Back to Legislative Report Education Legislative Report - Sine Die Education Updates By Anne Nesse It is clear from LWVOR work this session that we all must invest with renewed effort to support our public education system. This is imperative for the equity of all families, income levels, and especially important for working parents. We hope you can see beginnings of positive change in the laws and testimony we made this session to help all young Oregonians and their families thrive. These bills were signed into law this session with LWVOR testimony, relating to education and the well being of children: HB 3198 Enrolled includes significantly increased expenditures and grants, new curriculum development for teachers and staff, and increased summer programs. It is a significant step toward increasing literacy and by definition learning, within all our diverse Oregon populations. See LWVOR testimony in support, on how literacy is an integral component to a democracy. Rep. Kropf, one of the bill’s principal authors, noted that this is merely the beginning of increased funding towards a major emphasis in consistent quality K-12 education throughout our state. It includes a $90M price tag, in addition to an historic increase in the biennial school budget up to $10.2 Billion dollars, in addition to property tax revenue. HB 3235 Enrolled is a child tax credit designed to benefit low income workers supporting children. LWVOR testimony reflects the gravity of the problem, that poverty itself can cause harm to childhood development, and its unintended effect on education. This tax credit was greatly reduced from the original proposal. The League was involved in discussions with legislators and stakeholders for some components of SB 283 Enrolled . It was signed into law, directing the Department of Education to develop and implement a plan to establish and maintain a statewide data system on our educational workforce. This Law includes a long list of items to help recruit teachers and staff, and to help them continue to thrive in this necessary profession. It includes pay raises totaling $9M for teachers and aides who work with special needs students. We suggested that teachers have some bargaining ability for increased planning time during the school day, and this became part of the law. We testified to these bills but did not have the time to thoroughly study them during this session: SB 854 , stated that each of our 197 school districts could develop a plan for teaching climate change, across all subject areas, in grades K-12 by June 1, 2026. The LWVOR played a part in helping with the steering committee for this bill. Like other bills written to increase oversight of our statewide school system’s quality, this will need adaptation if it is proposed next session. Our testimony submitted on March 9 emphasized the importance of survival on our planet, excessive greenhouse gasses, and that curriculum choices were already available from many sources. At the March 9 public hearing, over 100 youth were heard or represented in the Capitol live or virtually. The Oregon Teachers Association and other organizations supported this bill. HB 2601 would have required the State Treasurer to exit from certain carbon-intensive investments, subject to fiduciary duties,to develop a plan to protect state investments from risks related to climate change, and to issue periodic public reports on actual and planned progress towards completion of duties imposed under this law. Rep. Pham and Sen. Golden presented a very strong case as to why this was essential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and educating the public on facts of our decreased ability to gain profits in the fossil fuel industry. The League made the case in testimony that this was a nonpartisan issue and that we all have the right to be informed of our investments. It is LWVOR’s position that all of us should be educated concerning limiting greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. HB 2750 attempted to prohibit the statewide charging of fees or requiring participation in fundraising activities as a condition of participating in any interscholastic activities. League testimony was based on equity in education for all family income levels. The bill did not make it through passage, however, because of our work with Rep. Bowman on this bill and another like it, modifying physical education requirements, the League may be helping to design a more positive school day experience in health and learning for the next session. Here are more extensive lists and descriptions of education-related bills that were passed this session or were heard in public hearings but were not passed. Copy and paste into your browser for best results. Link 1: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/lpro/Publications/SOL Education & Early Childhood_FINAL.pdf Link 2: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/lpro/Publications/SOL Human Services_FINAL.pdf If you are interested in becoming a volunteer for any of the areas in this Sine Die Report you would be well appreciated! So just let us know? We could use assistance in early childhood and higher education, as well as human services, research, meeting with legislators, testimony, and newsletter writing. Much of our work is virtual, so transportation is not always an issue. After School Care and Children’s Services By Katie Riley Summer and After School Care, SB 531 would have provided funding for school age kids this summer. Last year a similar bill provided $50 million and served thousands of low-income kids. This year’s bill received a hearing and was referred to W&Ms but without assignment to a subcommittee, it never had a work session or a recommendation for funding. Schools were given extra money for summer school and could spend some of it for extended care, however, depending on the school district. Children’s Service Districts, SB 858 would have provided the ability to gather signatures for local ballot measures to form children’s service districts. A public hearing was held in Senate Finance and Revenue but a work session was never scheduled so the bill never had a committee or Senate floor vote. The bill was opposed by the League of Oregon Cities (mayors) and the Association of Oregon Counties.

Back to All Legislative Reports Governance Internships Legislative Report - Week of 3/24 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: Redistricting/Prison Gerrymandering Broadband, Vote-by-mail, Privacy Elections Government Ethics Rulemaking Redistricting/Prison Gerrymandering HB 2250 was heard in House Rules 3/19. The League submitted written testimony . The federal Census Bureau unfortunately counts prisoners where they are incarcerated rather than where they reside. This inflates the population counts where prisons are located and deflates the population counts for prisoners’ residence districts. Therefore, the representation of these districts and jurisdictions is skewed. HB 2250 corrects this injustice by requiring that the Department of Corrections determine prisoner residence addresses, as best that it can, and give the addresses to Portland State University Population Research Center. The Center will then correct the population counts that it receives from the Census Bureau and provide the corrected counts to the Legislature, the Secretary of State, or the various other jurisdictions that perform redistricting. Some Rules committee members asked about students residing at college or patients in care institutions. However, college students and patients can choose where they want to reside and be registered to vote; prisoners have no choice and don’t get any representation from public officials where they are incarcerated. Broadband, Vote-by-mail, Privacy By Becky Gladstone HB 3228 had a public hearing March 2, with League verbal and written testimony presented with committee permission by two League members together, Rebecca Gladstone in support of this bill’s cybersecurity insurance study and resilience fund, welcoming new League advocate Lindsay Washburn, who added significant AI modification comments. HB 2581 passed a Senate work session with one excused, on March 18, to coordinate expanded resiliency services with the State Resiliency Officer (SRO), League testimony in support. SB 473 , to create a crime of threatening a public official, will have a first work session on April 2, see verbal and written League testimony in support. HB 3148 has a work session scheduled for March 26, to extend broadband funding. We support equitable statewide broadband as a fundamental need, signing group letters for HB 3148 (2025) and HB 3201 Enrolled (2023). HB 2341 , had a Senate side work session, March 20, passing with one excused, to add veterans’ email addresses to shared information, League testimony in support. Watching SB 1121 : We will speak to this bill which c reates the crime of unlawful disclosure of private information, with a public hearing and possible concurrent work session vote on April 8. Elections By Barbara Klein The Open Primaries amended bill HB 3166-2 , which LWVOR strongly supported in its original form, had a hearing on March 19th in the House Rules Committee (video can be seen here around minute 19). LWVOR submitted testimony as a neutral comment , neither in support nor opposition. LWVOR strongly supports the idea of “unified” primaries, but the amended bill contains points we have historically not supported (specifically a top-two election system). There was much interest in the bill both in support (especially to encourage youth and independent voters) and in opposition (regarding protection of parties, although much of that was directed toward the original bill). Government Ethics By Chris Cobey SB 983 permits local public officials to participate, discuss, debate and vote on the adoption of a local budget that includes compensation for the public official or one of their relatives. This is a clear conflict of interest for a local official and should be avoided. However, we can understand that in small jurisdictions it can be awkward when some members cannot vote. The bill is supported by the Oregon School Boards Association and the League of Oregon Cities. HB 2330 A would establish a 21-member Task Force on Law Enforcement Interdiction Against Financial Scams on Older Oregonians. The bill passed out of the House Commerce and Consumer Protection committee 3/4 on a 10 to 0 vote and is now in the Ways and Means committee. Rulemaking By Peggy Lynch The League continues to follow the bills listed on the March 17 agenda of the Senate Committee On Rules since some of the bills relate to the process of rulemaking. After legislation is passed, agencies are required to implement those laws. That action often requires rulemaking to clarify the details around that implementation. But the League is concerned when legislators “get a second bite at the apple” by relitigating the legislation when rulemaking is only meant to implement, not change policies. Separately, the League was invited to a conversation among state agency rules staff on addressing concerns of the Governor and in an attempt to standardize the process statewide. The Governor has provided Rulemaking Guidance to state agencies : This document includes questions received from agencies since the Governor’s letter This document includes additional resources for agencies including direction to post updates to the Transparency site, a website template that agencies can use (if they choose) to develop their pages, and links to other comprehensive agency rule making sites to review. The League will also attend a separate rules process discussion being led by the Dept. of Land Conservation and Development. See the Land Use section for more information on this issue. We continue to watch a series of bills related to rulemaking which we might oppose: HB 2255 , HB 2303 , HB 2402 and HB 2427 . We are also concerned with HB 3382 , since the requirements of the Secretary of State to gather ALL the state agencies’ rulemaking, including all materials would be overwhelming. Individual state agencies provide that information on their rulemaking websites. We may sign on to a letter explaining our concerns to legislative leadership. Because the League is often engaged in rulemaking, we regularly comment on legislation that would affect changes in Oregon’s current Administrative Rules. We have provided testimony in opposition to HB 2692 , a bill that would create complicated and burdensome processes for agencies to implement legislation with their rulemaking procedures . Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Climate Emergency , Natural Resources , and Social Policy report sections.

Back to All Legislative Reports Governance Internships Legislative Report - Week of 6/23 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 Artificial Intelligence Campaign Finance and Initiatives By Norman Turrill We are still waiting for urgently needed technical amendments to HB 4024 (2024) on campaign contribution limits, which are expected to be amended into HB 3392 . Since we are nearing the end of the session, we fear that this will not happen or will happen haphazardly. The last we heard, there may be no bill or only a minimal bill to delay the Secretary of State’s HB 4024 implementation deadlines. General Governance, Privacy, and Consumer Protection By Becky Gladstone It is time for a bill status review, with two weeks or less remaining in the session. HB 3954 was revived last week after a League letter called for action on the bill, for the Adjutant General to not allow the Oregon National Guard to be called to active service, except for certain reasons. It passed from a first work session on partisan lines, and then from the House floor, and is scheduled for reading on the Senate floor. We wrote to the Governor’s staff, the Attorney General, Chairs and House Rules Committee members, and bill sponsors. This bill became more relevant with the California National Guard being called to action by the President in Los Angeles, overriding the Mayor and California Governor. LWVOR followed with an Action Alert to members. We anticipate revising the letter and submitting as testimony to Senate Rules, including comparisons of work done in other states, including Washington state’s “Defend the Guard” bill, HB 1321 , signed by Governor Ferguson in April. We are standing by as requested, for updates. See HB 3954 sponsor’s presser and Oregon House votes to protect Oregon National Guard from being deployed by Trump, future presidents , Oregon Capital Chronicle. SB 1191 Enrolled has been signed by the Governor. League testimony supports SB 1191 which excludes the act of informing another person of their civil or constitutional rights from statute defining “commits the crime of obstructing governmental or judicial administration”. This is relevant as League voter service activities and advocacy issues are newly vulnerable to Executive Order classification as domestic terrorism if not aligned with recently changed federal preferences. The League will continue to support legislation for DEI, climate change, immigration, access for voter registration and election process information, natural resources, and more. HB 2008 Enrolled has been signed by the Governor, relates to protecting consumer data for those under 16, to targeted ads, and to geolocation exposure. See League testimony in support. HB 2341 Enrolled , to add veterans’ email addresses to shared information, League testimony in support, was signed by the Governor. SB 1121 Enrolled to create a new Class B misdemeanor crime of unlawful private data disclosure, has been signed by the Governor. League testimony was filed and presented, supporting the bill, including the amendment relating to data broker issues. HB 2930 Enrolled has been signed by the Governor, for conflict of interest of public officials’ household members. League testimony supported this bill brought by the Oregon Ethics Commission. SB 224 Enrolled , is awaiting the Governor’s signature, to keep from posting campaign committee addresses on the SoS website, League testimony supports. HB 3569 Enrolled is awaiting the Governor’s signature, to invite a sponsoring legislator, committee chair or designee onto the bill’s Rules Advisory Committee, as a non-voting member. Our testimony opposes for myriad reasons. HB 5017 Enrolled , is awaiting the Governor’s signature, for the State Library budget. League testimony remained 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 . HB 5012 A : Ways and Means Committee members (bipartisan!) expressed a desire to see increased salaries for our judiciary and encouraged the Co-Chairs to consider additional funding in the end-of-session bill for the Oregon Judicial Department budget bill. League testimony in support was requested. HB 2570 , for PII (personally identifiable information) confidentiality when working with OSHA inspections, got League testimony support, was scheduled for a February 19 work session , but was apparently dropped, not reflected on the bill overview, probably a session casualty. Elections By Barbara Klein On 6/16 a public hearing was held for HB 3908 , the following day on 6/17 a work session was held. On 6/20, this House bill passed a vote on the Senate floor 19 to 9. Filed at the request of the Independent Party of Oregon (IPO), HB 3908 relates to party membership and registration requirements. The bill increases the percentage of state voters from 5 to 10 percent required for a party to obtain major political party status. Other minor parties wrote in support of HB 3908. Last week we mentioned that the opposition to this bill submitted a Minority Report Recommendation disallowing minor parties to cross nominate major parties; that recommendation did not pass. At the public hearing, IPO representatives explained that currently the IPO stands at 5.03% (only slightly over the 5% level) and that IPO bounces back & forth between major & minor party status (being a major party in 2016 and 2020). They described the struggles for their party since rules for candidates of major parties differ from those for minor parties, making it more difficult for them to recruit candidates. They also attested that the counties and state will have higher costs if IPO is considered a major party. HB 3390-2 : This bill was one of those often referred to as “gut and stuff,” differing from or expanding on the original title. This last-minute bill establishes a joint legislative committee and prescribes the method for creating a ballot title and explanatory statement for any amendment to the Oregon Constitution. Technically, it involves any bills that pass both houses of the Legislative Assembly during the 2025 regular session and are referred to the voters by either the Legislative Assembly or by referendum petition. The League submitted testimony opposing this bill, in part because it minimizes the minority party voice, and also gives more power to the legislature for ballot issues than to the people. We state “the normal process based in the offices of the Secretary of State and Attorney General has greater impartiality than this proposal grounded in the legislative branch. The latter (under HB 3390-2) could more likely jeopardize transparency and understanding for voters.” Despite our opposition, the third reading passed the House 31 to 19. The bill sunsets on January 2, 2027. SB 580 Enrolled provides more timely transparency to voters showing online declarations – or withdrawals – of candidates. On 6/13 it passed a House third reading 41 to 0. The bill awaits the Governor’s signature. There were concessions made previously for various counties, big and small, rural and urban. (It also exempted precinct committee persons.) The League submitted testimony on this bill based on the needs of our work producing League Voter Guides and Vote411 publications. Artificial Intelligence By Lindsey Washburn HB 3936 Enrolled prohibits any hardware, software or service that uses artificial intelligence from being installed or downloaded onto or used or accessed by state information technology assets if the artificial intelligence is developed or owned by a covered vendor. Awaiting Governor's signature. Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Climate Emergency , Revenue , Natural Resources , and Social Policy report sections.

Back to All Legislative Reports Natural Resources Legislative Report - Week of December 1 Natural Resources Team Coordinator: Peggy Lynch 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 Please see Natural Resources Overview here . Jump to a topic: Agriculture Budgets/Revenue Climate Coastal Issues Drinking Water Advisory Committee (DWAC) Elliott State Research Forest (ESRF) Federal Lands Forestry (ODF) Hanford Land Use & Housing Natural Hazards Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) Oregon Parks and Recreation Dept. (OPRD) Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) Regional Solutions Smith River State Land Board Transportation Water Weather Wetlands Wildfire AGRICULTURE Proposed rules for the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area: The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) is accepting public comments on proposed rules for the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area. Written comments are due by December 22, 2025 , and will be considered before final rules are adopted. Details on how to comment are provided below. December 15, 2025 - In Person and Virtual Options: 5:30-7:00 pm An informational hearing starts at 5:30pm and will be followed by a public comment hearing, both in person and virtually. In person: SAGE Center, 101 Olson Rd NE, Boardman, OR 97301 Hearing link, ID: 274 507 130 739 0, Passcode: wD7nb9dM Meeting call-in number: +1 503-446-4951,,167483367# December 16, 2025 - Virtual Only: 5:30-6:30 pm Hearing link , ID: 282 286 813 697 7, Passcode: cS6jM2Ga Meeting call-in number: +1 503-446-4951,,540814150# Mail: ODA, 635 Capitol Street NE, Salem, Oregon 97301 Email: rulemaking@oda.oregon.gov , Subject line: LUBGWMA Rules Online: https://oda.direct/rulemaking BUDGETS/REVENUE Peggy Lynch Here’s the 2025-27 Budget Summary prepared by the Legislative Fiscal Office (LFO). Even a summary is 139 pages long! It describes the budget process and the end-of-session budget numbers. There are also explanations on, what for laypersons, are the mysteries of budget terms. Among those terms is an explanation and statistics on Fiscal Impact Statements. The report notes that fiscal impacts are affected by the volume of bills considered: “ In total, there were 3,466 measures introduced during the 2025 session, which is 496 more than the 2023 session and 689 more than the average of the five previous long legislative sessions. There were 3,271 amendments drafted for those bills, which is 5.5% less than the average of the five previous long legislative sessions. Of the introduced measures, 702, or 20.3%, were voted out by the House and Senate”. The reader should note that, since the budgets were passed, the Governor and Legislative Leadership have asked agencies to cut back on spending, to provide potential cuts lists of up to 5% per agency per revenue source ( General Fund, Lottery Fund, Other Funds) and to provide a list of any new programs that were approved since 2021—all due to reduced revenue forecasts, federal legislation and actions. See the Revenue Section of the Legislative Report for details. Please note that again only 3% of the state resources are allocated to the 14 Natural Resource agencies. Although we expect to see some cuts in the 2026 session, unless the Feb. forecast continues down, we are hopeful that most of the cuts discussed will not be taken. LWVOR is working with the Oregon Conservation Network and others to advocate for these agencies’ work. They address public health and safety for all Oregonians. Here are the meeting materials submitted to LFO by the 14 natural resource agencies. House Speaker Fahey provided a comprehensive list of federal action/potential cuts to Oregon services. The Oregon Capital Chronicle followed up with their Budget Cuts article. Cuts discussed during Legislative Days included potential closure of a state prison, loss of up to 51 Oregon State Police, a 7% increase in university tuition, 10% increase in community college tuition, reduction in Medicaid recipients, etc. ALL state agencies were asked to provide these cuts lists. K-12 schools receive the most revenue in our state budget so the proposed cuts would mean $560 million to the State School Fund. (See other legislative reports for details.) Although many of the cuts may not be accepted due to a better-than-expected revenue forecast, the longer-term revenue expectations may mean greater cuts than we would all like. Working in the natural resource world which is just 3% of the state’s budget, each cut reduces the ability for Oregon to protect our air, land and water. See the Revenue section of this Legislative Report for in depth information. We encourage you to read ALL sections. CLIMATE Claudia Keith and Team Governor Kotek signed Executive Order 25-26 on Oct. 23 to prioritize and increase the pace and scale of adoption of climate resilient strategies into existing state programs to deliver benefits for communities and ecosystems. The League is excited to see the Governor instructing state natural and working lands agencies on the value of wetlands and other important ecosystems for which we have advocated over many years. FAQ OBP reports that Oregon again misses our greenhouse goals. Today (Nov. 19) , Governor Tina Kotek signed Executive Order 25-29 to increase the pace and scale of Oregon’s response to reducing carbon pollution while strengthening grid reliability and energy affordability. The Executive Order targets transportation and building emissions, strengthens grid reliability and energy affordability. See the Climate Emergency section of this Legislative Report. There are overlaps with this Natural Resources Report. We encourage you to read both sections. COASTAL ISSUES Christine Moffitt The Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) heard a presentation on Rocky Habitat Management on Oct. 23 rd . Rocky Habitat makes up 40% of Oregon’s coast. The League has supported this work and has a comprehensive position on coastal issues. See p. 132, Issues for Action . The Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) is opening a Public Access Rulemaking to clarify how local governments will address protection of public access to Oregon beaches. King Tides return at the Oregon Coast: December 4 to 6, and January 1 to 4, 2026. They are the highest high tides of the year. The Blob returns to the Pacific Ocean per a story by KLCC: A massive heat wave is hitting the Pacific Ocean from Kamchatka to California. Water temperatures several degrees above normal span thousands of miles, though they have mostly stopped short of the Pacific Northwest coast. Cool water welling up from the depths is thought to be keeping surface temperatures near the Oregon and Washington coasts closer to normal . So far, this year’s Blob has mostly spared the Pacific Northwest. “It certainly pales in comparison to the really intense event that we had in 2014 into 2016,” according to University of Washington Climatologist, Nick Bond. That long-lasting blob of warm water harmed salmon and shellfish, fueled toxic algae blooms, and killed seabirds by the millions from 2014 to 2016. On Oct. 14, the State Land Board heard a number of presentations on programs involving the Oregon coast. See page 45 of the meeting packet on the Oregon Ocean Science Trust (OOST) , a program the League supported in both creation and funding. There continues to be a partnership with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and OSU helping to keep the Sea Grant program going. California’s Ocean Science Trust received a $10 million endowment a number of years ago. Oregon is part of a West Coast Ocean Science Action Agenda. Our ocean acidification issue is almost twice that of the global rate. Treasurer Steiner requested more information on marine carbon at a subsequent meeting. The link with the Ocean Policy Advisory Council was shared—OOST focuses on science, OPAC does policy. See page 59 of the packet for the annual report on the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve . League members are active with Friends of the South Slough, and the League is a constant supporter of this first-in-the-nation estuarine reserve. The invasive green crabs have become so prevalent that OSU researchers and others are looking to find a market (such as chicken feed) in order to reduce them in the are a. T he Reserve is doing long time research (some 30 years old) so it is important to keep the Reserve solvent. See page 74 of the packet for a report on the Southern Resident Orca Endangered Species Management Plan . The Dept. of State Lands has an important role in assuring wetlands and streams are safe breeding grounds for chinook salmon, the main food source for these special orcas. Oregon Ocean Science Trust website . Contact: Linda.Safina-Massey@dsl.oregon.gov The Dept. of Land Conservation and Development has a website on offshore wind with public meetings continuing. DRINKING WATER ADVISORY COMMITTEE (DWAC) Sandra U. Bishop The League has a standing seat on DWAC. Interactive Geographic Information System Maps for water system and source water protection have been improved. These maps are available to the public as well as water system operators and are maintained by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s Drinking Water Protection group and may be accessed via the Drinking Water Services website . DWAC met October 15th. Lab sampling protocols were clarified. A question came up about lab sample reporting. It was clarified that Public Water System (PWS) operators know the purpose of a water sample when submitted and are to mark it correctly. There is a process for correcting mistakes in reporting if needed. The labs do not change sample type after testing; labs do not change Routine samples to Special samples. Mandatory reporting requirements do not apply to Special samples. No lead has been reported in Oregon public water systems. The Service Line Inventory mainly geared toward checking for lead in public water systems is wrapping up. So far 97.3% of systems have submitted an inventory. Deep drawdown operations are planned at Green Peter and Lookout Point. Much better communication is expected this year between Drinking Water Services staff and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In previous years drawdowns resulted in disruptively high turbidity at local Public Water Systems. To better assist the smallest drinking water systems in Oregon the responsibility for technical assistance, alerts and regulatory compliance help is being transferred from counties and given to the state. Extensive rulemaking is wrapping up . These are mainly technical changes and corrections. Written comments must be submitted by November 30. During December, comments will be reviewed. Once approved the rules will be effective January 1, 2026. Ideas for future meetings other than technical subjects include emergency response such as to wildfire and cyber-attacks, education on fraudulent backflow devices sold on Amazon, water system consolidation options, and possible funding sources for source water protection and very small water systems. The next DWAC meeting is January 21. ELLIOTT STATE RESEARCH FOREST (ESRF) The Board had a 3-day retreat on Nov. 12-14. FEDERAL LANDS Sen. Broadman’s proposed 2026 legislative concept meant to protect Oregon’s Public Lands: Oregon’s public lands are central to our economy, our outdoor recreation, and our way of life. This bill would prevent state agencies from taking part in any federal effort to sell or transfer national forests, parks, or recreation areas to private interests. The goal is to keep these lands accessible and protected for the communities that depend on them. FORESTRY (ODF) Josie Koehne ODF is reviewing obligations under the Governor’s Executive Order 25-26 related to climate resilience. Public comment period on the proposed rule-making for the Western Oregon Management Plan (FMP) opened on Nov. 1 and will close at midnight on Jan.31st. “The mission of the Western Oregon State Forest Management Plan (FMP) and Implementation Plans (IP) project is to implement the social, economic and environmental values required of state forests. The comment period will include written comments as well as comments collected from Rule-making hearings to be held on Jan. 13 (virtual), Jan.15 (Forest Grove), Jan. 20 (Tillamook), and Jan. 22 (Eugene) at 5:30 p.m. The proposed change to this rule will replace the three current FMPs (Northwest Oregon, Southwest Oregon, and Elliott) with a single FMP for these forest lands. The State Forests Division is pursuing an alternative method for compliance with the federal Endangered Species Act by applying for incidental take permits from the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Fisheries. The incidental take permits will require the division to manage Oregon state forest lands in compliance with a habitat conservation plan. After careful review of the rule-making, the LWVOR will be providing comments. The State Forester recruitment was reopened Oct. 13 as the Governor would like a range of 8-10 candidates from which to choose. She hopes to have a selection for Senate confirmation during the February legislation session . The Oregon Dept. of Forestry will be asking for additional fire funding in 2026. Details TBD. HANFORD The Department of Energy appears to have enough money for four weeks of operations during the federal government shutdown, according to state officials at the Oregon Hanford Cleanup Board’s virtual meeting Tuesday. Since little information about the shutdown specific to Hanford has been released to the public by the Department of Energy, officials at the meeting discussed what they had heard or surmised about the nuclear site. After the cleanup board meeting, DOE said in a statement that its “Hanford site is not currently experiencing a lapse in funding and continues to operate in a normal capacity, with staff reporting to work and carrying out the Hanford mission safely.” This according to an Oct. 8 th article in the Tri-City Herald News. LAND USE & HOUSING Peggy Lynch On Oct. 24, the Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) approved Housing Rulemaking for HB 2138 and HB 2258 (2025): LCDC Oregon Housing Needs Analysis (OHNA) Rulemaking staff report and presentation : Rules are expected to be adopted during the Dec.4-5 LCDC mtg. as they are statutorily due by Jan. 1, 2026, completing a multi-year effort to reset Oregon’s Goal 10, Housing, responsibilities and each local government’s role as well. These rules are among the most significant changes in Goal 10, Housing, and Goal 14, Urbanization since the program’s inception. LCDC Oct. 24: Approved Rulemaking to clarify and allow housing and other needed development outside of wetlands. The rulemaking would create an optional, alternative compliance pathway for wetlands resources when a city is preparing to annex lands from the urban growth boundary (UGB) to accommodate needed housing and economic development. The 2025-27 Policy Agenda 2025-27 Policy Agenda was approved by LCDC on Oct. 24. There will be seven rulemakings on Housing alone! In response to public feedback, additional clarification on Farm and Forest Modernization Program work plan sequencing has been added to the 2025-2027 Policy Agenda. In response to staff feedback, the Community Green Infrastructure report has been added to the 2025-2027 Policy Agenda . See also the Housing Report in the Social Policy section of this Legislative Report. NATURAL HAZARDS The Oregon Department of Emergency Management (OEM) and the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD announce that the 2025-30 Oregon Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan (NHMP) has received approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This plan supports ongoing efforts to reduce natural hazard risks across the state. The NHMP outlines strategies to reduce long-term risks from natural hazards such as wildfires, earthquakes, floods, drought, and landslides. OREGON DEPT. OF FISH AND WILDLIFE (ODFW) Melanie Moon Why we don’t want quagga mussels in Oregon and why we support the Aquatic Invasives program per this OPB article . A new state transient lodging tax (TLT), HB 2977 , was introduced in 2025 to ensure regular and robust funding for wildlife conservation programs. The bill passed the House floor, but did not make it out of the Senate. The League expects the bill to return in 2026 where we will consider supporting it. OREGON PARKS AND RECREATION DEPT (OPRD) Peggy Lynch OPRD fee increases to help w/$14 million shortfall: A public comment period will take place Dec. 1 to Jan. 15. OPRD is proposing a series of changes that could increase camping fees, change cancellation fees and allow for “dynamic pricing.” Collectively, they're known as the Division 15 Rates and Reservation Policy .T he changes would need approval from the OPRD Commission. If approved, these changes could be implemented as early as March of 2026. (per Statesman Journal) In 2024, the agency approved increased parking and camping fees for the first time in nearly a decade. That increase went into effect in 2025. It was intended to cover a previous shortfall of roughly $15 million, due largely to losing 13% of its Oregon Lottery funding, which was diverted to city, county and special park districts. OREGON WATERSHED ENHANCEMENT BOARD (OWEB ) The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board held a board meeting on October 28-29. The meeting agenda and materials are available on OWEB’s website . REGIONAL SOLUTIONS The Regional Solutions Program : Within each of the 11 Regions, which are tied to Oregon’s federally designated Economic Development Districts, a Governor-appointed Advisory Committee sets Regional Priorities and a cross-functional Team of state agency staff works together to move projects forward. If you know anyone who may benefit from these publications, please direct them to this signup page . The public is welcome to attend virtually or in person. Go to the program website and to the region to find the agendas and meeting materials posted a few days before the meetings. Public Comment is usually scheduled. Upcoming Regional Solutions Advisory Committee (RSAC) Meetings: Regional Solutions: *Central (Crook, Deschutes, and Jefferson Counties) December 2nd from 3:30-5:00pm *South Coast (Coos, Curry, and Douglas Counties) December 3rd from 11:00am-1:00pm *North Central (Hood River, Sherman and Wasco Counties) December 3rd from 2:00-4:00pm SMITH RIVER Alyssa Babin The League again supported federal legislation to expand the Smith River Recreation Area. The North Fork of the Smith River has scenic, historic and recreational values. We have supported this effort in the past with approval from LWVUS. STATE LAND BOARD Peggy Lynch The next State Land Board is Dec. 3 rd ( agenda and meeting materials ). The League follows these meetings since the Governor, Secretary of State and State Treasurer comprise the Board membership. TRANSPORTATION HB 3991 , passed on Sept. 29, increases a number of transportation taxes and fees and applies audit requirements to ODOT. It expands the OReGO road usage charge program and repeals the Oregon Transportation Commission toll program. ODOT would receive 50% of the funding, while counties would receive 30% and cities 20%. There is an estimate that the cost to Oregonians would be about $2/month. The Governor signed HB 3991 on Nov. 7. Sen. Starr and Rep. Diehl and others have since gathered signatures under NoTaxOR.com to place the bill on the ballot for Oregonians to consider. The League will follow this effort since it could stop the needed ODOT funding provided in HB 3991. LWVOR asks that you “Think before you Ink” when any volunteers ask for your signature to get an item on the ballot. “ Bills passed by Oregon lawmakers can be referred to voters if organizers collect enough valid signatures within 90 days of the Legislature adjourning. This year, a referendum would require at least 78,115 signatures, equal to 4% of the people who cast a ballot in the 2022 gubernatorial election.” The No Tax group says it has more than enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. The Secretary of State shall review the signatures, but we expect to see the item on the November 2026 ballot. If approved for the ballot, the bill and the taxes to be collected will NOT be collected until the results of the election outcome. We could see an alternate ODOT funding discussion in the Feb. session. WATER Peggy Lynch The Willamette River is the life blood of much of western Oregon. Do you want to learn more and have an opportunity to provide input in its future? Willamette River Symposium Dec. 2-3 @ OSU. Sessions will touch upon several water-related topics, including the connection between land and water, urban and rural water challenges and opportunities, and the importance of water for people and biota. Check out this at-a-glance program overview for more information. Registration is currently open on the Conference Website . Cost $150 but it includes lunch. The Nov. 17 State water report : According to the US Drought Monitor, over 31% of Oregon is experiencing moderate drought (D1), just over 6% is experiencing severe drought (D2), and just under 1% is in extreme drought (D3). Over the last two weeks, D2, D3, and abnormally dry (D0) conditions have been reduced across the state. Snow water equivalent (SWE) in basins across the state is currently measuring well below the historical median (min = 9%; max = 32%). The near-term climate outlook indicates probabilities leaning towards below normal temperatures statewide. The outlook also indicates probabilities leaning towards above normal precipitation for most of the state with western Oregon receiving near normal precipitation. Look for a new version of SB 1153 to return in 2026 or 2027. LWV Deschutes County submitted a letter in support of SB 427 , a water rights transfer bill meant to protect instream water flows. SB 1153 , an alternate bill provided with help from the Governor’s office, had months of work group sessions among the various interests, but, in the end, the bill did not pass. League members may want to check the U. S. Drought Monitor , a map that is updated every Thursday. Governor Kotek has declared a drought in eight counties ( map ) . Here is a more complete website about drought in Oregon. We all need to pay attention to the potential for harmful algal blooms ( HABs) . “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. Information on current advisories can be found on the OHA’s cyanobacteria bloom webpage at healthoregon.org/hab . The OHA has an online photo gallery to help community members identify signs of potentially harmful blooms. WEATHER A Nov. 28 OregonLive article provided the latest maps on Oregon’s winter weather. In a USA Today article published in the Oct.12 Salem Statesman Journal: “ La Niña has officially arrived, federal forecasters from the Climate Prediction Center announced Oct. 9. La Niña conditions emerged in September 2025, as indicated by the expansion of below-average sea-surface temperatures across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean,” the prediction center said in a statement. A typical La Niña winter in the United States brings cold and snow to the Northwest and unusually dry conditions to most of the southern states, according to the Climate Prediction Center.” In a KGW article : La Niña and 'The Blob' could boost Oregon winter storms "The Blob," a marine heat wave, and La Niña may affect Oregon's winter weather and snow, though long-range climate forecasting is tricky. I think the Northwest will have a stormy winter with above-average mountain snowpack, and a good chance of valley snow. Long-range climate forecasting is tricky stuff, but I can't outweigh the Godzilla-like force of La Niña with a blob of warm water oozing around my feet. ( Author: Matt Zaffino, KGW Weatherman) WETLANDS Peggy Lynch One of the most significant changes in federal rules being considered yet again relates to Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS). On Nov. 18 th , the EPA announced new proposed rules for implementing the Waters of the U.S., reducing 55 million acres of currently assumed wetlands—that protect drinking water and provide flood protection as well as giving a home to a variety of flora and fauna. Key proposed revisions include: Defining key terms like “relatively permanent,” “continuous surface connection,” and “tributary” to appropriately delineate the scope of WOTUS consistent with the Clean Water Act and Supreme Court precedent; Establishing that jurisdictional tributaries must connect to traditional navigable waters either directly or through other features that provide predictable and consistent flow; Reaffirming that wetlands must be indistinguishable from jurisdictional waters through a continuous surface connection, which means that they must touch a jurisdictional water and hold surface water for a requisite duration year after year; Strengthening state and tribal decision-making authority by providing clear regulatory guidelines while recognizing their expertise in local land and water resources; Preserving and clarifying exclusions for certain ditches, prior converted cropland, and waste treatment systems; Adding a new exclusion for groundwater; and Incorporating locally familiar terminology, such as "wet season," to help determine whether a water body qualifies as WOTUS; In addition, the limitation to wetlands that have surface water at least during the wet season and abut a jurisdictional water will further limit the scope of permafrost wetlands that are considered to have a continuous surface connection under the proposed rule. These proposed changes are intended to provide clarity and consistency to the continuous surface connection definition. LCDC on Oct. 24: Approved Rulemaking to clarify and allow housing and other needed development outside of wetlands. The rulemaking would create an optional, alternative compliance pathway for wetlands resources when a city is preparing to annex lands from the urban growth boundary (UGB) to accommodate needed housing and economic development. As a result of the 2025 legislative session, the Dept. of State Lands received additional staffing as did the Dept. of Land Conservation and Development. The League supported these budget allocations. WILDFIRE By Carolyn Mayers The League observed a marked decrease in coverage and discussion around wildfire-related issues at committee meetings during the recent 2025 Legislative Days’ committee meetings compared to 2024. This is likely the result of what many perceive to be a less devastating fire season after all indications had suggested the 2025 season would be very difficult. On Oct. 17, the Oregon Dept. of Forestry announced the end of fire season, reporting that statewide to date, regardless of jurisdiction, there had been 2,965 fires that have burned 338,740 acres. According to Kyle Williams, Deputy Director of Fire Operations at the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), “From a purely acres burned standpoint, it was significantly less bad than last year. From a community impact and primary residences lost standpoint, it’s actually significantly worse than last summer,” said Kyle Williams, Deputy Director of Fire Operations at the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF). And humans caused most of this year’s fires.”(62%) Read more here in an article from the Oregon Capital Chronicle. Additionally, this Statesman Journal article also reports that while there were significantly less acreage burned (36% of the 10-year average), 64 homes and 141 other structures were lost to wildfires in Oregon during the 2025 season. It is notable that in spite of the fact that there were actually more fires in 2025 (118%) than 2024, ODF was able to keep 94% of the wildfires it responded to confined to 10 acres or less, a testament to a successful focus on “initial attack” and better coordination among agencies. Several issues dominated the discussion during November committee meetings. The House Interim Committee on Emergency Management and Veterans met November 17 and heard about those issues from the Oregon State Fire Marshal (OSFM) and ODF. Their complete report on the fire season may be found here . Among issues of concern were the very early start to the season, with the Rowena Fire taking off in early June. Close to 200 structures there were lost, including 56 residences. Travis Madema, the Chief Deputy Fire Marshal of the Department of the Oregon State Fire Marshal (OSFM) referred to the fact that a wildfire so early in the season was able to take off and do so much damage was “very concerning” and confirms the trend toward longer and more difficult wildfire seasons. He also emphasized that this year’s season saw many more fires starting both farther west in the state, and many more near communities, which obviously means worse effects on populated areas. Finally, the increase in percent of human-caused fires, and trend toward more lightning-caused fires are also troubling trends. November 18 saw a meeting of the Senate Interim Committee on Veterans, Emergency Management, Federal and World Affairs that heard from OFSM and ODF. Following up on previous points about human- and lightning-caused fires, it was noted that there were 360 lightning-caused fires for a total of 4,796 acres burned, and 796 human-caused fires, with 19,992 acres burned. OSFM Chief Mariana Ruiz-Temple relayed the concern that while early in her career, a normal season would involve 2 - 3 urban conflagrations (with local agencies calling in OSFM to assist communities with wildfires involving structures, currently it is trending close to 8 conflagrations per year. This article from Stateline highlights the dire state of homeowners’ insurance premiums in the state of California, and concerns about what that might mean for the future for Oregon in the face of increasing wildfire risks. The recommendations of the Governor’s Wildfire Programs Advisory Council outlined in their 2025 Report to the Legislature includes approaches to take proactive measures to avoid the same fate. This report is worth a read for those interested in all things wildfire and what are seen as priorities for funding by the Legislature in future sessions. Finally, of note, as reported by Willamette Week , Pacificorp will pay $150 million to 1,434 people in settlements for losses in the 2020 Labor Day fires. What this will mean for customers’ utility rates, or the ability of Pacific Power to sustain operations in this environment remains to be seen. Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Climate Emergency , Revenue , Governance , and Social Policy report sections.

CHLOE ACOSTA (she/her) CHLOE ACOSTA (she/her) Youth Legislative Communications Director Chloe Acosta is the Legislative Communications Director for the League of Women Voters of Oregon Youth Council. She is passionate about issues facing youth and health equity. Chloe has been working with the Oregon School-Based Health Alliance since 2021. She was previously a Student Health Advocate, Legislative Advocacy Intern, and an Events and Programming Intern. Chloe was recently unanimously voted into the Board of Directors and continues to advocate for school based healthcare. Chloe is also a part of Next Up Oregon’s Community Action Team where she focuses on voter education and community events. She is also a member of the Next Up Oregon’s Participatory Budgeting Committee and the Candidate Endorsement Committee. Chloe is honored to use her advocacy skills in her local community of rural Southern Oregon with the Jackson Youth Systems of Care Network. In this role, she collaborates with 80 local community professionals on accessible, effective, community-based services and supports for youth’s health and wellbeing. Chloe Acosta is a communications and political science major at Southern Oregon University. She plans to continue working in legislative advocacy and grassroots organizing after receiving her degree. Chloe is excited to be working with the League of Women Voters of Oregon to deepen advocacy skills, especially for young rural Oregonians. youthcommunications@lwvor.org

Back to All Legislative Reports Natural Resources Legislative Report - Week of 2/2 Natural Resources Team Coordinator: Peggy Lynch 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 Please see Natural Resources Overview here . Jump to a topic: Agriculture Budgets/Revenue Climate Coastal Issues Dept. of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) Drinking Water Advisory Committee (DWAC) Forestry (ODF) Governance Land Use & Housing Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) Oregon Parks and Recreation Dept. (OPRD) Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) Recycling Regional Solutions State Land Board Transportation Water Weather Wetlands Wildfire Intro It’s time! Information on the 2026 session is live ! Bills are posted and committee agendas are beginning to be posted. We encourage you to e-Subscribe to the bills you want to follow and the committees of interest. That means you will receive email notices of the bills you select and the committees you choose to follow. In a short session, it’s critical to know when the issues about which you want to follow are going to be heard/acted upon. Below you will find bills that our volunteers found of interest. You will need to look on OLIS to find the Committee to which the bills have been assigned—to be assigned on opening day Feb. 2. We will review all bills for a linkage to League positions to determine if we will provide testimony for or against. Of course, we also await the Feb. 4 th Revenue Forecast. The Full Ways and Means Committee will hold a public hearing from 5-8p on Feb. 3 rd . Individual League members are encouraged to participate, but remember that only our League President can speak on behalf of the League. See the Revenue section of this Legislative Report and sections of other Legislative Reports. AGRICULTURE By Sandra U. Bishop HB 4130 : Relating to farm use. As introduced, this bill relates to prepared farm products. This measure would seem to allow a greatly expanded variety of products to be produced and sold on farmland under the guise of clarifying the meaning of preparing farm products and by-products. Proposed changes would tie preparation of farm products or by-products to a newly defined farm unit (all parcels used for farming whether owned or leased) and to where a majority of the preparation occurs. Preparing products or by-products is defined as “… means but is not limited to cleaning, treating, cutting, sorting and packaging.” There is also a proposed language change regarding biofuel processing that would seem to open farmland for increased biofuel production. The League has concerns linked to our positions on the importance of agricultural lands for agriculture. HB 4153 : Relating to farm stores. This bill as introduced would eliminate farm stands and allow up to 10,000 square foot farm stores in permanent buildings selling products created in an enlarged region including areas of adjacent states. This would include undefined retail items allowed to take up to 25% of store space, and beverages and processed food for immediate consumption. Proposed definitions of agri-tourism range from specific allowables such as crop mazes and play structures to vague descriptors such as “… other seasonal or holiday events.” The language would seem to grant permission for any type of event. As written the proposed changes would put a burden on counties to determine any additional standards for siting farm stores. The permissive language “…may adopt sitting standards for farm stores…” is likely to leadto insufficient regulation or public accountability especially in counties that are severely underfunded and cannot afford to spend excessive staff time determining standards in individual cases of proposed farm store developments. The League has concerns linked to our positions on the importance of agricultural lands for agriculture. Public Hearing Feb. 4. The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) accepted public comments on proposed rules for the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area ( LUBGWMA) . In an article by the Oregon Capital Chronicle, it was noted: In comments shared with the Oregon Department of Agriculture and the Oregon Board of Agriculture shortly before the new year, farm groups opposed to the rules told regulators they go too far, while others contended they don’t go far enough. The Oregon Health Authority since 2024 found that at least 634 domestic drinking water wells in the area contain unsafe levels of nitrate, some with nearly 10 times the federal limit for safe drinking water, and more than 420 show elevated levels that could lead to long-term health problems. Update: Here’s the 2025 Annual Report on the LUBGWMA. The plan outlines the state’s key strategies to reduce groundwater nitrate concentrations to less than 7 milligrams per liter (mg/L) in the area and protect public health in the immediate term. The report shares progress but also notes that it will take decades to reverse the damage done to the area’s groundwater supplies. BUDGETS/REVENUE Peggy Lynch As we await the Feb. 4 th Revenue Forecast, agencies were directed to reduce their spending as well as providing a list of potential cuts of up to 5% per agency per revenue source ( General Fund, Lottery Fund, Other Funds) and to provide a list of any new programs that were approved since 2021—all due to reduced revenue forecasts, federal legislation and actions. Here are the meeting materials submitted to LFO by the 14 natural resource agencies. League members have been meeting with legislators to advocate for important programs. We can support vacancy savings (not hiring for some authorized staffing or delaying hiring), but we want to maintain the position authority for this biennium. We also recognize that losing trained staff is costly in the long term since many staff need 6-12 months to be fully trained, especially for processing permits. Working in the natural resource world which is less than 3% of the state’s budget, each cut reduces the ability for Oregon to protect our air, land and water. See the Revenue section of this Legislative Report for in depth information. We encourage you to read ALL sections. CLIMATE Claudia Keith and Team See the Climate Emergency section of this Legislative Report. There are overlaps with this Natural Resources Report. We encourage you to read both sections. COASTAL ISSUES Christine Moffitt SB 1525 will establish the Blue Economy Task Force to study and report on Oregon’s blue economy sectors, existing economic development plans and strategies, and opportunities to support the growth of sustainable blue economy businesses while maintaining the health of Oregon’s coastal ecosystems. The measure also authorizes the Oregon Ocean Science Trust to create and maintain a nonprofit organization. HB 4097 : Authorizes the Oregon Ocean Science Trust to create and maintain a nonprofit organization. LWVOR can support this bill. Public Hearing is Feb. 2 nd . Work Session set for Feb. 4. Public Access Rulemaking has begun to clarify how local governments will address protection of public access to Oregon beaches. @ dlcd.oregon.gov with questions. More information is available at OregonOcean.Info/RockyHabitats . DEPT. OF GEOLOGY AND MINERAL INDUSTRIES (DOGAMI) The federal government approves Grassy Mt. Gold Mine according to OPB. The Grassy Mountain gold mine still needs multiple state permits before moving ahead. It would occupy nearly 470 acres of public land for the next decade, and then the site would undergo a four-year restoration period and 20 years of monitoring. If this project is approved, the City of Vale will see a temporary transformation as they seek housing and other services for workers. The latest on the Grassy Mt. Gold Mine Project per the Dept. of Environmental Quality’s Director's Report : Grassy Mountain Gold Mine Project: DEQ prepared four draft permits for the Grassy Mountain project, a proposed gold mine located in Malheur County approximately 22 miles south-southwest of Vale. Mining will be sub-surface, and gold will be extracted from the ore using a cyanide extraction process. DEQ permits regulate potential releases of contaminants to air, land, and water. DEQ has been working closely with the Department of Geology and Mineral Industries and other state agencies to develop draft permits, following a consolidated permitting process that is unique to chemical process mining. DEQ is currently working with DOGAMI on draft permit conditions related to the protection of groundwater resources and solid waste management in response to preliminary comments from the applicant. DOGAMI is accepting public comments through February 6, 2026, as outlined in the public notice , including related documents. The League has followed this project—the first chemical processing gold mine proposed for Oregon. A new streamlined permitting process has been used for this application. OPB provided an article . OPB also covered exploration of a lithium mine in Southeast Oregon. Here’s an article about the effects on sage grouse of these mining operations. DRINKING WATER ADVISORY COMMITTEE (DWAC) Sandra U. Bishop The League has a standing seat on DWAC. Interactive GIS Maps for water system and source water protection have been improved. These maps are available to the public as well as water system operators and are maintained by the Oregon DEQ’s Drinking Water Protection group and may be accessed via the DWS website . FORESTRY (ODF) Josie Koehne “Governor Kotek’s second executive order ( EO 25-26 ) directs state agencies to coordinate and integrate climate-resilient strategies into existing state programs that work with the state’s natural and working lands,and waters. Those lands include state-owned forests, grasslands, rangelands, farmlands, wetlands and urban parts, and open outdoor spaces.” See the OEC Nov 25 2025 article : “What Governor Kotek’s Executive Order Rollout Means for Oregon”. The executive order did not provide funding however, which will be exceptionally limited this session due to Oregon’s revenue shortfall resulting from the federal HR 1 with major funding cuts, and caused by Oregon’s rolling connection to federal tax law. The new State Forester, recently appointed by the Governor, is Kacey KC from Nevada , who will begin in her new position on March 1st. More info from a s tory in Oregonlive. The following is a list of bills we will be watching and possibly commenting on: HB 4004 : Provides that additional taxes otherwise imposed upon disqualification of land from certain forestland special assessment programs may not be collected if the disqualification is due to the suspension of reforestation requirements as a result of insects or disease. HB 4105 : Directs the State Forester to determine the available state forestland, establish sustainable harvest levels for harvesting timber on state forestland and manage available state forestland. Allows certain persons to seek a court order if the State Forester fails to establish sustainable harvest levels or manage available state forestland. LWVOR opposed a version of this bill in 2025 and will do so in 2026. HB 4056 : Appropriates moneys to the State Forestry Department to offset landowners’ costs of fire protection provided by the department. For the biennium ending June 30, 2027, out of the General Fund, the amount of $9,000,000, for the purpose of offsetting potential increases in landowner forest patrol assessments. SB 1590 : Prohibits public bodies from assisting the federal government with privatization of certain federally owned lands. GOVERNANCE By Peggy Lynch The Natural Resources Team often follows bills related to permitting processes. Among the bills we are following: HB 4019 : Requires certain agencies to base approval or denial of an application for a new permit on the rules and standards that are applicable at the time that the agency determines the application is complete. HB 4020 : Requires certain agencies to specify the authority justifying the denial of a permit application and provide the applicant a guide on how to contest the denial. HB 4084 : Establishes the Joint Permitting Council. (Governor’s bill) SB 1586 : Modifies the tax credit allowed for semiconductor research. Creates and amends certain programs offering tax breaks related to advanced manufacturing, enterprise zones and regionally significant industrial sites. Directs certain state agencies to establish deadlines within which the agency intends to process applications for permits and make the deadlines available to the public. Directs certain state agencies to publish a catalog of permits issued by the agency within 60 days after the effective date of the Act. LAND USE & HOUSING Peggy Lynch Bills we are watching: t HB 4113 : Requires the Department of Land Conservation and Development to study housing development opportunities conditioned upon land conservation. Directs the department to submit findings to the interim committees of the Legislative Assembly related to land use no later than September 15, 2027. HB 4035 : Expands eligibility for cities and Metro to amend their urban growth boundaries under temporary program. Authorizes the Land Conservation and Development Commission to issue grants to implement the commission’s duties. HB 4082 : Adds to a temporary UGB addition program an option for each city or Metro to also add to its urban growth boundary a site for manufactured dwelling parks, or for housing for older persons, that is affordable for households with incomes not more than 120 percent of area median income. Public Hearing Feb. 3. SB 1586 : Modifies the tax credit allowed for semiconductor research. Creates and amends certain programs offering tax breaks related to advanced manufacturing, enterprise zones and regionally significant industrial sites. Directs certain state agencies to establish deadlines within which the agency intends to process applications for permits and make the deadlines available to the public. Directs certain state agencies to publish a catalog of permits issued by the agency within 60 days after the effective date of the Act. Adds rural reserves in Washington County to Metro to be used for high technology and advanced manufacturing purposes. See more on this omnibus bill in the Revenue Legislative Report. The League has major concerns about sections of this bill. The 2025-27 Policy Agenda was approved by LCDC on Oct. 24. There will be seven rulemakings on Housing alone, including: Housing Rulemaking for HB 2138 and HB 2258 (2025) and Rulemaking to clarify and allow housing and other needed development outside of wetlands. The rulemaking would create an optional, alternative compliance pathway for wetlands resources when a city is preparing to annex lands from the urban growth boundary (UGB) to accommodate needed housing and economic development. See their Rulemaking page for more info on all the rules work being done by this agency. See also the Housing Report in the Social Policy section of this Legislative Report. OREGON DEPT. OF FISH AND WILDLIFE (ODFW) Melanie Moon HB 4134 is a bipartisan bill that would increase the state tax from 1.5% to 2.75% for transient visitors to Oregon including camping, hotels and vacation rentals. This 1.25% increase has the potential to raise tens of millions of dollars urgently needed by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to protect hundreds of imperiled species and the habitat that supports them. As an added benefit, this investment in wildlife and habitat would help protect clean drinking water and provide protection from drought and wildfires. LWVOR signed on to a letter in support . High Country News provides an article on this bill. Hearing Feb. 4. OREGON PARKS AND RECREATION DEPT (OPRD) Peggy Lynch The League is working with others to address the fiscal crisis at OPRD. Oregonlive provides an article on ways they are nibbling around the edges. But OPRD is responsible not only for our wonderful state parks, but also historical sites. Many need infrastructure repairs. There is a conversation around getting some amount of bonding to help with this maintenance, but also setting up a Task Force to study new long term operational funding options. The League studied Oregon Parks in 1998: Oregon State Parks, Part 1 (PDF, 7 pgs) Oregon State Parks, Part 2 (PDF, 9 pgs) . OREGON WATERSHED ENHANCEMENT BOARD (OWEB) The Oregon Environmental Restoration Council (OERC) held a virtual meeting on January 22. The agenda and meeting materials are available on OERC’s website. The Interim Ways and Means Committee approved an Other Funds expenditure limitation increase of $35 million to be included in the 2026 budget reconciliation bill. RECYCLING HB 4144 : Requires producers of batteries or battery-containing products to join a battery producer responsibility organization and implement a battery producer responsibility program for the collection and recycling of batteries. Public Hearing Feb. 2. REGIONAL SOLUTIONS The Regional Solutions Program : Within each of the 11 Regions, which are tied to Oregon’s federally designated Economic Development Districts, a Governor-appointed Advisory Committee sets Regional Priorities and a cross-functional Team of state agency staff works together to move projects forward. If you know anyone who may benefit from these publications, please direct them to this signup page . The public is welcome to attend virtually or in person. Go to the program website and to the region to find the agendas and meeting materials posted a few days before the meetings. Public Comment is usually scheduled. Upcoming Regional Solutions Advisory Committee (RSAC) Meetings: Regional Solutions: South Central (Klamath and Lake Counties) February 17th from 9:00am-11:00am Mid-Valley (Marion, Polk, and Yamhill Counties) March 12th from 1:30-3:30pm Southern (Jackson and Josephine Counties) March 25th from 12:00-2:00pm South Valley/Mid-Coast (Benton, Lane, Lincoln, and Linn Counties) March 26th from 1:00-3:00pm STATE LAND BOARD Peggy Lynch The State Land Board will meet Feb. 10. The agenda and meeting materials will be available soon. The League follows these meetings since the Governor, Secretary of State and State Treasurer comprise the Board membership. TRANSPORTATION (ODOT) Update Jan. 21: Referral vote on funding parts of HB 3991 (2025) may be held May 19 instead of November per this press release from Legislative Leadership. But a bill needs to be passed and signed by the Governor by Feb. 25 per the Oregon Secretary of State’s office per the Salem Reporter . See details in the January 26 Legislative Report. One critic’s funding answer . The Statesman Journal reported : The Oregon Department of Transportation faces a budget gap of $242 million for the 2025-2027 budget cycle, ODOT leaders told staff Dec. 23. "It’s a smaller gap, and while that’s good news, it’s still big enough to require service level cuts and future layoffs if we have to manage this on our own with existing revenue and within existing spending restrictions," ODOT director Kris Strickler and incoming interim director Lisa Sumption wrote in an email to staff . A press release from ODOT on Jan. 14 reports: Impacts of Funding Gap Isn’t Addressed. In the upcoming short session, legislators will be looking at a $297 million funding target to support ODOT’s operations beyond June 30, 2027. Without new resources for the current budget cycle, the agency estimates it would need to reduce its workforce by more than 1,000 positions, including eliminating570 vacant positions and laying off approximately 470 current employees. The House Transportation Committee shared their Committee LCs and the Senate Transportation Committee did the same for the 2026 session. KATU reminded Oregonians of the need for road maintenance. WATER Peggy Lynch Bills of concern: HB 4006 : Authorizes holders of certain Columbia River water rights to change the point of diversion or use the water right on land to which the right is not appurtenant, provided certain conditions are met. HB 4049 : Directs the Water Resources Commission to encourage and approve voluntary agreements between ground water users in the Greater Harney Valley Groundwater Area of Concern to achieve reasonably stable ground water levels League members may want to check the U. S. Drought Monitor , a map that is updated every Thursday. Governor Kotek has declared a drought in eight counties ( map ) . Here is a more complete website about drought in Oregon. We all need to pay attention to the potential for harmful algal blooms ( HABs) . “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. Information on current advisories can be found on the OHA’s cyanobacteria bloom webpage at healthoregon.org/hab . The OHA has an online photo gallery to help community members identify signs of potentially harmful blooms. WEATHER Snow pack on Mt. Hood per this Jan. 22 nd Oregonlive article : As of Wednesday, the snow water equivalent at Mount Hood stood at 10 inches, which represents the third-lowest total for this point in a water year since 1980. Here is a statewide map as of Jan. 25 th from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. KOIN provides concerns about next week’s rain in this Jan. 27 th article. WETLANDS Peggy Lynch SB 1584 : Directs the Department of State Lands, in consultation with the State Department of Fish and Wildlife, to develop a salmon credit pilot program to encourage the voluntary restoration of salmonid habitat in the Coquille and Coos watershed basins. Establishes the Salmon Credit Trust Fund. Directs the Department of State Lands and the State Department of Fish and Wildlife to consult with the United States Army Corps of Engineers to seek federal approval for a bank instrument and authorization of activities that occur in navigable waters of the United States. Becomes operative on the date that the federal authorization and bank instrument are approved. Provides that the Department of State Lands may not approve a salmon credit project on or after January 1 of the sixth year following federal approval. The League has opposed similar bills in the past, including SB 511 (2025). We will again oppose. Public Hearing Feb. 3. The League was pleased to learn that LWVUS provided comments on the proposed changes to the Waters of the U. S. (WOTUS) rules “Waters of the United States.” LWVUS believes that the changes would significantly impair water quality protections around the country and filed a comment letter . We shared these comments with the Oregon state agency directors who provided comments to the EPA and U. S. Army Corps of Engineers on the proposed changes to the Waters of the U. S. (WOTUS) rules. They were appreciative. WILDFIRE Carolyn Mayers Bills we are watching: SB 1540 : Requires an insurer that uses a catastrophe model or wildfire risk model to provide the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services a description of each model, along with related information, and an explanation of how the insurer uses the model in underwriting decisions. Specifies elements that an insurer must include in each model and requires the insurer to give a premium discount or adjustment, or other incentive, to a policy holder that demonstrates having undertaken a property-specific mitigation action or that a community-level mitigation action occurred in proximity to the policy holder’s property. SB 1551 : Invalidates deed restrictions and planned community governing documents prohibiting the removal of non-fire-hardened building materials or installation of fire-hardened building materials on residential properties. Public Hearing Feb. 3. Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Climate Emergency , Revenue , Governance , and Social Policy report sections.

Back to All Legislative Reports Social Policy Legislative Report - Week of 3/17 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: After School and Summer Behavioral Health Education Gun Policy Healthcare Housing Reproductive Health After School and Summer By Katie Riley During the week of March 10 the Joint Committee on Ways & Means on Education heard testimony from the Department of Education regarding their budget requests. The reports included another review of the results of the 2024 HB 4082 summer funding and proposed 2025 funding of $78.5 million (includes funding for 7 ODE positions to collect and analyze data). On March 13th HB 2007 was filed to amend the summer learning grant program to provide specific requirements to increase accountability regarding academic learning. The bill does not differentiate between summer school and after school hours' activities. On March 12 the Senate Committee on Education heard testimony on SB 141 to study methods to increase accountability in education. This bill seems more aspirational in terms of designing accountability for the future. Possibly, there may be some meshing of requirements. It is hoped that separate funding of afterschool and summer after school hours funding can be provided through SB 876 and HB3162. Behavioral Health By Stephanie Aller HB 2059 directs the Oregon Health Authority to create a unit dedicated to building sufficient adult behavioral health facilities in the state. The bill will have a public hearing before the House Committee on Behavioral Health and Health Care on March 25. HB 3129 establishes the Higher Education Behavioral Health Workforce Expansion Fund. The bill had a public hearing in front of the House Committee on Higher Education and Workforce Development on February 25. LWVOR submitted testimony for that hearing. Another public hearing and work session has been scheduled for March 18. SB 527 had a public hearing in front of the Senate Committee on Early Childhood and Behavioral Health on March 13. The bill directs OHA to distribute grants to local workforce development boards. The local workforce boards would partner with other entities to conduct behavioral health education and training for high school students. Senator Patterson testified that SB 527 is the only bill this session focused on training workers for entry-level jobs in behavioral health. It is based on a successful pilot program in Marion County. Education By Jean Pierce Recent Advocacy – Removing Cap on Special Education funding HB 2953-A LWVOR submitted testimony supporting HB2953-A, which would remove the percentage cap on the amount of money distributed from the State School Fund to districts for special education students. Eighty-eight percent of school districts throughout Oregon have exceeded the cap, but the waiver which is available to those districts has covered only 30% of the amount of funding which they received for students under the cap. Since public schools are required to accommodate these students’ needs, they must make cuts in other programs. Education Budget Request Reports The Joint Subcommittee on Education is currently hearing from agencies describing how they have used funding and their plans for the future. Resources for the discussion include the powerpoint for this week’s presentations which address provisions of SB5515 . This gives a valuable overview of Department of Education agencies. Presentations are scheduled to continue at least until March 25th. Impact of Federal Actions on Oregon During the past week, the workforce at the U.S. Department of Education was slashed in half. Although shutting down the Department altogether would require a vote from Congress, slashing the staff would achieve a similar result. Just last month, hundreds of millions in research grants funded by USED were cut . According to OPB. ”public records provided by OSU and Portland State University, the grant-funded work that’s been directed to stop varies widely from wildfire research to cybersecurity training to behavioral healthcare studies. The orders originate from a dozen different federal agencies. Among others, PSU has received orders to pause studies funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the U.S. Department of Transportation and Department of Energy. OSU received similar directions from the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Interior Department.” The University of Oregon is frequently updating this webpage announcing federal executive orders and research activities. Thousands of hearings on discrimination in the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) were cancelled when half of the OCR offices were closed around the country. Oregonians are referred to the Seattle branch of OCR, which remains open. More than 300 employees in the Federal Student Aid office were terminated, as well, slashing more than a quarter of the division in charge of student loans and college tuition grants. Nevertheless, the DOE claims that it will "continue to deliver on all statutory programs that fall under the agency's purview, including formula funding, student loans, Pell Grants, funding for special needs students, and competitive grantmaking. Unfortunately, no plan has been suggested for how that might happen. The Education Law Center has a helpful tool showing how much federal funding for K-12 education each state is receiving for FY 2025. The total for Oregon is more than $433 Million. This includes close to $200 million for Title 1 (funding for educating low income students) and more than $170 million for IDEA (funding education of students with special needs). While chaos in the Department of Education is capturing the headlines, Congress is also poised to consider S 292, The Educational Choice for Children Act, a $10 billion dollar annual national private school voucher program. Donors would receive tax credits for up to 10% of their adjusted gross income. In Oregon, this could mean initiatives like school vouchers, tax credits, or education savings accounts (ESAs) that would allow parents to use public funds for their child's education at a school of their choice, including private and homeschooling. Many of these private schools are religious. Equally concerning is that the bill prohibits measures of accountability – donors would simply need to claim that the expenses have some connection to education. It is possible that this measure, which is proposing a change in the tax code, will be folded into a large budget reconciliation bill. The bill represents the federal government’s plans to phase out funding of public education. The loss of roughly 10% (or more for some districts) of total funding that comes from the federal government would be devastating to students and schools in public schools in Oregon. Gun Policy By Marge Easley On March 13, the House and Senate Judiciary Committees held a joint informational hearing on gun policy with invited testimony from a wide range of gun violence prevention groups, including the Alliance for a Safe Oregon, OHSU Gun Violence Prevention Research Center, Johns Hopkins University Center for Gun Violence Solutions, Portland Police Bureau, Brady United, Giffords Law Center, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Everytown for Gun Safety, and Multnomah County Public Health Department. The purpose was to underscore the need for additional gun safety laws and to set the stage for upcoming hearings. HB 3075 , the first gun bill of the session, contains the nuts-and-bolts implementation details for Measure 114 and will be heard in House Judiciary on March 17. Measure 114, strongly supported by the League and passed by voters in 2022, requires a permit to purchase a firearm and bans high-capacity magazines. Since that time it has been held up in the courts on constitutional grounds, but on March 12 a long-awaited verdict from the Oregon Court of Appeals declared it constitutional. A likely appeal will take the case to the Oregon Supreme Court, but passage of HB 3075, along with the -1 amendment , will help to ensure a smooth roll-out of the measure. HB 3076 , which d irects the Department of Justice to study the establishment of a state gun dealer licensing program, has a March 20 hearing date. The aim is to prevent the flow of illegal guns to our communities by way of gun shop thefts and straw purchases. The League will be submitting supportive testimony. Healthcare By Christa Danielson HB 2010 A will continue critical state funding for the Oregon Health Plan by continuing the assessments on health plans, hospitals and the Oregon reinsurance program. The bill has passed through the House and Revenue Committees and will be having the final reading in the Senate on Monday March 17th. The League submitted testimony. HB 2040 would establish a complaint process for providers to submit complaints against health insurers to the Department of Consumer and Business Services or Oregon Health Authority, Still in committee, no hearing as yet. SB 296 would study 1) ways to expedite eligibility for Medicaid for patients leaving the hospital, 2) needed changes to regulations around adult foster homes and residential care facilities and 3) how to expand medical respite programs.This bill was formed from a work group to study discharges from the hospital to relieve bottlenecking and long stays in the hospital. Has passed the Senate. Referred to Ways and Means. HB 3225 stipulates that to have controlling interest in a practice of medicine the physicians must be licensed in this state, be actively involved in managing patient’s care and reside within the state. Public hearing scheduled 3/25. Housing By Nancy Donovan and Debbie Aiona LWVOR submitted a letter in support of HB 2968 -- Delayed schedule fee payment, Municipal Development Protection Fund . This bill, if passed, will reduce development costs for new housing projects and at the same time ensure that local jurisdictions receive the System Development Charge (SDC) payments they need to build the infrastructure needed to support the growth that comes along with new housing. HB 2968 allows local governments to defer SDC payments owed by developers until 180 days after the certificate of occupancy has been issued. Affordable housing developers would have up to one year to pay their fees. Oregon Housing and Community Services would create a Municipal Development Protection Fund to cover the cost of unpaid fees. The Fund would be responsible for collecting unpaid fees from the developers. This program will reduce costs for all housing developers by reducing the need to take on debt in order to cover their fees but will benefit low-income housing developers to an even greater extent. SB 722 is scheduled for a public hearing on March 19 before the Senate Committee on Housing and Development. The bill would prohibit residential landlords from using Artificial Intelligence (AI) software to artificially set rents or occupancy rates. The bill would amend the Landlord-Tenant Act to prohibit the use of price-fixing AI software. This practice is the subject of national attention and concern, and Oregon has joined a federal lawsuit in opposition of this practice. Many local jurisdictions are trying to curtail the use of this tool to protect renters from such rent spikes. It also shortens the new construction exemption for rent stabilization from 15 years to 7 years, protecting Oregonians in newer units from unlimited rent hikes while still promoting development and preventing gentrification-driven displacement. HB 2964 is scheduled for a public hearing by the House Committee on Housing and Homelessness on March 19. This bill would require Housing and Community Services (OHCS) to fund predevelopment costs to develop affordable housing for low-income households to rent or own. The Department will also provide technical assistance to nonprofits who receive grants or loans. The bill would establish an Affordable Housing Predevelopment Loan Fund. Money from the General Fund will be allocated to the department to award grants and loans for predevelopment costs of developing housing subject to affordability restrictions to make the properties affordable to low-income households. Reproductive Health By Patricia Garner SB 548, that requires an individual to be age 18 in order to marry passed the Senate with only one Nay vote. It has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee. At this time there is no organized opposition against the bill. The League submitted testimony for it. Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Climate Emergency , Governance , and Natural Resources report sections.

NABILA KHAN (she/her) NABILA KHAN (she/her) Youth Advocacy Co Director youthadvocacy@lwvor.org

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

League of Women Voters of Deschutes County since 2003 and on the local league board since 2017, as Event Chair and Program/Study Chair until present. Leader for LWVDC Study on Affordable Housing, completed in February 2021. Volunteered as LWVOR Interim Program/ Research Study Chair in October 2022 and was elected as Issues Positions Chair at State Convention in May 2023 (Term May 2023 to May 2025). Elected to Nominating Committee Chair in May 2025 (Term May 2025-May 2027) Annie relocated to Bend in 2002 and worked part-time as a long-term care assessment nurse and ran a bed and breakfast for 17 years. One of the primary reasons she moved to Bend was to become involved in and supportive of the community in a small town. She has volunteered with neighborhood associations and city committees. Annie has lived in Milwaukee, Denver, Washington DC, and New York City and has founded several businesses. She is an entrepreneur and community activist to the core! Annie is mom to three grown children and Granny Annie to five grandchildren living in Brooklyn, LA and Denver. Annie’s life joy is visiting with family as often as possible. Annie Goldner Nominating Committee Chair League of Women Voters of Deschutes County since 2003 and on the local league board since 2017, as Event Chair and Program/Study Chair until present. Leader for LWVDC Study on Affordable Housing, completed in February 2021. Volunteered as LWVOR Interim Program/ Research Study Chair in October 2022 and was elected as Issues Positions Chair at State Convention in May 2023 (Term May 2023 to May 2025). Elected to Nominating Committee Chair in May 2025 (Term May 2025-May 2027) Annie relocated to Bend in 2002 and worked part-time as a long-term care assessment nurse and ran a bed and breakfast for 17 years. One of the primary reasons she moved to Bend was to become involved in and supportive of the community in a small town. She has volunteered with neighborhood associations and city committees. Annie has lived in Milwaukee, Denver, Washington DC, and New York City and has founded several businesses. She is an entrepreneur and community activist to the core! Annie is mom to three grown children and Granny Annie to five grandchildren living in Brooklyn, LA and Denver. Annie’s life joy is visiting with family as often as possible.

Back to All Legislative Reports Governance Internships Legislative Report - Week of 2/12 Governance Team Coordinator: Becky Gladstone and Chris Cobey Artificial Intelligence: Lindsey Washburn Campaign Finance Reform: Norman Turrill Conflicts of Interest/Legislative Ethics: Chris Cobey CEI - Critical Energy Infrastructure : Nikki Mandell and Laura Rogers Cybersecurity Privacy, Election Issues, Electronic Portal Advisory Board: Becky Gladstone Election Systems: Barbara Klein Emergency Preparedness: Cate Arnold Immigration, Refugee, and Asylum: Claudia Keith Redistricting: Norman Turrill, Chris Cobey State Audit Working Group: Sheila Golden Voting Rights of Incarcerated People: Marge Easley Jump to a topic: Senate and House Rules Committees House Rules Committee Senate Committee on Education Elections, Campaign Finance, and In Memoriam for Alice Bartelt By Norman Turrill, Governance Coordinator, and Team Senate Rules Committee SB 1538 is an election law clean-up bill that makes many changes, was amended in several details and passed out of the Senate Rules Committee on 2/15. The amendments concerned translating voters’ pamphlets; removing the redundant vote tally machine certification just before tallying begins; reducing the number of voter registration cards to 500 that could be obtained, issuing a certificate of ascertainment of presidential electors; increasing the upper limits for a candidate not to be required to file campaign finance reports; and allowing campaign contributions to be used to pay civil penalties for campaign violations. House Rules Committee HB 4021 , which requires the Governor to fill a vacancy in the office of U.S. Senator by appointment within 30 days until a special election can fill the vacancy, had a public hearing. HB 4031 , which requires the Public Records Advisory Council to study public records, passed out of committee without recommendation and was sent to the Revenue Committee. HB 4032 , which removes the requirement that the word “incumbent” appear on the ballot with the name of incumbent candidates for the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Oregon Tax Court, and circuit court, had a public hearing. HB 4117 , which authorizes the Oregon Government Ethics Commission to issue advisory opinions on the application of the public meetings law, and which provides a technical fix to a bill passed in 2023 session, passed out of committee to 2 nd reading, the rules of the House were suspended, and the bill was passed immediately and unanimously. Senate Committee on Education SB 1502 requires public schools and college boards to livestream their meetings and post the meeting recordings on their websites and social media sites. It allows remote testimony for most school and college board meetings. The bill passed out of committee and was referred to Ways and Means. Elections, Campaign Finance, and In Memoriam for Alice Bartelt By Rebecca Gladstone Three bills that received League testimony passed from committees this week. News swirls for others, and we are poised to act on them. These two bills were heard in Senate Rules and both passed, with League support: Increase Voters’ Pamphlet Languages SB 1533 : This bill would increase the number of languages other than English for State Voters’ Pamphlets, adjusted for predominating languages by county. We provided written testimony . As well as virtual League testimony starts at 1:25) . The bill passed unanimously, with one excused. Synthetic Media in Campaign Ads, aka Deep Fakes SB 1571 -1 : League testimony was quickly revised for the -1 amendment and our verbal testimony, (video starting at 50 minutes ), was targeted to issues raised during the public hearing. The -1 amendment replaced “artificial intelligence” with the applied term “synthetic media”. The bill passed unanimously, with four more amendments filed. See Oregon lawmakers consider regulating use of AI in campaign ads , OPB, 14 Feb, 2024. A third bill, from sponsor Sen. Manning, was heard in Senate Veterans, Emergency Management, Federal and World Affairs Committee: Automatic Voter Registration for students SB 1577 -3 : The original bill would have automatically registered students from their college applications via the Dept of Revenue. The amended bill would have Elections and County Elections departments study the feasibility of registering student citizen voters. The clear emphasis on eligible voters, with only citizens being eligible, was not clear to many who sent testimony. It passed from committee on partisan lines, with supportive League testimony (video starting at 1:19), and on the record . Campaign Finance: LWVOR supports IP 9 and is actively collecting signatures, as part of the Honest Elections Coalition . LWVOR and Common Cause are the good government groups mentioned in OPB this week: Democrats and Republicans often clash on the subject, but are hoping to avoid a messy ballot fight . A placeholder bill, HB 4024 , could be pressed into service from unusual partners, labor and business, who are otherwise promoting IP 42, against IP 9. This is presumably hoping to forestall the impending faceoff between the two competing campaign finance petitions. Campaign work for IP 9 is in high gear with discussions between Honest Elections, legislative members, top state leadership, and the press. Senate Commemorative Resolution, In Memoriam: Alice Bartelt, 1947-2023 , SCR 203: We understand from staff that the bill sponsor, Senate President Wagner, has moved the hearing date to Feb. 22, 3pm. It is not yet posted on OLIS. Staff requests that anyone wishing to testify please contact their office at carol.suzuki@oregonlegislature.gov , so that timing can be arranged.

Back to All Legislative Reports Social Policy Legislative Report - Sine Die 2024 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: After School and Summer Care Behavioral Health and Related Public Safety Issues Education K-12 related Bills Healthcare Higher Education Housing Immigration/Refugee Violence Prevention and Gun Policy Volunteers Needed After School and Summer Care By Katie Riley LWVOR wrote testimony supporting a bill which would have provided $50 million to support summer learning through ODE to school districts. HB4082 , which included an appropriation of $30 million for 2024 summer care plus additional funding for ODE administration and authorized formation of a work group to plan for future afterschool and summer programs was passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor. ODE has notified school districts of allocations and a process for applications for 2024 summer funding. The task force has not been set up to date. Behavioral Health and Related Public Safety Issues By Karen Nibler and Jean Pierce HB4002 A , the “Oregon Drug Intervention Plan'' was signed by the Governor and took effect April 1st. This version is very similar to HB 4002-24, for which the League wrote testimony . Here is a flow chart which describes the provisions. Companion Bills: The Governor also signed HB 4001 A to study specialty courts for drug offenses and costs of deflection programs in the Oregon Health Authority programs; HB 5204A which provides $211M to implement HB 4002 in the community corrections programs and $4M to train behavioral health workers; HB 4151 B which supports the University of Oregon work on the youth behavioral health workforce; HB 4136 A to provide funds to increase health care access and divert from emergency rooms in Eugene, which is recognized for its mobile teams for substance abuse incidents. Education K-12 related Bills By Anne Nesse Bills that we did not testify on, but did pass into law, that significantly relate to education : SB 1557 E , requiring the Oregon Health Authority to ensure that all children or youth up to age 21, who are eligible for home or community-based services in mental health receive the services to which they are entitled, passed the Legislature on 3/7. The Governor signed this into law on 4/4. Subsidized childcare will be funded at approximately $170 M, for the Employment Related Day Care program. A program which pays almost the entire cost of child care for about 12,000 low-income families, preventing a budget deficit, noted in an article located here . Funding was allocated inside the omnibus funding Bill, SB 5701 A . An historic public/private partnership was announced by Governor Kotek on 4/17 to allow even more increased funding for child care. that adds $5 million from the Oregon CHIPS Act, and will be allocated to the new Oregon CHIPS Child Care Fund created by HB4098 E, bringing the total starting capacity of the fund to $7.5 million. Business Oregon will establish a work group to adopt recommendations for requiring certain businesses to make a financial contribution to the CHIPS Child Care Fund. The work group will report to the committees of the Legislative Assembly related to child care and workforce development by November 15, 2024. Business Oregon Director Sophorn Cheang said. “This program plays a big part in addressing this need within the semiconductor sector and can serve as a model for other industries in years to come.” Here is the announcement . Bills we did testify on, and that did pass into law in the short 2024 Session: SB 1552 B , creating a State Youth Advisory Board, and many other educational changes needed in an Omnibus Educational Bill, passed the Legislature on 3/7. Our LWVOR testimony in support of this Bill is here . The Governor signed this into law on 4/4. The following Bills which we testified on, but did not have time to pass the legislature in the short 2024 session. A few of these Bills, may return in the long Session of 2025: SB 1583 A , prohibited discrimination when selecting instructional materials, or books used in state public schools, had passed the Senate on 2/27, but remained in House Rules as of 3/6, without passage. This Bill had included additional language, already existing in current law, that had prohibited discrimination in selection of materials in public schools. Our LWVOR testimony is here . HB 4078 A , directed ODE to implement a standardized method for school districts to electronically collect, and use student data, did not have time to pass during the short session. Our LWVOR testimony supporting this Bill is here. HB 4079 , attempted to remove the percentage cap on the amount of moneys that are distributed from the State School Fund to school districts for students eligible for special education. Our LWVOR testimony supporting this Bill is here . Healthcare By Christa Danielson HB 4149 Requires Pharmacy Benefits Managers to be licensed by the Department of Consumer and Business Services; requires PBMs to report specific information to the DBcS; and allows policy holders of insurance to choose their pharmacy. The bill also prevents "claw-backs”- preventing PBMs from requesting repayment of funds it initially paid. The league advocated for supporting 4149 to increase transparency and clarify the hidden costs of pharmaceuticals. Also the bill helps rural pharmacies by allowing the patients to choose their pharmacies and preventing charging more after the sale of a medication. There are many more aspects of the bill and of the topic in general. There will be a work group over the summer to address these. Signed by Governor Kotek 4/4/2024 HB 4130 Strengthens bans against Corporate Practice of Medicine. The league advocated for the bill to prevent corporations from taking over the practice of medicine and to allow healthcare providers to make decisions about patient care. This bill is also in line with the National League’s Position on health care which supports a national health insurance plan financed through general taxes and is opposed to a strictly market-based model of financing healthcare. The league supports the single payer concept as a viable and desirable approach to implementing league positions on equitable access, affordability and financial viability. See the LWV Health Care Reform TOOLKIT . Also HCR4US works well. Bill was at the Senate President’s desk at adjournment. Higher Education By Jean Pierce LWVOR wrote testimony supporting a bill which would have provided $6 million to public universities to train additional mental health professionals. There is currently a mental health workforce shortage in practically every county in Oregon, and this is preventing people with substance use disorders from obtaining the treatment they need. HB 5204 A , which included an appropriation of $4 million for the training, was signed by the Governor. The tuition and fees required for public 4-year colleges in Oregon rank in the top third of the nation for expense. Furthermore, tuition and fees only account for 47% of the total cost of attendance of attending a public college in the state. HB 4162 would have provided funds to help pay for basic needs of students such as food and housing. Despite the League’s support, the bill did not advance. Housing By Debbie Aiona, Nancy Donovan A number of organizations advocating for sufficient funding to preserve existing low-income housing, including the League , were not successful in their request that the Legislature provide $30 million in lottery-backed bonds for housing preservation in HB 5201 . The League supported and the legislature passed SB 1530 , the governor’s housing investment package that included funding for housing stability, infrastructure development, housing production, climate impacts, and recovery housing. Unfortunately, the final version of the bill did not include $15 million for affordable homeownership the League supported . It did include $5 million for the Individual Development Account program, less than the $10 million the League urged the legislature to allocate in order to maintain current service levels. Here is the Governor’s signed letter . A large number of organizations with an interest in land use, the environment, and housing signed on to a group letter stating their support for Oregon’s land use system and environmental protection with information on steps Oregon can take to produce more housing while at the same time adhering to established practices. The League supported , but the legislature did not pass, HB 4099 that would have given affordable housing developers more time to pay their System Development Charge fees in order to reduce the overall cost of development. HB 4134 , which the legislature passed and the League supported , provides state grants for specific infrastructure projects in communities throughout the state intended to make land available for housing development. Immigration / Refugee By Claudia Keith HB 4085 A – Directs DHS to give grants for legal assistance to help noncitizens get lawful immigration. Fiscal $6.3M, adds 2 positions / 1.2 FTE. League testimon y, currently in J W&Ms. Feb 19 HB 4085 -1 Preliminary SMS . Policy bill died in JWM. This funding may appear at the end of session JWM omnibus bill - see below. SB1578A which directs the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to establish and maintain a management system to schedule appointments and process billing for health care interpreters was amended to limit the service to Oregon Health Plan Members. The amended bill was passed by the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Capital Construction March 1st and was referred to the full committee. The Staff analysis of the measure reports that these interpreters are needed to facilitate communication between healthcare providers and patients with limited English proficiency as well as the deaf and hard of hearing. According to the latest U.S. Census American Community Survey, there are 216,654 people in Oregon with limited English proficiency. Passed, Governor was asked to veto that request was denied. Twenty-Nine GOP Lawmakers Ask Kotek to Veto Medical Interpreter Bill . | Willamette Weekly SB5701 End of Session JWM Funding Agency $M Description DHS 2 Refugee Newcomer Support Services Pilot. Short term Grants will be awarded eligible newcomers, such as shelter, food, housing, and case management services 8 awarding grants to organizations providing culturally. responsive services supporting economic stability. DOE/DELC 0.8 ERDC program resources for English-speaking and non-English-speaking communities. DOE HE 6.1 public university educator preparation programs for linguistic and cultural diversity of students and diverse teacher candidates -2.5 Reduces General Fund appropriation to DHS’ Self Sufficiency Programs by $2.5 million to reflect lower than budgeted costs for closure of the temporary state-operated Welcome Center. one-time basis to transition asylum seekers. 4 Latino Network for the La Plaza Esperanza service hub for Portland and Gresham residents. (Capital Project) 2.5 Oregon Vietnamese American Cultural Center to support the acquisition and development of a community center. (Capital Project) Violence Prevention and Gun Policy By Marge Easley SB 1503, supported by the League, was one of the few violence prevention bills to make it through the session. It establishes the Task Force on Community Safety and Firearm Suicide Prevention, whose 17 members include legislators and representatives from state agencies, behavioral and public healthcare groups, and communities most impacted by suicide. Also included in the bill is an allocation of $250,000 to the Oregon Department of Justice to support the task force and fund outside research on firearm suicide prevention. Findings will be reported back to the Legislature over the next two years. We were also pleased to see bipartisan support for and passage of HB 4156 , which strengthens and modernizes Oregon’s anti-stalking law and includes much-needed provisions for the crimes of cyberstalking and internet harassment. Although unrelated to the session, two other gun policy issues should be noted. We continue to monitor the legal status of Measure 114, passed by Oregon voters in 2022 with the strong support of the League. The measure mandates a permit to purchase a firearm and places a ban on high-capacity magazines, However, it remains on hold as it makes its way through the appeals court system, and we await an opportunity to join an amicus brief. Also, in November 2023, at the request of LWVUS, we offered comments on a proposed federal rule to broaden the definition of “engaged in the business” as a dealer in firearms to include online sales and gun shows. We recently received thanks from LWVUS along with the news that the U.S. Attorney General signed the final rule on April 10, 2024. Volunteers Needed What is your passion related to Social Policy? You can help. V olunteers are needed. The long legislative session begins in January of 2025. In addition to the topics listed above, we need League members interested in Criminal Justice and in Mental Health. If any area of Social Policy is of interest to you, please contact Jean Pierce, Social Policy Coordinator, at SocialPolicy@lwvor.org . Training will be offered.

Back to All Legislative Reports Governance Internships Legislative Report - Week of 1/10-1/17 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 Campaign Finance Reform Redistricting Election Methods Cybersecurity and ORMAPs Rights of Incarcerated People Volunteers Needed Governance By Norman Turrill, Governance Coordinator, and Team Campaign Finance Reform SB 162 : Establishes Small Donor Elections Program to enable candidates for state Representative and state Senator offices to receive 6-to-1 match on small dollar contributions. (at the request of Secretary of State Shemia Fagan) SB 170 : Requires Secretary of State to study how best to improve Oregon's campaign finance system. (at the request of Secretary of State Shemia Fagan) SB 500 : Prohibits candidates for state office from accepting contributions in excess of amounts specified and from sources not specified. (Chief Sponsor: Senator Golden) HB 2003 : Establishes limits on campaign contributions that may be accepted by candidates and political committees; providing that this Act shall be referred to the people for their approval or rejection. (Chief Sponsors: Rep. Rayfield, Holvey, Valderrama) HB 2106 : Requires Secretary of State to study how best to ensure transparency through reporting of campaign contributions and independent expenditures. (at the request of Secretary of State Shemia Fagan) HB 2695 : Requires paid-for-by tagline on political communications by candidate to identify top five large donors to candidate's principal campaign committee. (Chief Sponsor: Rep. Rayfield) HJM 1 : Applies to Congress to call convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution that address campaign finance reform. (Chief Sponsor: Rep. Rayfield) The Honest Elections Oregon coalition, of which the LWV of Oregon is a part, has filed two initiatives for the 2024 general election ballot. Both IP 8 and IP 9 are in the long ballot title process and have received certified ballot titles from the Attorney General’s office. These are now on appeal to the Oregon Supreme Court. Redistricting By Chris Cobey and Norman Turrill The People Not Politicians coalition, in which the LWV of Oregon is a leader, has now received certified ballot titles for its two initiatives for the 2024 general election ballot, IP 13 and IP 14 . The coalition will now decide which of these to circulate and begin collecting petition signatures, probably in February. Several related bills have been filed in the Legislature: SB 173 : Requires Secretary of State to study how to best improve the process for conducting state legislative and congressional reapportionment in this state. Directs the secretary to submit findings to interim committees of the Legislative Assembly related to elections not later than September 15, 2024. (at the request of Secretary of State Shemia Fagan) SJR 9 : Proposes amendment to Oregon Constitution establishing Citizens Redistricting Commission to adopt redistricting maps for Senate, House, and US Congress. Refers proposed amendment to people for their approval or rejection at the next general election. (Chief Sponsor: Senator Bonham) This bill is similar to PNP’s IP 34 (2021). SJR 10 : Proposes amendment to Oregon Constitution establishing Citizens Redistricting Commission to adopt redistricting maps for Senate, House, and US Congress. Refers proposed amendment to people for their approval or rejection at the next general election. (Chief Sponsors: Senator Thatcher, Golden, Hansell, Representative Lively, Smith G ; Regular Sponsors: Senator Weber, Representative Cate, Hieb, Levy B, Mor gan, Owens, Scharf ) This bill is similar to PNP’s IP 34 from 2021. SJR 25 : Proposes amendment to Oregon Constitution establishing independent redistricting commission to adopt redistricting maps for Senate, House, and U.S. Congress. Refers proposed amendment to people for their approval or rejection at the next general election. (Chief Sponsor: Senator Girod). This bill would create a 36 member commission, one from each county, appointed by county commissioners. Election Methods By Barbara Klein SB 506 : Senator Jeff Golden continues to support Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) by introducing SB 506, which permits counties to adopt RCV for conducting county elections. It further requires the Secretary of State to create and staff the division to assist counties that adopt RCV in purchasing compatible computers, voting machines and vote tally systems. HB 2004 : Promoting RCV on another bill are chief sponsors Representatives Rayfield, Fahey, Reynolds, Marsh, Senator Sollman; and regular sponsors Representative Pham K, Senator Dembrow, Golden. HB 2004 establishes RCV as the voting method for selecting the winner of election to U.S. President, U.S. Senator, Representative in Congress, Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer and Attorney General. Authorizes cities, counties, metropolitan service districts and local government and local service districts to elect to use RCV to nominate or elect candidates for relevant offices. Moves election for Commissioner of Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) to general election, where election is also conducted using RCV. NOTE : this bill does not establish RCV for state legislative offices for representatives or senators. Cybersecurity and ORMAPs By Becky Gladstone This work continued over holidays with the DoR (Dept of Revenue) ORMAP’s Land Information System OAR and Cybersecurity Working Group. See earlier reports for previous intersession work including the AG’s data privacy progress and numerous elections bills. See upcoming reports as the session proceeds. HB 2049 : Work on this cybersecurity omnibus committee bill has been nonstop since HB 4155 failed to progress after unanimous committee passage in 2022, with League support . Specific recent work addressed processes to administer federal grant funding. OAR 150-306-0130 : My appointment to the ORMAP Advisory Group extended to appointment through the governor’s office to the RAC, Rules Advisory Group, to review “Oregon Land Information System Fund and the ORMAP Project”. Several members joined my appeal to push for rule language to facilitate data sharing (in compatible formats), a long-standing roadblock. Rights of Incarcerated People By Marge Easley The League will be keeping a close eye on SB 579, introduced by request of the Oregon Justice Resource Center, that allows incarcerated people to register to vote, update voter registration, and vote in elections. It is the third try for the enfranchisement of incarcerated individuals in Oregon. The League supported the two previous bills in 2021 and 2022. Passage of the bill would restore voting rights to 12,000 to 15,000 individuals and allow Oregon to join Maine, Vermont, and D.C. in allowing convicted felons in correctional facilities to vote. 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 All Legislative Reports Social Policy Legislative Report - Week of 3/4 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: After School and Summer Care Behavioral Health and Related Public Safety Issues Healthcare Higher Education Housing Immigration/Refugee Violence Prevention and Gun Policy Education Update Volunteers Needed By Jean Pierce, Social Policy Coordinator, and Team After School and Summer Care By Katie Riley HB 4082 Summer Learning 2024 and Beyond was passed to allocate $30 million for summer learning in 2024 and implementation of a work group to plan for future funding and administration of summer learning and afterschool enrichment. Summer awards will be made to school districts by ODE. Allocations to school districts will be prioritized to districts with the largest number of kids in need. It will be up to the school districts to implement partnerships with community-based organizations to provide enrichment activities during non-school time. ODE is developing guidelines for appointments to the work group and the work group process. Behavioral Health and Related Public Safety Issues By Karen Nibler and Jean Pierce The final version of HB4002 A , the “Oregon Drug Intervention Plan'', was passed by both chambers , and the Governor has announced plans to sign it. This extensive bill covered behavioral health treatments by pharmacists, coverage by health insurance companies, Coordinated Care Organizations, county deflection programs, expungement, Drug Enforcement misdemeanor charges for possession, court processes, and continued funding for Behavioral Health Rehabilitation Network programs, which were initiated in the last session. The bill requires an Alcohol and Drug Commission study and Task Forces on Regional Behavioral Health Accountability and Safety of Behavioral Health Workers. The Oregon Criminal Justice Commission will monitor program grants and provide reports to the legislature. OCJC will provide grants for Opioid Use Disorder medications for county jail facilities, which has been identified as an urgent need. The final version is very similar to HB 4002 (2024), for which the League wrote testimony . One major downside of the bill is that The Criminal Justice Center has estimated that the bill would disproportionately penalize people of color. However, the Governor has pledged to protect against this when provisions of the bill are implemented. Companion Bills: HB 4001 A was passed by the Ways and Means Capital Construction Subcommittee to study specialty courts for drug offenses and costs of deflection programs in the Oregon Health Authority programs. HB 5204A provide s $211M to implement HB 4002 in the community corrections programs and $4M to train behavioral health workers. HB 4151 B supports the University of Oregon work on the youth behavioral health workforce. HB 4136 A was passed to provide funds to increase health care access and to divert from emergency rooms in Eugene, which is recognized for its mobile teams for substance abuse incidents. Both Chambers passed SB1553A, which added unlawful possession of a controlled substance on a transport vehicle to the list of C misdemeanors which interfere with public transportation. Citations will be supervised by Community Corrections officers. Healthcare By Christa Danielson HB 4149 : Lawmakers in both chambers approved House Bill 4149, which seeks to rein in prescription drug costs for pharmacies and patients by mandating reporting from Pharmacy Benefit Managers about how much money is actually returned to patients to lower their drug costs. This bill also has provisions to help protect rural pharmacies. The League submitted testimony in support of the bill. HB 4130 B This bill was stalled in the last week by legislators calling for a minority report. The League submitted testimony in support of this bill, which would have limited corporations from making medical decisions about health care for patients and strengthened bills that were already law to Ban the Corporate Practice of Medicine. We expect this bill will return next year. Higher Education By Jean Pierce HB5204A includes an appropriation of $4 M to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to distribute to universities in Oregon for the purpose of expanding the behavioral health workforce in the state. The bill passed both chambers and is awaiting the Governor’s signature. The League submitted testimony for this when SB1592 was requesting $6M. HB 4162: Relating to Higher Education Affordability did not pass this session. It would have appropriated money from the General Fund to make college more affordable by creating and awarding grants for basic needs programs at public colleges and universities. LWVOR submitted testimony in support. Housing By Debbie Aiona, Nancy Donovan The legislature’s end to the 2024 session included Gov. Kotek’s top legislative priority with a $376.2 million housing package to boost affordable housing construction, expand emergency shelters for people experiencing homelessness, and help counties acquire land to develop properties. The housing package contains three bills: 1. HB 1530 appropriates $279.6 million for programs addressing homelessness and eviction prevention, with specific allocations to culturally specific organizations. Part of the package includes housing for people recovering from substance abuse disorders. The bill provides funding for infrastructure projects throughout the state aimed at supporting housing development. Also funding for home repair, air conditioners, air filters, and heat pumps is included in the bill. The League submitted a letter in support. 2. SB 1537 is a companion bill to SB 1530. The bill appropriates a total of $89.5 million General Fund to three agencies: $10.6 million to the Department of Land Conservation and Development for the Housing Production and Accountability Office; $3 million to the Oregon Business Development Department; and $75.8 million to the Housing and Community Services Department. In addition, the bill creates a Housing Project Revolving Fund to provide no-interest loans to jurisdictions for infrastructure projects for moderate-income housing developments. 3. HB 4134 appropriates $7.1 million to the Oregon Department of Administrative Services to provide grants to cities for specified infrastructure projects that will benefit housing developments. At least 30 % of the dwelling units must be affordable to workforce income qualified households. The League submitted a letter in support. Individual Development Accounts: Unfortunately, only $5 million of the $10 million needed to serve the same number of people through the Individual Development Account (IDA) program was allocated in SB 1530. IDAs are available to lower-income Oregonians who want to save for goals such as a home purchase, home repair, small business start-up or expansion, post-secondary education, vehicle purchase, and emergency savings. Their savings are matched by the state using tax credit revenue. The tax credits are not yielding what is needed to maintain current service levels. IDA advocates requested $10 million from the general fund so the program could continue to serve the same number of people. Given competing demands for limited resources, the Legislature included $5 million in SB 1530. The League submitted a letter in support of the full $10 million. HB 5201 -- Lottery Bonds for Affordable Housing Preservation: Low-income housing advocates were unsuccessful in persuading the Legislature to allocate $30 million in lottery-backed bonds for the purpose of preserving at-risk low-income rental housing and manufactured home parks. Some of these units are affordable to very low-income households, the area of greatest need with residents most at risk of homelessness. The units are operating under expiring federal contracts, being converted to market rate, or in need of significant upgrades to maintain viability. Preserving existing units is more cost-effective than developing new housing. Housing and Community Services Department estimates it would cost $200 million per biennium to retain our existing stock. The advocates will be back next session encouraging allocation of preservation dollars. The League submitted a letter in support of HB 5201. See also Land Use and Housing in the Natural Resources Legislative Reports. Immigration / Refugee / Asylum By Claudia Keith HB 4085 A – Path to Citizenship, directs DHS to give grants for legal assistance to help noncitizens get lawful immigration. Fiscal $6.3M , adds 2 positions / 1.2 FTE. League testimon y, died in J W&Ms. HB 4085 -1 Preliminary SMS . SB1578A which directs the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to establish and maintain a management system to schedule appointments and process billing for health care interpreters was amended to limit the service to Oregon Health Plan Members. The amended bill was passed ,fiscal $1.4M, It’s not clear why the bill is in Legislative Council . Staff analysis of the measure reports that these interpreters are needed to facilitate communication between healthcare providers and patients with limited English proficiency as well as the deaf and hard of hearing. According to the latest U.S. Census American Community Survey, there are 216,654 people in Oregon with limited English proficiency. Find immigration/refugee funding items at the end of the session omnibus bill SB5701 , detail list HERE . Recent News: Will Oregon help asylum seekers again? As bill stalls, advocates say ‘allow us to support more families’ - oregonlive.com Violence Prevention and Gun Policy By Marge Easley SB 1503 Enrolled, establishing the Task Force on Community Safety and Firearm Suicide Prevention passed the House on March 6 with a 35 to 22 vote and is now on its way to the Governor’s desk. The bill, strongly supported by the League, garnered expected opposition from many Republican legislators due to the inclusion of the word “firearm” in the title of the task force. The task force will consist of 17 members, including legislators and representatives from state agencies, behavioral and public healthcare groups, and communities most impacted by suicide. The bill includes an allocation of $250,000 to the Oregon Department of Justice to support the task force and provide funding for outside research. Findings will be reported back to the Legislature over the next two years. HB 4156 B , which strengthens and modernizes Oregon’s anti-stalking law, passed the House on March 7 on a vote of 54 to 2. The bill, carried by Rep. Kevin Mannix, includes much-needed provisions for the crimes of cyberstalking and internet harassment. Education Update By Anne Nesse SB 1503 B passed the Legislature on 3/6, creating a new Task Force to reduce youth suicide in Oregon. This new task force is significant for education, because our State’s higher incidences of behavioral mental illness, and depression, are known to make learning more difficult. The task force is required to report to the interim committees of the Legislative Assembly related to health care. SB 1557 E , requiring the Oregon Health Authority to ensure that all children or youth up to age 21, who are eligible for home or community-based services in mental health receive the services to which they are entitled, passed the Legislature on 3/7. Subsidized childcare will be funded at approximately $170 M, for the Employment Related Day Care program. A program which pays almost the entire cost of child care for about 12,000 low-income families, preventing a budget deficit, noted in an article located here . Funding was allocated inside the omnibus funding Bill, SB 5701 A . SB 1552 B , creating a State Youth Advisory Board, and many other educational changes needed in an Omnibus Educational Bill, passed the Legislature on 3/7. HB 4105 The proposal for a Nurse Family Partnership was fully funded at $3.2 million in HB 5204-2, Section 12. HB 4105 is not moving forward, but the needed funding is. The following Bills which we were following did not have time, or the funding to pass the Legislature during the short session: SB 1583 A , would have prohibited discrimination when selecting instructional materials, or books used in state public schools, had passed the Senate on 2/27, but remained in House Rules without passage. This Bill had included additional language, already existing in current law, that had prohibited discrimination in selection of materials in public schools. HB 4078 A , would have directed ODE to implement a standardized method for school districts to electronically collect, and use student data, did not have time to pass during the short session. HB 4079 , attempted to remove the percentage cap on the amount of moneys that are distributed from the State School Fund to school districts for students eligible for special education. HB 4087 A , would have directed OHA to establish a pilot program for Emergency High Acuity Youth to stabilize behavioral health services. Volunteers Needed What is your passion related to Social Policy? You can help. V olunteers are needed. Social policy includes: housing, adult corrections, judiciary, juvenile justice, public safety, gun safety, violence prevention, health care, mental health, immigration and refugees, foster care, social services, and women’s issues. LWVOR actively lobbies for anti-poverty programs to help low income and those at-risk move toward financial stability. If any area of Social Policy is of interest to you, please contact Jean Pierce, Social Policy Coordinator, at socialpolicy@lwvor.org . Training will be offered.

Back to All Legislative Reports Natural Resources Legislative Report - Week of 2/24 Natural Resources Team Coordinator: Peggy Lynch 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 Please see Natural Resources Overview here . Jump to a topic: Air Quality Agriculture Bottle Bills Budgets/Revenue Climate Coastal Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Dept. Of State Lands (DSL) Dept. of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) Elliott State Research Forest (ESRF) Emergency Services Forestry (ODF) Governance Land Use & Housing Natural Resources Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) Recycling State Land Board Water Wetlands Wildfire AIR QUALITY Bills we are watching: SB 726 requires the owner or operator of a municipal solid waste landfill to conduct surface emissions monitoring and report data as specified in the Act. LWVOR to support. The public hearing on this bill is set for Feb. 24 in the Senate Committee On Energy and Environment . Testimony is taken for up to 48 hours after the hearing. 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. The League is watching HB 2947 , a bill that would direct the Oregon State University Extension Service and the College of Agricultural Sciences of Oregon State University to study the distribution and occurrence of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) found in biosolids applied to agricultural fields that do not produce crops intended for human consumption . A New York Times article shared a story about Johnson County, TX as they address the issue of harmful “forever chemicals”. BOTTLE BILLS By Sandra Bishop SB 992 originally introduced as an Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission study of how to modernize the beverage container redemption system is now being shaped as an omnibus bottle bill. A 28-page amendment was introduced in a public hearing on Feb 17th in the Senate Energy & Environment committee. There is a request from industry representatives to incorporate provisions from several other bills. LWVOR will wait for a settled version of the bill to determine whether or not to support. 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 tentatively 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 have consistently NOT met the small 20% target so, if staffing is needed to meet that target AND fees increased to pay for them, we will continue to support. LWVOR supports SB 836 . Dept. of Land Conservation and Development: SB 5528 ; Governor’s budget DLCD Fact Sheet ; Public hearing Feb. 3-4; LCDC 1/24 presentation ; Meeting Materials ; LWVOR testimony . Land Use Board of Appeals: SB 5529 ; Public hearing Feb. 27. Oregon State Marine Board: HB 5021 ; Public hearing Feb. 17; Meeting Materials Oregon State Parks and Recreation Dept.: HB 5026 ; Public hearing tentative set for March 8. Dept. of State Lands: SB 5539 . Water Resources Dept.: SB 5543 ; Governor’s budget WRD Fact Sheet ; Here is a summary of the Governor’s budget. Governor's Budget and Agency Request Budget documents are available online here . Info Mtg. & Public hearing Feb. 18-20. Meeting Materials . LWVOR testimony . And the fee bills: Support HB 2808 and HB 2803 . Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board: HB 5039 . Info mtg. & 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.) Info mtg. & 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. See more in the Wildfire section of this report. 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 500 . General Obligation Bonds, etc.: SB 5505 : An average debt capacity of $2.22 billion per Biennium. Six-Year Limitation/Bonds: SB 5506 (Limits for the six-year period beginning July 1, 2025, payment of expenses from fees, moneys or other revenues, including Miscellaneous Receipts, but excluding lottery funds and federal funds, collected or received by various state agencies for capital construction.). The next Revenue Forecast will be Feb. 26th at 8am in the Senate Committee on Finance and Revenue ( agenda ). 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. 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. 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 LWVOR is following SB 504 , related to shoreline stabilization. Our coastal partners have been working with the sponsor, and a -4 amendment has been filed that focuses on “non-structural nature-based solutions” instead of “bioengineering”. A work session is scheduled for Feb. 25 in the Senate Committee On Natural Resources and Wildfire . The League is pleased to see the bill numbers for kelp and eel grass conservation (HB 3580) and protection of Rocky Habitat (HB 3587). The League signed on to letters of support for both bills. We asked for funding for a staffer in the Dept. of Land Development and Conservation budget to continue to address rocky habitat, an element of the Territorial Sea Plan which the League has supported. DEPT. OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (DEQ) By Peggy Lynch The League has signed on to a letter in opposition to HB 2642 . HB 2642 is a bill that seeks to divest the authority to administer vehicle emission testing away from the Department of Environmental Quality, to the private sector. Emissions testing in Oregon began in the mid-1970s as a method of reducing air pollution from trucks and cars in order to ensure compliance with the landmark federal Clean Air Act of 1970. The League has been a voice in support of this program, not only because of the need to reduce pollution, but by reducing vehicle pollution, we can support industries who provide employment in these areas where the testing is required. We are asking legislators to vote no on HB 2642 and support DEQ’s authority to protect air quality by preserving their power to implement vehicle emission testing. 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. 25 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. OPB provided great coverage of the concerns related to this usage. See also the New York Times article about this issue cited in the Agriculture section. 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. DEPT. OF GEOLOGY AND MINERAL INDUSTRIES (DOGAMI) By Peggy Lynch The League provided testimony in support of SB 836 , a bill that would significantly increase permit fees for mining related activities. See the agency’s presentation to understand the reasons for these increases. ELLIOTT STATE RESEARCH FOREST (ESRF) You can read the latest about the Elliott State Research Forest in their latest press release. Included is that t he Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL) is seeking comments on administrative rules for the Elliott State Research Forest. The comment period is open from February 3 - March 5 (closes at 5 p.m. Pacific). Then DSL is seeking comments on the proposed Elliott State Research Forest Operations Plan. Click here to view or download the proposed plan, project overview map, and appendices. Click here to view only the proposed plan (PDF) The 45-day comment period is open until 5 p.m. on March 31. Here is a more complete notice of the plan with opportunities for virtual public meetings. EMERGENCY SERVICES By Rebecca Gladstone HB 2581 : The League delivered oral and written 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 the House Committee On Emergency Management, General Government, and Veterans where the bill passed unanimously. It passed the House Floor (49/9/2) and has been sent to the Senate for consideration. FORESTRY (ODF) The Oregon Board of Forestry will hold a public meeting on March 5 at 8:30 a.m. The full agenda is available on the board’s webpage . See also the Wildfire section of this report below and the separate Climate section. GOVERNANCE Because the League is often engaged in rulemaking, we often comment on legislation that would affect changes in Oregon’s current Administrative Rules. We have provided testimony in opposition to HB 2692 , a bill that would create complicated and burdensome processes for agencies to implement legislation with their rulemaking procedures. On Feb. 19, the Governor provided expectations and guidance for state agencies related to rulemaking and customer service. LAND USE & HOUSING By Peggy Lynch We are pleased to learn that Business Oregon’s Infrastructure bill, HB 3031 with a -1 amendment to clarify the criteria to be used to access the proposed $100 million fund, will have a public hearing on Feb. 26 in the House Committee On Housing and Homelessness . Although there are a few issues yet to resolve, the League expects to support this important funding bill. Bills we are following: On Feb. 10th the House Committee on Housing heard testimony on the first three bills that the League believes would allow housing outside of cities. Some could violate Goals 3 and 4 of our land use system so we will follow these bills as the session progresses. HB 2316 : Allows designation of Home Start Lands to be used for housing. These lands are currently a variety of state-owned lands scattered around the state. HB 2400 : Allows the owner of property outside an urban growth boundary to site an additional dwelling on the property for occupancy by a relative of the owner. HB 2422 : Requires that lands zoned to allow density of one or fewer dwellings per acre to be considered a rural use. HB 3013 : Details the process by which a permit or zone change that is based on provisions of a comprehensive plan or land use regulation that fail to gain. acknowledgment is voided and any resulting improvements or uses are removed or revoked. LWVOR supports with -1 amendment. A public hearing was held Feb. 3rd. HB 3062 : Requires local governments to map sensitive uses as part of a comprehensive plan. A public hearing was held Feb. 20th. HB 2138 : Expands allowable middle housing and expands middle housing requirements to include urban unincorporated lands. LWVOR may have comments. Some provisions we support; others not so much. Amendments to the bill have not yet been posted on OLIS. We 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. The bill passed unanimously on Feb. 19 with the -2 amendment. HB 2950 : A bill to update Goal One and Public Participation is being sponsored by Oregon’s American Planning Association. The League is interested in the bill, but has some concerns. We understand there will be an amendment proffered. A public hearing was held Feb. 12th in the House Committee On Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water . Because of the requirement to do rulemaking, the bill, if passing the Committee, will be sent to Ways and Means. SB 462 : Requires the Oregon Business Development Department to establish an education course for land use planners for local governments, special districts and state agencies. LWVOR supports educational efforts but there are other training opportunities, so this proposal might be redundant. A public hearing was held on Feb. 19 in the Senate Committee On Housing and Development . SB 525 : Amends expedited land division criteria and processes. LWVOR has concerns. May need to oppose. See also the Housing Report in the Social Policy section of this Legislative Report. NATURAL RESOURCES HB 3173 : Establishing OregonFlora in statute. HB 3173 assed committee with a -3 amendment on Feb. 12th and was sent to Ways and Means. HB 3173 info sheet . The bill has widespread support statewide and the League hopes to see this program that supports many natural resource areas funded this session. OREGON WATERSHED ENHANCEMENT BOARD (OWEB) By Lucie La Bonte The Natural Resources Ways and Means Subcommittee will meet to discuss HB 5039 , the agency’s budget bill, and the 6-Year Limitation bill HB 5040 (limits expenditures of lottery funds from the Watershed Conservation Grant Fund for local grant expenditures by the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board for a six-year period beginning July 1, 2025.) on Feb. 25th with a public hearing on Feb. 26th. RECYCLING On Feb. 21, the Dept. of Environmental Quality announced approval of the Producer Responsibility Organization program plan and advanced the Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act. The Act was supported by the League as it sees this as a major advancement to addressing plastic pollution in Oregon. STATE LAND BOARD (SLB) By Peggy Lynch The State Land Board will meet virtually on February 27 at 1 p.m . in a special 30-minute online meeting to discuss the Department of State Lands Director recruitment. Here is the meeting materials packet that includes information on how to provide testimony related to the job description. This agency and its director are extremely important to the League as the Board protects waters of the state and is responsible for the South Slough National Estuarine Reserve as well as the Elliott State Research Forest and Common School Fund lands. WATER By Peggy Lynch A major set of bills was heard on Feb. 19th in the House Committee On Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water . HB 3364 makes changes to the grants programs at the Water Resources Dept. Testimony provided comments and concerns with agreement that all parties would continue to work on finding agreement on an amendment. HB 3419 is the major broad set of water policy changes described by the various amendments posted since this is really a “gut and stuff” bill! The committee Co-Chairs announced that more amendments are expected. But reading the currently-filed amendments would be helpful in understanding the various purposes of elements of the to-be-amended bill. On Feb. 17 in the House Committee On Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water two bills of interest to the League had a public hearing: HB 3525 is related to tenants’ right to well water testing. The League submitted testimony in support. HB 3526 would require well water test reporting in property sales. The League supported this concept in past sessions and did again this session. As we address drinking water well issues, a state report indicates concerns in Crook County per this OPB article . Other 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. Needed to provide current service level staffing at WRD. HB 2808 : Increases fees related to wells. LWVOR will support. Needed to provide current service level staffing at WRD. HB 3106 : Oregon Water Data Portal funding. The 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 . We expect a hearing next week in the House Committee On Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water . The League supports. HB 3573 , a bill that addresses funding for a variety of water measurement strategies. We expect a hearing next week in the House Committee On Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water . The League supports. The Co-Chairs of the House Committee On Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water are working on a broad package of water-related bills, the 2025 Water Package . There is a Water Caucus raising awareness of the need to address Oregon’s water needs. League members may want to check the U. S. Drought Monitor , a map that is updated every Thursday. Here is a more complete website about drought in Oregon. We all need to pay attention to the potential for harmful algal blooms. “When in doubt, stay out.” V isit the Harmful Algae Bloom website or call the Oregon Public Health Division toll-free information line at 877-290-6767 to learn if an advisory has been issued or lifted for a specific water body. 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 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. A bill of concern to the League related to our removal/fill program has been filed: SB 400 . As proposed, the League will oppose. Another wetlands-related bill we will be watching: HB 2054 . WILDFIRE By Carolyn Mayers The League learned on February 14, from the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), of the appointment of a new Fire Protection Division Chief, Michael Curran. He has been with the agency for 20 years, most recently in the West Oregon District. Kate Skinner, who was previously serving as Deputy Chief Forester, is now Interim Chief Forester, stepping in after the resignation of Cal Mukumoto following the devastating 2024 wildfire season. February 17, the Oregon Capital Chronicle wrote about how Governor Kotek and the Legislature are pausing any further action on appeals to the Wildfire Hazard Map in the face of, once again, significant public opposition. Readers of last week’s Legislative Report are likely not surprised by this news. This action casts doubt on the future of the map, which was to be used to help with prioritizing areas of the State for programs and funding for wildfire mitigation and more. And, it comes in the face of calls by some in the Legislature to withdraw the map altogether, again, or even completely “undo” SB 762 , the 2021 Wildfire Bill, which led to the creation of the map and other measures that broadly address the wildfire crisis. There was a Public Hearing on HB 3089 on February 18 before the House Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection. This bill “opens a discussion” of an idea to try and address rising homeowners insurance rates by separating out wildfire insurance from regular homeowners fire coverage. The thought is this could be done much in the manner flood insurance is handled through a federal program. On February 19 and 20, the Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on Public Safety heard from Chief Mariana Ruiz-Temple of the Oregon Department of the State Fire Marshal regarding their budget requests for the upcoming biennium. Her main presentation may be found here . There was much discussion around a reduction of the Governor’s proposed budget for fire season upstaffing grants. Chief Ruiz-Temple informed the Committee that the reduction would mean a reduction in firefighters by 288, and that this would negatively affect wildfire response for the upcoming season, on top of the layoff of 10% of the United States Forest Services personnel, including firefighters and others working on mitigation. You may read more about that development here . Look for information from the Wildfire Funding Group on their recommendations regarding wildfire funding officially in presentations on March 5 and 6. More next week. Volunteers Needed What is your passion related to Natural Resources? You can help. Volunteers are needed. The long legislative session begins in January of 2025. Natural Resource Agency Boards and Commissions meet regularly year-round and need monitoring. If any area of natural resources is of interest to you, please contact Peggy Lynch, Natural Resources Coordinator, at peggylynchor@gmail.com . Training will be offered. Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Climate Emergency , Governance , and Social Policy report sections.

Back to All Legislative Reports Social Policy Legislative Report - Week of 5/29 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: Housing Criminal Justice Gun Safety Housing By Debbie Aiona, Nancy Donovan, Debbie Wallace, Penny York The continued Republican walkout has prevented 17 floor sessions from being held, with 150 bills waiting to be worked on by the Senate after significant effort and gaining bipartisan support. Unfortunately, due to the walkout, the Senate can recommend passage, but is unable to vote on key bills. It is unlikely that the bills will be voted on before the session ends. SB 892 A will amend housing statutes and laws of the Oregon Housing and Community Services and the Housing Stability Council to add federally recognized tribes as community development corporations to allow access, and to administer housing funds. The House held a third reading and the bill passed on May 25. SB 225 will address a problem with how private activity bond resources are used to fund low-income housing. The bill addresses a barrier, which would allow Oregon Housing and Community Services to move forward on affordable housing developments to avoid construction delays and cost increases. The House passed the bill on May 25. HB 2680 A would strengthen and clarify legislation passed in 2019 related to screening fees charged for rental applications. The bill requires the landlord 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. The Senate Committee on Housing and Development recommended a do pass on May 30. A second reading will be held May 31, and a third reading will be held on 6/1. HB 3151 would limit improvements landlords of manufactured home parks can require of tenants. It also will extend the sunset date on a landlord/tenant dispute resolution program. Senate Housing and Development recommended a do pass on May 30. A second reading will be held on May 31, and a third reading on 6/1. HB 3462 would ensure that individuals covered by federal, and state fair housing laws are eligible for emergency housing when an emergency declaration is made. This extends to people regardless of their immigration status. Senate Housing and Development recommended a do pass on May 30. A second reading will be held on May 31, and a third reading on 6/1. SB 611 B would modify the maximum annual residential rent increase for affected units to the lesser of 10%, or 7% plus the consumer price index one-year change. It applies the rent increase limit to units from which a tenant was evicted. The bill is awaiting a second reading by the Senate on 5/31 and a third reading on June 1. Criminal Justice By Marge Easley and Karen Nibler A May 31 press release issued by House and Senate Democrats announced a $4 Billion Public Safety and Accountability Budget Framework to emphasize strong support for Oregon’s crisis response network that includes the Oregon Department of Justice ($813 million), Oregon State Police ($611 million), Department of Corrections ($2.2 billion), Oregon Judicial Department ($750 million), Department of Public Safety and Safety Standards and Training ($83 million), and the State Fire Marshal ($73.9 million). Many of the framework’s details are contained in the following criminal justice bills passed by the J W&Ms in recent days. On May 26, W&Ms passed SB 344 to continue Justice Reinvestment programs, SB 1034 to allocate federal funding for at risk youth, HB 5012 to fund district attorney expenses, HB 5022 to fund the Governor’s Office administration, HB 5055 to fund the Criminal Justice Commission, SB 5513 relating to judicial conduct, SB 5514 on child support in the Department of Justice Budget, HB 5515 to fund the Bureau of Labor and Industries, HB 5535 to fund the Racing Commission, and HB 5541 to fund the Oregon Youth Authority (OYA). The latter bill drew the most comments and 3 nays by Sen. Hansell, Rep. Lewis, and Rep. Breese-Iverson. OYA has a high number of staff positions (990) and behavioral residential beds (328) funded. There was a reduction in the number of beds with a higher rate per bed noted. Most discussion focused on Behavioral Residential Services and mental health needs for youth. The agency has scheduled an upgrade of the Juvenile Justice Information System, which is used by County Juvenile staff and OYA staff. The Subcommittee on Public Safety approved several bills on May 30, which will soon be voted on in full W&Ms: HB 5017 funds the Department of Emergency Management, SB 900 A establishes the Organized Retail Theft Grant Program, HB 2320 A establishes the Juvenile Justice Policy Commission, and HB 2772 A defines terms related to domestic terrorism. On the May 31 docket for the full W&Ms are SB 5512 to fund the Judicial Department, HB 2225 to increase fees for court transcripts, HB 2316 A to expand the number of intoxicants included in the driving under the influence statute, and HB 2645 B to increase penalties for fentanyl possession. Gun Safety By Marge Easley The Republican walkout continues to stall the passage of gun safety bills HB 2005 and SB 348. However, we will be closely monitoring the five-day federal trial on Measure 114 that starts June 5 with U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut presiding. According to a May 30 th Oregonian article , The City of Portland recently submitted a court brief in support of the measure, particularly the ban on large capacity magazines, citing the city’s record number of 101 homicides and 1,306 shootings in 2022, on the heels of the 92 homicides and 1,315 shootings in 2021.

Back to All Legislative Reports Governance Internships Legislative Report - Week of 2/13 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 Election Methods Voter Registration Public Records Law By Norman Turrill, Governance Coordinator, and Team Election Methods By Barbara Klein The Oregon Election Reform Coalition has filed an initiative by the same name (now IP 19). It’s an open primaries proposal using a ‘Final Five’ system similar to the Alaska model, as well as other reform features. The LWVOR action committee supported the idea of an identical bill, and LWVOR will review this as a ballot measure. See the full text . Members of the League were involved in developing this initiative. Work is still behind the scenes, and no hearings have yet been scheduled for the three Ranked Choice Voting bills ( SB 506 , HB 2004 and HB 3107 ) nor for the STAR (Score then Automatic Runoff) bill ( HB 3107 ). Voter Registration By Marge Easley The League delivered testimony on HB 2107 to House Rules on February 14. This bill extends automatic voter registration to the Oregon Health Authority when eligible individuals have provided pertinent information to the Oregon Health Plan. Current law only provides for the automatic process through the Department of Motor Vehicles, so this is a welcome expansion that will facilitate an opt-out voter registration process for more citizens, especially those who are low income, homeless, or disabled. HB 2107 originally included the establishment of a pilot program at Powder River Correctional Facility for automatic voter registration of incarcerated individuals upon release, but the Secretary of State asked that this provision be removed. Public Records Law By Rebecca Gladstone HB 2821 may relate to recent articles in the Malheur Enterprise, SPECIAL REPORT: Smith pledges scrutiny of Nyssa rail project budget, can’t produce one , and this follow up, Findley blocks access to records on his rail funding efforts, invoking immunity . Note, author Les Zaitz has agreed to be LWVOR Convention Keynote Speaker, May 19-21. We are watching, marked for public records, open meetings, and budget concerns. A hearing has not been scheduled. After Sen Rules Chair Lieber requested a Work Group, we assembled a roster and began outreach for bill collaboration networking. A meeting is set for Feb 20. See last week’s LR. Thanks to committee admins for help with managing testimony presentations since numerous bills came up during concurrent hearings this week. HB 2585 : We strongly oppose (our testimony ) this bill to repeal Motor Voter. HB 3073 : We support this bill ( our testimony ) to protect candidate and incumbent personal information, with comments, again urging for a more efficient coverage in statute, not just for some data, for some Oregonians. HB 2806 : We support this bill to update statute for open meetings, public safety and cybersecurity law. See our testimony . Next week, or soon after, we expect to speak to these bills: HB 2049 : We will support this cybersecurity omnibus bill, with a Feb 22 public hearing. HJR 4 : Testimony is ready for this same-day voter registration referral, follow up to HJR 11 (2021) and a companion to HJR 20 . We will post testimony when the hearing is scheduled. HB 3201 : We have supportive testimony for this broadband bill, awaiting hearing scheduling. 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 5/12 Revenue Team Coordinator: Peggy Lynch Please see Governance Overview here . Jump to a topic: Revenue Updates Revenue Updates By Peggy Lynch We are all waiting for the May 14th Revenue Forecast from our State Economist Carl Riccadonna at the Office of Economic Analysis to be presented to the Senate Committee on Finance and Revenue at 8 a.m. The documents will not be released until they open the meeting, so, if you are watching ahead of time, you may need to “refresh” your computer connection in order to see the meeting materials. The Economist will provide a verbal presentation with slides as well as providing a more complete in-depth report on his view of the world, the U.S. and Oregon’s economic outlook for 2025-27. He will need to try to accurately forecast the revenue the state will receive by June of 2027 within 2% of the actual amount or yet another "kicker" will be available to Oregonians. Remember that the “kicker” is really money already paid in taxes, but, because the guess two years before wasn’t accurate, some of that money is returned to taxpayers in the form of a credit on their next taxes. (There is currently a forecasted “kicker” of about $1.6 million from this current 2023-25 biennium. That amount, based on the taxes you paid, will be calculated by Nov. 2025 to be a credit on your 2025 tax return.) There is still time for the current “kicker” to be used in whole or in part by the current legislature. But the political climate is such that any action is likely to fail. On the other hand, if the forecasted revenue for 2025-27 is less than forecasted as the state receives future quarterly forecasts, expect to see the potential for special sessions in order for Oregon to continue to have a balanced budget. That will mean cuts to programs that may, by the end of this session, be budgeted for, but adjusted to meet the reality of the revenue expected to be received. Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Climate Emergency , Governance , 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 Healthcare Behavioral Health Trish Garner Senate Interim Committee on Human Services LC 68 is one of a number of proposals which appear to have caught the attention of Senator Sara Gelser Blouin, Governor Tina Kotek and Democratic leadership which relate to foster care. It began in 2021 with SB 710 proposed by Senators Gelser Blouin and James Manning, Jr. which placed a number of restrictions on the use of restraints and/or seclusions in foster care settings, described when and how abuse complaints could be brought against staff, and defined processes required for out-of-state foster care placements. A number of bills were introduced in 2025 which sought to modify the impact of that legislation. They included SB 3835 which authorized seclusions and/or restraints if the child’s behavior posed a reasonable risk of imminent “serious physical harm” as opposed to the SB 710 standard that required a threat of “severe bodily injury.” Proponents of SB 3835 argued that SB 710’s rules regarding investigating complaints against residential treatment staff for abuse were also so onerous that numerous licensed residential facilities had closed. SB 1113 was also filed by Senator Gelser Blouin in 2025. It essentially went in the opposite direction from HB 3835 and was never voted on by either the House or Senate. HB 3835 remained in the Ways and Means Committee upon adjournment. Senator Gelser Blouin also introduced SB 875 and SB 736 in 2025. Each passed in the legislature but Governor Kotek vetoed both. HB 875 would have modified the Oregon Foster Children’s Bill of Rights to cover children who are awaiting placement. Among other provisions, it defined a process to protect these children from abuse, outlined what constitutes an inappropriate use of restraint or seclusion, and mandated that children in foster care have access to personal belongings. SB 736 would have expanded the definition of a child in care to include any child in legal or physical custody of ODHS, including children living at home with their parents during in-home safety plans or trial reunifications. This would mean that the child abuse investigation framework would apply in these situations. Neither of these bills became law. Governor Kotek’s veto was sustained regarding SB 736. The Senate voted to override the Governor’s veto SB 875, but the motion was tabled in the House. Returning to the 2026 Session, LC 68 is an omnibus bill that seeks to re-introduce many of the legislative ideas introduced in the 2025 Session. For example, LC 68 follows SB 875’s (2025) effort which sought to expand the Oregon Foster Children’s Bill of Rights by providing that foster child “essential” rights include the rights to be protected from abuse, exploitation, neglect, intimidation or wrongful use of restraint or seclusion, and that children in foster care have access to personal belongings. One can recognize SB 736 (2025) in LC 68’s definition of “child in care” to include a person under 21 who is in the “physical or legal custody” of the state which would include children living with their parents but under ODHS custody. LC 280 is an omnibus measure that modifies provisions relating to out-of-state care of children. It also modifies requirements for DHS to impose license conditions on a residential or long-term care facility based on a preliminary finding. LC 281 is similar to HB 3835 (2025). It deals with duties of care to a child in residential facilities and foster homes. Senate Interim Committee on Early Childhood and Behavioral Health An informational hearing presented LC 216 . It arose from Governor Kotek’s request to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) which is chaired by First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson. It provides that the previously free-standing State Board of Licensed Social Workers (BLSW) will be placed under the regulatory and administrative jurisdiction of the Mental Health Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The BLSW joins the OR Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists and the Oregon Board of Psychology on the MHRA. LC 216 also seeks to streamline credentialing for behavioral health workers by requiring OHA to develop a centralized process for doing so. LC 216 requires OHA to work with providers in reducing paperwork and to report to the legislature and the Governor every 2 years about progress on this requirement. In seeking to address the lack of access to clinical supervision, LC 216 requires the MHRA and BLSW to develop rules allowing for master’s level licensees to be supervised by any fully qualified behavioral health supervisor rather than requiring that a clinical supervisor have the same license as the supervisee. [An informational hearing on this LC was also heard in the House Interim Committee on Behavioral Health.] LC 111 creates a new behavioral health provider called a Licensed Behavioral Health and Wellness Practitioner licensed by the Board of Psychology. LC 282 requires operators of artificial intelligence platforms to provide clear and concise notice to users that they are interacting with AI-generated output. Operators are required to develop and publish protocols for detecting output that consists of suicidal or self-harming ideation. There are additional requirements if the user is believed to be a minor. LC 289 relates to labeling of marijuana products. For example, marijuana items that contain industrial hemp-derived cannabinoids must bear a label describing the risks. House Interim Committee on Behavioral Health At first glance LC 202 (2026) looks like a simple technical fix bill, but it contains significant changes, particularly regarding the relationship between OHA and others in the public behavioral health care system. It arose from a work group that came from a wide variety of stakeholders – coordinated care organizations, providers, and payors. LC requires the Oregon Health Authority and coordinated care organizations to ensure that access to behavioral health treatment and documentation standards is no more burdensome than access to medical or surgical treatment. Changes to outdated language are also proposed in LC 202, such as replacing “emotional disturbance” with “health or substance use disorder.” Further modifications to LC 202 are anticipated in this Session, including the process of payment for civil commitment services. LC 229 requires employers to create safety plans, including improved training and safe staffing levels. These plans must include plans for workers working alone and structural safety plans must be specific to a work site. Employers must provide a copy of this information to new employees. LC 181 modifies the definition of “transition aged youth residential home” to clarify that it applies to young adults beginning at age17 rather than 17 and 1/2. House Interim Committee on Early Childhood and Human Services LC 266 provides that ODHS is required to investigate a report of child abuse if the alleged perpetrator is the child’s parent, caregiver, guardian, child care provider, educator or an adult who has similar access to a child. It modifies the definition of “child abuse” by requiring that a threat of harm to a child be an imminent rather than a substantial risk of harm. LC 266 also raises the standard to substantiate a finding of child abuse from a reasonable cause to a preponderance of the evidence. Criminal Justice By Marge Easley & Sharron Noone Several legislative concepts (LCs) introduced during recent interim House and Senate Judiciary Committee hearings are of interest to the League. LC 97 modifies the 2022 law ( SB 1584 ) related to compensation for wrongful convictions, which passed with support from the League. It creates a new post-conviction process for convictions based on expert testimony that was based on now-discredited forensic science. LC 64 makes changes to the death investigation process in cases of domestic violence or child abuse. LC 106 adds new provisions to the crime of “aggregated harassment” to include making serious threats to a public official or a member of the official’s family. LC 92 , a public safety omnibus, contains at least four unrelated provisions. We will monitor this catch-all bill and expect amendments during session. LC 238 expands the ability of the Department of Human Services to take action against child-caring agencies following certain findings. Besides ongoing litigation from the Oregon Department of Justice, the League will be monitoring a flurry of bills this session from Senate and House Democrats that prioritize “protecting democracy, our elections, and the civil rights of Oregonians from federal overreach.” We expect bills that restrict the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, expand Oregon’s sanctuary laws, protect immigrant rights, mandate parental notification of ICE activity on school campuses, and limit mask use and standardize identification for all law enforcement. Education K-12 Public school districts around the state are submitting preliminary recommendations for reducing spending . Portland’s proposal to cut $50 million would eliminate 180 positions in schools and 108 positions in the central office. Eugene’s district would cut $30 million, eliminating as many as 159 positions. Salem Keizer has plans to cut $25 million. The cuts are being attributed to decreasing enrollment, increasing costs of labor, special education, and retirement payments. The Senate and House Education Committees are both promoting legislative concepts directing schools to develop policies related to immigration enforcement. In addition, the House Education Committee heard Rep. Finger McDonald describe one of her legislative concepts, which would require schools to notify parents when ICE is present on school grounds. She noted that this would be more accurate than relying on social media. House Education Committee This committee heard several presentations relating to the time spent in school. Currently, the law states that at least 80% of the students at each school must receive at least 900 hours of instructional time in K-8, 990 hours in grades 9-11, and 966 hours in 12 th grade. Dr. Matthew Kraft, from Brown University, reported data from 2017-18, revealing that Oregon ranked 47 th among the 50 states in total hours of time in school during an academic year. Furthermore, more than 25% of the existing instructional time is lost due to external interruptions (e.g. intercom announcements) and to inefficient practices such as transitions between activities and teacher absences. The committee heard that increased time is related to higher test performance, but Kraft did note that increased time is most effective when steps are taken to maximize the use of the time. When a committee member noted the high rate of absenteeism in Oregon schools, Kraft observed that is related to graduation rates. In addition, teachers are less likely to introduce new material when a critical mass of students is absent. The Committee also heard a presentation from the Legislative Policy and Research Office, observing that different methods are currently used to measure student poverty. Previously, poverty rates were estimated based on the number of students receiving free and reduced lunches. But that is no longer an accurate measure since currently free lunches are provided for all students in schools with high poverty rates. Instead, Oregon calculates poverty in two different ways, depending on the use of the data: Students Experiencing Poverty includes families up to 200% of the federal poverty level (FPL) and is based on student characteristics such as eligibility for SNAP or TANF, students in foster care, those who are houseless, and students receiving migrant education services. The Oregon Department of Education considers this when it is important to address the needs of specific students or schools. Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates includes families up to 100% of the FPL, and is based on Census data, tax returns, Social Security, etc. This is used to determine education funding for low-income districts. Finally, a memo prepared by the Legislative Policy and Research Office reported that the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) documented that in the 2023-24 school year, at least 4,439 incidents of restraint and/or seclusion occurred in Oregon, with the vast majority of incidents involving restraint. Both of these practices are controversial. Physical restraint is defined in Oregon statute as “the restriction of a student’s movement by one or more persons holding the student or providing physical pressure upon the student.” Students have also been restrained chemically or mechanically. Seclusion is “the involuntary confinement of a student alone in a room from which the student is physically prevented from leaving.” Twelve percent of the restraint and seclusion incidents involved staff injuries, while 2% involved injuries to students. During the same time period, the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) determined that 20 of the incidents, involving 16 program staff, were considered abusive. It was also concerning to hear that 7% of the incidents between 2019 and 2024 involved at least one untrained staff member. Joint Public Education Appropriation LC 43, being proposed by the Joint Committee on Public Education Appropriations, is an overhaul of school funding based on recommendations made by the American Institutes for Research. The legislative concept would replace the Quality Education Commission (QEC) funding model with a contracted body that meets with professional judgement panels statewide to make recommendations regarding funding needs. While there has been much discussion about replacing the QEC, there are other provisions of the LC that committee members questioned – notably plans for modifying the state’s quality goals for public education and creating a new definition of a standard school district. Committee chairs assured the members that approving the LC would simply enable them to have a conversation about the goals and standards. Higher Education In response to a request from legislators, the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) created a public university spending efficiency report . The report noted that public universities in Oregon have taken steps to lower student costs while increasing graduation rates. However, the state has a history of disinvesting in higher education, and according to the State Higher Education Finance report Oregon spends $3000 less per full-time-equivalent student than the national average. This, combined with federal spending cutbacks and increasing personnel costs led to some challenging recommendations from HECC, including partnerships and mergers. The report also mentioned the highly controversial step of asking HECC to audit university degree programs periodically. Healthcare LC 300 This legislative concept would require health insurance companies to inform a health care provider of the service each time the service is automatically downcoded by AI. (The process of downcoding reviews, reduces, and reassigns medical billing codes to a lower level of complexity than originally submitted by a healthcare provider.) LC 300 also requires insurers to make the appeals process available to the provider. The League is committed to transparency in health care transactions. The bill would not eliminate AI downcoding or automatic denials of services, but would allow more tracking of AI used in this specific situation. Hopefully this is a first step and there will be more to follow. LC 241 This will be the omnibus bill put forward by the House Health Committee. It is meant to be measures that are easy to agree about, actionable and do not involve money from Ways and Means. It does cover 65 different sections, all the way from Anesthesia coding to Psilocybin facilitators. It covers dental choice of provider, health insurance mandate advisory committee and automatic primary care assignment repeal along with many other health related concepts. It is very ambitious, but it appears that the league will be able to support many of the provisions. LC 100 This legislative concept would allow colposcopy after initial abnormal PAP to be covered as a screening procedure. LC 100 requires health insurance carriers to fully cover cervical cancer screenings and follow-ups without deductibles, coinsurance, copayments or other out-of-pocket expenses. Many women are unable to proceed to further work-up of an abnormal pap because of cost. But the PAP smear does not adequately reflect what treatment protocol is reasonable. In these days of very high deductible health plans women frequently cannot pay for further screening from an in office procedure leading to an increase in worsened diseases. Recently the Health Resources and Services updated cervical cancer screening guidelines to include additional cervical testing. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED : What is your passion related to Social Policy? You can help. Volunteers are needed. We particularly need help tracking legislation concerning Juvenile justice Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Climate Emergency , Governance , and Natural Resources , and Revenue 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.