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Youth Council < Back About the Issue LWVOR Youth Council is a youth-led nonpartisan network of young civic leaders focused on increasing political engagement among young Oregon voters. Youth Council offers: Membership at three levels! Includes LWV of the US, LWV of Oregon, and your local League Opportunities for participation as a national and state convention delegate or observer Participatory civic engagement and education Community service hours with Certificates of Recognition Find out more and join here !

Back to All Legislative Reports Climate Emergency Legislative Report - Week of 2/16 Climate Emergency Team Coordinator: Claudia Keith Coordinator: Claudia Keith Efficient and Resilient Buildings: vacant Energy Policy: Claudia Keith Environmental Justice: vacant Natural Climate Solution Forestry: Josie Koehne Agriculture: vacant Community Resilience & Emergency Management: see Governance LR: Rebecca Gladstone Transportation: see NR LR Joint Ways and Means - Budgets, Lawsuits, Green/Public Banking, Divestment/ESG: Claudia Keith Find additional Climate Change Advocacy volunteers in Natural Resources Please see Climate Emergency Overview here. Jump to a topic: Climate Priorities Senate Committee on Energy and Environment News Oregon Treasury Climate Lawsuits/Our Children's Trust Many Climate Emergency priority policy and or funding bills the league supports are expected to move to JWM or the floor. The deadline for posting work sessions for most first chamber policy committees was Monday Feb 16, find details below. (note: bills in any joint, rules or revenue committees have no deadlines) Climate Priority Bills The League may have testimony and/or join coalition letters. SB 1541 A Make Polluters Pay (MPP), new SMS , Senate Energy and Environment , PH 2/5 and work session 2/10 , - 2 amendment , moved to Joint Ways and Means (JWM) . LWVOR submitted testimony . Creates the Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program to assess financial impacts of greenhouse gas emissions and recover costs from responsible entities. Multiple state agencies are involved including, Department of Land Conservation and Development, Department of Environmental Quality, Oregon Health Authority, and Land Conservation and Developmet Commission. The oversight body is Environmental Quality Commission (EQC). The League has joined the Make Polluters Pay Campaign . This climate legislation is a national effort covered today by the New York Times , reporting that a number of other states are in the process of passing and/or implementing. SB 1526 A, new SMS , Fund for Oregon Resilience, Growth, and Energy, work session was 2/9, Senate Energy and Environment (SEE) moved the bill to JWM, League testimony . Creates financing tools, including a revolving loan fund, to provide more affordable, accessible long-term financing for clean energy and resilience infrastructure projects in Oregon. This is modeled on a number of other states’ legislation , some as "green" banking nonprofits. SB 1582 , Community-Based Power: Distributed Power Plants, SEE possible work session 2/16. Distributed power plants (DPPs) bring together customer resources like rooftop solar, battery systems, and smart thermostats to help maximize grid efficiency by using energy sources already connected to the grid to balance grid loads. This bill requires each investor-owned utility to develop a DPP program and file it with the PUC, which would adopt annual procurement targets for DPP grid services, along with annual performance incentives for the utilities to achieve those targets. HB 4046-2 , Nuclear Study Bill, House Climate, Energy, and Environment (HCEE), work session 2/12, moved to JWM unanimously as amended. New SMS , directs the Oregon Department of Energy, subject to the availability of funding, to conduct a study on nuclear energy, including advanced nuclear reactors. The -2 amendment, a substantial rewrite of the original bill negotiated with opponents, seemed to satisfy committee members that the study could be unbiased as to nuclear energy issues. HB 4031 A : new SMS , first reading in Senate 2/16, House passed on 2/12. Exempts a renewable energy facility from needing a site certificate from the Energy Facility Siting Council if the facility qualifies for certain federal renewable energy tax credits and construction is scheduled to begin on or before December 31, 2028. HB 1597 SEE PH 2/4 , possible WKS 2/16. A number of amendments will be considered. Makes a power provider disclose the costs to store the waste made from making any electric power. SMS Senate Energy and Environment 2/11 The meeting started 15 minutes late with Sen. Sollman announcing that the scheduled work sessions for SB 1582 (Virtual Power Plant programs), SB 1588 (Upgrade and Save) and SB 1597 (nuclear waste storage costs) were carried over to Mon. 2/16, the final day for 1st chamber passage. Instead, attendees were treated to an informational meeting on the nuclear energy study bill HB 4046. Other bills we are following: Work sessions: • HB 4029 - Requires a solar energy contractor or person that installs a solar energy system to have a license appropriate for the scope of work the solar energy contractor or person will perform. (Carried over from 2/5) • 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. • HB 4080 - Allows a retail electricity consumer to install and use portable solar photovoltaic energy devices with up to a total maximum generating capacity of 1,200 watts. • HJM 201 - Urges Congress to pass legislation to permanently extend federal tax cuts for wildfire victims. Public hearings: • HB 4077 - Authorizes a public utility, upon approval by PUC, to issue bonds and securitize debt for costs and expenses incurred or to be incurred by the public utility associated with a self-insurance or captive insurance program. (Carried over from 2/5) • HB 4046 - Directs ODOE, subject to the availability of funding, to conduct a study on nuclear energy, including advanced nuclear reactors. News Other states follow Oregon’s lead in targeting data centers ’ energy costs | OregonLive Oregon Treasury & Oregon Divest New 2025 Treasury : Climate-Positive Investing : Invested for Oregon Report Tracking Net zero climate positive investment strategies . Oregon pension shows climate progress , private markets drive emissions | Private Equity Stakeholder Project.org Oregon State Treasury should engage or divest from companies fueling a new era of resource conflicts. (Divest Oregon . ORG) Climate Lawsuits/Our Children’s Trust There are a number of active federal lawsuits. Columbia University Law ( CUL) Climate Litigation Jan 30 Updates . Another source: CLU - Sabin Climate DB lists 97 lawsuits , (active and dismissed) mentioning Oregon. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED : What is your passion related to Climate Emergency ? You can help. V olunteers are needed. The short legislative session begins in January of 2026. Many State Agency Boards and Commissions meet regularly year-round and need monitoring. If any area of climate or natural resources is of interest to you, please contact Peggy Lynch, Natural Resources Coordinator, or Claudia Keith Climate Emergency at peggylynchor@gmail.com Or climatepolicy@lwvor.org . Training will be offered. · Natural and Working lands, specifically Agriculture · Transportation and ODOT state agency · Climate Related Lawsuits/Our Children’s TrustDA · Public Health Climate Adaptation (OHA) · Regional Solutions / Infrastructure (with NR team) · State Pr ocurement Practices (DAS: Dept. of Admin. Services) · CE Portfolio State Agency and Commission Budgets · Oregon Treasury: ESG investing/Fossil Fuel divestment Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Governance , Revenue , Natural Resources , and Social Policy report section

Climate Emergency reports from the LWVOR Action Committee. Climate Emergency Overview The League believes that climate change is a serious threat facing our nation and our planet. Read More Climate Emergency Reports 2/16/26 Legislative Report - Week of 2/16 Many Climate Emergency priority policy and or funding bills the league supports are expected to move to JWM or the floor Read More 2/9/26 Legislative Report - Week of 2/9 Many Climate Emergency priority bills the league supports are likely to move from the first chamber by Feb 16 deadline, find details below Read More 2/2/26 Legislative Report - Week of 2/2 A League SB 1541 Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program Alert is planned for Feb 3. There are a number of other Climate Emergency bills during 2026 short session. Read More 1/26/26 Legislative Report - Week of January 26 This is a short 5-week Legislative session, most bills must have work sessions scheduled in the first chamber by mid Feb to stay active. There are now many Legislative Concepts waiting for Bill numbers for Environment / Climate Legislative soon to be posted to OLIS by no later than 28th of January. Read More 12/1/25 Legislative Report - Week of December 1 The primary climate/carbon issues during the 2026 short session will be related to budget issues primarily caused by Federal funding and policy decisions. Read More 10/13/25 Legislative Report - Week of October 13 Several energy-related bills from the 2025 session became effective in late September 2025 (91 days after the session's conclusion on June 27). Read More 8/11/25 Legislative Report - Sine Die - Week of August 11 This sine die report summarizes the Climate Emergency portfolio work that took place over the 2025 Legislative Session. Read More 6/30/25 Legislative Report - Week of 6/30 The League is pleased that Oregon now joins a few other states addressing Climate related risk investments, referring to Treasurer Steiner supported, Oregon Investment Council HB 2081. Read More 6/23/25 Legislative Report - Week of 6/23 There are less than 7 days until the end of session and a number of bills and state agency funding priorities are still waiting to move. The League expects some funding for existing agency climate programs in the reconciliation bill. Read More 6/16/25 Legislative Report - Week of 6/16 There are less than 17 days until the end of session and a number of bills and agency funding priorities are still waiting to move. The League expects some funding for existing state agency Climate related programs will be in the end of session reconciliation bill. Read More 6/9/25 Legislative Report - Week of 6/9 Early in the 2025 legislative session, the Oregon League testified in support of what are now HB 2949 A and HB 2152 A. Each bill focused on the Critical Energy Infrastructure (CEI) Hub. Recently both bills passed out of the House Emergency Management, General Management and Veterans Committee, chaired by Representative Tran. HB 2949 passed with unanimous approval. Read More 6/2/25 Legislative Report - Week of 6/2 The League joined many other organizations this past week to oppose the Transportation Budget Cap and Trade proposal. The League is open to the idea that a west coast cap and trade solution may be viable in the future; however, the details related to this idea and how it affects CPP Climate Protection Plan, still need a robust public process. Read More 5/26/25 Legislative Report - Week of 5/26 The League is very concerned about the recent announcement from Legislative leadership. The Transportation Cap and Trade idea has not had any public review including a comprehensive OCN perspective. Read More 5/19/25 Legislative Report - Week of 5/19 While the primary focus of the LWVOR Action Committee is on Legislation in Oregon, what is happening at the federal level is likely to affect budgeting and other decisions in our state. These climate/energy-related Trump admin policy and budget related executive orders if implemented would drastically affect global UN COP efforts in all fifty states, including Oregon’s climate-related legislation (policy and budget), state agencies, and community climate action plans/state statutes/ targeted outcomes. Read More 5/12/25 Legislative Report - Week of 5/12 While the primary focus of the LWVOR Action Committee is on Legislation in Oregon, what is happening at the federal level is likely to affect budgeting and other decisions in our state. These climate/energy-related Trump admin policy and budget related executive orders if implemented would drastically affect global UN COP efforts in all fifty states, including Oregon’s climate-related legislation (policy and budget), state agencies, and community climate action plans/state statutes/outcomes. Read More 5/5/25 Legislative Report - Week of 5/5 This year, the Oregon Legislature will be considering a transportation package that will provide ongoing funding for the Oregon Department of Transportation. (ODOT). Emissions from transportation make up over one-third of Oregon's total emissions. This session provides an opportunity for the Legislature to increase access to multi-modal transportation and expand options for all Oregonians to get around without a car. The Environmental Caucus is championing a package that prioritizes transit, safety, and climate accountability. Read More 4/28/25 Legislative Report - Week of 4/28 A few federal court rulings have favorably affected Biden admin IRA funding despite the current administration’s attempt to freeze the minutes. ‘The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act‘, provides an expanded overview of funding in Oregon. Read More 4/21/25 Legislative Report - Week of 4/21 For the first time, this year most of our priorities are included in the bipartisan 2025 Legislative Environmental Caucus Priorities, Citizens Utility Board (CUB) Priorities and/or Oregon Conservation Network (OCN) priorities. OCN is the only formal environmental lobby coalition group in the capitol. Consequently, for some of these bills (especially those in a package) the League may just join coalition sign-on letters rather than providing individual testimony. Read More 4/14/25 Legislative Report - Week of 4/14 For the first time, this year most of our priorities are included in the bipartisan 2025 Legislative Environmental Caucus Priorities, Citizens Utility Board (CUB) Priorities and/or Oregon Conservation Network (OCN) priorities. OCN is the only formal environmental lobby coalition group in the capitol. Consequently, for some of these bills (especially those in a package) the League may just join coalition sign-on letters rather than providing individual testimony. Read More 4/7/25 Legislative Report - Week of 4/7 In order to stay on track, the Legislature must prioritize investments for vital environmental justice, climate and community protection programs (CPP). Read More 3/31/25 Legislative Report - Week of 3/31 Over 26 states have or are in the process of having green/environmental rights constitutional topics or initiatives. Read More 3/24/25 Legislative Report - Week of 3/24 This week we added another Environmental Justice bill: SB 54, the bill requires landlords provide cooling for residential units. The League endorsed and added our name to a OJTA Oregon Justice Transition Alliance, sign-on letter. Read More 3/17/25 Legislative Report - Week of 3/17 This week we added a new Environmental Justice bill. HB2548 establishes an agriculture workforce labor standards board, League Testimony. We are considering joining a coalition that has recently formed to support a number of 2025 bills affecting many agricultural workers and other immigrants. There may be League alerts on this topic later this session. Read More 3/10/25 Legislative Report - Week of 3/10 At this point in the session, we have submitted a number of policy Climate Emergency testimonies For the first time, this year most of our priorities are included in the bipartisan 2025 Legislative Environmental Caucus Priorities, Citizens Utility Board (CUB) Priorities and/or Oregon Conservation Network (OCN) priorities. OCN is the only formal environmental lobby coalition group in the building. Read More

Natural Resources Overview The League of Women Voters of Oregon is actively working on a number of natural resource issues including water, wildfire preparedness, energy conservation, air quality, and more. Read More Natural Resources Reports Feb 16, 2026 Legislative Report - Week of 2/16 The Joint Committee On Ways and Means Subcommittee On Natural Resources continues to receive reports as they grapple with balancing the budget. Read More Feb 9, 2026 Legislative Report - Week of 2/9 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. Read More Feb 2, 2026 Legislative Report - Week of 2/2 The Full Ways and Means Committee will hold a public hearing from 5-8p on Feb. 3rd. Individual League members are encouraged to participate, but remember that only our League President can speak on behalf of the League. Read More Jan 26, 2026 Legislative Report - Week of January 26 The Natural Resource agencies have been implementing legislation passed in 2025 and previous legislative sessions. Read More Dec 1, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of December 1 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. Read More Oct 13, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of October 13 Governor Kotek signed Executive Order 25-25 on Oct. 6 to accelerate the pace of renewable wind and solar project development in the state of Oregon before the clock runs out on critical federal clean energy tax credits. Read More Aug 11, 2025 Legislative Report - Sine Die - Week of August 11 This legislative report summarizes the Natural Resources portfolio work that took place over the 2025 Legislative Session. Read More Jun 30, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 6/30 The big wildfire funding bill HB 3940 B that the Wildfire 35 workgroup worked on for one year had four of its six funding recommendations included in the B engrossed bill that passed on a party line vote 3-2 on June 25th Read More Jun 23, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 6/23 The proposed HB 2025 Transportation package, if not agreed upon by the legislature in a truly bipartisan manner, is expected to be taken to the voters by a new political action committee “No Gas Hikes’ per an OPB article. But the bill must pass the legislature before it can be referred to voters. Read More Jun 16, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 6/16 HB 2025 is the comprehensive Transportation ReInvestment Package (TRIP) which is being worked in a new committee: Joint Committee on Transportation Reinvestment. The League signed on to a letter in support of increased transit funding. Rep. McLain, Co-Chair, said she would share information by the first of the coming week. Written testimony was taken through Saturday. Read More Jun 9, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 6/9 The latest transportation funding proposal was revealed June 4th by a group of Democratic lawmakers. Per the Oregonian article, it would “significantly boost funding for public transit and climate-friendly pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.” June 6, the House and Senate Republicans released their legislative concept (bill) to fund the transportation budget for 2025. Read More Jun 2, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 6/2 The omnibus bottle bill SB 992 A, a conglomeration of several bills introduced this session to address problems with beverage container redemption in the Portland area, is now awaiting the Governor’s signature. Read More May 26, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 5/26 Along with the transportation package, wildfire funding has been a challenge for the legislature. The Governor has weighed in on the concept of taking at least a part of the “kicker” to fund wildfire: lawmakers have an option if they can agree on a better use for the kicker money. With a two-thirds supermajority vote in each chamber, they can opt to suspend the refund. That’s happened once since the policy was enacted in the late 70s. Read More May 19, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 5/19 With $756 million LESS General Fund revenue for state services in 2025-27 and $34 million LESS Lottery Fund revenue, our Natural Resource agencies will be hard hit unless the requested various fee increases in these agencies are approved. Read More May 12, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 5/12 Another very difficult wildfire season looks to be on tap for 2025. It is expected, currently, that conditions will deteriorate to the point that all of Oregon will be at high risk for large wildfires by August 1, with the Eastside reaching that state by July 1. Coupled with a slowdown in getting staffing in place due to the current federal funding landscape, the season is likely to be extremely challenging not only for Oregon but the entire Northwestern United States. Read More May 5, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 5/5 The Co-Chairs of Ways and Means provided their framework for the 2025-27 state budget. Note on the last page the potential effect of federal budget cuts. On Friday President Trump published a general outline of his proposed budget for the federal government (Oct. 1, 2025 to Sept. 30, 2026). The document assumes much of the funding for this fiscal year that he has held back will continue and a 22% additional cut in “discretionary spending”. We now need to see what our May 14th state revenue forecast will be. Then our legislators need to decide how much, if any of those federal cuts will be backfilled by state monies. Read More Apr 28, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 4/28 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 or facilitate an agency’s mission. Read More Apr 21, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 4/21 OPRD is working on a Land Disposition Policy, which they have never really had. This started out as a means to “reducing expenses,” but is turning into something much better, a properly worded policy document that hopefully gives OPRD another tool without encouraging giveaways. It is meant to be a part of, and to mirror, the existing policy on acquisitions. The Parks Commission is adopting the new policy at their meeting. Read More Apr 14, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 4/14 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. Read More Apr 7, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 4/7 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. Read More Mar 31, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 3/31 At this time in the session when bills are being considered to move forward, agendas will be changed related to the ability of Legislative Counsel to provide amendments and the Legislative Fiscal Office to provide fiscal impact statements to calculate the cost of these bills. Be sure to check the bills you might be following to confirm when a public hearing or work session is actually happening! Read More Mar 24, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 3/24 The Oregon Legislature began its 2025 session with a record number of bills filed before the session opened, at least in the 25 years that the Legislature’s Office of Legislative Counsel has been counting. The record-breaking continued this week, with 3,391 bills filed as of Wednesday. That’s nearly 100 more than the previous modern-day record set in 2001. This from an Oregonlive news article. Read More Mar 17, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 3/17 The Joint Committee On Ways and Means took action on March 14 on five bills to rebalance the 2023-25 budget. The bills go to the respective chambers for a vote where they should pass and be sent to the Governor for her signature. The legislature will then focus on the 2025-27 budgets. Read More Mar 10, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 3/10 On March 7, the Joint Committee On Ways and Means Subcommittee On Capital Construction held public hearings and work sessions on five bills to rebalance the 2023-25 budget. Read More Mar 3, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 3/3 The Co-Chairs of the House Committee On Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water are working on a broad package of water-related bills, the 2025 Water Package. There is a Water Caucus raising the awareness of the need to address Oregon’s water needs. League members may want to check the U. S. Drought Monitor, a map that is updated every Thursday. Read More Feb 24, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 2/24 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. Read More Feb 17, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 2/17 Our state agencies often receive reimbursable grants where the agencies do the work required in the grant and apply to reimbursement. With the uncertainty of that reimbursement, many projects that were planned by agencies are on hold. Read More Feb 10, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 2/10 As we all hear news daily from the federal government, Rep. Gomberg provided some concerning information about the potential loss of federal funding here in Oregon: Thrown into uncertainty was the Oregon Health Plan. Read More Feb 3, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 2/3 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. Read More Jan 27, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 1/27 How to protect productive agricultural ground and forests by determining what uses should and shouldn’t be allowed on private agricultural and forest land in the state is top of mind as the 2025 session of the Oregon Legislature gets underway. Read More Jan 20, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 1/20 A League member attended virtually the Dec. 18-19 Board of Agriculture meeting. Peter Kenagy, Albany area farmer, announced the reactivation of the Ag for Oregon group who will be advocating for agricultural land use protections and address the expansion of agri-tourism. Read More Dec 20, 2024 Legislative Report - December Interim 2024 Look for a new lobbying group to Keep Oregon Farming by advocating for MORE uses on farmland. A separate group will be advocating for reducing the current number of uses on farmland. Read More Oct 1, 2024 Legislative Report - September Legislative Days During the Sept. Interim Days, there were many presentations related to the importance of agricultural lands. Agriculture is the second most important and most stable industry in Oregon. Read More Jun 10, 2024 Legislative Report - Interim Week 6/10 We have begun to work on legislation and budgets for 2025. With your help, we can continue to make a difference. Join us and volunteer! Read More Apr 22, 2024 Legislative Report - Sine Die 2024 The League provided comments to the Board of Agriculture as the 2024 session began. Oregon agriculture is the second most important and most stable industry in Oregon because of the hundreds of “crops” grown here. Read More Mar 4, 2024 Legislative Report - Week of 3/4 SB 5701, the omnibus budget bill for 2024 was amended at the end of the session. The League was pleased with the breadth of programs funded as well as the policy bills that were also funded. But there were disappointments, too. Read More Feb 26, 2024 Legislative Report - Week of 2/26 SB 5701 is the omnibus budget bill for 2024. It is currently populated with the items approved during the November and January Legislative Days. Read More Feb 19, 2024 Legislative Report - Week of 2/19 SB 5701 is the 2024 omnibus budget bill. It is currently populated with the items approved during the November and January Legislative Days. Read More Feb 12, 2024 Legislative Report - Week of 2/12 The Dept. of Environmental Quality presented information on the status of our Title V air quality program fees after the significant increase adopted in 2023. Read More Feb 5, 2024 Legislative Report - Week of 2/5 The 2024 short session runs Feb. 5 through March 10th. Bills in most committees must be scheduled for a work session by Feb. 12 and acted on by Feb. 19th in the first chamber. The legislative calendar is posted on the Oregon Legislature website. Read More Jan 15, 2024 Legislative Report - Week of 1/15 The 2024 short session runs Feb. 5 through March 10th. The legislative calendar is posted on the Oregon Legislature website. Bills will be posted soon on OLIS. Committee bills were introduced during the January 10-12 Legislative Days. Read More Nov 13, 2023 Legislative Report - November Interim Volunteers are still needed to cover important issues like Air Quality, Recycling and Toxics. The League needs your voices! Training provided. Read More Oct 2, 2023 Legislative Report - September Interim We hope you read the October 1st LWVOR All-Member Newsletter with the list of volunteers needed for the League’s Natural Resources Team. The League depends on YOU to help advocate—using our adopted positions. Read More Aug 18, 2023 Legislative Report - Sine Die The League’s Natural Resources Team added volunteers Paula Grisafi (Toxics) and Carolyn Mayers (Wildfire) and sadly lost a member, Kathy Moyd, who worked on both Climate and Natural Resource issues and was a valuable former NASA engineer with a variety of expertise and willingness to attend meetings virtually, provide written and verbal League testimony using League positions and personal expertise. Read More Jun 26, 2023 Legislative Report - Week of 6/26 In spite of the drama, the 2023 legislative session had more success than failure as you will see below. We hope you wait for our Sine Die Report in August—after the Governor has signed the bills—or not, for a more complete report on the bills we worked on and their outcome. HCR 38 was passed and set the process for the February 2024 short session. Read More Jun 12, 2023 Legislative Report - Week of 6/12 LWVOR joined with others in support of HB 3229. The bill would increase federal air quality (Title V) operating permit program fees that have not been increased for many years. The bill is in the W&M Capital Construction Subcommittee where amendments are being discussed. Read More Jun 5, 2023 Legislative Report - Week of 6/5 The end of the session may be seen soon, although the official sine die is June 25th... (Oops! “Sine die” doesn’t pass the reading test…it’s "end of the session" I should use.) Bills are stacking up in the Senate as there is still no quorum to be able to vote on those bills—policies and budgets. If there is no resolution by the 25, look for a special session before the Sept. 15t deadline when many agencies will be unfunded. Read More May 29, 2023 Legislative Report - Week of 5/29 It’s mostly about budgets now, unless the Senate Republicans return to vote on policy bills awaiting a Senate chamber vote. Of interest is a new strategy of creating large budget bills combining a number of policy bills that need funding. Look for “packages” in this report’s Budget section. The latest word is W&Ms may finish by June 9th and then will wait for a return of Senators to the Senate chamber for a quorum. Otherwise, adjournment is June 25. Read More May 22, 2023 Legislative Report - Week of 5/22 With Policy Committees closed from moving bills out of committee (except for Rules, Revenue and Joint Committees), watch for interesting information sessions—to learn more about current issues and potential future ones. We continue to wait for a climate package and a water package, as well as most natural resource agency budgets to be scheduled. The League continues to advocate for the slew of bills in Ways and Means we supported earlier in session and listed in this report. Read More May 15, 2023 Legislative Report - Week of 5/15 We’ve got money! The May 17 Revenue Forecast declared an additional $1.96 billion available for the 2023-25 session. And the crazy “kicker” is up to about $5.5 billion!! It could be about 50% of your 2023 Oregon taxes—shown up as a credit in 2024! Now we’ll see what the legislature does with all that money! We expect a package of climate bills and a water package. The League will advocate for the slew of bills in Ways and Means we supported earlier in session. Read More

Become a member of the League of Women Voters of Oregon. / Join / Get Involved Attend An Event Events take place around the state. Button Become a Member Join your local League! Button Donate Support our work. Button Learn more Empowering Oregon voters. Button Button Button Button Button Volunteer With the League Volunteers are vital to our success. There are plenty of ways to get involved with the League depending on your interest, skills, and availability. Check out the various volunteer teams below. Training and mentorship is provided in all areas! Climate Emergency Advocates year round for a variety of agency rules, policies and budgets that are consistent with the best available climate science and that will ensure a stable climate system for future generations. LWVOR supports the Our Children’s Trust/Crag Environmental Law Center state and federal lawsuits and we oppose expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure. Volunteer opportunities: -Following policy at the state and local levels. -Training with LWVOR Advocacy Committee. -Working with legislators to affect policy changes. -Drafting Letters To the Editor, testimony, Action Alerts, and more! Areas of interest: -Natural and Working lands -Transportation -Climate Related Lawsuits -Public Health Climate Adaptation -Oregon Treasury: ESG investing and fossil fuel divestment Main contact: Claudia Keith - climatepolicy@lwvor.org VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Natural and Working lands, specifically Agriculture, Transportation and ODOT state agency, Climate Related Lawsuits/Our Children’s Trust, Public Health Climate Adaptation (OHA), Regional Solutions / Infrastructure (with NR team), State Procurement Practices (DAS: Dept. of Admin. Services), CE Portfolio State Agency and Commission Budgets, Oregon Treasury: ESG investing/Fossil Fuel divestment, Community Resilience Links: Climate Emergency Reports Governance Governance advocacy issues including ethics, efficiency, citizen participation and access, public access law, and contemporary privacy and technology issues. Election policies include laws and administrative rules, campaign finance, redistricting, and alternative voting methods. Areas of interest: -Redistricting -Campaign Finance -Cybersecurity -Voting Rights -Elections Main contact: lwvor@lwvor.org Links: Governance Reports Redistricting Campaign Finance VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Budget/Revenue Social Policy The broad Social Policy area includes: housing, adult corrections, education, judiciary, juvenile justice, public safety, gun safety, violence preventions, health care, mental health, immigration and refugees, foster care, social services, and women’s issues. Actively lobbies for anti-poverty programs to help low income and at-risk people move toward financial stability. Volunteer opportunities: -Following policy at the state and local levels. -Training with LWVOR Advocacy Committee. -Working with legislators to affect policy changes. -Drafting Letters To the Editor, testimony, Action Alerts, and more! Areas of interest: -Human rights -Immigration, Refugees & Asylum Seekers -GLBTQ+ -Basic Human Needs Main contact: Jean Pierce - SocialPolicy@lwvor.org VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Public Safety, Basic Needs: Food, Basic Needs: Income, Juvenile Justice Links: Social Policy Reports Natural Resources Works year-round on improving air quality, combating climate change, coastal management, clean energy, proper disposal of hazardous materials and solid waste, conservation, land use, parks, clean and abundant water supply for all, wetlands protection and other resource preservation, and budgets related to Oregon’s 14 natural resource agencies. Volunteer opportunities: -Following policy at the state and local levels. -Training with LWVOR Advocacy Committee. -Working with legislators to affect policy changes. -Drafting Letters To the Editor, testimony, Action Alerts, and more! Areas of interest: -Air Quality -Land Quality -Recycling and Waste Prevention -Coastal Programs -Fish and Wildlife -Columbia River Gorge -Geology and Mineral Industries -Oregon Marine Board -Parks and Recreation -Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board Main contact: Peggy Lynch - peggylynchor@gmail.com Links: Natural Resources Reports VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Air Quality (Dept. of Environmental Quality), Columbia River Gorge Commission, Environmental Restoration Council, Hanford Cleanup, Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Water Enhancement Board, Parks and Recreation Dept., Pesticides and Toxics, Recycling/Materials Management (Dept. of Environmental Quality) Youth Engagement Join our Youth Outreach committee for opportunities around youth civic engagement, mentorship, event support, and voter outreach. Support our growing Youth Council operated by young Oregonians from around the state and our award-winning Oregon Student Mock Election! Examples of volunteer opportunities: -Mentoring Youth Council members -Supporting Oregon Student Mock Elections in your local schools -Supporting youth civic engagement events -Youth voter registration drives at high schools and college campuses Main contact: Diana DeMaria and Mimi Alkire - youthoutreach@lwvor.org Links: Youth Council Oregon Student Mock Election Voter Engagement Do you have a passion for being an election observer? Are you interested in helping host a forum for local candidates on the 2026 ballot? The LWVOR Voter Service team is interested in talking to you! We are looking for volunteers who are interested in many aspects of the Voter Education process, including helping run a voter registration drive, researching ballot measures, distributing Voters’ Guides to local locations, and more! Examples of volunteer opportunities: -VOTE411.org candidate and ballot measure reasearch -Voters' Guides -Voter registration drives in your community -Election forums -Election observers Main contact: lwvor@lwvor.org Links: VOTE411.org Voting In Oregon Let's Make A Change Here are some ways you can donate: Donate By Mail The League of Women Voters of Oregon 1330 12th St SE Suite 200 Salem, OR 97302 Online Make a tax deductible donation‏. Click to Give Investments Learn more about giving to the League. Learn more

Follow social policy related items with the League of Women Voters of Oregon. Social Policy Overview The League of Women Voters of Oregon is actively working toward a more accessible government, better educational resources, statewide privacy protections and more. Read More Social Policy Reports Feb 16, 2026 Legislative Report - Week of 2/16 The League is carefully monitoring the many bills in House and Senate Judiciary this session that seek to protect Oregonians from the actions of federal immigration officers. Read More Feb 9, 2026 Legislative Report - Week of 2/9 The Senate and House Judiciary Committees got off to a quick start by scheduling hearings on several important bills during the first few days. Read More Feb 2, 2026 Legislative Report - Week of 2/2 Given the time constraints of a short session, it is striking to see the number of bills that relate to current federal government actions on immigration. Read More Jan 26, 2026 Legislative Report - Week of January 26 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.” Read More Dec 1, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of December 1 During the November Legislative Days hearings, The Ways and Means Subcommittee on Education held informational briefings on early learning as well as education regarding costs, performance considerations, and proposed cuts due to the pending loss of $880 million in federal funds. Read More Oct 13, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of October 13 Oregon’s “School Medicaid” system has not been impacted yet by funding cuts in H.R. 1, but it is possible that impacts will be felt in the future. Read More Aug 11, 2025 Legislative Report - Sine Die - Week of August 11 This sine die report summarizes the Social Policy portfolio work that took place over the 2025 Legislative Session. Read More Jun 30, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 6/30 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. Read More Jun 23, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 6/23 The League is hopeful that it is likely some existing immigrant related agency social service programs will receive additional funding at the end of the session reconciliation bill. Read More Jun 16, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 6/16 The Legislative Fiscal Office recommends a 2025-27 total funds budget for the Housing and Community Services Department of $2,667,240,094 and 478 positions (474.50 FTE). This is a 28.2% decrease from the 2023-25 legislatively approved budget, and 39.3% increase from the 2025-27 current service level. Read More Jun 9, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 6/9 SB 1098, the Freedom to Read bill, passed in the House essentially along party lines. LWVOR provided testimony in support. Read More Jun 2, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 6/2 SB 548 has been signed into law by Governor Kotek. This bill establishes 18 as the minimum age for marriage. LWVOR testified in support. Read More May 26, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 5/26 LWVOR is following several budget bills relating to educational funding. In view of the revenue forecast, it is anticipated that amounts appropriated will be lowered. Read More May 19, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 5/19 Steady progress has been made in addressing our state’s housing crisis by investing in affordable housing production and preservation. Now thousands of Oregonians have housing stability with affordable homes. Housing advocates are being encouraged to take action now by sending messages to members of the Oregon Legislature's Joint Subcommittee on Capital Construction, and top housing leaders in both the House and Senate, to invest in bond resources in the 2025-2027 state budget. Read More May 19, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 5/12 This week the League of Women Voters of the United States joined a sign-on letter urging Congress to oppose cuts to Medicaid to help prevent medical debt. Oregon spent about $13 billion on its Medicaid program in 2024, picking up about 25% of the cost for the program covering 1.43 million Oregonians. Read More May 5, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 5/5 Recently, Head Start has been the subject of a tug of war over federal funding. In March, the Administration announced that it was closing 5 regional offices, including one in Seattle which oversees funding for programs in Oregon. Nevertheless, programs did receive delayed funding in early April. But the office remains closed, jeopardizing funding of $196M for over 8000 students in Oregon. The proposed budget would totally eliminate funding for Head Start and Early Head Start. Read More Apr 28, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 4/28 LWVOR continues to focus on housing challenges experienced by people with the lowest incomes. Affordable homes in Oregon are in short supply, making it important to strengthen resident protections, as proposed in HB 3054 A. The bill seeks to limit rent increases for homeowners in home parks and marinas that are experiencing escalating rents and curtail landlord practices that may threaten residents’ ability to stay in their homes. Read More Apr 21, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 4/21 SB 951A prohibits a management service organization from making decisions about patient care. The bill also prohibits non-compete, non-disparage employment clauses in medical work’s contracts. This will allow caregivers to speak out without fear of reprisal if they feel there is a safety issue at the workplace involving patient care. It was passed by the Senate and will be heard in House Behavioral Health and Health Care on May 1. Read More Apr 14, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 4/14 On April 8th the House Behavioral Health and Health Care Committee unanimously passed HB 2015 Amendment 3 with a “do pass” recommendation and a referral to Ways & Means. This wide-ranging bill addresses regulatory barriers in building and operating secure residential treatment facilities (SRTF’s), residential treatment facilities (RTF’s) and residential treatment homes (RTH’s) in Oregon. It directs the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to study nursing requirements in SRTF’s and to assess alternative methodologies for reimbursement. Read More Apr 7, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 4/7 We are following numerous bills relating to after school and summer care, behavioral health, education, gun policy, housing, immigration, gun policy, and age-related issues. Read More Mar 31, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 3/31 We are following numerous bills relating to after school and summer care, behavioral health, education, gun policy, housing, immigration, public safety, and revenue. Read More Mar 24, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 3/24 We are following numerous bills relating to after school and summer care, civil commitment, behavioral health, education, gun policy, health care, housing, immigration, and revenue. Read More Mar 17, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 3/17 We are following numerous bills relating to behavioral health, education, gun policy, health care, housing, and reproductive health. Read More Mar 10, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 3/10 We are following numerous bills relating to behavioral health, child care, education, housing, and public safety. Read More Mar 3, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 3/3 We are following numerous bills relating to behavioral health, education, gun policy, health care, and housing. Read More Feb 24, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 2/24 We are following numerous bills relating to age discrimination/reproductive health, behavioral health, child care, criminal justice, education, housing, immigration, and public safety. Read More Feb 17, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 2/17 We are following numerous bills relating to behavioral health, child care, criminal justice, education, housing, immigration, and public safety. Read More Feb 10, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 2/10 On Feb. 3, the House Committee on Education held a public hearing for HB 2596 (Interstate Compact for School Psychologists). Read More Feb 3, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 2/3 The final report for the 2024 session report on HB 4082 includes a request of $50 million per year for the biennium ($100 million total). Read More Jan 27, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 1/27 Legislative Committees heard presentations describing the current state of funding, and foreshadowing requests for larger allocations. Read More Jan 20, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 1/20 The legislature will soon begin its 2025 session, and some bills related to afterschool and summer care will be introduced. Read More Dec 20, 2024 Legislative Report - December Interim 2024 The Governor’s budget includes $80 million for summer school but it is not clear whether that includes summer child care. Read More Oct 1, 2024 Legislative Report - September Legislative Days House Revenue, 9/24/24, 2:30 PM, held report and discussion about how parameters of distribution of dollars of equalization between our school districts is decided, based on poverty, special education, individual education plans (IEP’s), etc.. A report from Revenue Dept. was that any changes to this plan would create winners and losers among school districts. Read More Jun 10, 2024 Legislative Report - Interim Week 6/10 On May 29th the Senate interim Committee on Health Care met during legislative days. Of interest is the ongoing concern about the rising cost of health care. Read More Apr 22, 2024 Legislative Report - Sine Die 2024 LWVOR wrote testimony supporting a bill which would have provided $50 million to support summer learning through ODE to school districts. Read More Mar 4, 2024 Legislative Report - Week of 3/4 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. Read More Feb 26, 2024 Legislative Report - Week of 2/26 HB 4082 Summer Learning 2024 and Beyond, was originally recommended for $50 million in funding. It was amended to include an additional $141,767 from Other funds (Student Success funding) for .50 FTE for ODE grant administration and $417,039 in general funds for ODE research and development of the Oregon 21st Century Community Learning Center Initiative. Read More Feb 19, 2024 Legislative Report - Week of 2/19 On February 26, The Joint Committee on Addictions and Community Safety Response is holding a public hearing to consider two amendments to HB 4002 which deals with Oregon’s addiction crisis. Read More Feb 12, 2024 Legislative Report - Week of 2/12 HB 4082, Summer Learning for 2024 and Beyond, to provide $50 million for summer care in 2024 and establish a workgroup for planning to support after-school and summer learning opportunities and care in the future was approved unanimously in the House Committee on Education and referred to Ways and Means. Read More Feb 5, 2024 Legislative Report - Week of 2/5 Volunteers are needed who are interested in issues related to Children at Risk, Corrections, Farmworkers, Mental Health, and Physical Health. Please contact SocialPolicy@lwvor.org for more information about how you can make a difference with League advocacy. Read More Jan 15, 2024 Legislative Report - Week of 1/15 Volunteers are needed who are interested in issues related to Children at Risk, Corrections, Farmworkers, Mental Health, and Physical Health. Please contact SocialPolicy@lwvor.org for more information about how you can make a difference with League advocacy. Read More Nov 13, 2023 Legislative Report - November Interim The Joint Interim Addiction and Community Response Committee held an in-depth discussion on the controlled substance crimes of unlawful possession, manufacture or delivery of illegal drugs during November interim legislative days. Read More Oct 2, 2023 Legislative Report - September Interim Senate Judiciary discussed SB 337 on 9-27. The bill formed a new Public Defense Services Commission, to become effective 1-1-2024. The staff is recruiting new defense attorneys for unrepresented clients residing In jails. Read More Aug 18, 2023 Legislative Report - Sine Die In 2023, it became clear that the housing crisis is now a statewide issue. In communities throughout Oregon people are living on the street and many of those who are housed are at risk of losing their homes because they can’t afford to pay their rent. Read More Jun 26, 2023 Legislative Report - Week of 6/26 SB 1089 (changed from SB 704) Sets up a Governance board for Universal Health Care. The board would create a plan to finance and administer Universal Health Care for Oregonians. Read More Jun 12, 2023 Legislative Report - Week of 6/12 On June 6, the Legislative Fiscal Office and the Joint W&Ms issued their recommended budget to the Transportation and Economic Development Subcommittee on SB 5511, the Housing and Community Services Department (OHCS) budget: Legislative Fiscal Office's analysis. Read More Jun 5, 2023 Legislative Report - Week of 6/5 At the urging of newly-elected Governor Kotek, the Oregon Legislature invested more than $215 million in the Early Session Housing Package. Read More May 29, 2023 Legislative Report - Week of 5/29 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. Read More May 22, 2023 Legislative Report - Week of 5/22 Fortunately, many critical housing policy bills and funding passed earlier in the session, but some are still under consideration or awaiting Senate action. Read More May 15, 2023 Legislative Report - Week of 5/15 Republican walkouts have prevented the full Senate from considering key housing bills that passed out of Senate Housing and Development and are ready for floor votes. In better news, the full House adopted SB 702, which will require racial justice and implicit bias training for home appraisers. Read More

Follow revenue related items with the League of Women Voters of Oregon. Revenue Reports February 16, 2026 Legislative Report - Week of 2/16 The latest word is we are $650 million in the hole related to revenue needs vs. expenses. But this number doesn’t reflect all the legislation being considered this session. Read More February 9, 2026 Legislative Report - Week of 2/9 The long-awaited Revenue Forecast that will guide the spending for the 2026 legislative session, was delivered at the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee meeting on Feb. 4th. Read More February 2, 2026 Legislative Report - Week of 2/2 State agencies provided the Ways and Means Subcommittees with proposed cuts of up to 5% from their currently-approved budgets during the November Interim Days. Read More January 6, 2026 Legislative Report - Week of January 26 Everyone waits anxiously for the Feb. 4th Revenue Forecast so the legislature will know the expected revenue for the rest of this biennium to be able to rebalance the state budget. Read More December 1, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of December 1 On Nov. 19, legislators received the latest Revenue Forecast. (An in-depth version is here.) Oregonlive covered the forecast helpfully. They provide an in-depth Revenue Outlook. The Oregon Capital Insider also provided a good article. However, we still have two economies: One for the wealthy and one for low-income Oregonians—the “k” economy. Read More October 13, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of October 13 Oregon is better suited to address a significant downturn in the economy than the last major downturn because of Oregon’s Rainy Day and Education Stability Funds. But there are criteria that must be addressed in order to access those funds. Read More October 13, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of October 13 Oregon is better suited to address a significant downturn in the economy than the last major downturn because of Oregon’s Rainy Day and Education Stability Funds. But there are criteria that must be addressed in order to access those funds. Read More June 16, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 6/16 Oregon House Bill 2321 seeks to study Oregon’s property tax system, with a focus on Ballot Measures 5 and 50. Ballot measure 5, passed in 1990, set limits on property taxes through a hybrid levy- and rate-based system originally intended to control rapidly increasing property tax costs. This was a departure from the previous property tax system, which relied on tax levies set by each district as a function of specific budget needs. Read More May 19, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 5/19 The May 14th economic forecast highlights sluggish growth in the U.S. and Oregon economies, with an elevated risk of recession. Oregon’s GDP growth is forecasted to slow to 0.9% in 2025, marking a decline from previous estimates. However, stronger growth is projected for 2027, in anticipation of trade negotiations and a federal tax cut package. Read More May 12, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 5/12 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 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. Read More April 21, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 4/21 House Bill 3049 (introduced) seeks to modify provisions for corporate excise tax exemptions for businesses operating in economically lagging areas. This bill was discussed during an informational session with the House Revenue Committee on 4/15/25 in response to a request for an interim report on the bill from LRO. Read More April 14, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 4/14 House Bill 3049 was introduced at the request of Governor Tina Kotek for Oregon Business Development Department. It seeks to modify provisions for corporate excise tax exemptions for businesses operating in economically lagging areas. While this exemption exists in Oregon currently, the program is believed to be underutilized due to complex eligibility calculations. The new bill provides simplified methods to determine eligibility and employee wage requirements, and limits the amount of exemptions that a single business may claim. Read More April 9, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 4/7 House Bill 2362 aims to implement tiered estate tax exemptions based on the size of the taxable estate. The exemption amount would vary based on the estate's value, and would phase out for larger estates. As a result, this bill would modernize Oregon’s estate tax exemption policy with respect to inflation and appreciation of assets over time. Read More Revenue Overview The League of Women Voters of Oregon is actively working toward a more accessible government, better educational resources, statewide privacy protections and more. Read More

Back to All Legislative Reports Social Policy Legislative Report - Week of 2/16 Social Policy Team Coordinator: Jean Pierce • After School and Summer Care: Katie Riley • Behavioral Health: Trish Garner • Criminal Justice/Juvenile Justice: Marge Easley / Sharron Noon • Education: Jean Pierce / Stephanie Engle • Equal Rights for All Ballot Measure: Jean Pierce Kyra Aguon • Gender-Related Concerns, Reproductive Health, Age Discrimination: Trish Garner • Gun Safety & Gun Issues, Rights for Incarcerated People: Marge Easley • Hate and Bias Crimes: Claudia Keith/ Becky Gladstone /rhyen enger • Health Care: Christa Danielsen • Housing: Debbie Aiona and Nancy Donovan Note: Education reports after January, 2024, are included in Social policy reports. Education reports prior to February, 2024, can be found HERE . Please see the Legislation Tracker for 2026 Social Policy bills . Jump to topic: Behavioral Health Criminal Justice Education Gun Safety Healthcare Housing Immigration Reproductive Healthcare Behavioral Health Trish Garner SB 1533 received a “do pass with amendment 1” recommendation in the Senate Committee on Human Services. It generally permits a court to limit, deny, or prohibit contact between a foster child and the foster child's sibling to ensure safe and appropriate contact between the siblings. It modifies Oregon’s Foster Children’s Sibling Bill of Rights by enhancing contact between siblings, except when a court order has determined otherwise. It also expands the Oregon Foster Children’s Bill of Rights to include the right to (1) be protected from abuse, exploitation, neglect, intimidation and inappropriate use of restraint or seclusion, (2) have access to a free and appropriate public education; (3) be assigned an attorney to represent the child’s interests; and (4) maintain, have access to and be able to transport to their personal belongings. SB 1547 A has been passed in the Senate. The bill responds to a 2024 legislative direction to the System of Care Advisory Council that it examine the possibility of establishing a bachelor’s level youth and family behavioral health license. That is what SB 1547 does. The measure authorizes the Oregon Board of Psychology to issue licenses to “behavioral health and wellness practitioners“ after completion of relevant education, clinical hours and training. HB 1547 also sets standards for licensure. These practitioners are specifically prohibited from engaging in the practice of psychology, medicine, or diagnosis or treatment of a mental disorder. Practitioners are required to practice under qualified supervisors, and communications between the practitioners and clients is privileged. HB 1547 is commonly referred to as the “Ballmer” bill because the Ballmer Institute for Children’s Behavioral Health in Portland OR will be providing the education for these practitioners. SB 1579 was heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee, and a Work Session is scheduled for February 16. The measure makes submitting a false report about child abuse a Class B misdemeanor. Making such a false report if the person has a prior conviction for having done so previously can result in a Class A felony charge, and two or more prior convictions for making a false report of child abuse carries a Class C felony. HB 4028 was heard by the House Committee on Behavioral Health, and in a Work Session it unanimously adopted the proposal with a “do pass” recommendation. The bill had initially been scheduled to be referred to Ways and Means, but that referral was rescinded. This legislation targets the auditing process for outpatient behavioral healthcare treatment. It requires the Oregon Health Authority, insurers and coordinated care organizations (CCO’s) to develop written claim filing requirements including detailed and specific information. (CCO’s are regional networks which receive and manage state and Medicaid funding and distribute it to health care providers based on their services.) The claim filing requirements must be made available to all providers. HB 4028 also mandates that providers must be given 30 days advance notice of any changes in these requirements. The lookback and compliance deadlines are identified. The CCO’s cannot claim recoupment based on clerical errors. The same criteria must be used for all behavioral health and medical and surgical claims. This latter provision reiterates Oregon’s policy of parity, which means that claims for behavioral and mental health treatment must be processed the same as medical claims. HB 4039 passed the House Committee on Health Care with a “do pass with amendment 1” recommendation. The bill changes how the Oregon Health Authority sets payment rates for coordinated care organizations (see definition of CCO in report regarding HB 4028). HB 4039-1 mandates that CCO’s establish a transparent, data-driven process when developing capitation rates, which are the set amounts of Medicaid funds Oregon pays a CCO per member, per month to cover that person’s healthcare. The bill also requires that CCO’s use a part of their income or reserves to address social determinants of health and health disparities. Finally, the Oregon Health Policy Board is mandated to establish a review process for collecting public comment when setting rates. HB 4059 received a “do pass with amendment 3” recommendation and a referral to the Rules Committee from the House Committee on Early Childhood and Human Services. The bill seeks to modify what constitutes “threatened harm” when determining whether a child has been abused and places limits on jurisdiction when the state investigates certain reports of child abuse. The current standard is whether a child faces a “substantial threat of harm.” Proponents argue that this standard is vague and set too low. For example, Oregon’s Department of Human Services gets more complaints of potential neglect or abuse than other states (about 100 a year for each 1,000 children, compared to a national average of 70). Children and families who are investigated often experience lasting trauma, even when the abuse is unfounded and Oregon’s child welfare workers are overworked. Disability Rights Oregon was opposed on the grounds that it might lead to more domestic violence and abuse. (See Oregonian article ). Amendments offered different standards for triggering such investigations. One standard required demonstration of an imminent and severe threat to the child, and another required a threat of harm that places a child at severe risk to welfare and is likely to occur in the future. The Committee landed on the “severe risk” standard ( HB 4059-3 ). HB 4083A unanimously passed the House Behavioral Health Committee with a “do pass with amendment 2” recommendation. The bill arose out of Governor Tina Kotek’s Behavioral Health Talent Council, chaired by First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson, a former social worker. It was designed to “cut the red tape” for behavioral health worker licensure and ease a bottleneck that has formed due to a lack of qualified clinical supervisors. HB 4083-2 retains the first portion of the initial version of the bill but eliminates the second. This means that the Oregon Health Authority is required to create a uniform process to credential behavioral health care providers. The State Board of Licensed Social Workers, however, will not join the Board of Psychology and the Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists in being supervised by the State Mental Health Regulatory Agency. These professionals very strongly opposed this portion of the bill. Criminal Justice By Marge Easley and Sharron Noone The League is carefully monitoring the many bills in House and Senate Judiciary this session that seek to protect Oregonians from the actions of federal immigration officers. Thus far we have submitted supportive testimony on three of those bills. The latest testimony was on SJR 203 , heard on 2/11 with a work session scheduled for 2/16. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Manning, would refer to voters a constitutional amendment that prohibits secret police in Oregon, forbids the wearing of masks by all levels of law enforcement, and requires identification on officers’ uniforms. We previously reported on HB 4114 (League testimony ), which allows a civil suit against a federal or out-of-state law enforcement officer, and on HB 4138 (League testimony ), which requires law enforcement agencies to enact policies regarding identification on officers’ uniforms. The former bill passed with an amendment on 2/11 on a 5-3 vote, while the latter is scheduled for a work session on 2/16. On other criminal justice matters the League submitted recent testimony on HB 4045 , which requires communications providers to respond quickly to search warrants related to stalking or domestic violence. Social media providers must respond within 72 hours, while all others must respond within 5 days. The bill was heard on 2/9, and the amended bill passed out of committee on 2/11. We also hope to see SB 1515 (modifications to the wrongful conviction petition process) successfully pass out of committee at its 2/16 work session. (LWVOR testimony ) Education By Jean Pierce HB 4079 requires public schools to inform parents, students, and community members when ICE is present on the campus. This would assure immigrants that they have accurate information to base decisions protecting their children. included a number of technical fixes recommended by the chief sponsor of the bill. The League submitted testimony in support of the bill. HB 4079-5 received a DO PASS as AMENDED recommendation SB 1538 creates a new protected class in educational antidiscrimination law (schools cannot discriminate based on immigration or citizenship status), and guarantees admission to Oregon school districts’ instructional programs The -7 amendment removed a requirement which the League had supported in testimony – that districts model their policies after those developed by the Oregon DOJ. Nevertheless, the League still supports SB 1538-7, which received a DO PASS as AMENDED recommendation from Senate Education. The House Education work session for HB 4149 , for which the League wrote supportive testimony , was carried over until Monday, Feb. 16. After hearing a number of concerns about SB 1555 , the Senate Education Committee did not hold a work session on the bill. It would have eliminated the Quality Education Commission and made other significant changes related to how public education is funded. While there is no question that the current system of determining the level of funding is flawed in Oregon, concerns were shared that the bill raised a number of issues that could not be resolved in the short session. Chair Fredericks announced that he was creating a work group to consider how best to restructure school funding. The House Education Committee considered three bills which would require additional moneys: In a public hearing for HB 4112 , that would restore funding for outdoor school, the point was made that this would honor Measure 99 - when voters requested an outdoor school education fund consisting of 4% of the Oregon Lottery Economic Development Fund. HB 4050 would fund a study of processes used by other jurisdictions to align school funding with provider costs. This was referred to Joint Ways and Means HB 4124 In January, 2026, a HECC report on spending and efficiency in Oregon Public Universities found: Tuition rates have increased, and Oregon relies more than its peers nationally on tuition revenue. The overall growth in spending has exceeded that of consumer-based inflation. This is consistent with the national experience for higher education institutions and other public, labor-intensive entities in Oregon. Proportionally, spending on instruction and research has fallen from 43% to 37% while spending on public service and institution support has grown from 14% to 19%. Over the past decade, staffing has grown while enrollment has declined with significant variation by university. Staffing grew the most in academic and student support areas while also growing in institution support areas When considering cost efficiency, the number of degree/certificate programs offered has grown significantly while student to staff and student to faculty ratios have declined. Degree productivity (i.e., the number of completions per 1,000 student FTE) and degree completion spending (i.e., the number of completions per $100,000 in spending) have both increased, suggesting improved efficiency. With this in mind, HB 4124 would require HECC to study and make recommendations to address the purpose of different types of institutions and opportunities for collaboration, restructuring, or integration. The recommendations need to address workforce needs, program duplication, employment supports, funding strategies, and metrics of affordability. It is hoped that the recommendations would lead to policies which make higher education in Oregon more affordable to students while maintaining the quality of programs. Gun Policy By Marge Easley Following the spirited House Judiciary hearing on 2/2, we will be closely watching for any amendments to HB 4145 (modifications to the gun permitting portion of Measure 114) at its work session on 2/16. Healthcare By Christa Danielson and Trish Garner SB1527 would provide access to screening with colposcopy when there is an abnormal pap. LWVOR filed testimony in support. The bill passed the Senate unanimously. SB 1529 was heard in the Senate Committee on Health Care and a Work Session has been scheduled (February 16 th ). The initial draft of SB 1529 was a study bill, but amendment 1 requires that when contract negotiations present a risk of a gap in insurance coverage for more than 30,000 Oregonians, state-regulated health plans and providers must participate in mediation and binding arbitration. Final contract terms will be set by the Governor or a designee. Failure to comply with these provisions can result in a civil penalty. The measure is opposed by the Hospital Association of Oregon and the Oregon Independent Medical Coalition. These entities point to the inherent imbalance in power dynamics between insurers and providers and also argue that the bill fails to set clear standards. The Hospital Association of Oregon, which represents Oregon’s 60 community hospitals, states that the bill was presented with good intent, but as a practical matter, SB 1529 will interfere with hospitals’ ability to obtain terms that are essential for sustaining hospital services and preserving access to care. The process will also be especially onerous for smaller providers and clinics who do not have the negotiating power of larger systems. SB1575 adds new requirements for obtaining an initial license to operate and maintain a hospice program. Requires a hospice program to apply for a new initial license after a change in ownership. Prohibits individuals who have been excluded from participation in Medicare or Medicaid or have been found liable for fraud or abuse from holding an ownership interest in a hospice program. SP 1575 limits Private Equity from acquiring community based hospice providers. It will strengthen vetting requirements to ensure a hospice has appropriate qualifications and protects the Oregon licensing process. We hope to be able to write testimony when this bill gets to the house as the League of Women Voters believes that health care is a human right and private equity ownership of hospice programs is by nature profit driven leading to poor overall care. SB1598 protects access to evidence-based preventive services by saying that health insurers must continue to pay for recommended vaccines. The bill would also respond to recent Federal changes. The bill does not in any way mandate getting vaccines. This bill would ensure continuity of coverage and support patient choice. The bill also allows Oregon to act quickly in response to new outbreaks. The bill keeps decisions private between patients and providers. The bill reinforces science-based care but also maintains flexibility and trust in the provider-patient relationship. The bill is scheduled for a work session and we will continue to follow in hopes of writing testimony in the house. HB 4003 was heard by the House Committee on Health Care. A Work Session was scheduled but no longer appears in the legislative calendar, which means the bill has stalled and will not pass in this legislative Session. The measure may seem to be simply technical, but it is far from it. The bill relates to the “prioritized list” which determines what charges Medicaid will cover. Everything below the line is not covered, and everything above the line is covered. The Oregon Health Evidence Review Committee or HERC , composed of 13 governor-appointed and senate-confirmed volunteer members, currently develops this list based on (1) the comparative benefits of each service to the population to be served, (2) evidence-based guidelines and (3) the comparative effectiveness of services as demonstrated by research. This system for the delivery of care is one of the key provisions of the Oregon Health Plan proposed by Governor John Kitzhaber and has been used in Oregon since the 1990’s. He is therefore not in favor of changing the prioritized list process and in fact testified against HB 4003. He states that because funds available to provide health care are limited, they must be “rationed” by either dropping people or by cutting benefits or payments to providers. Governor Kitzhaber asserts that when faced with this limit, the prioritized list does so by using a transparent, accountable, and evidence-based process. ( Governor Kitzhaber in Willamette Week ). The Oregon Health Authority and proponents of HB 4003 state that the federal Center for Medicaid Services (CMS) has mandated that Oregon must stop using the list, while those opposed claim that the CMS changes are minimal and don’t require a legislative response. They also aver that that the Oregon Health Authority can comply with the new CMS requirements by relying on the HERC process which already defines benefits based on medical necessity. The bill is strongly opposed by many coordinated care organizations. Housing Nancy Donovan and Debbie Aiona Momentum is gaining now with housing bills on a fast track to hold public hearings, work sessions, amend, vote and send bills to the next chamber or elsewhere. Due to funding shortfalls bills that did not advance last session are being heard this session. Senate Committee on Housing and Development SB 5702 : The LIFT Homeownership Program has a proven track record in increasing affordable homeownership in Oregon communities. It has stimulated the construction of 1,200 permanently affordable, entry-level homes across the state. SB 5702 would allocate $100 million in Article XI-Q bond funding to further expand the pipeline of permanently affordable homeownership opportunities. It will open the door to new construction or the conversion of existing non-housing structures into housing units. By using a land trust model, these homes will remain permanently affordable. A public hearing was held by the Joint Subcommittee on Capital Construction on Feb. 13. House Interim Committee on Housing and Homelessness HB 4036 would preserve existing affordable housing through an appropriation of $100 million in Article XI-Q general obligation bonds. A newly-established Housing Opportunity, Longevity and Durability (HOLD) Fund will allow Oregon Housing and Community Services to construct, acquire, renovate, and furnish affordable housing that is at risk of loss, which is owned or will be owned or operated by the state. Preserving existing affordable housing is a key component of Oregon’s housing strategy. Without timely investment these properties are at risk of falling into disrepair, converted to market-rate housing and destabilizing low-income residents. On Feb. 12, the House Interim Committee passed the bill with amendments, and referred it to Ways and Means. Eviction Prevention: The Oregon Housing Alliance, Oregon Law Center, League of Oregon Cities, Community Action Partnership of Oregon, and Senator Khanh Pham are proposing the restoration of $10 million in funding for eviction prevention. Last session, $129 million was cut from programs that provide emergency rent assistance and services that assist tenants facing eviction, including legal defense, outreach and education, and a hotline. Every million dollars in rent assistance keeps 2,300 families housed and is much more cost effective than returning homeless families and individuals to housing. Housing Bill Updates House Interim Committee on Housing and Homelessness HB 4123 would add clear provisions to Oregon’s Landlord Tenant law regarding the disclosure of confidential information on certain personally identifying, financially sensitive and other private information. The House Committee on Housing and Homelessness held a work session on February 10 with a Do Pass recommendation. Amendments would allow landlords to share tenant contact information with repair and maintenance workers and release confidential information if required by an administrative or judicial warrant. (See also the Privacy and Protections Section of the Governance Legislative Report.) Senate Committee on Housing and Development SB 1576 would require the Department of Consumer and Business Services to adopt rules to conform to the state building code so that it aligns with federal fair housing accessibility requirements and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards. The Committee held a work session on February 10. Immigration/Migrant/Refugee/Asylum Bills with League Testimony SJR 203 Oregon Constitutional Amendment Prohibiting Secret Police See Criminal Justice SB 1538 Public schools educate immigrants See Education SB 1570 Where ICE can go in hospitals See Healthcare HB 4079 Public schools must inform about ICE presence See Education HB 4091 Oregon National Guard Activation & Authority See Governance: Privacy & Protections HB 4114 Rules for Operations of Federal Agents or Agents from Another State in Oregon See Criminal Justice HB 4138 Requires ID and prohibits face coverings for law enforcement agents See Criminal Justice Other BIlls Bill # Description Policy Committee Status Fiscal M$ Chief Sponsors+ Comments HB 4001 Study how OR addresses illegal ICE enforcement H Judiciary & W&M PH / WS 2/16 Not posted yet Fahey SMS HB 4111 Immigration status not admissible in civil suit H Judiciary WS 2/16 Not posted yet 11 SMS HB 4117 Universal ( legal) Representation & worker relief Funding H Judiciary PH 2/18 10.0 16 Likely end of session reconciliation bill HB 4150 State-supported businesses do not transport detainees H Commerce Cons. Prot. PH 2/5 Not posted yet 4 SMS SB1505 Establish Workforce Standards Board S Rules PH 2/4 Not posted yes Sen Interim Committee on Rules Home and community based services - SB 1563 Sue if civil rights are violated S Judiciary WS 2/16 Not posted yet Gelser Blouin SMS SB 1581 School Meals S ED Ws 2/10 to JWM Not posted yet 11 SMS SB 1594 Policies for federal law enforcement S Judiciary WS 2/16 Not posted yet 6 SMS HB 4089 Wage theft H L&WFD PH 2/4, WS 2/16 Minimal 6 SMS Reproductive Healthcare Trish Garner SB 1568-2 was passed by the Senate Committee on Early Childhood and Behavioral Health with a “do pass” recommendation. It requires that Medicaid coverage include a minimum of 12 visits by doulas, 24 hours of doula services or a comparable combination of visits and service hours, as well as coverage for these services of up to $3,750 per a 12-month period. Lactation counseling services must be covered without prior health care providing referral. The House Judiciary Committee voted to advance HB 4088-A with a “do pass with amendment 4” recommendation. It declares that it is Oregon’s policy to make sure people are allowed to get reproductive health care and gender identity treatment services. Unless a fugitive, the Governor cannot surrender an individual to another state if they are charged in that state for engaging in these activities. Publicly-funded agencies and state employees are proscribed from cooperating with investigations into reproductive and gender-affirming care. State licensing authorities cannot revoke a midwife’s license if they face a criminal conviction or discipline in another state for providing these health care services. Individually identifiable information about these activities in an investigation is considered confidential and privileged, unless it is available to the public or if the individual consents to the disclosure. Disclosure of public records regarding providers of these services is expanded from a person’s name, and home or professional address to also include images and home telephone numbers. As might be anticipated, there was an abundance of testimonies which were filed supporting and opposing the measure – the number was 417. LWVPDX filed testimony in support of the measure. It remains unclear exactly how the conflict between federal and state law will be resolved. HB 4155 was unanimously passed with a “do pass with amendments 1 and 5” recommendation by the House Committee on Health Care but it was also referred to the Ways and Means Committee. At the conclusion of the hearing, Committee members appeared to express some doubts about its final passage during this legislative Session. The measure requires employers and individuals to reimburse the cost of certain fertility treatment services. Although the measure initially included the Public Employees’ Benefit Board (PEBB) and the Oregon Educators Benefit Board (OEBB), the HB 4155 Dash 5 Amendment removed them unless they opt to provide coverage. The HB 4155 Dash 1 Amendment also expanded the types of reproductive services that would be covered, including egg retrieval, intrauterine insemination and in vitro fertilization. It excluded certain services such as embryo transfer services. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED : What is your passion related to Social Policy? You can help. Volunteers are needed. We particularly need help tracking legislation concerning Basic Needs: Food Basic Needs: Income Juvenile Justice Public Safety Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Climate Emergency , Governance , and Natural Resources , and Revenue report sections.

Back to All Legislative Reports Governance Internships Legislative Report - Week of 2/16 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: Overview Elections Artificial Intelligence /Cybersecurity Campaign Finance Privacy and Protections Miscellaneous Overview, second week of session Rebecca Gladstone The session’s second week saw pressure coming to bear in governance. ORESTAR, the Oregon Elections System for Tracking and Reporting, was built in-house in 2007, apparently lacking update mechanisms (all this time!). Replacing ORESTAR from scratch, comparatively estimated at more than $25M, or perhaps patching it, seems inextricably tangled in the earlier session’s campaign finance reforms, requiring software updates. The reforms have not been implemented. We have filed testimony on more than half of the governance bills we’re following. Informational hearings in Joint Committee Information Management Technology are well worth watching, this week for protecting local journalism and data breach policy. We’re hoping to catch a few more immigration bills in the second chamber, expecting amendments. We’re conserving energy and stepping back when bills already have vigorous support, and, nearly daily, we’re discussing possibilities for action alerts. See our reports for details, thank you for reading, and watch your email etc. for likely action alerts, including for federal issues. Thanks are due to our volunteers for their long hours! Elections Barbara Klein SB 1509 ( Uniform Faithful Presidential Electors Act ), a committee sponsored bill to further protect Oregon’s voters from being disenfranchised by faithless presidential electors, had a hearing on February 9th in Senate Rules. The League submitted written and verbal testimony (minute 16:10) was given. A work session was held on February 11th during which time the bill passed out of committee with a “do pass” recommendation on sponsor-supported amendments and with a unanimous vote. The bill was described in more detail in past weeks -it would allow Oregon to join other states with strong laws. SB 1574 ( 1st Time Voters Act ) allows 17-year-olds to vote in a primary if they will be 18 by time of the general election, it’s been referred to Senate Rules and is scheduled for a hearing on Wednesday February 18 th (8:00 am). Four testimonies have been drafted and approved but not yet submitted from Members of the League Youth Council. These will be shared in our next legislative report. LWVOR is one of the 20 organizational sponsors of this bill, sponsored by Sen.ChrisGorsek@oregonlegislature.gov . HJR 201 , a house joint resolution, was heard in the House Committee on Rules on February 5, 2026. It proposes an amendment to the Oregon Constitution to require that primary elections are ‘open’ to all voters using the same ballot. The proposal is for a “Top Two” system that our League does not support, despite our strong endorsement of “Open Primaries.” The League has submitted Neutral testimony. Artificial Intelligence/ Cybersecurity Lindsey Washburn SB 1546 (Notice of Artificial Output): requires AI companion and platform operators to disclose that users are interacting with artificial output, implement safety protocols to detect and prevent suicidal ideation, and provide special protections for minors. The -2 amendment was passed. Campaign Finance Norman Turrill The House Rules Committee, with the collusion of labor union lobbyists and business lobbyists, seems to be attempting to completely betray the deal made in 2024 for withdrawing Initiative Petition 9 on campaign finance reform (CFR) in exchange for passage of HB 4024 and agreeing to work on technical fixes without policy changes. In 2024, the deal was made after extensive 4-way negotiations between Honest Elections Oregon (HEO, with the Oregon League as a constituent organization), legislative leaders including Speaker Fahey, labor union lobbyists, and business lobbyists. The betrayal is in the form of a 92-page -8 amendment to a gut-and-stuff bill, HB 4018 , posted just hours before the committee hearing. The amendment includes many complex policy changes, essentially allowing big special interest organizations to continue dominating campaign finance in Oregon, contrary to voters’ will and interests, while still limiting individual contributors. The amendment also delays HB 4024 election law changes for 4 years and substantially erodes financial disclosure requirements . See League testimony and recommending Sen Golden’s video testimony . This is likely to be one of the most important bills during the current short Legislative session, so League members and voters should contact legislative leaders and their legislators ASAP to oppose the -8 amendment. The work session is 8am, Feb 17. Also last month, the state Elections Division issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to replace ORESTAR and implement HB 4024 (2024) provisions. The RFP appears to only allow large corporate bids for the project. HEO has asserted that HB 4024 does not require more than minor ORESTAR changes, but the Secretary of State continues to conflate the two projects, requesting $25 million without detailing how it would be used. Late addition: A video testimony from the Civic Software Foundation , stated that they could provide [ORESTAR replacement] software in compliance with HB 4024 for much, much less than $25 million, describing that they built Portland’s Small Donor Elections System software as open source, with scaling up to ORESTAR needs in mind. Privacy and Protections and more… Rebecca Gladstone HB 4091 this Oregon National Guard activation and authority bill passed with two against, not on partisan lines, no amendments, from House Emergency Management and Vets. It was referred to Sen Rules, without a recommendation. See supporting League testimony , and relating to last session, see League HB 3954 testimony . (See other immigration-related bills in Social Policy Legislative Report.) HB 4123 This landlord-tenant privacy bill passed from a House Housing and Homelessness committee work session by a unanimous vote, adopting a -1 amendment with fixes to allow sharing contact information to admit maintenance workers, for example. See League testimony, in support. (See also the Housing Section of the Social Policy Legislative Report.) SB 1530 would expand aggravated harassment to include threatening public officials , and increase penalties with the companion bill, SB 1516 . It was heard in Senate Judiciary, with a work session set for Feb 16. See League testimony in support. And following these: HB 4024 , which prevents event ticket resale unless the seller has or can get tickets. It passed from a work session in House Labor and Business, partially on partisan lines, then from a House floor vote with only two against, one excused. No amendments have been filed. A public hearing and work session have been scheduled for Feb 16 th and 18 th in Senate Labor and Business. All testimony is in support, and the League will file in support also, if need be. See League testimony , in support of Senator Prozanski’s SB 430 Enrolled (2025) consumer protections, foundational for HB 4024. HB 4055 , which we have been following for data breach policy development, was pulled by the JCIMT (committee) for more careful deliberation in a long session. HB 4143 addresses fund payments between federal and state accounts, with sponsor, Rep Chotzen echoing our characterization of using a “foundational financial tool” [the “right to offset”]. See our earlier LR and League testimony , urging to consider options and possibly amendments, given our revenue volatility. It passed on partisan lines from House Rules. The -1adds unemployment, medical leave, and overtime to payroll taxes as exclusions. It would sunset in 10 years, to evaluate if the tool is no longer needed. We could use your help, even with watching hearings from home and sharing thumbnail reports. Let us know, write to lwvor@lwvor.org . Miscellaneous Chris Cobey SJR 201 (kicker reform) Proposes an amendment to the Oregon Constitution to require a portion of surplus revenue that would otherwise be returned to personal income taxpayers to be used for funding public kindergarten through grade 12 education, community colleges and wildfire prevention and suppression, if surplus revenue exceeds a certain threshold. Refers the proposed amendment to the people for their approval or rejection at the next regular general election. Public hrg to be held Feb. 18 in Sen Rev & Fin . HB 4017 (use of campaign funds for security): Provides that amounts received as contributions by a candidate, principal campaign committee of a candidate and principal campaign committee of a holder of public office may be used for specified security-related expenses. Work session held Feb. 12 in House Rules; do pass rec 7-0. Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Climate Emergency , Revenue , Natural Resources , and Social Policy report sections.

LWVOR follows governance-related policy in the state legislature. Governance Overview The League of Women Voters of Oregon is actively working toward a more accessible government, better educational resources, statewide privacy protections and more. Read More Governance Reports Feb 16, 2026 Legislative Report - Week of 2/16 We have filed testimony on more than half of the governance bills we’re following. Informational hearings in Joint Committee Information Management Technology are well worth watching, this week for protecting local journalism and data breach policy. Read More Feb 9, 2026 Legislative Report - Week of 2/9 We worked on an assortment of bills this week including elections, artificial intelligence, law enforcement, privacy rights, and funding. League testimony was filed for 6 of the 20 we tagged for Governance that were heard in committees Read More Feb 2, 2026 Legislative Report - Week of 2/2 Catch up on interim news and highlights of some of the 40 governance bills we've identified, out of 700 bills so far this session. We’re preparing testimony for seven of them in the session’s first two days so expect more individual reports next week. Read More Jan 26, 2026 Legislative Report - Week of January 26 The Joint Committee for Information Management and Technology (JCIMT) will focus for the 2026 session on a comprehensive strategy to strengthen digital transparency and public infrastructure against evolving technological threats, by modernizing state AI and data security policies. Read More Dec 1, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of December 1 LWVOR has a hand in LWV litigation, and Governance is observing. Read More Oct 21, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of October 13 Federal pressure on Oregon resonated throughout legislative hearings and made news for national guard activation against small peaceful ICE protests. Read More Aug 11, 2025 Legislative Report - Sine Die - Week of 8/11 This sine die report summarizes the Governance portfolio work that took place over the 2025 Legislative Session. Read More Jun 30, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 6/30 In the last few days of the legislative session, we saw extraordinary machinations on campaign finance reform. Read More Jun 23, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 6/23 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. 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. Read More Jun 16, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 6/16 HB 3954 tells the Oregon Adjutant General not to allow the Oregon National Guard to be called to active service, except for certain reasons, timelier now with the California National Guard in the news. HB 3954 had a May 5 public hearing, but no subsequent work session. We wrote a commenting letter and sent it to the Governor's staff, the Attorney General, Chair and House Rules Committee members, and bill sponsors, to urge action on this bill, considering amending if it is needed. Read More Jun 9, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 6/9 HB3936 A bans the use of AI on state assets if the AI is developed or owned by a covered (foreign) vendor. It has already passed the House 52 to 0. It is now scheduled for a final debate and vote on the Senate floor on June 9. Read More Jun 2, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 6/2 The Elections Division of the Secretary of State is asking the public for feedback on draft administrative rules that would implement HB 4025 (2024). It has also appointed a Rules Advisory Committee (RAC) to work on these new administrative rules. Read More May 26, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 5/26 The Elections Division of the Secretary of State is asking the public for feedback on draft administrative rules that would implement HB 4025 (2024). It has also appointed a Rules Advisory Committee (RAC) to work on these new administrative rules. Read More May 19, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 5/19 HB 3766 had a second public hearing in the Senate Judiciary after passing unanimously from the House Floor. League testimony supported the bill as written to allow civil action against an adult who, unbidden, digitally sends intimate images (cyber-flashing) with the intent to harass, degrade or humiliate. Updated League testimony was filed and presented to address amendments quantifying defendant age and limiting damages to $10,000. We recommended reading Criminalising Cyberflashing. Read More May 12, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 5/12 We are following numerous bills relating to campaign finance, privacy/consumer protection, elections, and artificial intelligence. Read More May 5, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 5/5 HB 3392 is said to be the vehicle for a gut and stuff of the technical fixes for HB 4024 (2024). This bill is currently a study of campaign finance by the Secretary of State. Amendments are under discussion but not yet posted on OLIS. Read More Apr 28, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 4/28 Bills with League testimony are progressing, reported here, and several not addressed in the first chamber will be considered for testimony in the second chamber. Read More Apr 21, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 4/21 SB 1180: Requires the Secretary of State to submit to the Legislative Assembly, by November 1 of each odd-numbered year, a list of each prospective statewide initiative petition that has been filed for the next general election. Read More Apr 14, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 4/14 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. Read More Apr 7, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 4/7 We are following numerous bills relating to initiatives, rulemaking, and elections. Read More Mar 31, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 3/31 We are following numerous bills relating to initiatives, broadband/vote-by-mail privacy, and elections. Read More Mar 24, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 3/24 We are following numerous bills relating to redistricting, broadband/vote-by-mail privacy, elections, government ethics, and rulemaking. Read More Mar 17, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 3/17 We are following numerous bills relating to redistricting, broadband/vote-by-mail privacy, and elections. Read More Mar 10, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 3/10 We are following numerous bills relating to campaign finance and elections, courts and privacy, and government ethics. Read More Mar 3, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 3/3 We are following numerous bills relating to campaign finance and elections, courts and privacy, government ethics, and revenue. Read More Feb 24, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 2/24 We are following numerous bills relating to campaign finance reform, federal concerns and privacy, and government ethics. Read More Feb 17, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 2/17 We are following numerous bills relating to campaign finance reform, immigration, bias and hate crimes, and government ethics. Read More Feb 10, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 2/10 We are watching for AI and further cybersecurity and privacy bills, welcoming two new volunteers who will have AI bill reports soon. Read More Feb 3, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 2/3 We are following numerous bills relating to immigration, discrimination, bias and hate crimes, including as they relate to privacy. Read More Jan 20, 2025 Legislative Report - Week of 1/20 A CFR workgroup called by Rep. Fahey that began in June is still working to identify technical adjustments needed to ensure successful implementation of HB 4024 (2024), to recommend legislative fixes for 2025, and to consider broader policy improvements for future sessions. Read More Dec 20, 2024 Legislative Report - December Interim 2024 The House and Senate Rules committees met during the interim days last week. Read More Oct 1, 2024 Legislative Report - September Legislative Days The House and Senate Rules committees met during the interim days last week. Senate Rules met Sept. 24 to consider various executive appointments. Read More Jun 10, 2024 Legislative Report - Interim Week 6/10 The House and Senate Rules committees met during the interim days last week. House Rules met May 31 to hear from representatives of the Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy. Senate Rules met May 20 to consider various appointments. Read More Apr 22, 2024 Legislative Report - Sine Die 2024 Since this was a short session things seemed to move quickly. In the beginning there seemed to be adequate notice on hearings and bills to be heard, changing as the session progressed. Read More Mar 4, 2024 Legislative Report - 3/4 An amazingly historic thing happened with campaign finance reform as explained here in the Capital Chronicle. Read More Feb 26, 2024 Legislative Report - Week of 2/26 During the 2/29 public hearing on the -3 amendment to this placeholder bill, HB 4024, good government groups severely criticized the amendment for leaving huge loopholes for special interest organizations to still make 6-figure campaign contributions. Read More Feb 19, 2024 Legislative Report - Week of 2/19 A placeholder bill, HB 4024, is being pressed into service from unusual partners, labor (which is otherwise promoting IP 42 against IP 9), and business. Read More Feb 12, 2024 Legislative Report - Week of 2/12 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. Read More Feb 5, 2024 Legislative Report - Week of 2/5 For the first week of session, this news includes committee bills we’re working on / watching and news from the quarterly EPAB Meeting. Read More Jan 15, 2024 Legislative Report - Week of 1/15 The Interim Senate Rules and Executive Appointments Committee met 1/10/24 and introduced three legislative concepts (LCs) for the Public Records Advisory Council (PRAC) to study public records requests fees charged (LC 196); make youth sporting events grants available (LC 195); and to make many changes in an election law clean-up bill (LC 194). Read More Nov 13, 2023 Legislative Report - November Interim The LWV of Oregon has endorsed and is actively circulating IP 9 on Campaign Finance and IP 14 on Redistricting. Read More Oct 2, 2023 Legislative Report - September Interim The LWV of Oregon has endorsed and is actively circulating IP 9 on Campaign Finance and IP 14 on Redistricting. We urge you to download, print, sign and return petitions by mail from Honest Elections for IP 9 and People Not Politicians for IP 14. Read More Aug 18, 2023 Legislative Report - Sine Die In the final days of the legislative session only one bill, SB 166, the SoS’s omnibus elections bill, passed that included any campaign finance provisions. Read More Jun 26, 2023 Legislative Report - Week of 6/26 In the final days of the Legislative session, only one bill, SB 166 Enrolled, passed that included many subjects. Read More Jun 12, 2023 Legislative Report - Week of 6/12 The OR Senate walkout from May 3 finally ended on June 15, with a quorum present. 394 bill actions were scheduled including 40 from the House, which suspended rules to increase by 10. 144 bills have already been signed by the Governor. Read More Jun 5, 2023 Legislative Report - Week of 6/5 The June 8 House Rules Committee finally saw some CFR action, starting at ~1:20 in the video. Speaker Rayfield’s staff explained some history, concepts, and complications of crafting a CFR bill. Read More May 29, 2023 Legislative Report - Week of 5/29 Hopes for breaking the Senate walkout logjam seem slim, now in the sixth week. The singular focus on HB 2002 is likely to kill many critical bills as processing time vanishes, including critical cybersecurity bills carried over from 2022. Read More May 21, 2023 Legislative Report - Week of 5/22 Sine die is technically imminent as the Speaker invoked House Rule 8.15(6) and the Senate President, Senate Rule 8.16 on May 23, a full month before the projected final session date, June 25. Read More May 15, 2023 Legislative Report - Week of 5/15 No bills on campaign finance have yet been scheduled for a hearing. However, there has been some movement behind the scenes about what could be passed during this session. Read More May 8, 2023 Legislative Report - Week of 5/8 It appears to this reporter that the Oregon legislative session could effectively be over. Several Republican Senators will soon run out of their 9 allowed unexcused absences, but several others will alternate with them to deny a quorum in the Senate for a few more days or a week. Read More

Back to Legislative Report Revenue Legislative Report - Week of 2/16 Revenue Team Coordinator: Peggy Lynch REVENUE Patricia Garner, Josie Koehne, Peggy Lynch The latest word is we are $650 million in the hole related to revenue needs vs. expenses. But this number doesn’t reflect all the legislation being considered this session. One positive action taken this last week is the Senate Committee On Finance and Revenue ’s passage (along party lines 3-2) of SB 1507 A that “disconnects” a few sections of the federal tax code from our state tax system. We understand that the bill was the result of both chambers’ Revenue Chairs and others as they sought to balance the needs for tax reform with the need to help fill the revenue hole brought on by the federal H.R.1 . The Legislative Revenue Office provided this chart to help explain the revenue impact. Here is the Staff Measure Summary, the Fiscal Impact Statement and the Revenue Impact Statement . The measure provides for an increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit that the League has long supported. If this bill passes, it will reduce that revenue hole by about $300 million. Our partners at the Oregon Center for Public Policy (OCPP) have provided a video that might help explain this complicated tax policy. The Oregonian provides another explanation of the committee’s work. The League provided testimony in support of the amended bill. There was a Minority Report filed ( Staff Report ) and that report’s Revenue and Fiscal Impact Statements are available in the bill’s meeting materials. SB 1507 A is now headed to the Senate floor for a vote. If it passes, it will then be sent to the House for consideration. Another bill we are watching is SB 1510 : Updates the terminology used to describe certain income earned by multinational corporations to reflect a change in the term used in federal law a bill . The bill, with amendments, would provide an opportunity to explore additional tax policy for consideration in the 2027 session. Public Hearing Feb. 11. Work Session Feb. 16. Although the League was disappointed that this policy was not included in SB 1507 A, we can support a continued conversation around corporate tax policy. We are also watching for potential changes in the estate tax, SB 1511 . A -3 amendment is posted for a Feb. 18 Work Session. The staff has provided this analysis that indicates no expected revenue loss for this biennium but $35 million by 2029-31. Public Hearing Feb. 11. OCPP provides an analysis of this tax. Work Session Feb. 18 -3 amendment is posted. SB 1586 : the tax credit allowed for semiconductor research. Creates and amends certain programs offering tax breaks related to advanced manufacturing, enterprise zones and regionally significant industrial sites. Directs certain state agencies to establish deadlines within which the agency intends to process applications for permits and make the deadlines available to the public. Directs certain state agencies to publish a catalog of permits issued by the agency within 60 days after the effective date of the Act. Adds rural reserves in Washington County to Metro to be used for high technology and advanced manufacturing purposes. See more on this omnibus bill in the Land Use section of the Natural Resources Report. Oregonlive provided this comprehensive assessment of the bill. This Oregonlive article indicates that the bill’s chief sponsor is listening to concerns: “ The enterprise zone part is being removed from the bill .” But there’s still a chance that the tax breaks will expand this session. Gov. Tina Kotek has similar language in an economic development bill she is promoting . Public Hearing Feb. 16. The League will provide testimony in opposition to this bill. As we watch the U.S. and Oregon’s economy, we note the Oregon Capital Chronicle Jobs Report article , of special concern as Oregon is an income tax state. The Full Ways and Means Committee met Feb. 6 th and introduced 6 budget bills for the session. Here are the bill numbers. Expect amendments by the end of session: SB 1601: Amends an incorrect internal reference in a law relating judicial compensation. Program Change. SB 5701: Modifies previously approved lottery bonding provisions. (Includes monies for the Port of Coos Bay) Bond Authority. Public Hearing Feb. 13 where the Housing Alliance requested funds for preserving existing housing that will no longer be regulated as “affordable”. SB 5702 : Establishes and modifies limits on payment of expenses from specified funds by certain state agencies for capital construction. Capital Construction 6-year limitation. Public Hearing Feb. 13 where the committee heard 3.5 hours of 2-minute requests from across the state—from infrastructure to housing to resilience hubs to a variety of economic development projects. Legislators were allowed only two requests each but even that meant up to 180 requests! SB 5703: Establishes biennial appropriations and expenditure limitations for ______ for the biennium ending June 30, 2027. Placeholder for agency allocation changes. HB 5203: Approves certain new or increased fees adopted by state agencies. The bill includes the Dept. of State Lands Wetlands processing fees set forth during rulemaking for which the League engaged. Fee Ratification. HB 5201: Establishes biennial appropriations and expenditure limitations for ______ for the biennium ending June 30, 2027. Placeholder. HB 5202: Establishes biennial appropriations and expenditure limitations for ______ for the biennium ending June 30, 2027. Placeholder. HB 5204: Modifies certain biennial appropriations made from the General Fund to specified state agencies and the Emergency Board. Establishes and modifies limitations on expenditures for certain biennial expenses for specified state agencies. The items populated in this bill as introduced reflect tentative decisions made by Ways and Means during the January Legislative Days. Omnibus Budget. Here is the material from the Oregon State Debt Policy Advisory Commission . Tentatively the General Obligation bond capacity for the 2026 session is $513 million and $86 million lottery bond capacity. Revenue Committees and Ways and Means don’t need to follow the session deadlines. They work until close to the end of session. Other bills we may be following: SB 1562 : Allows city and county services for which net local transient lodging tax revenue may be used to be provided either directly by the city or county or indirectly by a special district. Changes the division of allowable uses of net local transient lodging tax revenue from at least 70 percent for tourism related expenses and no more than 30 percent for city or county services, to at least 40 percent and no more than 60 percent, respectively. Allows units of local government with restricted grandfathered local transient lodging tax regimes to take advantage of the new provisions of the Act. Establishes biennial reporting by local governments of amounts and uses of local transient lodging tax revenue. HB 4148 : Allows city and county services for which net local transient lodging tax revenue may be used to be provided either directly by the city or county or indirectly by a special district. Changes the division of allowable uses of net local transient lodging tax revenue from at least 70 percent for tourism related expenses and no more than 30 percent for city or county services, to at least 40 percent and no more than 60 percent , respectively. Allows units of local government with restricted grandfathered local transient lodging tax regimes to take advantage of the new provisions of the Act. Establishes biennial reporting by local governments of amounts and uses of local transient lodging tax revenue. The LOCAL Act, adjusts the post-2003 lodging tax distribution so that local governments may adjust the percentages, with up to 60% used for critical local services and infrastructure, such as first responders, and at least 40% dedicated to tourism promotion and facilities. The LOCAL Act is a bipartisan collaborative bill that updates outdated restrictions so communities can better balance supporting tourism with maintaining residents' quality of life. Public hearing Feb. 9. HB 4125 : Prescribes methodology for the preparation of revenue estimates used in the budgeting process and as applicable to the surplus revenue refund process. Applies to estimates prepared on or after January 1, 2027. Requires the Department of Revenue to estimate the difference in surplus revenue calculations using stated methodologies, and transfer an amount equal to the difference for use for various purposes. Establishes the One-Time Emergencies and Finance Fund. Public hearing Feb. 2. HB 4136 : Disallows, for purposes of personal income taxation, a mortgage interest deduction for a residence other than the taxpayer’s principal residence, unless the taxpayer sells the residence or actively markets the residence for sale. Establishes the Oregon Homeownership Opportunity Account. Transfers an amount equal to the estimated increase in revenue attributable to restrictions on the deduction of mortgage interest to the account, for the purpose of making down payment assistance payments. Applies to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026. Public Hearing Feb. 16. SJR 201 : Kicker Reform: Proposes an amendment to the Oregon Constitution to require a portion of surplus revenue that would otherwise be returned to personal income taxpayers to be used for funding public kindergarten through grade 12 education, community colleges and wildfire prevention and suppression, if surplus revenue exceeds a certain threshold. Refers the proposed amendment to the people for their approval or rejection at the next regular general election. OPB covered a story about the bill . Public Hearing Feb. 18. The League has long supported kicker reform but we also note that, with our new state economist, another kicker is not expected in the near term. HB 4014 : Requires the Legislative Revenue Officer to study the state financial system. Public Hearing Feb. 2. Another Public Hearing Feb. 11. -1 amendment HB 4125 : Prescribes methodology for the preparation of revenue estimates used in the budgeting process and as applicable to the surplus revenue refund process. Public Hearing Feb. 2. See other sections of the Legislative Report about the cuts in each area and what’s being considered to address the revenue shortfall.

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

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

Back to All Legislative Reports Climate Emergency Legislative Report - Week of 3/17 Climate Emergency Team Coordinator: Claudia Keith Coordinator: Claudia Keith Efficient and Resilient Buildings: vacant Energy Policy: Claudia Keith Environmental Justice: vacant Natural Climate Solution Forestry: Josie Koehne Agriculture: vacant Community Resilience & Emergency Management: see Governance LR: Rebecca Gladstone Transportation: see NR LR Joint Ways and Means - Budgets, Lawsuits, Green/Public Banking, Divestment/ESG: Claudia Keith Find additional Climate Change Advocacy volunteers in Natural Resources Please see Climate Emergency Overview here. Jump to a topic: Climate Priorities with League Testimony Natural and Working Lands Other Priorities Advanced Clean Truck Rules What We're Reading This Week Transportation Priorities The Natural Climate Solutions Coalition Jordan Cove and Fracking Update Nuclear Waste Tech Climate Emergency JWM Budget Concerns This week we added a new Environmental Justice bill. HB2548 establishes an agriculture workforce labor standards board, League Testimony . We are considering joining a coalition that has recently formed to support a number of 2025 bills affecting many agricultural workers and other immigrants. There may be League alerts on this topic later this session. For the first time, this year most of our priorities are included in the bipartisan 2025 Legislative Environmental Caucus Priorities , Citizens Utility Board (CUB) Priorities and/or Oregon Conservation Network (OCN) priorities . OCN is the only formal environmental lobby coalition group in the capitol. Consequently, for some of these bills (especially those in a package) the League may just join coalition sign-on letters rather than providing individual testimony. Climate Priorities with League Testimony HB 2966 -3 Establishes the State Public Financing Task Force, Work Session 3/6/2025 passed to Joint Ways and Means (JWM), Representative Gamba, Senator Golden, Frederick, Representative Andersen, Evans , House Commerce and Consumer Protection (H CCP) 
 League Testimony 
 
 HB 3170 , Community Resilience Hubs and networks: Work Session 3/4, passed to JWM, DHS, Sponsors, Rep. Marsh, Sen Pham and Rep Tan. 
 League testimony 
 The following four bills are part of a Critical Energy Infrastructure (CEI) Emergency Management Package which was the subject of public hearings February 27 and March 6 in the House Energy Management, General Government, and Veterans Committee: HB 215 1: Testimony ; 2152 : Testimony ; 2949 : T estimony ; 3450 : Testimony , See also CEI Hub Seismic Risk Analysis , HB 3450 CEI energy storage transition plan, HEMGGV, League Comments 
 HB 3477 : Update to Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Goals. League testimony . House Climate, Energy, and Environment (CEE), Sponsored by Rep GAMBA, Sen Frederick, Golden, Patterson, Pham K, Taylor 
 Energy Affordability and Utility Accountability Package HB 3081 ( League testimony ) creates an active navigator to help access energy efficiency incentives all in one place . SB 88 ( League testimony ) limits the ability of utility companies to charge ratepayers for lobbying, litigation costs, fines, marketing, industry fees, and political spending. In addition to our testimony, LWVOR has signed on to letter support each of these bills. The Public Hearing was March 4th. Natural and Working Lands HB 5039 financial administration of the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board; JWM NR SC, League testimony 
 
 HB 3103-1 - Overweight Timber Harvest, H ALUNRW, League Oppose Testimony , 
 (see additional details NWL report below) Other Priorities HB 2566 : Stand-alone Energy resilience Projects, Work Session 3/20, Governor Tina Kotek, Public Hearing (PH) held 2/11/2024, 2 amendments proposed (H CEE), DOE presentation 
 
 
 HB 3365 : climate change instruction /curriculum in public schools, House Cm Educ, PH 3/12, League Testimony Chief Sponsors: Rep Fragala, Rep McDonald , Rep Andersen, Gamba, Lively, Neron, Senator Patterson, Pham, Taylor. 
 SJR 28 : Environmental Rights Constitutional – Referral, Senate Rules, Amendment Leg Referral - Senator Golden, Representatives Andersen, Gamba, Senators Manning Jr, Prozanski, Representative Tran . The League has tentative plans to write testimony (comments) on this bill later this month. 
 
 
 SB 679 : Climate Liability, Sen. Golden, Senate Energy and Environment 
 SB 680 : Climate Science/Greenwashing, Sen. Golden and Manning, moved to Judiciary, no recommendation, (SJ) PH was 2/26 Campos, Frederick, Gorsek, Patterson, Prozanski, Taylor 
 
 SB 681 : Treasury: Fossil Fuel investment moratorium, Senate Finance and Revenue, PH 3/19. The League plans on submitting testimony. Sen Golden, 
 
 
 SB 682 : Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program Sen. Golden, Rep. Andersen, Gamba, Sen. Campos, Pham , SEE 
 SB 688 : Public Utility Commission performance-based regulation of electric utilities, PH 3/12,& 3/19, League testimony , three proposed amendments , Sen. Golden, Sen. Pham, SEE 
 SB 827 : Solar and Storage Rebate, SEE Work session 2/17, Gov. Kotek & DOE, Senate vote 21-7, moves to House 3/4 

 first reading. 
 referred to H CEE 3/10, HB 3546 , the POWER Act , PR was 3/6, The bill requires the Public Utility Commission (PUC) to create a new rate class for the largest energy users in the state. (data centers and other high-volume users). These regulations would only apply to customers in the for-profit utility's service areas of PGE, Pacific Power, and Idaho Power. The League has approved being listed on a coalition sign on advocacy letter . 
 Oregon lawmakers introduce legislation to rein in utility bills | KPTV 
 Citizens Utility Board CUB presentation here . 
 Carbon sequestration/storage: See DOGAMI Agency Budget (see Natural Resources Legislative Report) – Geologic Carbon Dioxide Sequestration Interactive Map | U.S. Geological Survey ( usgs.gov ) .
 
 Advanced Clean Truck Rules Oregon's complex and controversial Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rules , aimed at phasing in electric trucks to replace heavily polluting diesel trucks, are the focus of both ongoing legislation and administrative rulemaking. Even as DEQ works toward Environmental Quality Commission approval of a permanent rule delaying implementation of the current rules (adopted several years ago) by a year, HB 3119 , (bipartisan) seeks to delay implementation by an additional year. The trucking industry flooded a Jan. 30 hearing with supporting testimony and has mounted a high-pressure campaign to do away with the rules entirely. Environmental advocates are pushing back against any further delays, citing the threats to public health (particularly affecting Environmental Justice communities) and to Oregon's greenhouse gas emission targets. More than 500 written testimonies are posted on OLIS. Meanwhile, Gov. Kotek has intervened in the DEQ rulemaking, urging the agency to quickly develop a solution to the compliance challenges facing Class 7 and 8 trucks, the heaviest class, while maintaining the integrity of the ACT program for other classes. This could be accomplished through additional credit allocations for Class 7 and 8 trucks or through similar mechanisms. DEQ's Rulemaking Advisory Committee has met twice and will meet again next week to consider proposed solutions. Legislative Environmental Bipartisan Caucus A trio of pro-nuclear bills were heard in Senate E&E on 3/5 and 3/10. SB 215 would repeal the requirement that there be a licensed repository for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste before a site certificate for a nuclear power plant may be issued in Oregon. If the bill is enacted, the repeal would have to be submitted to a statewide referendum at the next regular general election. SB 216 would repeal the above requirement by legislation alone. Amendments to these bills would limit their application to small modular reactors. SB 635 would direct Oregon State University to conduct a feasibility study on nuclear energy generation in Oregon, addressing advantages and disadvantages, maximizing jobs for Oregonians, and technical issues. House CE&E heard HB 3107 on 3/13, aimed at expediting DEQ permit proceedings by modifying the agency’s authority to engage in certain agreements with regulated entities. It would entitle a permit applicant or holder or a regulated entity to enter into an agreement with DEQ for the agency to hire additional staff or to contract with a qualified third party to expedite a permit proceeding, unless DEQ finds that it has sufficient resources or staff to complete the proceeding within six months, or that the agreement is not in the public interest. Some other bills coming up next week: House CE&E has scheduled a work session on HB 2332 for 3/18. It would prohibit DEQ from requiring a Title V operating permit for air curtain incinerators that burn only wood waste, clean lumber, or yard debris, unless otherwise mandated by EPA. As EPA has eliminated this requirement for a permit, this bill would align DEQ with federal policy. House CE&E public hearing on HB 2067, 3/18. This bill would direct ODOE to establish a rebate program for small landscaping contractors to buy battery-powered leaf blowers. House CE&E work session on HB 2566, 3/20. It would add stand-alone energy resilience projects to the categories of projects eligible for a grant under ODOE's Community Renewable Energy Grant program. Senate E&E public hearing on SB 634, 3/17. It would specify that an electric utility may use hydroelectricity to comply with a Renewable Portfolio Standard under PUC regulation. What We're Reading This Week Wildlife and Natural Resources Butterfly numbers have fallen by nearly a quarter since 2000 - OPB Competing proposals aim to keep neonics away from consumers - Capital Press Southern Oregon nonprofits grapple with loss of millions for wildfire mitigation - Bend Bulletin Trump's timber directives could sway Oregon forest policy, but market effects remain unclear - OPB Utilities and the Grid 'Get the Junk out of our Rates' bill could limit how Oregon utilities pay for lobbying, ads - OPB In light of the conversations around large power users and increased electricity demand in the region, this article ( Utilities may subsidize data center growth by shifting costs to other ratepayers: Harvard Law paper ), published this morning in Utility Dive, was especially timely. The Power Act ( HB 3546) aims to address this issue. Bonneville opts to join SPP's Markets+ day-ahead market over CAISO alternative - Utility Dive Transportation ODOT intends to buy portion of Hayden Island to offset impacts of I-5 bridge replacement - KOIN 6 Southwest Washington cities spar over light rail funding for I-5 bridge replacement - OPB The Oregon Legislature’s Environmental Caucus is composed of members who believe that our state requires bold environmental action and are dedicated to furthering policy that benefits the natural resources, wildlife, economy, and communities of Oregon. Current Bipartisan Members : Transportation Priorities Transportation package that prioritizes climate, equity, and wildlife According to OCN Press Rel ease: “This package would build on the historic gains of HB 2017 (which included investments in public transit, safe routes to school, and vehicle electrification), to shift the focus to multimodal, safety, and climate-forward investments. This promises to create a system that saves money over time and builds a more resilient, equitable, and healthy future for all Oregonians.” The Natural Climate Solutions (NCS) Coalition By Josie Joehne NCS coalition has been testifying in support of HB 5039 , the OWEB $5 million budget request bill for the Natural Working Lands Fund. Read the LWVOR testimony here . We are also participating with the Washington County group that is developing a guidebook defining Climate Smart Forestry practices and natural climate solutions in support of ODF's Climate Change and Carbon Plan (CCCP). The Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District is under contract with ODF to develop the guide for experienced Washington County woodland managers and forestry professionals to help them advise local forest owners and land managers about best practices for the changing climate. It will provide information on how to reduce climate impacts through forest management, and will include latest information on climate, forest research, and case studies. Jordan Cove and Fracking Update 3/11 News: Arizona man stumbles upon Jordan Cove LNG project , seeks to revive it | KLCC, “Kekkonen is asking FERC to waive the approximately $40,000 filing fee for the motion, stating he can’t afford to pay it. He’s also seeking a $1.25 billion loan guarantee from the U.S. Maritime Administration for his LNG tanker endeavors.” The League continues to be concerned about Fracking issues. The fracking moratorium in Oregon, expired on January 2, 2025. [ 1 , 2 ] Here's a more detailed explanation: [ 1 , 2 , 3 ] Moratorium End Date: The temporary ban on fracking for oil and gas production and exploration in Oregon, established by House Bill 2623, was set to end on January 2, 2025. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ] 
 Governor's Signature: Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed the legislation on June 17, 2019. [ 1 ] 
 Legislative Action: The Oregon Senate passed the bill on May 29, 2019, with a 17-11 vote. [ 3 , 4 ] 
 Exemptions: The bill included exemptions for natural gas storage wells, geothermal activities, and existing coalbed methane extraction wells. [ 3 ] 
 Current Status: The moratorium has expired, and fracking is no longer prohibited in Oregon. [ 1 , 2 ] 
 [1] https://aglaw.psu.edu/shale-law-in-the-spotlight/oregon-and-washington-enact-hydraulic-fracturing-bans/ [2] https://climate-xchange.org/2024/08/policy-explainer-drilling-down-on-state-efforts-to-ban-fracking/ [3] https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/senatedemocrats/Documents/HB2623Fracking.pdf [4] https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2019/05/29/oregon-senate-passes-5-year-fracking-moratorium/1271400001/ Nuclear Energy Waste Tech The Climate Fix: Nuclear Waste Finds Its Forever Home | NYT “Finland may soon become the first country to develop a permanent way to store spent nuclear fuel by burying it in tunnels deep underground.” CBS News 3/7/25 Supreme Court steps into debate over where to store nuclear waste “Washington — The Supreme Court on Wednesday jumped into the decades-long dispute over what to do with thousands of metric tons of nuclear waste, as it considered a plan to store it above one of the world's most productive oil fields, the Permian Basin in Texas.” Oregon Public Broadcasting – OPB 3/7/25 Umatilla County wants to expand nuclear energy in Eastern Oregon. Tribes are pushing back “Oregon lawmakers are considering softening a 45-year-old statewide ban to allow nuclear power in Umatilla County. The legislation has the backing of the county governmen t , while tribal leaders are opposed.” Utility Dive 3/10/25 Utilities may subsidize data center growth by shifting costs to other ratepayers: Harvard Law paper “The public faces significant risks that utilities will … profit from new data centers by making major investments and. then shifting costs to their captive ratepayers, the report’s authors said...” Climate Emergency JWM Budget Concerns In order to stay on track, the Legislature must prioritize investments for vital climate and community protection programs. Without additional appropriations this session, the following existing successful programs may run out of funding: Community Renewable Energy Grant Program (ODOE) 
 Rental Home Heat Pump Program (ODOE) 
 Community Heat Pump Program (ODOE) 
 Oregon Clean Vehicle Rebate Program/Charge Ahead (DEQ) 
 Medium and Heavy-Duty Vehicles Rebates + Infrastructure Grants (DEQ) 
 Community Resilience Hubs and Networks (ODHS) 
 Climate Change Worker Relief Fund (DAS) 
 Oregon Solar + Storage Rebate Program (ODOE) 
 Natural & Working Lands Fund (OWEB) (excerpt from OCEN network message) 
 Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Governance , Natural Resources , and Social Policy report sections.

Back to All Legislative Reports Climate Emergency Legislative Report - Week of 3/20 Climate Emergency Team Coordinator: Claudia Keith Coordinator: Claudia Keith Efficient and Resilient Buildings: vacant Energy Policy: Claudia Keith Environmental Justice: vacant Natural Climate Solution Forestry: Josie Koehne Agriculture: vacant Community Resilience & Emergency Management: see Governance LR: Rebecca Gladstone Transportation: see NR LR Joint Ways and Means - Budgets, Lawsuits, Green/Public Banking, Divestment/ESG: Claudia Keith Find additional Climate Change Advocacy volunteers in Natural Resources Jump to a topic: Climate Emergency Priorities Other CE Bills Interstate 5 Bridge Project Oregon Economic Analysis Oregon Treasury Climate Related Lawsuits: Oregon and… Climate Emergency Priorities By Claudia Keith, Climate Emergency Coordinator Good news, all CE priorities have Work Sessions scheduled or have already moved forward from their policy committee. Find in previous LR reports additional background on each CE priority. 1. Natural and Working Lands : SB 530 LWVOR Alert : Work Session 3/27. The fiscal has not been posted. An amendment may get posted to simplify multiple-agency policy implementation. The League continues to be an active coalition member. 2. Resilient Buildings (RB): LWVOR Alert . Work sessions are 3/28 and 3/30. The League is an active RB coalition partner. Link to League testimonies: SB 868 , 869 , 870 and 871 . The fiscals have not yet been posted. I understand that the HOMES part of the federal IRA hasn’t released guidance yet, this makes it difficult for the legislature to know what to count on and what matching might be needed. 3. Environmental Justice (EJ) 2023 Leg bills: The League joined the Worker Advocate Coalition on 2/13 and SB 593 is one of two bills the League will follow and support. The ‘Right to Refuse dangerous work’ SB 907 , League testimony . Public Hearing (#2) and Work Session is 3/28 . There are issues with this bill that need to be addressed, in an expected amendment. 4. Oregon Climate Action Commission (currently Oregon Global Warming Commission): Roadmap , SB 522 , 3/23. -2 amendment was posted 3/22. 5. Other Governor Climate / Carbon Policy Topics: See 20-04 Executive Order topics . This area includes other GHG emission mitigation/reductions (DEQ) and new clean renewable energy (DOE), OHA public health, and ODOT (Dept of Transportation) policy and funding bills. 6. CE related total 2023-2025 biennium budget: The governor’s budget * was published Jan 31; Kotek’s budget priorities . A main funding problem concerns how the favorable ending current period balance, estimated to be >$765M, can be used. It will take a 3/5 vote to pass this proposed change. We provided testimony on the Oregon Dept. of Energy (ODOE) budget ( HB 5016 ), requesting additional agency requests that were not included in the Governor’s budget. Another major issue, the upcoming mid-May Forecast will provide required budget balancing guidelines. Other CE Bills By Claudia Keith HB 2763 : Creates a State public bank Task Force. Like RB task force the 23 member Task Force is required to recommend no later than Jan 2024. “ The report must include a recommendation for a governing structure for a public bank.” This topic will likely have a bill in the 2024 session. HB 3016 community green (tree canopy) infrastructure, Rep Pham K, Senator Dembrow, Rep Gamba. Work Session was 3/15 . Legislative Summary description . Fiscal is not clear for agency FTE adds, maybe ~$900K, nor source of grant funds. House Bill 2816 , Recent amendments posted “… scheduled for a committee (work session) vote on March 27, would require every (major) carbon emitter to follow the same rules as major utilities. (data centers) A 2021 law set ambitious timelines for utilities, including the state’s two biggest electrical providers, Portland General Electric and Pacific Power, to lower their carbon emissions and switch to non-carbon-emitting power sources by 2040.” Oregon could tighten climate regulations for data centers , cryptocurrency farms | Oregon Capital Chronicle. No fiscal posted. Climate Solutions testimony . HB 2713 - 1 , PH 3/29 and work session 4/3. Local Regulation of Fossil Fuels: home rule cities and counties have constitutional authority to prohibit or limit use of fossil fuels in new buildings or installation of fossil fuel infrastructure. Permits cities and counties, whether home rule or not, to prohibit or limit use of fossil fuels in new buildings or installation of fossil fuel infrastructure. No fiscal posted. House CE&E Meeting By Greg Martin The committee moved HB 3418-1 to the floor with a do-pass recommendation, with referral to Joint Tax Expenditures. The bill would extend the sunset date of the Solar and Storage Rebate Program from 1/2/2024 to 1/2/2029. ODOE would have to waive the requirement that construction begin within 12 months of an award if construction was delayed because of supply chain or workforce disruptions or shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fiscal impact is estimated at $547K for 2023-25, $703K for 2025-27. ODOE received a GF appropriation of $15 million in 2021-23 and anticipates that all funds will be obligated by the end of the biennium. If additional funding were provided to carry the program forward, ODOE would change three existing limited-duration administrative positions into permanent positions. Senate E&E By Greg Martin The committee sent these bills to the floor with a do-pass recommendation: SB 145 (w/ referral to Joint Tax Exp.), extends until 7/1/2032 the sunset date for the property tax exemption for the High Desert Biomass Coop, which burns "hog fuel" to produce hot water and steam for delivery in Burns. No fiscal impact (or comments, please). The committee also heard testimony for Sen. Hayden's SB 1015 , which would allow accelerated depreciation (over two years) of “carbon reducing upgrades” that could include replacement of older heavy-duty diesel trucks, manufacturing and building upgrades, adoption of clean vehicles for fleet use. Would apply to tax years beginning on or after 1/1/2020. No fiscal impact statement was available but committee members seemed favorable. Interstate 5 (I5) Bridge Project By Liz Stewart Final design is undecided. Stakeholders have been identified and engaged. Draft Environmental Impact Statement to be released early this fall, with a 45-60 day comment period once released. Final environmental impact decision anticipated in 2024 Finance plan will be released in March and updated annually Section 106 impacts (historical, cultural, archeological): An online public open house is planned for April related to Section 106 impacts. The Equity and Mobility Advisory Committee (EMAC) has worked to help identify strategies to improve outcomes and access to travel choices for all demographics. Their most recent meeting, March 20, covered the design process. To find background on the project or get involved, sign up for email on IBR project website . Meetings & Events | I-5 Bridge Replacement Program Interstatebridge.org IBR has several public groups formed to give input on the project. Find out about participation at public meetings here and here . Oregon Economic Analysis By Claudia Keith The Oregon Economic and Revenue Forecast was released Feb 22. The next forecast is due May 17. JW&M recommended budget will use the May forecast to balance the budget. The Oregon Office of Economic Analysis has continued to ignore the recommended SEC Climate Risk disclosure rule. The Need For Climate Risk Disclosures: A Case Study Of Physical Risk Of Two REITS, EQR And ARE | Forbes. Federal and state policies impacting ESG reporting could be issued in 2023 | U.S. Green Building Council. SEC Chair Responds to Questions on Potential Lawsuit on Climate Disclosure , Fast Paced Rulemaking | Reuters. Gensler says SEC climate disclosure rule will focus on consistency | Pensions & Investments. Key insights for asset owners developing investor climate action plans | Ceres. See supportive SEC disclosure LWVOR-initiated LWVUS Testimony , June 2022. Oregon Treasury By Claudia Keith It is unclear how Oregon Treasury/Treasurer Tobias will assist with addressing the $27B Federal funds, contingent on formation of an Oregon Green Bank. Up To $27B Available for NPO Clean Energy Activities . | TNPT. Treasurer Tobias Read Releases First -Ever Oregon Financial Wellness Scorecard| OST. J an 2023 Pers Statement Climate Related Lawsuits: Oregon and… By Claudia Keith Numerous lawsuits are challenging Oregon’s DEQ CPP regulations. Here is one example of how to track them. Basically, there are a number of active state and federal lawsuits , (March 2023 update) some of which could assist in meeting Oregon's Net Zero GHG Emissions before 2050 targets and other lawsuits, which challenge current Oregon DEQ CPP policy, which would limit the use of fossil fuels, including diesel, natural gas, and propane over time. Another source: Columbia University Law - Sabin Climate DB lists 62 lawsuits with OREGON mentioned. Climate lawsuits: Oregon and PNW News Oregon’s $4 Billion Economic Opportunity From Ambitious Climate Policy | Forbes. Ashland youth push city to ban fossil fuel infrastructure in new buildings | Jefferson Public Radio. Oregon could tighten climate regulations for data centers, cryptocurrency farms – Oregon Capital Chronicle. Portland Inno - Tech industry, E. Oregon lawmakers warn of economic toll if data center emissions bill passes | BizJR. Energy Facility Siting Council to Meet March 24, 2023 — ODOE. National and Global News A ‘Rocking Chair Rebellion’: Seniors Call On Banks to Dump Big Oi l - The New York Times. Why India Walks a Tightrope Between US and Russia ( cheap oil…) - The Washington Post. Shaheen to admin: Get me the Black Sea strategy | Politico. The climate debate over the Willow oil project , explained - The Washington Post. States debate whether to restrict —or invite—crypto mining – GCN. FACT SHEET: One Year of Supporting Ukraine | The White House. Commentary: Biden weighs in on the battle for the soul of Wall Street. Here’s how the president’s first veto will shape the way Americans’ money is managed | Fortune. Modi’s Climate Change Goal at Risk as India Renewable Energy Push Hits Hurdles – Bloomberg. Russia Wants a Fossil Fuel Relationship . China Has Cold Feet | Time. Climate protesters call on banks to divest from fossil fuels : NPR. Weekly Planet | The Atlantic Journal Volunteers Needed By Claudia Keith Request to Local Leagues; please let us know your climate, resilience, or sustainability advocacy actions. Please consider joining the CE portfolio team; we lack volunteers in these critical policy and law areas: Natural and Working lands, specifically Agriculture/ODA Climate Related Lawsuits/Our Children’s Trust Public Health Climate Adaptation (OHA) Regional Solutions / Infrastructure (with NR team) State Procurement Practices (DAS: Dept. of Admin. Services) CE Portfolio State Agency and Commission Budgets Oregon Treasury: ESG investing/Fossil Fuel divestment We collaborate with Natural Resource Action members on many Climate Change mitigation and adaptation policy topics. Volunteers are needed: The 2023 legislative session began Jan 17. If any area of Climate Emergency interests you, please contact Claudia Keith , CE Coordinator. Orientation to Legislative and State Agency advocacy processes is available.

Back to All Legislative Reports Governance Internships Legislative Report - Week of 3/31 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: Initiatives Broadband, Vote-by-mail, Privacy Elections Revenue Initiatives SJR 30 , sponsored by Senators Nash and Broadman, will be heard in the Senate Rules Committee 4/2. It would increase the requirements to qualify an initiative for the general election ballot. If SJR 30 is adopted, then the number of valid signatures that is required would be increased 33% for statutory measures and would be increased 25% for constitutional measures! Furthermore, the required signatures would have to be equally distributed among congressional districts. The League submitted testimon y opposing SJR 30 since it would nearly destroy the ability for citizens to qualify an initiative for the ballot, except by wealthy special interest groups and corporations. Broadband, Vote-by-mail, Privacy By Becky Gladstone SB 224 : Senate Rules work session on April 2, League testimony in support of privacy for campaign committee staff home addresses. SB 470 A : passed a House floor vote, 29, 1 excused. League testimony supported the original bill to protect lodgers’ privacy from illicitly taken videos. HB 3766 : allows civil action against an adult who, unbidden, digitally sends intimate images (cyber-flashing) with the intent to harass, degrade or humiliate. League testimony in support; work session April 1. Upcoming & Watching SB 1014 requires the SoS to allow inclusion of political party statements in translated online versions of state or county voters’ pamphlets. League testimony in support is being prepared for a March 3 public hearing in Senate Rules. SB 952 will close a replacement timing lapse for US Senators, if need be, between when a vacancy occurs and replacement at special election. League will testify in support, public hearing in Senate Rules, April 2. SB 1121 creates a new crime of unlawful private data disclosure, punishable by a maximum of six months' imprisonment, $2,500 fine, or both. A public hearing and possible work session are slated for April 8 in, Senate Judiciary, at the request of the Oregon Judiciary. Elections By Barbara Klein Related to party membership and registration requirements , HB 3908 was filed by the Rules Committee at the request of the Independent Party of Oregon, and is scheduled for a public hearing on 3/31. The Act increases the percentage of voters in the state required for a party to be a major political party from five percent to 10 percent. This would make the development of a new major party more difficult. The LWVOR has not yet addressed this bill. Senator David Brock Smith is the sole sponsor of SB 210 to be heard by the Senate Rules Committee on 3/31. The bill replaces the Oregon vote-by-mail system and makes in-person voting on election day the standard method for conducting elections. It requires more features that the LWV opposes, some which are laid out in the federal SAVE act (which we also oppose). The bill requires voters to show valid government-issued picture ID when voting or requesting a ballot. It allows a by-mail ballot only if the elector is unable to vote in person on the date of the election. The bill removes a current requirement that the state pays postage for ballots returned by mail. It does allow vote-by-mail as the primary method for conducting elections for military and overseas electors and for electors who have a mailing address outside of Oregon. SB 210 refers the Act to the next general election ballot. It is unclear if this is only a courtesy hearing. Revenue By Natalie Briggs Public Hearing - HB 2515 Authorizes public bodies to enter into an intergovernmental agreement to pool bond proceeds or other funds into commonly managed investments without the oversight of the State Treasurer and the Oregon Investment Council. Summary: The proposed bill would enable public bodies in Oregon such as local schools to enter intergovernmental agreements for pooling bond proceeds or other funds into jointly managed investment pools, without requiring oversight from the State Treasurer or the Oregon Investment Council. Public bodies would also have the option to create investment pools for funds that aren’t specifically related to bond proceeds, allowing greater flexibility in managing different types of funds. Written agreements under ORS Chapter 190 would be required before each investment pool is established and used, to ensure accountability, and transparency among participating entities. When managing these pools, public bodies would be permitted to use the same powers and authority as the State Treasurer and Oregon Investment Council under existing laws. Proponents of the bill feel that it would enable autonomy, quicker decision-making, and tailored investment strategies that meet the varying and specific needs of the participating bodies. Committee Questions and Comments: Committee would like to understand the feedback from the Oregon state treasurer regarding this bill. Information from the state treasurer has been provided to the committee for review. Can school districts simply contract or engage a 3rd party for business office help, and could this be a suitable alternative establishing separate investment pools? This bill would result in the investment of public money in a private sector service rather than with the state treasury. Who will provide oversight to ensure that these investments are being managed appropriately? Proponents of the bill responded that schools have existing investment policies at the district level, and school boards are responsible for managing investments in accordance with these policies How would school board account for the possibility of a higher cost of management of the funds compared to the existing system? Proponents of the bill responded that school officials would be responsible for investing responsibly. Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Climate Emergency , Natural Resources , and Social Policy report sections.

Back to All Legislative Reports Social Policy Social Policy Team Coordinator: Jean Pierce • After School and Summer Care: Katie Riley • Behavioral Health: Trish Garner • Criminal Justice/Juvenile Justice: Marge Easley / Sharron Noon • Education: Jean Pierce / Stephanie Engle • Equal Rights for All Ballot Measure: Jean Pierce Kyra Aguon • Gender-Related Concerns, Reproductive Health, Age Discrimination: Trish Garner • Gun Safety & Gun Issues, Rights for Incarcerated People: Marge Easley • Hate and Bias Crimes: Claudia Keith/ Becky Gladstone /rhyen enger • Health Care: Christa Danielsen • Housing: Debbie Aiona and Nancy Donovan Note: Education reports after January, 2024, are included in Social policy reports. Education reports prior to February, 2024, can be found HERE . Please see the Legislation Tracker for 2025 Social Policy bills . Jump to topic: Age-Related Issues Behavioral Health Criminal Justice Education Gun Policy Hate Crimes Housing Legislation Immigration Age-Related Issues by Trish Garner SB 548 has been signed into law by Governor Kotek. This bill establishes 18 as the minimum age for marriage. LWVOR testified in support. Behavioral Health By Trish Garner HB 2481A-11 passed unanimously in the Joint Committee on Addiction and Community Safety Response with a do pass recommendation and referral to Ways & Means. As one might discern from the number of amendments, this is a complicated and comprehensive bill which relates to individuals charged with a crime who have been found to be unable to assist aid and assist in their defense. Criminal Justice By Marge Easley HB 3532 A , which eliminates civil statutes of limitations for sexual assault survivors, unanimously passed the House on May 29 and now awaits a hearing in Senate Rules. This bill represents a major step forward in acknowledging the importance of removing arbitrary deadlines in the reporting of sexual assault, since it often takes many years before a victim is ready to come forward. According to the press release from bill sponsor Rep. Annessa Hartman, “Under current law, adult survivors have just five years from the time they discover the connection between the assault and their injuries to file a civil suit. For child survivors, the limit is five years from discovery or until they turn 40—whichever is later. But trauma experts and survivor advocates point out that the average age at which a child sexual abuse survivor comes forward is 52.” Education By Jean Pierce The Governor has signed HB 2586A into law. The bill permits an asylum seeker who is a student at a public university to receive an exemption from nonresident tuition and fees. LWVOR filed testimony in support. The Joint Ways and Means committee on Education and the Joint Ways and Means Committee both gave Do Pass Recommendations to SB 141 A . The bill requires entities receiving money from the State School Fund to measure student academic growth in mathematics and language arts. At the same time, the bill is intended to streamline grant-reporting processes. It also prescribes requirements for tools and support through coaching from the Department of Education if those targets are not met over time. The amendment allocates over $2.6 million to the endeavor. This amount is part of the calculation for SB5516 A which also received Do Pass Recommendations from both committees. In recognition of the revenue forecast, this bill would provide for an adjusted current service level of almost $11.4 billion. The committee is anticipating that local revenues will total $5.6 billion in the next two years, so total formula resources are expected to be more than $16.7 billion for the 2025-27 biennium. This represents a 10.5% increase over the 2023-25 biennium. The funds would provide a welcome boost, though it still falls short of the 30% increase recommended by the American Institute of Research which recommended a 30% increase in funding, with more attention to equitable spending for the education of low income and high needs students. Gun Policy By Marge Easley After many iterations, SB 243 B finally made it to the Senate floor, where it passed on a party line vote following long and impassioned speeches from both sides of the aisle. Prior to the vote, Republican senators attempted to substitute a minority report for the committee report, but as expected the motion failed. It will have a first reading in the House on June 2. SB 243 B was originally a four-part omnibus bill, but over the course of the session two provisions were stripped away to lessen its fiscal impact. The final bill bans rapid fire devices, such as bump stocks, and allows cities and counties to prohibit the carrying of firearms inside buildings where public meetings are held. This prohibition includes those with concealed handgun licenses (CHLs), which was one of the main points of contention during the floor debate . The League submitted supportive testimony on an earlier version of the bill on May 12. Hate Crimes By Becky Gladstone Coalition Against Hate Crimes update, May 13, 2025 LWVOR is a CAHC member. The challenge, we want more cross-state participation. Currently it is mostly PDX based. We’re hoping the coalition can expand to cover more events around the state by redesigning the website; to be posted in a few weeks: · Homepage, a history of the coalition, the importance of reporting hate crimes · How to report! Hot lines, education about civil rights violations · List of partners, with links, awareness of the need for privacy · The 4th page is for news, upcoming events, for justice. · Link to the DoJ dashboard. Upcoming EVENTS · Join us for World Refugee Day 2025 ! Soccer, stories, and community celebration for refugee, immigrant, and low-income youth. Friday, June 20 | East Portland. Create better relations to prevent a 2020 replay, to prevent violence toward activists & PDX Police, to pull in community members. We are a Sanctuary STATE & City. Fear that local police will be deputized to ICE. · Building bridges event, at Muslim Educational TRUST. We will come together in-person, with shared human values, to work for violence prevention. Cities- Portland, Gresham, etc., with youth voices and teachers from Reynolds School District, Centennial, David Douglas, etc. They are looking for projects they can do, working with the Portland Police Bureau Equity Office, Behavioral Health, substance abuse, violence prevention, music, artistic expression. Building Bridges East Community . · From the Antidefamation League , An Audit of Antisemitic Incidents . OR DoJ Hate crime reporting Closing the data year for Sanctuary Promise on May 31st, summary due in July. We’ve seen “pretty significant” increase in public body reporting from communities. The Federal Immigration Authority is reaching out for information that would violate sanctuary privacy. We expect new VISA request info at the end of June: What does it mean to be a new Sanctuary state, how we interact with federal agencies. Confusion is real with frequent changes, conflicting messaging for sanctuary, deputizing, posse comitatus reminds us of the old wild west “posse”. Hate crime patterns, looking at particular groups targeted, for example with COVID, the AAPI, seems to be more toward LatinX now. Housing By Nancy Donovan and Debbie Aiona SB 5011 is Oregon Housing and Community Services Department ‘s (OHCS) budget bill for the 2025-27 biennium. One aspect of the proposed bill is $6 million for eviction prevention services to address our state’s housing and homeless crisis. We have an urgent need to preserve and stabilize existing affordable homes. An Oregon Capital Chronicle May 29 article reports on our state’s eviction crisis: “Oregon sees a rise in eviction filings but rent assistance programs are working”. The article underscores the importance of eviction prevention programs to reduce eviction filings to help keep Oregonians housed. OHCS and legal aid programs such as the Oregon Law Center and Legal Aid Services of Oregon are making this possible. Bills in Progress HB 2964 : Requires the Oregon Housing and Community Services Department to award loans to non-profit affordable housing developers to cover pre-development costs of developing new housing. The bill passed the House Committee on Housing and Homelessness on April 15. It was then referred to the Senate Committee on Housing and Development, where a work session was held on May 21. A second reading was held on May 28, and on May 29, the bill was carried over to June 2 by unanimous consent. LWV testimony supports passage of the bill. HB 2735 : The House Committee on Revenue held a work session on the Independent Development Accounts (IDAs) bill on May 22. On May 29 the House Committee on Revenue recommended a do pass with amendments and the bill was referred to Tax Expenditures by order of the Speaker. The League submitted a letter in support. The Legislature created the IDAs program in 1999. The state matches participants’ savings up to 5-to-1. Money can be used to invest in the individual financial goals most important to each person’s own circumstances, such as buying a home or enrolling in higher education. The state tax credit that funds IDAs has not kept up with inflation. HB 2735-3 would raise the cap on the tax credit from $7.5 million/year to $16.5 million/year. The cap has not changed since 2009. If the Legislature does not act this session to “fix the funding” for IDAs, the program will shrink to serve 50% fewer Oregonians each year. HB 2958 : The House Committee on Revenue held a work session on the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) on May 22, and recommended passage with amendments. On May 29, the committee recommended passage of the bill with amendments and referred it to Tax Expenditures. The bill would extend the sunset date to 2032 and increase to 25 percent the EITC for families with children under three years of age. Other families with children will receive 20 percent of the federal credit. With the -2 amendment, the bill no longer extends the benefit to all childless working adults over age 18. The League submitted a letter in support. The bill, if passed, will put more money in people’s pockets and help avoid the trauma, instability, and costs to society and affected individuals that come from losing one’s home, deferring medical care, or missing meals. Immigration By Becky Gladstone and Claudia Keith Highlights - News League of Women Voters Files Brief Opposing Executive Order Attacking Birthright Citizenship | League of Women Voters A ttorney General Dan Rayfield Urges Court to Uphold Orders Blocking Trump Administration's Attack on Refugees - Oregon Department of Justice : Media Congress House budget bill cuts benefits, raises fees tied to immigration : NPR Axios: State Department seeks to create “Office of Remigration” New York Times: Afrikaners See Trump as the Ally Who “Heard Our Cries” BBC: Fleeing U.S. deportations, it took this family of asylum seekers three tries to enter Canada Hindustan Time: In Kenyan refugee camp, US aid cuts mean no period pads, no school Democracy Forward: Refugee Advocates to Court: U.S. Government is Attempting to Slam the Door Shut on People Fleeing Persecution ProPublica: Death, Sexual Violence and Human Trafficking: Fallout From U.S. Aid Withdrawal Hits the World’s Most Fragile Locations News from Homeland Security: Sanctuary Jurisdictions Defying Federal Immigration Law | Homeland Security Asylum seekers in Oregon can now qualify for in- state tuition | OPB Legislative Bulletin — Friday, May 30, 2025 - National Immigration Forum Oregon lawmakers will not move forward this year with a proposed agricultural labor standards board that would set wages and workplace conditions for farmworkers. 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 ) JWM waiting for Fiscal Y Sen Jama -3 amendment SB 599A Immig status: discrimination in RealEstate transactions Waiting for Gov to sign N Sen Campos House passes 5/19 SB 611 Food for All Oregonians - for undocumented JWM 8 Sen Campos Rep Ruiz amendment -1 SB 703 a bipartisan immigration status update funding bill JWM 6 Sen Reynolds, Rep Neron, Ruiz, Smith G Testimony HB 2548 Agricultural Workforce Labor Standards Board. H Rules PC: No recommend dation Rep Valderrama, Nelson , Munoz League Testimony HB 2976 funding for interpretation of indigenous languages. JWM 1.5 Rep Hartman HB2788 funding to nonprofits to assist w lawful permanent resident status / legal aid - HC ECHS - JWM dead Rep Neron, Ruiz, Sen Reynolds * likely end of session Reconcilation Bill HB 2586 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 HC Jud dead 15 Rep Valderrama, Sen Manning Jr, Rep Walters, Andersen, McLain, Sen Campos DAS - see sb 703 HB3193A Farm Worker Relief Fund JWM 10 Rep Marsh, SenPham, RepValderrama OHA HB 5002 Oregon Worker Relief Fund (Prev yr legal rep funds eliminated) JWM WS was 5/29, passed LFO d etails Amendment Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Climate Emergency , Governance , and Natural Resources , and Revenue report sections.

Back to All Legislative Reports Governance Internships Legislative Report - Week of 5/26 Governance Team Coordinator: Becky Gladstone and Chris Cobey Artificial Intelligence: Lindsey Washburn Campaign Finance Reform: Norman Turrill Conflicts of Interest/Legislative Ethics: Chris Cobey CEI - Critical Energy Infrastructure : Nikki Mandell and Laura Rogers Cybersecurity Privacy, Election Issues, Electronic Portal Advisory Board: Becky Gladstone Election Systems: Barbara Klein Emergency Preparedness: Cate Arnold Immigration, Refugee, and Asylum: Claudia Keith Redistricting: Norman Turrill, Chris Cobey State Audit Working Group: Sheila Golden Voting Rights of Incarcerated People: Marge Easley Please see Governance Overview here . Jump to a topic: Campaign Finance General Governance, Privacy, and Consumer Protection Artificial Intelligence Rule Making Campaign Finance and Initiatives By Norman Turrill The Elections Division of the Secretary of State is asking the public for feedback on draft administrative rules that would implement HB 4025 (2024). It has also appointed a Rules Advisory Committee (RAC) to work on these new administrative rules. SB 1180 would require the Secretary of State to send to the Legislature for odd-numbered year sessions a list of prospective initiative petitions. The purpose is said to provide the Legislature a better chance to consider initiatives. The League will probably comment that the list of initiatives is readily available on the SoS website, and that the Legislature can now do any oversight of initiatives that it wants to do. In other words, this bill is likely a waste of money. General Governance, Privacy, and Consumer Protection By Becky Gladstone SB1191 Enrolled has now been signed by both the Senate President and the House Speaker. The bill states that informing someone about their civil or constitutional rights cannot be construed as obstructing justice. The League submitted testimony and asked members to speak to the bill on our Lobby Day. Thanks to legislators for unanimously passing HB 3875 Enrolled for car makers to comply with Oregon’s privacy laws in controlling and processing the personal data that our cars collect from us. Oregon Senate Expands Protections Over Personal Data Collected By Your Car . Privacy Protections for Oregonians Are Stronger Under Legislation Passed Today in the State Senate . We regret missing HB 3875 before now. We can use volunteer help for many of our issues. This Governance portfolio section is pleased to have recently added specialists in AI, emergency preparedness, and general governance issues. HB 3569 A : We are researching comments of concern for a second public hearing for this amended bill, to (basically) invite a sponsoring legislator onto the bill’s Rules Advisory Committees, as a non-voting member. SB 473 A passed a second, House Judiciary, work session, to create a crime of threatening a public official, with amendments to include those elected, appointed, or filed to serve an established office, adding numerous judicial branch roles. See League testimony in support. SB 952 to consider interim US Senator appointments, passed a second work session in House Rules on a partisan vote, after passing on the Senate floor along nearly partisan lines, 26 to 13. See League testimony in support. SB 430 B : Our League testimony in support was filed and comments abridged for hearing brevity, addressing the extensive amendments that broadly address business transparency for consumer protections. The bill passed a second work session in House Commerce and Consumer Protection. The initial bill, for online transaction cost disclosure to improve transparency passed in Senate Labor and Business on partisan lines, similarly passing on partisan lines on the Senate Floor, 18 to 11. SB 1121 A passed a second chamber work session, almost unanimously, to create a new Class B misdemeanor crime of unlawful private data disclosure. We are following up on the dissenting vote based on conflating property destruction with personal crimes. Amendments edited for doxxing, timing to protect “basically OPB”, and adding as a provision to the Oregon Consumer Privacy Act. League testimony was filed and presented, supporting the bill, including the amendment relating to data broker issues. HB 3382 is up for a May 28 work session in House Rules, directing the Secretary of State to maintain an online Rulemaking Information system. We are watching HB 3382 based on Sen Sollman asking about the concept of a central state rulemaking site in the context of the HB 3931 coordinated state portal Task Force proposal presented here earlier. See League testimony . HB 2006 would limit long session bill requests to 25 bills from legislators to legislative counsel. We are preparing, watching for a 5/29 public hearing in House Rules, which will also consider a -7 amendment. HB 3569 A has a second public hearing, scheduled for 5/28 in Senate Rules, after passing not quite fully on partisan lines in House Rules, similarly on the House floor. SB 5537 , the SoS budget bill, is up for a 5/28 first work session after the 5/9 public hearing in Joint General Government. We are watching for opportunities to follow up on highlighted issues. Artificial Intelligence (AI) By Lindsey Washburn The Governor has signed HB 2299 Enrolled , which modifies the crime of unlawful dissemination of an intimate image to include the disclosure of digitally created, manipulated or altered images. Rule Making By Peggy Lynch A number of bills related to agency rulemaking and the role of the legislature, many of which are listed below, are getting work sessions. The League and others have concerns about many of these bills. The legislature’s job is to set policy. The agencies are responsible for implementing that policy. 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 or facilitate an agency’s mission. Blurring those lines is problematic. HB 3569 , a bill that would require a Chief Sponsor (legislator) of a bill to be a part of a rules advisory committee for legislation they had a hand in passing, passed the House and now goes to Senate Rules. A public hearing is scheduled for May 28. 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 ( SB 437 , SB 1006 , SB 370 , SB 483 ) and SB 411 , SB 895 also in Senate Rules. HB 2454 passed House Rules with the -1 amendment and was sent to Ways and Means. The bill creates a new Audits Officer (with possible additional staff). The Jt. Audits Committee would hire the Officer. It is unclear that, if funded, what the relationship will be with the Secretary of State’s Audit Division and the work of the Legislative Fiscal Office staff. 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. There is a broader discussion to increase transparency and consistency in the state agencies’ rulemaking process. A second meeting related to the state agency rules process is set for June with an invitation to the League to continue to participate. We are 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. A work session is set for May 28. 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 . Sadly, a work session is scheduled for May 28 in House Rules. Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Climate Emergency , Revenue , Natural Resources , and Social Policy report sections.

Back to All Legislative Reports Social Policy Legislative Report - Week of 3/24 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 Civil Commitment Education Gun Policy Healthcare Housing Legislation Immigration Revenue After School and Summer By Katie Riley There are several bills that are dealing with afterschool and summer care. On Monday, March 17th, the League visited legislators to ask that HB 3039 and HB 2007 which both concern summer learning, include a differentiation of care during non-school time from summer school for both funding and data reporting purposes. The offices that were visited included those for Senators Lieber, Sollman, and Bonham and Representatives Ruiz and Sanchez. Those visits were selected due to their leadership positions on party caucuses and/or committees that determine budget allocations. We also talked to legislative sponsoring offices for SB 876 (Sen. Dick Anderson) and HB 3162 (Rep. Jami Cate), both of whom propose funding for after school care. SB 876 has passed out of committee and will need to be voted on by the Senate before it can be sent to the House for consideration. HB 3162 has not received a committee hearing so it may not progress further. The House Committee on Education was scheduled to have a hearing on Wednesday, March 19th on HB 3039 and HB 2007 but only HB 2007 had a hearing. Both bills have had amendments submitted which help to improve the focus on expanded learning to include the possibility of after school care during the summer. Senator Sollman and Representative Ruiz who authored HB 2007 with Representative Fahey testified. Time was limited so only a few community members were able to testify and most supported the bill with the new amendment submitted by Representative Susan McLain. LWVOR submitted written testimony for both bills encouraging further amendment to differentiate care during after school hours from summer school. Without separate data, it will be impossible to determine the impact of each component. It is expected that the HB 3039 and HB 2007 may be combined. Since HB 3039 is one of the Governor's priority bills, legislators are working hard to address problems before the bill is passed out of committee. A work session is scheduled in the committee for Monday, March 24th. Behavioral Health By Stephanie Aller The House Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee held a public hearing and work session on HB3129 (Higher Education Behavioral Health Workforce Expansion Fund.) LWVOR submitted testimony earlier in support of this bill. The committee adopted an amendment to the bill which includes a minimum service requirement of at least two years for student recipients. It also increased the amount appropriated for the bill from $17,900,000 to $25,700,000. The bill passed the committee on March 18 and was referred to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means. Civil Commitment By Patricia Garner SB 171 / HB 2467 : A significant amendment to these bills is anticipated to be filed by the Forensic Behavioral Health Work Group chaired by Representative Jason Kropf. The primary proponent of the legislation is the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Oregon (NAMI). Current law provides that a person can be civilly committed if that person is dangerous to self or others, but importantly, dangerousness to self or others is not defined. This ambiguity has created significant barriers to civil commitment. This LC attempts to remedy this ambiguity. It provides that dangerousness to self / others takes place when a person is engaged in or is threatening to engage in behavior that resulted in or was likely to result in physical harm to self /another, and it is reasonably foreseeable that due to their mental disorder, they will engage in behavior that presents a risk of harm to self/others in the near future. Importantly, “near future” is specifically defined as a period of time that is reasonably foreseeable, but no more than 14 days. “Physical harm” is also clarified as physical contact that results in injury to another, and serious physical harm places a person at a “non-speculative” risk of death, impairment of health or bodily organs, including impairment or deterioration of brain function due to untreated psychiatric conditions. In deciding whether someone should be committed, the court is also specifically authorized to consider whether that person has insight into their mental illness and their ability to follow a treatment plan. This latter factor relates to anosognosia, a neurological condition where a person is unable to recognize her or his own illness, which is common in diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, traumatic brain injuries, strokes, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. (See Judiciary Committee Hearing at 54:15 minutes). The prevalence of anosognosia in mental illness means that many people are not just avoiding treatment, but rather they do not apprehend they even have a mental illness. The LC also specifies several factors that can be used when a person is subject to commitment because of danger to self. Some of these factors include recent overt acts attempting to cause serious physical harm to self, recent threats to inflict this harm, the context of such acts or threats, and any past behavior resulting from a mental disorder that caused physical harm to self and past patterns of deterioration that contributed to prior involuntary hospitalizations. Dangerousness to others generally follows this format, but also recent destructive acts against property that were reasonably likely to place others at risk of injury HB 2015 – Oregon Residential Services Legislation This bill is currently a placeholder but should shortly be amended to require the Oregon Health Authority to study and make recommendations (9-25 and 9-26) to the Legislature about a range of issues related to residential treatment facilities and homes. The areas for review are detailed. For example, they include considerations that staffing costs for a facility should not change when the acuity of an individual changes, the workforce needs to be paid a professional wage, whether and how to support discharge from residential levels of placement, and how to create one license and set of rules for Transition Aged Youth Residential Treatment Homes that serve people 17.5 to 24 years of age. Education By Jean Pierce Recently, the Trump administration sent a “ Dear Colleague ” letter pressuring educational administrators not to “embrace pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences”. This was accompanied by a FAQ sheet. In addition, there is an Executive Order threatening cuts to essential programs if schools honor standards of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). So on March 13th Oregon’s Attorney General, Dan Rayfield, joined 14 other state attorneys general to provide guidance regarding what public schools can do to honor the law. They note that “nothing in the ‘Dear Colleague’ letter or FAQ changes existing law and well-established legal principles that encourage—and even require—schools to promote educational opportunity for students of all backgrounds.” This week the administration issued an Executive Order closing the Department of Education. While the administration insists that it will continue funding student loans, Pell Grants, funding for special needs students, and competitive grantmaking, still 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). Legislation which advanced this week SB 1098 , which prohibits discrimination when selecting or retaining school library materials, textbooks or instructional materials or when developing and implementing a curriculum was passed unamended with a partisan vote, by the Senate Education Committee. LWVOR submitted testimony for the bill. HB2997 , which directs the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to establish a grant program to expand access to populations which are under-represented in colleges and universities, was passed with a partisan vote by the House Committee on Higher Education and Workforce Development with an amendment to appropriate $5 million. LWVOR submitted testimony for the bill. HB 3182 , which directs the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to award grants to nonprofit organizations providing affordable housing support to low-income students. was passed 6 to 1 with minor amendments by the House Committee on Higher Education and Workforce Development. LWVOR submitted testimony for the bill. HB 3183 , which would appropriate money to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to provide no-cost, low-cost textbooks and course materials across Oregon’s colleges and universities, was passed 6 to 1 by the House Committee on Higher Education and Workforce Development with an amendment lowering the amount appropriated from $4.5 million to $2 million. LWVOR submitted testimony for the bill. Gun Policy By Marge Easley Six gun policy bills are now making their way through the legislative process. HB 3075 , heard on March 17 in House Judiciary, contains details for implementing the firearm permitting requirement in Measure 114 (2022). The committee received over 1000 pieces of testimony on the bill, including testimony from the League, and emotions ran high during oral testimony in the packed hearing room. A work session is scheduled for April 2. HB 3076 , heard on March 20 in House Judiciary, establishes a gun dealer licensing program in Oregon. League testimony stated that a state system is needed to curtail illegal guns that are used in crimes, often obtained through straw purchases and gun shop thefts. Oversight is currently under the direction of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), but the agency is woefully underfunded, and inspections are a rarity. A work session on the bill is scheduled for April 2. The League is also following four additional gun policy bills that are scheduled for an omnibus hearing and possible work sessions in the Senate Judiciary on April 7. SB 696 bans rapid-fire devices that convert semi-automatic weapons to the nearly full-automatic. SB 697 raises the age to purchase military-style weapons like AR-15s from age 18 to 21. SB 698 expands the types of public buildings that are authorized to ban firearms, even for holders of concealed handgun licenses (CHLs). SB 429 creates a 72-hour waiting period for the purchase of a firearm. Healthcare By Christa Danielson HB 2010-A : The League submitted testimon y for this bill, which extends the funding for the state portion of Medicaid. The bill has passed both chambers and has been signed by the President of the Senate as well as the Speaker of the House. It will be heading to the Governor’s desk for consideration of signature. Housing By Nancy Donovan and Debbie Aiona The Senate Committee on Housing and Development will hold another public hearing on SB 722 on March 26. The bill would prohibit residential landlords from software and occupancy control, and would apply rent caps for younger properties. This bill would help prevent displacement by prohibiting landlords of multifamily housing from using Artificial Intelligence (AI) software to inflate rents or occupancy rates. This unethical practice is the subject of national attention . Attorneys General in eight states, including Oregon, have joined the Justice Department in an antitrust suit to disallow this method of sharing and aligning non-public information to drive up rents. The bill also would reduce the current 15-year exemption for new construction from our statewide rent stabilization statute down to 7 years. This change would provide reasonable rent stabilization protection for an additional 40,000 housing units and between 80,000 to 100,000 Oregonians. Oregon renters are the 6th most cost burdened in the nation, and our eviction crisis is growing with more than 27,000 cases filed last year. Eighty-eight percent of evictions are because tenants cannot afford Oregon’s high rents. Studies show that rent stabilization policies help keep tenants stably housed and reduce evictions. The League provided testimony in support of SB 722 . The House Committee on Housing and Homelessness will hold a public hearing on HB 2964 on March 26. It would direct Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) to provide grants and loans for predevelopment costs for new affordable housing. OHCS would have the responsibility to administer a grant and loan program for predevelopment costs for new affordable housing for low-income households to rent or own. OHCS would integrate this program into its existing Predevelopment Loan Fund with monies from the General Fund. Properties would be developed with affordability restrictions to ensure that they remain affordable. Oregon's population growth has outpaced housing construction leading to a severe shortage of affordable properties. This bill will give our state’s lower income households an opportunity to live in stable, new and affordable housing. The League provided testimony in support o f HB 2964 . Immigration By Becky Gladstone and Claudia Keith Bill # Description Policy Committee Status $* Chief Sponsors + Comments SB 149 Immigration Study SCJ PH & WS 4/2 Y Sen Jama DHS SB 599A Immigration status: Discrimination in Real Estate transactions Floor Floor vote 3/24 Sen Campos Carry over SB 611 Food for All Oregonians - for undocumented SC HS - JWM PH 3/25, Work Sess 4/1 Y Sen Campos Rep Ruiz SB 703 A bipartisan immigration status update funding bill SCJ PH 3/19 WS 3/26 6 Sen Reynolds, Reps Neron, Ruiz, Smith G Testimony SB 1119 To prohibit employers from engaging in unfair immigration-related practices. SCLAB PH 3/27, Work Sess 4/1 Sen. Taylor SB 1140 Prohibits requirements that employees speak only English in workplace unless business necessity SCLAB PH 3/27, Work Sess 4/1 Sen. Taylor HB 2548 Agricultural Workforce Labor Standards Board. HC LWPS PH 3/12 WS 4/2 Reps Valderrama, Nelson , Munoz League Testimony HB 2976 Funding for interpretation of indigenous languages. HC ECHS wk Ses 3/25 Rep Hartman HB2788 Funding to nonprofits to assist w lawful permanent resident status/legal aid - HC ECHS - JWM dead Reps Neron, Ruiz, Sen Reynolds * likely end of session Reconcilation Bill HB 2586 Nonresident tuition exemption for asylum seekers. Sen Ed 3/12 Reps Hudson, Sen Campos House vote 36 v 18 HB 2543 Funds for universal representation and gives funds to Oregon State Bar for legal immigration matters HC Jud ? 15 Rep Valderrama, Sen Manning Jr, Reps Walters, Andersen, McLain, Sen Campos DAS - see sb 703 HB3193 Farm Worker Relief Fund HC LWPS Wk Ses 3/24 10 Rep Marsh, Sen Pham, Rep Valderrama OHA HB 5002 Oregon Worker Relief Fund JCWM-GG ? 7 Das We are considering joining a coalition that has recently formed to support a number of 2025 bills affecting many agricultural workers and other immigrants. There may be League alerts on this topic later this session. (refer to Immigration LR) Revenue By Peggy Lynch The Co-Chairs of Ways and Means provided their framework for the 2025-27 state budget. Note on the last page the potential effect of federal budget cuts. This Oregonlive article suggests some of the most painful cuts. The Joint Committee On Ways and Means Subcommittee On Capital Construction met on March 21st and received a report from the State Treasurer, including the 2025 bonding capacity: “$2.22 Billion Issuance For Each Biennium, Or $1.11 Billion Annually” . We note that this capacity is based on the Sept. 2024 Revenue Forecast. Also, there is a recommendation that bond sales be scattered throughout the biennium instead of waiting until the last quarter of the biennium. However, that means that the cost of debt service will have to be calculated into the 2025-27 budget. But scattering the sales can also provide the legislature with a pullback of those sales should the economy not support the ability of the state to back those bonds. The Dept. of Administrative Services (DAS) on behalf of the Governor reported on the Governor’s bond requests in her 2025-27 budget. A complete list is available here . Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Climate Emergency , Governance , and Natural Resources report sections.