16 is not yet listed as withdrawn. There is nothing further to report on two additional election reform ballot initiatives: IP 11 (measure on statewide STAR -Score Then Automatic Runoff voting) and IP 19 , from Oregon Election Reform Coalition (which is a Final Five Open Primary, using RCV or STAR in the general). LWVOR supports IP 19, now by way of a new League position on Open Primaries adopted by concurrence at our May 2023 convention. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED. Worthy causes go unaddressed for lack of League volunteers. If you see a need and can offer your expertise, please contact our staff at lwvor@lwvor.org .

Back to Legislative Report Revenue Legislative Report - Week of 3/9 Revenue Team Coordinator: Peggy Lynch REVENUE Patricia Garner, Josie Koehne, Peggy Lynch The short session is over. The Governor still has to decide if she’s signing the legislation. And the work is not done. There was not enough revenue to fund the 2025-27 budget without cuts and new legislation as shared below. The Feb. 4 Revenue Forecast guided the spending for the 2026 legislative session. 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 . LWVOR participated with several other volunteer and non-profit organizations in the unofficial Oregon Revenue Coalition that worked together to find ways to preserve Oregon revenue in the light of lost federal income from Congress’s passage of H.R.1 which would cut major sources of funding for Medicaid, SNAP and many other services. ( Signed on to letter in January.) We focused on a bill to limit the damage caused by Oregon’s rolling connection to federal income tax law, since legislation to disconnect from the federal law failed in the 2025 long session. This session SB 1507 A passed (Senate (17-13) on Feb. 16 and House (34/21/4/1) on Feb. 25 ) that disconnected from certain sections of the federal code that the Legislative Revenue Office (LRO) reported would save Oregon $311.6 million in revenue this biennium and $313.9 million in the 2027-29 biennium, while providing increased funding for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) at a cost of $26.2 and $52.7 million per biennium respectively. The League has long supported an increase in the EITC. Summaries of the 44-page bill and its amendments can be found here . LWVOR testimony in support. At least one legislator is considering collecting signatures to place portions of the bill on the ballot per this Oregonlive article. Of concern is that the referral process allows petitioners to select parts of the bill. In this case, they could leave off the increase in the EITC while only asking voters to stop the disconnect—which, in part, is expected to pay for that EITC increase. HB 5204 is the final bill that balances the budget as required by state law. In the bill, the legislature made over $128 million in cuts , mostly in agency services and supplies and by not filling vacancies and shifting remaining funds around to fill in some gaps. This was fewer cuts than anticipated at the start of the session. But they also funded or rebalanced some agency programs and staff. The -2 amendment was adopted . See the 4 Analysis documents for the budget additions and reductions, Budget Notes and final LFO recommendation. Passed the House and Senate Mar. 6. Oregonlive article and the Oregon Capital Chronicle addressed the 2025-27 budget rebalance. The Oregonian did a final budget review . SB 1601 was the Program Change bill. The -3 amendment was adopted and includes rebalance of ODOT’s programs in Section 11-23 and clarifies the 1% of lottery monies for county fair upgrades and repairs. Passed the Senate and House Mar 6. SB 5701 amends the limits established during the 2025 legislative session for the maximum amount of bonds and other financing agreements that state agencies may issue. The proceeds from the issuance of bonds are included as revenues in agency budgets. The -2 amendment and the LFO Recommendation includes increases in general obligation and lottery revenue bonds authorized. Bond sales are not anticipated until the spring of 2027. Passed the Senate and House Mar. 6. SB 5702 : Establishes and modifies limits on payment of expenses from specified funds by certain state for capital construction . Capital Construction 6-year limitation. -1 amendment LFO Recommendation Mar. 5 passed Senate. Mar. 6 passed House. SB 5703 : Modifies amounts allocated from the Administrative Services Economic Development Fund, Veterans' Services Fund, Criminal Fine Account, Oregon Marijuana Account and Fund for Student Success. Mar. 5 passed Senate. Mar. 6 passed House. HB 5203 : 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. LFO Recommendation Mar. 6 Passed the House and Senate. 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 a bill. This omnibus bill, with amendments, would provide an opportunity to explore additional tax policy for consideration in the 2027 session. It is easier to understand the many provisions of SB 1510 by reviewing the summary provided by the Legislative Revenue Office of the bill and its -4 amendments . Feb. 24: Passed the Senate (28/1/1). Passed the House Mar. 4. HB 4014 : Establishes the Task Force on Taxation of International Income with the amendments. -2 amendment replaced the “study” bill. Staff Measure Summary . Due to this complicated tax policy, parties agreed to use the interim to consider impacts on this federal tax policy on Oregon revenue. Passed the House floor (32/26/2). On to the Senate floor at adjournment. Business interests want to have this conversation behind closed doors rather than an open public Task Force. The bill died but the conversation will continue. SB 1511 : A bill modifying the estate tax that would have increased the $1 million exemption to the estate tax to $2.5 million failed this session. The tax rates would have been greatly increased for the highest valued estates but fewer estates would pay an estate tax. For the first biennium, the revenue would have been about the same as our current estate tax SB 1511 . The revenue staff provided this analysis on the A -3 amendment that was approved by the Senate) with no expected revenue loss for this biennium, but $35 million by 2029-31. The bill did not pass out of House Revenue by end of session, but may be back in the long session. Two bills focused on increasing tax incentives for economic development faced intense debate and scrutiny, and one , SB 1586 , was withdrawn on March 3 due to much public outcry about tax breaks for data centers and the expansion of the Metro’s Urban Growth Boundary into land zoned as rural agricultural land, in violation of the 2014 Grand Bargain. OPB provided an article on this contentious bill. LWVOR testimony in opposition to the bill and additional testimony opposing the -7 amendment . The bill remained in Senate Finance and Revenue at the end of session, but is likely back in some form in 2027. The other economic development bill, HB 4084 A introduced by Governor Kotek, would fast track the permitting process for certain new business development t o be completed within 120 days, by means of a specially appointed Joint Permitting Council to oversee the each permitting agency’s permitting process. This section of the bill aligns with a federal program: Permitting Council’s FAST-41 Assistance for States. In addition, in the bill as introduced, all local property taxes abatements for Enterprise Zones were to be extended. This bill was also controversial because of these extensions since it would allow data centers which are hotly contested throughout the US, and which are the primary recipients of these tax credits, to not pay local property taxes for many years. After several amendments, three were incorporated into the final bill. LWVOR comments . The final bill included these provisions as summarized by LRO: Removes the $40 million General Fund appropriation to OBDD for deposit into the Industrial Site Loan Fund. (However, HB 5204 included $10 million for the Regional Infrastructure Fund, $5 million to support horse racing events at county fairgrounds, $5 million cash and $10 million bonds into the Industrial Site Loan Fund, and $10 million in lottery bond funds. The bonding bill provided targeted investments in sewer and water projects statewide to help with increased housing development demands.) Modifies SB 1507 (2026) to limit the tax credit for job creation to certain specified qualified industries. To qualify for the tax credit, a taxpayer must receive an attestation-based certification from Business Oregon, who will develop the tax credit application process, establish job creation determination methodology, and further define the term “qualified industry” through rulemaking. Excludes any qualified property of an authorized business in an enterprise zone with an operating data center from entering into a written agreement with the enterprise zone sponsor to 1) extend the period during which the qualified property is exempt from taxation beyond the allowable three years; 2) agree to flexible hiring timelines; and 3) approve alternative performance criteria. Prohibits data center properties from authorization as an eligible business firm prior to 90 days after the adjournment of the 2027 legislative session. An amendment was added at the end that puts this one-year moratorium on all new data center development certifications by Business Oregon, starting three months after the close of session. This allows the Governor’s Oregon Data Center Advisory Committee time to consider the various impacts of data center development on Oregon, and to report back to the Legislature with their recommendations. It also limits the existing Standard Enterprise (for urban areas) tax break to three years, but allows all other currently operating data centers, including those in rural areas of the state, to continue to receive tax breaks through the extended time periods as outlined in the bill. Oregonlive provided a great analysis of the impact of data centers. Oregonlive update on data centers in this legislation. Oregon data center operators will save nearly a half-billion dollars in local property taxes this year through three different incentive programs. Kotek’s legislation, House Bill 4084 , would expand the fastest growing of those three programs. 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. The -7 amendment adopted that changes the percentage to 50/50 and passed the House floor Feb. 25 (40/12/4/4). Mar. 5 Passed the Senate (23/6/1). SJR 201 : Kicker Reform: Proposed 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. OPB covered a story about the bill . T he League has long supported kicker reform but we also note that, with our new state economist, another kicker is not expected in the near term. The bill did not get a Work Session. 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. The bill had one public hearing on Feb. 16 and died in committee. The League is hopeful that a version of this bill will return in 2027. HB 4125 : Prescribes methodology for the preparation of revenue estimates used in the budgeting process and as applicable to the surplus revenue refund process — potential kicker reform. Public Hearing Feb. 2. The bill died in Committee . On Feb. 20, the US Supreme Court declared that President Trump does not have authority to impose widespread tariffs under a specific federal statute. Oregon’s Attorney General, Dan Rayfield, led the coalition of states arguing that the President did not have this authority. HB 4061 B passed that provides monies to help Oregon businesses hurt by these tariffs. Budget Report . The bill passed the House on Mar. 3 and passed the Senate Mar. 6. On Thursday Mar. 5, Rayfield and officials from 23 other states filed a lawsuit against the new tariff at the U.S. Court of International Trade, with Oregon again leading the way. “Budget aftershocks from the Trump cuts to Medicaid and SNAP will keep hitting Oregon in future years,” said Senator Jama. “Oregon lawmakers must continue working together to make resources stretch and to help families thrive.” As we await the May 20th Revenue Forecast, we watch for data that may change the forecast. Oregonlive reports that Oregon exports are down. Then we now have a war with Iran that, so far, has increased gas and diesel prices. That increases costs to state agencies, local governments, Oregon businesses and individuals. Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain — supply more than a third of the world’s urea, an important nitrogen fertilizer, and nearly a quarter of another one, ammonia. And they all use the Strait of Hormuz to export their products. So that means less food production and an increase in food prices. The February national jobs report was not good (loss of almost 100,000 jobs) and the national unemployment rate rose to 4.4%. (In Oregon, we’re at 5.2%.) As we watch the U.S. and Oregon’s economy, we note the Oregon Capital Chronicle Jobs Report article , of special concern as Oregon is an income tax state. According to this Oregonlive article , Oregonians are working the fewest hours since 2010. Oregon workers are spending less time on the job, another indication that the state’s labor market continues to sag. The average Oregonian worked less than 33 hours a week in December, according to federal data. That’s the lowest number since 2010, when the state was still digging out from the Great Recession — even worse than the sharp decline that accompanied the pandemic. As we continue to be concerned about the economy, we note a study related to AI: Brookings Institution study on AI job losses and adaptability points out metros most at risk – Portland Business Journal Roughly 30% of workers displaced by artificial intelligence will struggle to find new jobs, according to a new report from the National Bureau of Economic Research and Brookings Institution. While 70% of highly AI-exposed workers would likely be able to transition to another job, the rest may have trouble adapting “due to limited savings, advanced age, scarce local opportunities, and/or narrow skill sets. ”What’s more, of the displaced workers in low-adaptive jobs, 86% are women. The League will continue to work with the Oregon Revenue Coalition and others as we address the need for increased revenue to pay for the services Oregonians need. The Ways and Means Co-Chairs warn of increased demand and federal funding cuts for the 2027-29 and 2029-31 biennia. It's time to work with state agencies as they develop their 2027-29 budgets. Here’s some budget guidance that agencies have received: 2027-29 Budget Guidance: Governor's Letter and CFO 2027-29 Budget POP Guidance . Bottom line: The Governor has asked state agencies to provide a “neutral” budget. If they want to add a program or staff, they need to find a program or staff to remove from their budget request. You can contact the agency you want to engage with as they work to provide proposals to the Governor around June. See other sections of the Legislative Report for information about specific agencies or areas of concern.

Back to All Legislative Reports Governance Internships Legislative Report - Week of 3/3 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 and Elections Courts and Privacy Government Ethics Revenue Campaign Finance and Elections Portland auditor seeks to soften city’s voter-approved campaign finance law to align with state . The League and Honest Elections oppose the Portland Auditor’s efforts which would set back many years of reform effort. Courts and Privacy By Becky Gladstone HB 5012 : The League was invited again to speak to this Oregon Judicial Department budget bill. League testimony in support was presented. HB 5012 appropriates monies from the General Fund to the department for the Oregon Law Commission, the Council on Court Procedures, conciliation and mediation services in circuit courts, law libraries and the Legal Services Program. HB 2299 , which increases the penalty for unlawful dissemination of intimate image, was heard this week in the House Judiciary committee. Government Ethics By Chris Cobey HB 2454 authorizes the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to appoint a Legislative Audit Officer and to direct the officer to perform specified duties, including investigating, reviewing activities of and oversight of executive branch agencies, taking in and investigating complaints of members of the public concerning executive branch agency programs, conducting performance audits of executive branch agencies and reporting to the committee on work undertaken by the officer. The only witnesses were Reps. Bowman and Wallan. This new legislative branch audit office (LAO) may be redundant with the Secretary of State audits division and the Legislative Fiscal Office (LFO). Revenue By Natalie Briggs On March 26, the Senate Committee on Finance and Revenue heard the March Economic and Revenue Forecast by Chief Economist Carl Riccadonna and Senior Economist Michael Kennedy. The Macro Forecast At the time of this report, U.S. inflation adjusted growth is 2%, while inflation is holding steady at 2.8% (above the federal reserve’s target of 2%). Unemployment is 4.2%, though it is too early to observe the impact of tariff discussions and federal job cuts. Federal job cuts will not be included in Oregon’s economic statistics until the 1st or 2nd week of March. In 2025, 2% growth is targeted, and economists anticipate a broader set of risks to economic outcomes. Implementation of tariffs could harm or help the Oregon economy, which is sensitive to trade due to the geographic and industrial characteristics of the state – manufacturing and export are higher in Oregon than other states, and Oregon may be impacted more heavily by changes to pacific trading partners, due to geographic location. Oregon Outlook/Economy Oregon GDP growth has slowed over the last year, with GDP growth reaching 1.2%. Decrease in GDP is likely tied to state-specific industries, and does not necessarily reflect national GDP trends. At the time of this report, Oregon GDP is below the US average by 1.5%. Should this deviation from national GDP trending continue, a U.S. GDP growth of 2% in 2025 would contrast with Oregon GDP growth of 0.5%. Despite Oregon’s 1.2% growth over the last 4 quarters, GDP growth over the previous two quarters was 2.9%, up markedly from -0.6% in the two quarters prior. This growth of 2.9% could indicate improvement in GDP to come. Jobs Oregon has a high percentage of labor force participation compared to the rest of the country, though hiring has slowed. Oregon employment remains at a historic high (since 2000), at 81.9%, with wage growth relatively flat and some recent indication of an upward slope. The number of unemployed Oregonians who have exhausted unemployment benefits is beginning to increase somewhat compared to 2024. Areas with the most job creation include private education, health care, and service industries. Job losses have been observed in areas including construction and manufacturing. Manufacturing jobs are down 2,500 between December 2023 and December 2024, as noted in the previous revenue report, though some signs of manufacturing improvement have been observed recently. Overall, no broad-based gains in employment were observed, and jobs trends do not appear to differ dramatically from national trends. Interest rates remain a challenge for certain industries in Oregon (automotive, housing), and are reflected in the Oregon labor market. These challenges are not unique to Oregon, and other states see similar patterns, such as migration to neighboring states where housing costs are lower. Outcomes The Oregon economy is increasingly connected to national trends, in part due to the existence of industries that are impacted by the national economy. As a result, one possible outcome for the Oregon economy is that of a soft landing – a term applied at the national level that refers to slowing of growth post-inflation rather than a transition to recession. The baseline outcome for the Oregon economy is that of a soft-landing. Other outcomes include that of a recession (downside), and continued growth (upside). Revenue Update The latest Oregon revenue projection for 2023-2025 has decreased by $89 million compared to prior forecasts, and appropriations have increased by $110 million. 2025-2027 revenue projections have increased to $551 million, and available resources have increased to $350 million. The decrease by $89 million for 2023-2025 is a result of updated information on income taxes, where Oregon personal tax refunds have accounted for $275 million more than in prior projections. Corporate income tax is also lower than expected, due to reconciliation from prior years. The variance in these forecasts may be up to $500 million. Looking forward to the next 10 years, slower growth is expected for Oregon, due to a combination of demographic changes, including an aging population and out migration of high earners, as well as slow capital gains growth. Biennial growth is expected to slow for 2025-2033, to 10.7% (down from 15.1% for 2021-2025). The current budget reserves for Oregon are 10.5% of 2025-2027 general funds. The legislature will use this Feb. 26th 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. Oregon receives substantial funding from the federal government, so the legislature is watching closely as the March 14th deadline for a federal budget to be passed again looms. Congress also needs to address raising the federal debt limit to authorize paying for bills we’ve already incurred. The federal budget is annual and runs Oct. 1-Sept. 30. Currently there is only a federal budget until end of day March 14. Additionally, the firing of federal employees who live in Oregon is beginning to affect both large and small communities in Oregon—not only the jobs they were hired to do, but economies with the loss of those employee wages to the communities. Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Climate Emergency , Natural Resources , and Social Policy report sections.

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: Behavioral Health Criminal Justice Education Gun Policy Healthcare Housing Legislation Immigration Behavioral Health By Trish Garner HB 2005 is an omnibus bill that combines the provisions of two bills ( HB 2467 and HB 2481 ) which had been filed and considered earlier in the Session. HB 2005 has passed both the House and Senate and awaits the Governor’s signature, which is anticipated to take place. The bill addresses two primary issues: civil commitments and when defendants charged with a crime can be determined to be unable to “aid and assist” in their defense. At the present time as a result of several court decisions, the standards for civil commitment or involuntary treatment are unclear, but HB 2005 identifies specific reasons for commitment. It also redefines the previous legal standard for civil commitment which required that a danger to self and others be “imminent” to a danger “in the near future.” The bill also provides that dangerousness to self requires that a person engage in or threaten to engage in behavior that is likely to result in serious physical harm, while the “danger to others” standard uses similar language but omits the word “serious.” HB 2005 also defines the factors that courts may consider when determining whether defendants are mentally competent to proceed in their defense. These include, for example, prior evaluations, evidence of a prior diagnosis by a certified evaluator or qualified mental health practitioner, prior commitments, and/or the defendant’s conduct as observed in court. It also requires courts to appoint counsel for these defendants and if the defendant is unable to afford counsel, the court will appoint one at state expense. The A - 6 Amendment provides $6.5 million to the Oregon Health Authority for payments to community mental health programs regarding civil commitments and providing public defense to financially eligible persons who are civilly committed. At least four other bills have passed and are awaiting the Governor’s signature which seek to improve the provision of services to those who are seriously mentally ill. They include: HB 2015 modifies a number of residential treatment facility practices. For example, the Oregon Health Authority is mandated to adopt rules to support early transition programs and adjust nursing ratios. It also appropriates $1.3 million in General Fund and $977,888 in federal fund monies. HB 2024 appropriates $7,000,000 to the Oregon Health Authority to establish a grant program that would support the recruitment and retention of behavioral health workers at facilities such as programs related to health services to youth or youth or adults where at least half of the clients are uninsured or enrolled in Medicare or the state medical assistance program. HB 2059 directs OHA to establish a unit dedicated to developing residential treatment facilities that provide adult behavioral health services across state trauma regions and that $65,000,000,00 be appropriated to OHA for this purpose. The League submitted testimony in support. HB 3294 proposes changes to previous laws regarding hospital staffing plans and minimum nurse-to-patient ratios. A bill that did not make it is HB 2056 which sought to modify current practices in residential treatment facilities such as those relating to early transition programs, nurse staffing and grouping patients who have similar needs for services in the same facilities and thereby optimize care. SB 920 has been signed into law by the Governor. It directs the Oregon State University Extension Service to accelerate the promotion of behavioral health in Oregon by convening local communities to develop plans that promote behavioral health and facilitate community conversations about mental health and substance abuse. Criminal Justice By Marge Easley HB 3582 , which removes the civil statute of limitations for sexual assault victims, was signed by the Governor on June 26. The League is pleased to see that the Legal Services Pilot Program for Coffee Creek Correctional Facility received $1.2 million in the end-of-session “Christmas Tree” Bill (HB 5006). Early in the session the League submitted testimony in support of HB 2233 , which authorized the continuation of this pilot program. Education By Jean Pierce Senate Bill 5516 has been signed by the Governor. The bill will increase the budget for Oregon’s State School Fund by more than 11% from the last biennium. Unfortunately, this increase is needed simply to keep funding at current service levels. According to the American Institute on Research (AIR), in order to provide adequate funding for education, Oregon would need a 30% increase, with more attention to equitable spending for the education of low income and high needs students. SB 5525 , which appropriates money for the Higher Education Coordinating Committee, is headed to the Governor for a signature. For the most part, the proposed budget maintains the Current Service Level, (CSL). It is important to note that the Oregon Opportunity Grant and Benefits Navigators would at least be maintained at CSL. The allocation is 6.2% below the last biennium, so this bill does nothing to address the fact that Oregon has been ranked 46th in the nation for state investment in higher education. They recognized that in future sessions, the thinking needs to shift from CSL to setting a higher target. Gun Policy By Marge Easley To the disappointment of the League and other gun safety advocates, only one gun bill survived this session and awaits the Governor’s signature: SB 243 . This omnibus bill bans rapid-fire devices and allows cities and counties to ban firearms in public buildings. It also sets the date of March 15, 2026, for implementation of Measure 114, with the condition that the Oregon Supreme Court decides favorably on its constitutionality later this year. The League filed testimony in support of earlier versions of the bill, and SB 243 was supported through our Lobby Day. To fund the provisions of the bill, the end of session “Christmas Tree” Bill ( HB 5006 ) allocated over $14 million to the Oregon State Police for Criminal Justice Information Services and other associated costs. HB 3076 , which creates a gun dealer licensing program in Oregon, was killed during the final acrimonious days of the session—another instance of a gun bill being traded away at the last minute in an effort to gain votes for other legislation. Given the anticipated gutting of the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives and the loss of federal regulation of gun dealers, this bill was a session priority for gun safety advocates. Rep. Kropf, one of the bills’ chief sponsors, stated that he would reintroduce it in a future session. The League filed testimony in support of the bill. Healthcare By Christa Danielson HB 2010 This bill extends the coverage for Medicaid which is funded by assessments to health care earnings from hospitals, health plans and long term care facilities. The League provided testimony in support.This bill is essentially funding Medicaid or Oregon Health Plan. It has been signed by the Governor. However this form of funding may be cut by the bill currently in the Federal House called H.R. 1 or the budget reconciliation act. SB 951 Strengthens Bans against Corporate Ownership of Medicine by limiting the power of Management Service Organizations. This bill does not allow a corporate management organization to make health care decisions. The League testified in support. This has been signed by the Governor but expect to hear more about this important bill. This law will start January 2026 for new operational models, but will otherwise begin in January of 2029 for established models. An MSO can still give advice, but cannot control clinical operations of a professional medical entity. This bill also includes making non-compete and non-disparagement clauses illegal, allowing medical professionals to disclose if they see a problem. HB 3134 The Governor signed this bill, which requires additional reporting about prior authorization from insurers to the Department of Consumer and Business Services and tells the Department to make the data available. This will make sure that the insurers are doing timely reviews of prior authorizations, allowing surgical care to continue without interruption and make care more efficient. Hopefully this will also decrease the burden on health care clinics and facilities. The LWVOR filed testimony supporting the bill. SB 296 Directs the Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Authority to study ways to expedite the discharge process for a hospital. There are multiple areas to study included in this bill including expedited Medicaid determinations from the hospital, studying options to expand respite programs, and studying regulatory framework for certain facilities. This bill also includes funding for 100 days of Skilled Nursing care for Medicaid patients post discharge from a hospital allowing more space in the hospital for patients who need inpatient care. Housing By Nancy Donovan and Debbie Aiona After a flurry of activity by state legislators, the Governor’s office, housing advocates, the League of Women Voters of Oregon, and many others, on June 23, 2025, lawmakers released three major budget bills: General Obligation bonds (SB 5505) Lottery bonds (SB 5531) End-of-session omnibus funding bill, the “Christmas Tree” bill (HB 5006) Below is a list of budget bills and funding allocations approved during the session. Due to declining state revenues, cuts were made across the board to agencies such as the Housing and Community Services Department, that received $2.6 billion, representing $1 billion less as compared to last year. Key session takeaways are: $204.9 million for a statewide shelter program; $468.2 million for the Local Innovation and Fast Track (LIFT) program to build new affordable rental housing through LIFT and Permanent Supportive Housing programs; $100.9 million in bonds to build new homes for affordable homeownership; $10 million in bonds for a new housing infrastructure fund; and $11.2 million to develop, rehab or preserve housing for older adults and people with disabilities. Most concerning is the $44.6 million for emergency rental assistance and homeless prevention services, representing a 74% cut from the $173.2 million needed to maintain the current level of statewide services. LWVOR is a member of the Oregon Housing Alliance that includes over 110 member organizations and represents a diverse membership that spans the state . During the session they worked tirelessly to advocate for additional funding for emergency rent assistance and homeless prevention. That advocacy resulted in an additional $11 million included in HB 5006 (Christmas tree bill). This will prevent evictions for an additional 1,400 households and increase funding for legal aid and other services by about $4 million. The Legislature is funding only 26% of what’s needed to maintain the current level of homeless prevention services. Housing remains a huge issue statewide with rising homelessness, thousands facing eviction and not enough affordable housing being produced. The League submitted testimony during this session on many of the bills listed below. These are Housing Alliance priority bills that received funding from the Legislature, along with amounts requested. Housing Bills funded by the General Fund Homeless Prevention and Response HB 5011 Emergency Rental Assistance and Homeless Prevention Services: $44.6 million (requested $173.2M) HB 3644 and HB 5011 Statewide Shelter Program: $204.9 million (requested $217.9 million) HB 5011 Rehousing Initiative: $50.3 million (requested $188.2 million) SB 814 Modifies long term rental assistance for youth: $87.4 million (requested $105.2 million) Stabilize Existing Affordable Housing HB 5011 and HB 5006 Permanent Supportive Housing operations and resident services: $10.5 million (requested $11.1 million) SB 51 Property management and asset management staffing and training: $3.3 million (requested $7.3 million) SB 829 Insurance relief and cost-reduction study: $2.5 million (requested $5 million) Expand Affordable Homeownership: HB 5011 Foreclosure prevention: $2 million (requested $2.5 million) HB 2139 Tribal Housing Grants: $10 million ($12.8 million requested) HB 5006 Development, rehabilitation or preservation of housing for older adults and persons with disabilities: $11.2 million HB 3031 Developing manufactured homes and infrastructure: $2.5 million (requested $25 million) Housing bills funded by Lottery bonds Housing Production and Preservation SB 5505 Local Innovation and Fast Track (LIFT) Rental: $468.2 million (requested $600 million) SB 5505 Permanent supportive housing: $80.9 million (requested $80 million) SB 5531 Rental housing preservation: $50 million (requested $260 million) SB 5531 Manufactured housing park preservation: $2.5 million (requested $25 million) SB 5531 Housing infrastructure fund: $10 million (requested $100 million) Expand Affordable Homeownership SB 5505 LIFT Homeownership: $100.9 million (requested $100.9 million) Immigration By Becky Gladstone and Claudia Keith As reported in previous LR’s, a number of topics have been approved and funded in the end of session reconciliation bill HB5006 . See comments' column below for existing program funding. It appears all the topics in the Immigrant Justice budget package request can be found in HB5006. Click Scroll Bar on Bottom of Table to View All Columns Bill # Description Policy Committee Status Fiscal M$ Chief Sponsors+ Comments SB 149 A Immigration (support services) Died in Committee Y Sen Mama See HB 5006 2 M For case mgmt SB 599A Immig status: discrimination in RealEstate transactions Gov Signed Eff 5/28/2 5 N Sen Campos SB 611 A Food for All Oregonians - for undocumented Died in Committee 8 Sen Campos Rep Ruiz SB 703 a bipartisan immigration status update funding bill Died in Committee 6 Sen Reynolds, Rep Neron, Ruiz, Smith G Testimony HB 2548 Agricultural Workforce Labor Standards Board. Study Bill, Signed By Gov 0.67 Rep Valderrama, Nelson , Munoz League Testimony HB 2976 funding for interpretation of indigenous languages. Died in Committee 1.5 Rep Hartman .8M in HB5006 HB2788 funding to nonprofits to assist w lawful permanent resident status / legal aid - Died in Committee 10.5 Rep Neron, Ruiz, Sen Reynolds 10M in HB5006 HB 2586 A nonresident tuition exemption for asylum seekers. Gov Signed RepHudson, SenCampos League Testi mony HB 2543 funds for universal representation and gives funds to Oregon State Bar for legal immigration matters dead 15 Rep Valderrama, Sen Manning Jr, Rep Walters, Andersen, McLain, Sen Campos 4.5M in HB5006 HB3193A Farm Worker Relief Fund 10 Rep Marsh, SenPham, RepValderrama 2M in HB 5006 HB 5002 Oregon Worker Relief Fund Died in Committee Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Climate Emergency , Governance , and Natural Resources , and Revenue report sections.

Campaign Finance In Oregon An Oregon History of Campaign Finance Reform and the League of Women Voters Recent Campaign Finance History In 2020, the League supported the Legislature’s referred constitutional amendment Measure 107 to voters to allow campaign finance limits. Voters passed it overwhelmingly by over 78%. However, three Legislative sessions passed without implementing a Measure 107 statute. Legislators could not agree on anything that limited their own campaigns; they all are experts on financing their own campaigns and all have a huge conflict of interest. In 2022, the Honest Elections group , including the LWVOR, Common Cause and other good government groups, participated in intense negotiations with unions and Our Oregon, lasting for many months. An agreement was reached on an initiative text; however, the unions backed out of the deal at the last minute. Honest Elections redrafted the proposal together with national experts from the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause and the League. They then filed initiative petition (IP) 9 in July, 2022, after a long drafting process where IP 8 (a constitutional amendment to stop campaign finance laws impairment), IP 23 (including Democracy Vouchers) and IP 24 (including public matching of small donations) were also filed. Honest Elections settled on IP 9 as the proposal most likely to make the ballot and be adopted by voters. After an eight month ballot title certification process all the way to the Oregon Supreme Court, while Our Oregon did its best to delay the process, the Secretary of State finally approved IP 9 for circulation in May, 2023. The campaign quickly hired petitioners, organized volunteers including the League, and eventually collected some 100,000 signatures. LWVOR policy says that the League only supports ballot measures after ballot qualification, unless it was involved in measure drafting and organizing. Then Our Oregon, sensing IP 9’s potential success, redrafted the originally agreed Honest Elections initiative text (with huge loopholes for unions and other organizations). Our Oregon filed IP 42 , got a ballot title in less than 5 months, hired circulators, and began collecting signatures in January, 2024. At this point, it was clear to some legislators entering the short legislative session, that an expensive ballot battle was brewing between IP 9 and IP 42. Very quickly and historically , some union and business lobbyists got together and drafted a legislative bill. Dexter Johnson, lead Legislative Counsel, quickly drafted an LC bill. The House Rules Committee, Chaired by Rep. Julie Fahey and Vice Chair Rep. Jeffrey Helfrich, stuffed the LC bill as an amendment into HB 4024 , an unused placeholder bill. Two hearings and a work session were quickly held within a few days. The League initially opposed the bill in its -3 amendment form. Intense negotiations ensued behind the scenes between Honest Elections, some legislators, and business and union lobbyists, with the League being supportive but not directly involved. Some 40 changes were made to the 49-page bill before Honest Elections agreed that it was “ good enough ”. Part of the agreement was withdrawal of both IP 9 and IP 42. HB 4024 initially included a referral to November ballots, also removed from the final bill. The House Rules Committee quickly passed HB 4024 to the House floor, rules were suspended, and it passed 52 to 5. The very next day, the Senate Rules Committee quickly and concurrently held a hearing and work session, passing HB 4024 to the Senate floor. The Senate suspended rules, passed the bill 22 to 6, all on the last day of session . The Governor said she would sign it. It is clear that much more work needs to be done to implement HB 4024. Funding must be allocated to the Secretary of State and administrative rules must be written and adopted before the January 2027 effective date. ORESTAR must be reprogrammed for a “dashboard”,advertising disclosure, and “drill down” to see original campaign contribution funding sources. The 2025 long legislative session will undoubtedly want to consider amendments, both good and bad. This work could continue for years, if not decades. Stay tuned! Earlier Campaign Finance History Campaign contribution limits were adopted in 1908 by initiative . Those limits remained in effect until the 1970s when the Legislature repealed them in favor of campaign spending limits, a fad at the time. In 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down campaign spending limits in the famous Buckley v. Valeo court case because they violated the First Amendment. However, the SCOTUS justified contribution limits because of the state’s interest in preventing “corruption and the appearance of corruption spawned by the real or imagined coercive influence of large financial contributions on candidates' positions and on their actions if elected to office." In 1994 Oregon voters again adopted campaign contribution limits by initiative with Measure 9 . They were only in effect for the 1996 election until the Oregon Supreme Court struck them down in 1997 on the basis of free speech in the Oregon Constitution, VanNatta v. Keisling . In 1998, voters approved Measure 62 , a constitutional amendment requiring campaign finance and ad financing disclosures, and allowing the Legislature to regulate signature gathering. The Legislature later prohibited paying petition circulators per signature, among other regulations. In 2000, the League helped draft initiative Measure 6 and supported it with a Voters’ Pamphlet statement., t, to provide public funding to candidates who limited campaign spending and private contributions. It failed on the ballot. Oregon voters again passed contribution limits with initiative Measure 47 in 2006. The companion initiative, constitutional amendment Measure 46 , however, did not pass, so the Measure 47 limits never went into effect. The League did not help draft these measures and later opposed them because Measure 46 required a three-fourths (3/4) legislative vote to amend previously enacted campaign finance laws, or to pass new laws. Measure 47 also required low contributions limits, perhaps unconstitutionally. Later in 2020, when the Oregon Supreme Court rescinded its repeal of campaign contribution limits, the Oregon Attorney General and Secretary of State refused without explanation to allow Measure 47 to go into effect, even though it was still in Oregon Revised Statute. In the early 2020s, the Honest Elections group , including the LWVOR, Common Cause and several other good government groups, succeeded in getting contribution limits adopted for Portland and Multnomah County, with public funding for Portland candidates, with a small donor matching fund.

Join the LWVOR Youth Council to advocate for issues you care about! Register voters, work in the legislature, learn how nonprofit organizations operate and more! / Youth / Youth Council / Support Youth Council and receive a League Pride button! About Youth Council Interested in voting rights, public policy, and politics? The League of Women Voters of Oregon is excited to support young Oregonians. Join our Youth Council to build power for yourself and your community! Youth Council opportunities include: participating in or leading civic engagement events , educating peers on voting , engaging in nonpartisan advocacy , gaining practical skills in community organizing , and more. If you are 16 years or older you may apply for LWVOR Youth Council. If you know an eligible youth or student age 16+ with an interest in civic engagement, you may nominate them. Despite our name, we're n ot just for women! We welcome all genders . 💜 Join Youth Council Register your interest in the form below and we'll get back to you soon! Become a Member What's In It For You Membership at three levels! Includes LWV of the US, LWV of Oregon, and your local League Opportunities for participation as a national and state convention delegate or observer Participatory civic engagement and education Community service hours with Certificates of Recognition More About Youth Council Watch recordings of past events and workshops to see Youth Council in action! Social Media How To: "X", TikTok and Canva for Videos Youth Advocacy Chair Nivi Giani Social Media How To: Instagram, Threads, and Canva Youth Media Director Lucy Robb DEIJ Workshop For League Members Youth Council DEIJ Team Deenie Bulyalert and Mila Sloan Donate to Youth Council Donate Your donation empowers youth voices and defends democracy. Team Meet the Youth Council Team Have questions? Reach out to our Youth Council leaders at youthpresident@lwvor.org or our Youth Council Mentors (members of the LWVOR Board) at youthoutreach@lwvor.org . Youth Council President LILY YAO (she/her) Lily attends South Eugene High School where she is actively involved in student government, competes in Speech and Debate, and plays varsity tennis and club Ultimate. Read More youthpresident@lwvor.org Youth Council Vice-President SHERIDAN SCHILLING (she/her) Sheridan is currently attending Winston Churchill High School, where she serves as an active member of student government in her elected position as Secretary. Read More youthcrew@lwvor.org Youth Council Policy Director NICOLE REKSOPURO (she/her) Nicole Reksopuro attends Adrienne C. Nelson High School and has a passion for social justice. Nicole was chosen out of 1,060 students to be a part of her school district’s youth equity committee. Read More youthcrew@lwvor.org Youth Advocacy Co Director EVA WEISS (she/her) youthadvocacy@lwvor.org Youth Advocacy Co Director NABILA KHAN (she/her) youthadvocacy@lwvor.org Legislative Comms Co Director/Policy AARNA SHAH (she/her) youthcommunications@lwvor.org Youth Events Co-Chair HAI NGUYEN (he/him) We warmly welcome Hai Nguyen, currently a student at Clackamas High School with plans to continue in Global Studies or Political Science at University of Oregon and ultimately Law School. Read More youtheventschair@lwvor.org YC Climate Team Coordinator ABBY RENNER (she/her) youthoutreach@lwvor.org Youth Events Co-Chair KYRA AGUON (she/her) youtheventschair@lwvor.org Youth Media Director KARISHMA CHIDAMBARAM (she/her) youthmedia@lwvor.org DEIJ Youth Chair LAASYA KANAMATHA (she/her) youthoutreach@lwvor.org Youth Vote Strategist OLIVIA HAN (she/her) Olivia is a junior at Sunset High School in Beaverton, Oregon. Read More youthoutreach@lwvor.org Book a Youth Speaker Invite a Youth Council member to speak at your meeting or event! Book a Speaker

Back to All Legislative Reports Climate Emergency Legislative Report - December Interim 2024 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 Jump to a topic: Climate Emergency Highlights December Legislative Days & OCERA Lobby Day Oregon Environmental Justice Council Climate Lawsuits/Our Children’s Trust (OCT) Climate Emergency Highlights By Claudia Keith There are over 80 Environment / Climate Legislative Concepts/Bills likely to be posted to OLIS in January. At this point a few have been identified as potential League policy and budget priorities: Update to Greenhouse Emission Reduction Goals. Bringing back SB 1559 (2024) Natural and Working Lands ( OCAC NWL Report ) Treasury: Fossil Fuel Divestment Community Resilience Hubs and Networks Study on Small-Scale Renewable Energy Solutions/Projects Study / Task Force on public financing ( 2024 HB 4155 ) Energy Affordability and Utility Accountability Package Environmental Rights Constitutional Amendment Referral Climate Friendly Transportation LWV Oregon’s environmental coalition partner Oregon Conservation Network (OCN) has recently selected their policy and budget priorities which include two Climate-related topics: Energy Affordability and Utility Accountability. There will be more in the next Legislative Report. December Legislative Days & OCERA Lobby Day By Claudia Keith The League attended , several committee hearings Dec 10 and 11th and participated in OCERA ( Oregon Coalition Environmental Rights Amendment) Dec 11 Lobby Day LC 2562 -- the Right to a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment. At this point the League agrees with the concept of LC 2562. Because this is a constitutional amendment it requires referral to the 2025 ballot . One of OCERA’s major sponsors is Our Children’s Trust , with a number of other Oregon partners . Policy topics heard during the day included: K-12 Climate Curriculum and Public Financing Task Force LC’s. Both of these policy/budget topics failed to move during 2024 session. House and Senate Environment Energy Climate committee s agendas included a number of timely topics: House: Climate Friendly Equitable, Community Resiliency, detail LC list, Nuclear Reactors and Wildfire funding. Senate: Oregon Climate Action Commission, detail LC List, Clean Energy Act ( 2021 HP2021), Deq CPP and Regional Power Planning follow-up. Oregon Environmental Justice Council Dec 12 and 19 2024 Meetings: Environmental Justice Mapping Tool - Meeting Materials Meeting Agenda included leadership updates, annual reporting and next steps. See 2022 HB 4077 for original legislation Comprehensive Legislator Nov and Dec 2024 Newsletters Sen Dembrow Rep Gomberg Rep Marsh Sen Brock Smith Rep Owens The Legislative Environmental Caucus will be posting to this page priority updates starting soon. Climate Lawsuits/Our Children’s Trust (OCT) By Claudia Keith Recent OCT Press Releases: December 9, 2024: Juliana Plaintiffs Take Standing Fight for Constitutional Rights to U.S. Supreme Court with Petition for Certiorari December 5, 2024: Our Children’s Submits Intervention to European Court of Human Rights in its Newest Climate Case with Latest Scientific Findings Here is one example of how to track DEQ CPP cases. Basically, there are several active federal lawsuits , Dec 2024 update) ‘Oregon Federal Court Said Youth Plaintiffs Could Proceed with Due Process and Public Trust Claims in Climate Suit’, some of which could assist in meeting Oregon's Net Zero GHG Emissions before 2050 targets, and other lawsuits, that challenge the current Oregon DEQ CPP policy, which would limit the use of fossil fuels, including diesel, natural gas, and propane over time. Another source: Columbia University Law - Sabin Climate DB lists 83 lawsuits , mentioning OREGON.

Back to All Legislative Reports Governance Internships Legislative Report - Week of 6/2 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 General Governance, Privacy, and Consumer Protection Elections Campaign Finance and Initiatives By Norman Turrill The Elections Division of the Secretary of State is asking the public for feedback on draft administrative rules that would implement HB 4025 (2024). It has also appointed a Rules Advisory Committee (RAC) to work on these new administrative rules. General Governance, Privacy, and Consumer Protection By Becky Gladstone This week included new testimony on two bills and updates on others. HB 2006 places limits on long session bill requests to legislative counsel. This contentious bill got a May 29 first public hearing, League supporting testimony written and presented. HB 3569 A to invite a sponsoring legislator, committee chair or designee onto the bill’s Rules Advisory Committee, as a non-voting member. This was bounced in Senate Rules, rescheduled twice. We oppose for myriad reasons, see our testimony, presented and filed. SB 430 B passed 35 to 15, 7 excused, from the House floor May 29, to the Senate for a concurrence vote. League testimony in support addressed extensive business transparency amendments for consumer protections. SB 470 A : passed on the House floor with 29 ayes, 7 excused, on May 29. This bipartisan-supported bill got unanimous House and Senate Judiciary and Senate floor support. League testimony supported the original bill to protect lodgers’ privacy from illicitly taken videos. SB 473 B received a Do Pass with Amendments, to be printed B-Engrossed, from a House Judiciary work session, to create a crime of threatening a public official, with amendments to include those elected, appointed, or filed to serve an established office, adding numerous judicial branch roles. See League testimony, in support. HB 5017 , the State Library budget bill, had a second work session on May 23 in Ways & Means, yielding a Do Pass with amendments, to be printed as A-Engrossed, with a vote of 21-0. League testimony is still the only one filed and is in support of our partnership for League Voter Service information. They share our Voters’ Guides in the Talking Books and Braille Library . SB 952 A got a Do Pass recommendation from House Rules, rules suspended to carry over for a third House floor reading, to consider interim US Senator appointments, League testimony in support. SB 1121 B got a Do Pass with amendments to be printed B-Engrossed from House Judiciary, almost unanimously, to create a new Class B misdemeanor crime of unlawful private data disclosure. League testimony was filed and presented, supporting the bill, including the amendment relating to data broker issues. This is from the dissenting Legislator, lightly edited: There is already a civil response not being used, already laws criminalizing harms described in statute. Law enforcement officers basically argued it's too hard as is and making bigger crimes is the solution. In my office, criminalizing actions like this is viewed with skepticism because it does not solve the problem and contributes to the unrepresented crisis. The bar is high for me to say yes in that scenario. The property destruction component was just the deciding factor. Find language relating to property damage in the adopted -5 amendments to the A-Engrossed SB 1121 which will now go back to the Senate for consideration. Thanks for your advocacy, Rep Chaichi. HB 3382 passed a May 28 work session in House Rules unanimously, after the February 12 public hearing, directing the Secretary of State to maintain an online Rulemaking Information system. We are watching HB 3382 based on Sen Sollman asking about a central state rulemaking site in the context of the HB 3931 coordinated state portal Task Force proposal presented here earlier, League testimony . Elections By Barbara Klein HB 3908 provoked interesting discussion in the House Rules hearing during a 5/29 work session. The bill, related to party membership and registration requirements, was filed by the Rules Committee at the request of the Independent Party of Oregon (IPO), and had a public hearing on 3/31. The bill increases the percentage of voters in the state required for a party to be a major political party from five percent to 10 percent. This would make the development of a new major party more difficult. The LWVOR did not address this bill. The thought-provoking part of the conversation at the work session was due to a -1-amendment introduced by Rep Drazen. She explained that she doesn’t support the concept of HB 3908 as believes the Independent Party should now (under current rules) be considered a major party. (A reminder that it is the IPO who wants to remain a minor party.) In her explanation, the dash -1 would encourage minor parties to want to be major parties, providing incentive. The amendment allows for cross-nominations only for major parties. She wants to stop “coattail” parties, as she called them. She thinks “fusion” doesn’t serve Oregonians and the amendment would allow “fusion” voting (or cross nominations) only from one major party candidate to another major candidate. Chair Bowman strongly opposed the -1 amendment. He sees value in fusion with a minor party endorsing a major party candidate. He believes it “tells voters more about candidates” and that fusion is one way to help avoid the spoiler effect. The -1 amendment failed. Rep Drazen added that she doesn’t believe that the legislature should support fewer major parties only to save the state money when running elections. She also believes the bill is simply a “political calculation.” The motion without the amendment passed. HB 5032 was at the request of the Oregon Dept of Administrative Services and relates to the financial administration of the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST). It was heard in a work session on 5 /23 in Ways & Means. The act creates an agency budget, appropriating monies from the General Fund for DPSST. Its limits were listed as “limits biennial expenditures from fees, moneys or other revenues, including Miscellaneous Receipts, but excluding lottery funds and federal funds, collected or received by the department. It also limits biennial expenditures by the department from federal funds.” During the 5/23 hearing, most Legislators were complimentary of DPSST changes, improved training schedule and successes. The bill represents an increase of 1.7% from state general funds. DPSST provided much information under the testimony section of the bill. At the 5/23 hearing it passed with adopted -2 amendment sections which include details of purposes, funding sources and amounts for related DPSST needs. The amendment noted $7,967,812 established (for the biennium beginning July 1, 2025), as the maximum limit for payment of expenses from federal funds collected or received by DPSST. On 5/28, A-Engrossed (with amendments) was recommended with a do-pass. On 5/29 it had a second reading in the House. Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Climate Emergency , Revenue , Natural Resources , and Social Policy report sections.

Back to All Legislative Reports Social Policy Legislative Report - Week of 1/27 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: Education Immigration Public Safety Human Services and Behavioral Health Education By Jean Pierce K-12 Education Legislators were given an overview of the numbers served by the Oregon Department of Education (ODE): 547,424 students speaking more than 360 languages (’23-24 numbers) 89,249 educators Staff of color comprise 14% of teachers 14% of administrators 20% of counselors 25% of educational assistants 197 districts including 1270 schools 131 charter schools 19 education service districts ODE legislative priorities include Streamlining the reporting processes for small school districts receiving state education grants Clarifying ODE complaint and investigations processes Higher Education Legislative Committees heard presentations describing the current state of funding, and foreshadowing requests for larger allocations. Information presented by the Higher Education Coordinating Council included: Oregon has seen the 7th highest increase in appropriations since 2013, when we ranked 49th in the country. Nevertheless, Oregon’s investment in higher education still lags behind the national average. Now we rank 37th among all states, coming in at 24% less than the national average of appropriations for full time student equivalents. Meanwhile, our 2-year tuition and fees are the second highest among 17 western states. The average is $2,444, while students are paying $6,464 in Oregon. And our four-year tuition and fees are the highest in the west - $13,440 compared to an average of $10,533 Further, our institutions of higher learning are projecting costs increasing by 9.5% for universities and by 10.5% for community colleges over the next biennium. These increases are mostly driven by labor costs. Immigration By Claudia Keith “ Oregon joins lawsuit over Trump attempt to end birthright citizenship ” Washington, Arizona and Illinois are also part of the case, while other Democratic states filed a separate lawsuit” | OCC “ Immigrants in Oregon could be significantly impacted by Trump’s second term . Here’s how. From international students to asylum seekers, the new administration’s plans could affect tens of thousands of people in the state “. | Oregon Capital Chron. “ Trump won’t ban immigration arrests at churches . Now clergy are weighing how to resist…” | Oregonian Oregon governor to stand by sanctuary law despite Trump-allied group’s warning of ‘serious consequences’ | Oregonian More info Here How Oregon is responding to Trump’s crackdown on immigration | OPB Oregon Office of Immigrant and Refugee Advancement OIRA Immigration and Refugee News and events and Mission, Vision and VALUES “As the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Advancement (OIRA) talks with federal, state, local and community partners, we will continue to post the most updated information we have on this web page .” Immigrants in Oregon : American Immigration Council The League has very clear immigration/refugee, human rights and other social policy positions ( state and national) and is following this currently developing situation. Find below an incomplete/tentative list of policy and or funding-related bills that may have traction. Additionally, there are a number of other bills supporting the new 2025 federal administration potential policies that, given House and Senate D super majorities, will likely not receive a public hearing. Immigration, Refugee / Asylum Bills and Budgets Bill # Description Policy Committee Fiscal M$ Chief Sponsors: Comments SB 149 Immigration Study SCJ ? Sen Jama DHS SB 599 Immig status: discrimination in Real Estate transactions SCJ Sen Campos SB 611 Food for All Oregonians - for undocumented SC HS - JWM Sen Campos Rep Ruiz SB 703 a bipartisan immigration status update funding bill SCJ Sen Reynolds, Rep Neron, Ruiz, Smith G HB 2976 funding for interpretation of indigenous languages. HC ECHS Rep Hartman HB2788 funding to nonprofits to assist w lawful permanent resident status / legal aid - HC ECHS - JWM Rep Neron, Ruiz, Sen Reynolds HB 2586 nonresident tuition exemption for asylum seekers. Rep Hudson, Sen Campos HB 2543 The Act gives funds for universal representation and the Act gives funds to Oregon State Bar for legal help for immigration matters 15 Rep Valderrama, Sen Manning Jr, Rep Walters, Andersen, McLain, Sen Campos DAS HB3193 Farm Worker Relief Fund HC LWPS 10 Rep Marsh, Sen Pham, Rep Valderrama OHA HB 5002 Oregon Worker Relief Fund JCWM-GG 7 Das Public Safety By Karen Nibler Joint Chamber Judiciary Committee meetings started with reports from the Oregon Judicial Department Court Administrators. The Judicial Department includes the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Tax Court, and 27 County Judicial Districts. The OJD plans to request additional judge positions in its budget request this biennium. Last session additional judges and staff were added but the number of cases are still increasing in family law and behavioral health. Specialty treatment courts require additional court staff time but have proven to be successful. The defense attorney shortage has also impacted the judicial schedules. OJD has developed an Electronic Court Information system for self-help for the public to access details on the court processes. The League has supported the budgets for the Judicial Department and its services. The Department of Corrections manages 12 state prisons and supports county correction services. The DOC has been fighting the presence of contraband drugs within the prison system and provides drug treatment programs within the facilities. The jail facilities are operated by counties, except for 2 counties, but the parole and probation staff are supported by the state. In the last session, drug treatment was initiated within county jail facilities. The Criminal Justice Commission started in 2018 when it provided funds for supervision and community treatment programs. In the last session, HB 4002 allocated funds for deflection programs now in 23 counties. SB 900 provided funding for organized retail theft disincentives. CJC monitors the grant process and funding management. Human Services and Behavioral Health By Karen Nibler The Director of the Human Services Department presented an overview of the major programs within the department. The One Eligibility Program has the task of determining eligibility for all the services. This includes Medicaid, Title IV E Children, and Long Term Care for Seniors and Disabled Persons. The Director discussed the goal of family preservation and services to families toward that goal. The League has been supportive of the agency budget and programs for homeless and runaway youth in past sessions. The Oregon State Hospital primarily holds persons who are unable to assist in their defense in criminal cases. Youth residential programs have been difficult to maintain. Prevention programs are needed in communities and schools.

Back to All Legislative Reports Natural Resources Legislative Report - Week of 2/17 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: Water: Peggy Lynch Wildfire: Carolyn Mayers Ways and Means Natural Resource Budgets/Revenue: Peggy Lynch Jump to a topic: Air Quality Agriculture Bottle Bills Budgets/Revenue Climate Coastal Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Dept. Of State Lands (DSL) Elliott State Research Forest (ESRF) Emergency Services Forestry (ODF) Governance Land Use & Housing Natural Resources Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) State Land Board Water Weather 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 Keizer 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 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. BOTTLE BILLS By Sandra Bishop So far this session six bills have been introduced that would make changes to the Oregon beverage container return system; the iconic Oregon bottle bill that was passed in 1971. The League has been a consistent supporter of this program. SB 992 calls for an Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) study on how to modernize the Oregon bottle bill system. A hearing is scheduled on Feb 17th in the Senate Committee On Energy and Environment . The emergence of this committee bill may be an indication that legislators do not expect to pass any major changes this session to the current system for collecting, accounting for, and recycling beverage containers in Oregon. Requiring a study that is not due to be reported to the Legislature until late in 2026 is kicking the can down the road (pun intended). There are major opportunities and challenges with the current bottle bill system and recycling in the state. Distributors, who benefit most from the current beverage container collection system, may be supporting such a study to ensure no substantive changes will be made to Oregon’s bottle bill for at least another three or four years. SB 963 would require beverage container redemption centers in cities with a population of more than 10,000. HB 2921 would change the criteria for location of redemption centers. SB 869 would allow restricting the hours during which retailers and other dealers are required to take back returned beverage containers. HB 3433 would add wine bottles to the deposit return system. SB 329 is intended to increase the use of reusable beverage containers. 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; Department of Forestry / Department of the State Fire Marshal - Wildfire Funding Workgroup Work Session/report to be a part of the ODF budget presentation 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 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 Oregon State Marine Board: HB 5021 ; Public hearing Feb. 17 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 Shee t ; Here is a summary of the Governor’s budget. Governor's Budget and Agency Request Budget documents are available online here . Public hearing Feb. 18-20 Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board: HB 5039 . Public hearing Feb. 25-26 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.) Public 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 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, 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. Oregon receives substantial funding from the federal government, so the legislature is watching closely as the March 14th deadline for a federal budget to be passed again looms. Congress also needs to address raising the federal debt limit to authorize paying for bills we’ve already incurred. The federal budget is annual and runs Oct. 1-Sept. 30. Currently there is only a federal budget until end of day March 14. 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 A bill League is following is SB 504 related to shoreline stabilization. Our coastal partners have been working with the sponsor, and we are hoping for a positive amendment to talk about “non-structural nature-based solutions” instead of “bioengineering”. A work session is scheduled for Feb. 18 in the Senate Committee On Natural Resources and Wildfire . We now have bill numbers for kelp and eel grass conservation (HB 3580) and protection of Rocky Habitat (HB 3587) —both bills the League will support. 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. The Oregon Coastal Management Program (OCMP) is currently developing its 2026-2030 Program Enhancement Assessment and Strategy ( Link to draft 2026-2030 Program Enhancement Assessment and Strategy ). A Draft Assessment and Strategy has been published, and the public was invited to provide feedback. The draft 2026-2030 Program Enhancement Assessment and Strategy can be found on their Public Comment webpage . UPDATE : The program received updated guidance from its federal funders – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on February 10. As a result, OCMP needs to revise the draft developed between October 2024 and January 2025. See the announcement on Offshore Wind Energy Roundtable Feb. 20-21 in Lincoln City or you can watch on Zoom. DEPT. OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (DEQ) By Peggy Lynch The League supports SB 830 , a bill that modifies 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 is scheduled for Feb. 18 in the Senate Committee On Natural Resources and Wildfire . 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. OP B provided great coverage of the concerns related to this usage. 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 is a meeting set for Feb. 26. You are welcome to s ign 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. A meeting is scheduled for Feb. 25th. To learn more about this rulemaking and the advisory committee you can view the rulemaking web page at: Water Quality Fees 2025 . DEPT. OF STATE LANDS (DSL) By Peggy Lynch The next State Land Board meeting is a special meeting in March (date still unknown), followed by a regular meeting April 8. See below for more information on the State Land Board. 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. At the State Land Board meeting on Feb. 11, Kaitlin Lovell was appointed to the Elliott State Research Forest Board to fill the vacancy created by the loss of Bob Sallinger. 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 was held on Feb 6 in H Comm On Emergency Management, Gen Gov, and Veterans where the bill passed unanimously. It now goes to the House Floor for a vote. FORESTRY (ODF) Curry County Commissioners are discussing the possibility of taking over management of federal lands in their jurisdiction See also the Wildfire section of this report below and the separate Climate section. GOVERNANCE Because the League is often engaged in rulemaking, we frequently 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. We were pleased to see an attorney who has represented businesses also provided opposition testimony . The sponsor of the bill shared an instance where OHSA may have exceeded their authority when adopting rules related to farmworker housing. The League believes that agencies should adopt rules to implement legislation but should NOT exceed their authority by creating policies not passed by the legislature. LAND USE & HOUSING By Peggy Lynch On Feb. 10th the House Committee on Housing heard testimony on the following bills that the League believes would allow housing outside of cities and some could violate Goals 3 and 4 of our land use system so we will follow these bills and may provide testimony with our concerns: 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. We are pleased to learn that Business Oregon’s Infrastructure bill, HB 3031 , with an amendment to clarify the criteria to be used to access the proposed $100 million fund has been filed. The League looks forward to supporting this important bill. The amendment to the bill will be filed shortly. Other bills we are following: 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. 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. We expect a -1 and then a -2 amendment. Will wait to read them before making a decision on the bill. HB 3145 : Allows the Housing and Community Services Department to use Local Innovation and Fast Track Housing Program Fund monies for factory-built housing. LWVOR should support. 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 public hearing was held on Feb. 5th in House Housing. A Work Session is scheduled on Feb. 19th where a -2 amendment may be considered. 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. 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. NATURAL RESOURCES HB 3173 – Establishing OregonFlora in statute passed committee with a -3 amendment on Feb. 12th and it was sent to Ways and Means. 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. 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 Our League volunteer interviewed an OWEB staffer related to OWEB’s funding for 2025: The staffer shared that the lottery funding is a stable source of funding for OWEB. In the Governor’s Budget recommendation there is adequate funding for the new programs OWEB has been tasked to take on. This includes enough funding for staffing the new programs. Some funding will be for a limited duration, and some is permanent funding. The Natural Resources Ways and Means Subcommittee will meet to discuss OWEB on February 25th and 26th . On the 25th there will be discussion with staff, on the 26th there will be public comment. OWEB has many partners and much support on both sides of the aisle. The outlook is positive. A recommendation will go to the full Ways and Means Committee after the revenue forecast in May. STATE LAND BOARD (SLB) By Peggy Lynch The Governor, Secretary of State and State Treasurer (SLB members) held a quarterly meeting on Feb. 11th that you can watch on their YouTube channel. Here . They shared a great report on their Real Property Program, sharing the lands owned by the state, their market potential and actions taken to increase revenue. The meeting materials packet is here . The Board adopted rules on Rocky Habitat Designations and approved initiating a potential land sale o f a portion of West Hayden Island to ODOT. The purpose of the proposed sale is to provide mitigation land for the proposed new I-5 bridge project. They appointed Kaitlin Lovell to the Elliott State Research Forest Board to fill the loss of Bob Sallinger to that Board. The Common School Fund passed its audit. The Director reported that the state may have completed negotiations for 80 acres of Bureau of Land Management land near La Pine (and Roslyn Elementary School) to be deeded to the state as part of its still-needed statehood-owed lands. Lastly, Director Walker has announced her retirement plans as of June so an open public recruitment process for a new Dept. of State Lands Director has begun with the intent for the SLB to select their choice at their June 10th meeting. For many this is an obscure agency, but the League believes this agency, with its mission to protect the waters of the state (including our wetlands), to assure stewardship of the Common School Fund, oversight of the South Slough National Estuarine Reserve and now the Elliott State Research Forest are all critical. LWVOR has positions related to support of each of these programs. WATER By Peggy Lynch On Feb. 17 in the House Committee On Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water two bills of interest to the League will have a public hearing: HB 3525 related to tenants’ right to well water testing and HB 3526 that would require well water test reporting in property sales. The League has provided support in past sessions and may do so again this session. 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. 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. Fees are needed to provide current service level staffing at WRD. 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. There is a Water Caucus raising the awareness of the urgency to address Oregon’s water needs. 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 here . Users can provide feedback about the beta version of the pilot portal by completing a survey or emailing OWDP@deq.oregon.gov . 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. WEATHER Oregon’s state climatologist provides a view of Oregon’s January and our warm, cold and snowfall changes. As Americans depend on weather forecasts of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Oregon has a NOAA facility in Newport, here is a concerning statement as reported by the New York Times Climate: NOAA staff members have been told to search their existing grants for terms that include “climate science,” “climate crisis,” “clean energy,” “environmental quality” and “pollution.” WETLANDS The League testified in opposition to SB 511 , a perennial salmon tax credit bill filed by Sen. David Brock Smith that would create a new program to allow private property owners to get a tax credit for salmon habitat on their property if allowed to be used by a developer to destroy wetlands in another area of Coos and Curry County. This session’s version of the bill narrows the use of the credit from statewide to the two coastal counties. But the concept is complicated and this area of the coast is a critical salmon habitat. 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 It was a slow week for wildfire legislation, but there has been press coverage of issues that the League feels are worth mentioning. This February 10th article from the Oregon Capital Chronicle, describes how Senator Golden, in response to negative feedback from constituents, is proposing revisiting how the recently- released second version of the Oregon Wildfire Hazard (previously “Risk”) Map has areas of hazard broken down. Where the previous map had assigned risk on a broader area scale, an approach that was determined to be a problem, the new map assigned risk at the parcel level. Now, it appears there is some question as to the wisdom of that decision in accomplishing the goals set out for the map. Time will tell if this idea gains momentum. There was news of another $50 million in settlements paid out by Pacificorp for the role of its subsidiary, Pacific Power, in the devastating 2020 wildfires. This February 7th piece from Oregon Public Broadcasting provides details. According to the article, “At least eight more trials are scheduled, and the company could be on the hook for billions in damages.” It also states that rates for Pacific Power customers are up 50% since 2021, a trend that will continue as our wildfire seasons worsen, and mitigation efforts by electric utilities increase their operating costs. Finally, the Wildfire Funding Workgroup established by the Governor at the end of the 2023 short session, to look for a solution to the wildfire funding problem, will be presenting its recommendations to the Legislature soon. No firm date is available as of this writing. This much- anticipated report, the culmination of months of effort by 35 individuals, will set the stage for the Legislature’s work to find a long term, durable and equitable solution to the growing wildfire funding shortfall. Stay tuned! 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.

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Back to All Legislative Reports Social Policy Legislative Report - Week of 3/27 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 a topic: Housing Immigration Basic Needs Anti-discrimination in Employment Oregon Health Authority Budget Other Health Care Bills Housing By Debbie Aiona and Nancy Donovan It has been another busy week for the Legislature as it works to meet a first-chamber deadline of April 4, when bills must be sent out of committee, either to the floor for a vote or to another committee for further consideration. If the deadline is not met, a bill will not move forward. Governor Kotek’s major housing and homeless bill was adopted and other housing bills are moving ahead in the process. On Wednesday, March 29, the Governor signed the housing and homelessness bills into law. The $200 million funding package includes HB 2001 B , the policy bill, and HB 5019 A , the budget bill. Expenditure details are here. The League provided HB 5019 testimony . We added our logo to House and Senate floor letters along with many other supportive organizations. Housing bills moving forward HB 2680 : This bill strengthens and clarifies legislation passed in 2019 related to screening fees charged for rental applications. HB 2680 would require landlords to refund screening fees within 14 days if the apartment is filled before screening the applicant or if the application is withdrawn before the screening takes place. If the landlord fails to return the fee, damages the applicant may recover increase from $150 to $250 under the new legislation. A work session in the House Committee on Housing and Homelessness is scheduled on April 4. HB 3462 : If passed, people displaced by major disasters would be eligible for emergency housing benefits provided through the Oregon Department of Emergency Management regardless of their immigration status. Under federal law, these services are not available to undocumented immigrants. The House Committee on Housing and Homelessness will hold a work session on April 4. SB 599 : This bill passed the Senate by a vote of 27 – 3 and was referred to House Early Childhood and Human Services. If enacted into law, the legislation would require landlords to allow tenants in rental housing to provide childcare services if the home is certified or registered with the Office of Child Care, the tenant has notified the landlord, and the home does not violate zoning, homeowner association’s governing documents, or Early Learning Council rules. Landlords may require liability insurance. This legislation is intended to increase the supply of much-needed childcare services in Oregon. HB 3042 A applies to publicly supported housing after the landlord withdraws the property from a government contract. It would prohibit landlords from evicting tenants from their homes for three years after the contract ends. Rent increases would be allowed no more than once a year during that period and would be limited by state limits on rent increases. A work session before House Housing and Homelessness was held on March 23, and the bill passed with amendments. It was scheduled for a second reading in the House on March 29 and a third reading on March 30. SB 1076 would require licensed hospitals to include in their discharge policy specific procedures for when they discharge homeless patients. Hospital staff would work with patients and supportive services to discharge patients safely, regardless of their housing status. Unfortunately, homeless patients have been discharged with no real destination and left with no resources, outside on the street. A public hearing was held before Senate Health Care on March 27, with a work session scheduled on April 3. HB 3151 A addresses policy updates affecting manufactured home parks, including clarification of the improvements that landlords may require of tenants; extension of the sunset for grants for legal assistance for low-income facility tenants and for Manufactured and Marina Communities Dispute Resolution Advisory Committee; amends the legal assistance grant program; expands affordable housing developed on nonresidential lands. The bill also expands the state manufactured dwelling park preservation loan program to allocate money to develop new parks. On March 22, the bill was carried in the third reading by Senate Housing and Development. Immigration By Claudia Keith Bills we are supporting or following: HB 2957 the -4 amendment Work Session was held on 3/29 . It passed out of committee to JW&Ms. New description: Financial assistance to non-citizens for specified purposes. (>7M$). A large portion of the source funding is Federal ARPA funds. Rep Ruiz, House EC&HS Public Hearing was 2/22 . League Testimony supports. HB 3176 Work Session 4/3 . Requires Dept HS and Office of Immigrant and Refugee Advancement, to award contracts to organizations to provide support services to immigrants and refugees. Appropriates moneys from the General Fund. Directs Office of Immigrant and Refugee Advancement to convene representatives from state agencies, community-based organizations, and other stakeholders to coordinate policy recommendations. Representative Reynolds, Senator Jama, House ECHS then to JW&M. Public Hearing was March 8 . Fiscal is not yet posted. Bills moved from Policy Committee to JW&Ms: SB 627 : Funding for universal (legal) fees for non-documented individuals ($15M) Sen Lieber. Passed out of Sen Judiciary, DO Pass, Feb 7, sent to JW&Ms. The League has supported this policy/funding category in the past. Fiscal Analysis . Bills of Interest or possible League support: (Bills that have been posted to OLIS that may move forward via a committee public hearing. – an Incomplete list) SB 849 Public Hearing 2/28 with -1 amendment . Preliminary SMS -1 : Work session was 3/14. Now in JW&Ms. Fiscal $20M grant fund. Requires professional licensing boards to provide culturally responsive training to specified staff members, publish guidance on pathways to professional authorization for internationally educated individuals and waive requirement for English proficiency examination for specified internationally educated individuals…. Sen Labor & Business. Senator Jama, Dembrow, Frederick, Campos, Manning Jr, Woods, Representative Chaichi, Nguyen H. SB 185 Public Hearing and Work Session 4/3 : Requires the DoJ to study immigration in this state; may include legislation recommendations to the interim committees of the Legislative Assembly no later than September 15, 2024. Requested by Attorney General Rosenblum. In Sen Judiciary. Sunsets January 2, 2025. Basic Needs SB 610 : Work Session 4/3 . Establishes Food for All Oregonians Program within Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), unclear what the funding ask may be. Chief sponsors: Senator Campos, Representative Ruiz, Senator Manning Jr, Gorsek, Representative Bowman, Dexter, Gamba . Sen Human Services then to JW&M. Public Hearing was 2/27. Legislative Summary HB 2990 -1 : Work session 3/27 . Moved to JWM. Resilience Hubs. Directs Oregon Health Authority to develop and implement grant programs to support resilience hubs and networks in Oregon. Fiscal Statement May partially replace the ‘Workers Relief Fund’ . ‘Oregon Worker Relief measures impact in infrastructure’| Statesman Journal. Anti-discrimination in Employment By Trish Garner HB 2800 , clarifying what constitutes "because of age" for the purpose of workplace employment discrimination and prohibiting employers from requiring disclosure of age prior to an initial interview or conditional offer of employment, was initially scheduled for a Work Session on April 3, 2023, but it was removed from the calendar of House Business and Labor. It will not proceed in the 2023 Session. Other Bills SB 613 : Creates Commission for Indigenous Communities. In Senate Rules. SB 216 Passed out of SCHC 3/1 , Now in House Behavioral Health and Health Care. Related to data collected by OHA. (Request of Governor Kate Brown for OHA). The Oregon Health Authority set a goal of eliminating health disparities by 2030 including those based on race, ethnicity, language, or disability (REALD) and sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI). HB2905 : Now in Senate Education. Expands list of individuals whose histories, contributions and perspectives are required to be included in social studies academic content standards and in related textbooks and instructional materials. Passed House Committee by Unanimous Vote . SB 421 Work session is 3/30 establishes a youth advisory council. Prescribes youth standardsadvisory council membership and duties. DOE to establish a work group to establish for the selection process of members of the youth advisory council. PH was 2/28 Staff Measure Summary HB 2458 : Died in Committee. Prohibits conversion therapy. Public Hearing was 2/24 . No League testimony. Oregon Health Authority Budget - Governor’s Budget Summary By Claudia Keith SEE HB 5525 OHA Budget The following is specific to the Public Health Div which includes Healthcare. Natural Resources and Climate Emergency policy funding topics. Governor’s Budget Summary OHA - Public Health Division ”The Governor’s budget includes a total investment increase of $65 million, which includes $57.7 million General Fund, over CSL. Included in this is a modified reduction to CSL of $6.7 million Other Funds related to revenue shortfalls for both the Oregon Psilocybin Services program ($6.4 million) and the Health Licensing Office (HLO) of $0.4 million. Other significant investments include: Public Health Modernization: In 2013, HB 2348 initiated a series of legislation and funding to address the modernization of the public health system in Oregon. Oregon’s public health modernization effort is a top agency priority, with core objectives being to ensure the right public health protections are in place for everyone, the public health system is prepared and sufficiently resourced to address emerging health threats, and the system is structured to eliminate health disparities. In 2016, an assessment completed by state and local public health agencies identified significant gaps between Oregon’s public health system and a fully modernized system that provides core public health services to all Oregonians. $60 million General Fund has been invested to date: $5 million in HB 5026 (2017), $10 million in SB 5525 (2019), and $45 million in HB 5024 (2021). The Public Health Advisory Board is established by ORS 431.122 and reports to the Oregon Health Policy Board (OHPB) and is accountable for governmental public health in Oregon, to include aligning public health priorities with available resources. The Governor’s budget includes a $50 million investment in this area. Universally Offered Home Visiting: Family Connects Oregon is a nurse home visiting model that helps families identify what they need and want from local resources, and then provides an individualized, non-stigmatizing entry into a community system of care. The system includes referrals to other, more intensive, home visiting programs and health and social supports around the state, such as obstetricians and primary care providers, pediatricians and family practice physicians, childcare options, mental health services, housing agencies and lactation support. The Governor’s budget approved the agency’s requested policy option package requesting an additional $5.9 million General Fund and five positions (3.75 FTE). LFO 2023-25 Budget Review (Steve Robbins) 22 February 12, 2023. Domestic Well Safety Program: The Domestic Well Safety Program (DWSP) uses data collected under the state Domestic Well Testing Act to inform people in Oregon about the importance of testing drinking water from wells and provides guidance about how to improve poor water quality - leading to improved health outcomes. The Governor’s budget includes $3 million General Fund and one position (0.75 FTE) to support this program and permanently add a dedicated DWSP position. Other Proposed Increases: Also included in the Governor’s budget are funds and a position for environmental justice mapping, an Other Funds position to support regional residential hospitals for disaster response, $1 million General Fund and two positions (1.50 FTE) to support personal protective equipment and medical supply management, $1.9 million and two positions (1.50 FTE) for the newborn bloodspot screening program (funded by fee ratification), Other Funds investment in Oregon’s environmental Lab Accreditation Program, and an investment in youth/adult suicide intervention and prevention plans.“ Other Health Care Bills By Karen Nibler The House Behavioral Health Committee has responded to the criticism of the BM 110 rollout process . The funds have been allocated to local providers of behavioral health services, so interventions are available. Oversight will come from the Oregon Health Authority under the Behavioral Health Director. HB 2513 directs accountability measures in the implementation process and requires reports on administrative expenses. The next audit will be in December of 2025. It is an evolving process according to a Lane County Commissioner. The Sunday Oregonian contains a comprehensive article on this bill and the work on the refinement of the services for Substance Abuse. HB 2538 asked for interpretation services for health care patients. HB 2539 A allocated funding for the Oregon Center for Children, Family and Community Health on the Trillium Portland campus. Ways and Means will hear the bill. HB 3126 A establishes acute care centers at regional hospitals, which was supported by NAMI and by the Association of County Mental Health Programs. The pilot programs will be through Providence to establish Regional Child Psychiatric Centers. The bill will be reviewed in the Human Services Subcommittee of Ways and Means for funding decisions .