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To contact me, please click here: Rep.DarinHarbick@oregonlegislature.gov
Dear Neighbors,
As the legislative session comes to a close, I want to take a moment to update you on the work we've done and to thank you for your continued support and engagement. Serving in the super minority means that progress can be difficult and often, we face an uphill battle to ensure that all voices are heard. Being in the super minority isn’t about giving up — it’s about staying grounded in principle, fighting smart, and never forgetting who I work for: you. I’ll be back in the district during the interim and I welcome your thoughts, concerns, and ideas as we prepare for the work ahead.
Representative Harbick with Eugene police officers
In the last days of session democrats passed SB 243 C, a deeply flawed gun control measure that does nothing to reduce gun violence, address mental health, or make our communities safer. The bill infringes on Oregonians’ Second Amendment rights by turning those who already own bump stocks and other attachments into criminals, replaces public safety with a door sign, and creates confusion across jurisdictions for concealed handgun license carriers. The bill also delays the implementation of Ballot Measure 114 to March 15, 2026, as the measure faces constitutional court challenges.
House Republicans proposed and made a series of motions to adopt amendments that were ultimately rejected along party lines, including:
- An amenemdment to repeal Ballot Measure 114, which would prevent criminalizing law-abiding Oregonians by repealing Measure 114.
- An amendment that would create concealed carry reciprocity across state lines and would recognize valid Concealed Carry Licenses from other states and allow visitors to exercise their rights when coming to Oregon.
- An amendment to legalize suppressors. As Congress considers the Federal Hearing Protection Act of 2025, the amendment would allow Oregonians to lawfully possess firearm suppressors should there no longer be a registration process at the ATF.
The Democrats’ refusal to adopt amendments that empower Oregonians to protect their families demonstrates that SB 243 is about infringing on the constitutional rights of law-abiding gun owners – not keeping firearms away from criminals.
SB 243 represents yet another unconstitutional attack on law-abiding Oregon gun owners as the majority continues to ignore both America’s and Oregon’s Constitutions while refusing to prosecute or hold accountable hardened criminals and illegal aliens that break our laws. If the Democrat's majority and governor are serious about lowering gun crime, they should focus on raising penalties for crimes committed with a firearm and ensuring that prosecutors have the resources to prosecute criminals. The Oregon Legislature is making it harder and harder for you and your family to protect yourselves.
Thankfully, House Republicans were able to kill a different gun bill HB 3076. This bill would hurt responsible firearms dealers by adding a new state licensing program, even though arms dealers are already highly regulated by the federal government.
All this bill would have done is add unnecessary strain to small gun dealers and waste taxpayer money on furthering their left-wing liberal agenda.
This was just another attempt by progressive democrats to attack the constitutional rights of their constituents to bear arms and would have done nothing to reduce crime or keep our communities safe.
A motion to rerefer the bill to a dead committee was carried, and the bill died.
The 2025 legislative session ended Friday, June 27th at 11:15 p.m. after much last-minute scrambling by Democrats to fund transportation.
Earlier that day, House Republicans delivered a major victory for working-class Oregonians by defeating HB 2025 B, one of the largest tax hikes in Oregon’s history. With an estimated $11.7 billion price tag, HB 2025 B would have added dozens of new taxes and fee increases, including a 12-cent gas tax, to fund a progressive left agenda that would harm Oregonians.
In an effort to add a 3-cent gas tax at the 11th hour, Democrats and Governor Tina Kotek attempted to rally votes for a stop-gap funding bill, House Bill 3042, but it didn’t make it to a third reading.
While the governor blamed Republicans for not funding transportation, her party is the one to blame. They didn’t have the support of their constituents for either bill, despite last-minute wheeling and dealing to take from taxpayers.
I am happy to share that the Legislature has finally passed legislation to repeal the deeply flawed wildfire hazard maps!
SB 83 passed unanimously out of the Senate showing major bipartisan support. However, it got held up in House by the Speaker to try and use as a negotiating chip to steal our Kicker. Republicans tried 5 times to pull the bill out of committee and onto the House Floor for a vote.
On Monday, when eleven Republicans were boycotting the floor due to the transportation fiasco, a Democrat carried the motion to pull SB 83 out of the House Committee on Rules — and it passed nearly unanimously.
And on Tuesday, it was not one of the Republicans who had worked so hard to move this bill forward, who carried it to the floor; it was a Democrat.
This was just one more power move by the majority to take credit for themselves. Democrats said in January that this would be a bipartisan session. Unfortunately, this has turned out to be a session of leverage.
Regardless of the political theater, I am grateful for my Democratic colleagues who worked alongside us to repeal these maps.
I am pleased to announce that one of my bills, HB 3564 passed both chambers and got signed into law by the Governor. We worked with the association that represents the news publications in Oregon and the bill flew out of the House unanimously. Unfortunately, once it hit the Senate some journalists opposed the bill, and it got amended down further.
Under current law, in order to bring a defamation claim against a publisher or broadcaster, a plaintiff needs to send the demand for correction or retraction within 20 days after the defamed person receives actual knowledge of the defamatory statement. I felt that timeframe was too short for everyday Oregonians and wanted to extend that window to 40 days. The opponents disagreed and the Senate amended the time extension out of the bill. I will look at this again in future sessions and work to give people who have been victims of defamation by the media more time seek corrections.
The good news now that the bill has passed is that electronic newspapers have been added to the correction/retraction statutes – statutes that have been around since 1955. With the changing media landscape this is something that has been long overdue.
At the beginning of this session, Republicans vowed to focus on the challenges that Oregonians face in their day-to-day lives: affordability, housing, education, and homelessness.
On top of defeating HB 2025, Republicans repealed the problematic wildfire hazard map and shot down all but one of the unconstitutional anti-gun bills.
This session, as Democrats gave handouts to special interest groups and supported progressive agendas over the wants and needs of Oregonians they were elected to serve, House Republicans fought to make Oregon a more desirable place to live, work, and raise a family in.
As the session came to an end, I am proud to say that Republicans kept their promises to their constituents, despite being in the superminority. We look forward to continuing to fight for Oregonians who dream of owning a home, for education to be focused on the needs of each individual student, and for restoring safety and livability on our streets and in our neighborhoods.
Now that the long session has come to an end I will be traveling and visiting all the cities and towns that make House District 12 such a great to love. To keep updated on what I'm doing please visit and follow my Facebook page.
Best regards,
Representative Darin Harbick
House District 12
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1412
Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, H-376, Salem, Oregon 97301
Email: Rep.DarinHarbick@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/harbick
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