Recapping the 2025 Legislative Session

Oregon State Legislature sent this bulletin at 07/23/2025 08:00 AM PDT

Hello Friends,

The 2025 legislative session officially adjourned just over three weeks ago, on June 27^th. I’ve taken a little time to rest (including a beautiful 4^th of July weekend camping on the McKenzie River) and to reflect on our work over the last six months. It wasn’t an easy session by any means, particularly with the chaos and economic uncertainty coming out of the new Trump Administration. That said, with Republican walkouts in the 2019 and 2023 sessions, and the 2021 session happening under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s been a long time since we’ve had a “normal” long legislative session in Oregon.

This session we stayed focused, we stayed collaborative, and we delivered progress on some of the biggest issues facing our state – cost of living, housing, homelessness, behavioral health care, public safety, education, and more. We protected core services in a tough budget year, found common ground on a number of complex issues, and made sure the work happening inside the Capitol reflected the values and priorities of people across the state. Read on for a recap of session accomplishments, where we fell short (but aren’t giving up), and some wins for HD 14.

Joint Legislative Town Hall

Join me and State Representatives Nancy Nathanson, John Lively, and Lisa Fragala, along with State Senators Floyd Prozanski and James Manning, for a joint legislative town hall on Saturday, August 23rd from 11 am-12:30 pm at Springfield City Hall (225 5^th St, Springfield). We’ll share highlights from the 2025 legislative session and answer questions about the legislature’s work. You can RSVP or submit a question in advance here. We hope you can attend!

My thoughts on the 2025 legislative session

This session, I’m proud to say that we passed meaningful, thoughtful legislation that will make a real difference in people’s lives. Members of the Oregon Legislature have different perspectives, but we share a deep understanding of the challenges that face Oregonians. Whether it’s the high cost of housing, the strain on our health care system, or the need to improve our public safety systems and our behavioral health services.

These aren’t partisan problems, and in the Oregon House, we treated those priorities like what they are: shared responsibilities.

This session, we focused on practical, bipartisan solutions to the challenges Oregonians face every day—here’s a brief recap of some of our biggest accomplishments, and where we fell short.

Bringing Down the Cost of Living and Protecting Oregon Consumers

We took steps to ease the rising cost of living, including legislation to slow down utility rate increases, allow more out-of-pocket medical expenses to count toward insurance deductibles, remove medical debt from credit reports, and cap rent increases in manufactured home parks. You can read more about our work on this topic here.

Addressing Housing and Homelessness

We prioritized funding to help get people off the street and into stable housing while reaffirming our commitment to making homelessness rare and temporary. We passed a wide range of bills to increase our production of housing. We also cut red tape to speed up local government approvals processes and supported local partners working to get people housed.

Making Oregon’s Schools Stronger

We made meaningful, systemic changes to our education system this session, because every Oregon student deserves a high-quality education. Along with a record investment in K-12 schools, we passed a sweeping plan to hold our districts and state agencies accountable to improved student outcomes. We also made targeted, ongoing investments in data-driven solutions to help our students succeed—programs like summer learning and early literacy.

Protecting Oregon’s Health Care System

We protected and renewed funding for Oregon’s Medicaid program, the Oregon Health Plan, which covers more than 1.4 million Oregonians, including half of Oregon’s children. We took action to lower drug costs by preventing big pharma from withholding funds from health centers and hospitals, and we put patients over profits by keeping healthcare decisions in the hands of doctors, not corporations.

Strengthening Protections and Leveling the Playing Field for Workers

We helped balance the scales for Oregon’s workforce and took action to defend the people who make Oregon work. We increased accountability and state investments to prevent wage theft, closed a loophole in our prevailing wage laws, created new protections for older Oregonians experiencing age-based discrimination, required measures to keep healthcare workers safe on the job, and provided a lifeline for striking workers so employers come to the bargaining table in good faith when negotiating worker contracts.

Reforming Oregon’s Behavioral Health System

We made real progress towards ensuring that when someone is in crisis, there’s a clear, coordinated path to treatment. We reformed our civil commitment laws, added more treatment facilities where Oregonians can get the care they need, and invested in expanding our behavioral health workforce. We also reduced barriers so communities can build the treatment and crisis care facilities they need—not someday, but now.

Protecting Rights and Freedoms

This session we defended the constitutional rights and basic freedoms of Oregonians. To protect Oregonians’ constitutional right to an attorney, we made historic investments in our public defense system and passed key structural reforms. We made investments in reproductive health providers to safeguard access to care in the face of federal cuts and prevented the passage of legislation targeting access to abortion in Oregon. We also passed new data privacy protections, important in their own right, but particularly so for those accessing abortion and gender-affirming care in the current climate. We protected immigrants from discrimination in housing and invested in the Universal Representation program to increase access to legal services for immigrant communities. For more details, see this overview of our work in this area.

The 2025 Transportation Package

This session, the legislature set a goal to pass a comprehensive transportation package to address the urgent need to invest in the safety and maintenance of Oregon’s roads, bridges, and transit systems. When it became clear that the full plan didn’t have the support in the Senate to move forward, House Democrats introduced a smaller, targeted stopgap measure to prevent the most immediate harms: layoffs, closures of 12 maintenance stations around the state, reductions in key services and maintenance. But in the final hours of session, a Republican procedural move blocked that stopgap measure from even coming to a vote.

Now, 483 ODOT workers – workers who plow snow, stripe roads, and patch potholes—are facing layoffs. Services we all rely on are in jeopardy. Transit systems face increased uncertainty. And long-overdue ODOT oversight reforms will have to wait.

The failure to act also sets back Oregon’s climate goals. The package included vital investments in transit, pedestrian and bicycle safety, and modern infrastructure that would have helped expand transportation options. Delays in these areas mean more cars on the road, more congestion, and fewer alternatives to driving—especially in communities that are already underserved.

I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to get a workable solution across the finish line, but it’s not the end of the road. The need hasn’t changed, and neither has our commitment. Oregon still needs safe roads, reliable funding, and real accountability. With session over, I’m working closely with my colleagues as we regroup and figure out the next steps to address those needs.

Wins for Our Community

During the 2025 session, I’m proud to have secured funding for important priorities in our community, including:

$14.5 million for Lane County’s new Behavioral Health Stabilization Center to expand treatment capacity for adults and youth in crisis.
$6 million for infrastructure on Clear Lake Rd. to grow strategic manufacturing industries and family-wage jobs in our community.
$1.8 million for Veneta to expand its wastewater treatment plant to keep pace with strong housing development.
The addition of two circuit court judges in Lane County, to help cases move through our justice system more efficiently.

Rendering of the Lane County Behavioral Health Stabilization Center

2025 Session At-a-Glance

For a more comprehensive overview of legislation we passed this session, my team put this table together, which lists the bills and investments that were of particular interest to my constituents this year.

Affordability & Consumer Protections

Status

Bill #

Topic

	HB 3179 / SB 688	Requires utility companies to slow down rate hikes (HB 3179) and demonstrate good performance before any rate increases (SB 688)
	HB 3546	Prohibits massive energy users, like data centers, from shifting electrical costs to consumers
	HB 3792 / HB 3148	Provides financial assistance for low-income Oregonians struggling to pay their utility and broadband bills
	SB 430	Bans surprise fees in online transactions
	HB 3167	Prevents fraud and price gouging in tickets sales
	HB 3178	Prevents predatory practices from car dealers attempting to change higher interest rates after the car has left the lot
	SB 550	Adds electric wheelchairs to Oregon’s Right to Repair law
	HB 3605	Protects Oregonians from bad actor home solicitors
	HB 3865	Prohibits telemarketers from texting and calling Oregonians 24/7
	SB 88	Removes junk fees from utility bills
	HB 2561	Prevents out-of-state lenders from providing Oregonians loans above allowable interest rates

Housing & Homelessness

	HB 3644	Establishes and funds a statewide shelter program
	HB 3970	Funding to support youth experiencing homelessness
	HB 2138	Allows for more middle housing in more places in cities and unincorporated urban lands
	HB 2258	Establishes preapproved building plans to increase housing production
	SB 974	Cuts red tape and speeds up local government approval processes for housing engineering plans
	HB 3746	Condo liability reform – makes condo construction more feasible
	HB 3031	Financial assistance for infrastructure to support housing development
	HB 3145	Boosts affordable housing production through factory-produced homes
	HB 3589 / HB 3506	Establishes a $24 million Senior Housing Development Initiative for affordable housing for low-income seniors and people with disabilities
	HB 3054	Caps rent increases in manufactured home parks at 6% per year
	HB 3521	Strengthens protections for renters to get their security deposit back
	SB 690	Delays evictions for Medicaid families with babies and prioritizes housing for homeless infants
	HB 3522	Creates new tools for homeowners to evict squatters
	SB 722	Prohibits landlords from using AI to establish rental rates
	HB 2968 / HB 3639	System development charge reform
	HB 3974	Caps rental application/screening fees at $20

Healthcare

	HB 2010	Reauthorizes the hospital provider tax to protect funding for the Oregon Health Plan (Oregon’s Medicaid program)
	HB 2385	Prevents big pharma from withholding funds from federally qualified health centers and hospitals
	SB 951	Ensures providers put patients over profits and requires doctors, not corporations, remain in charge of medical decisions
	SB 605	Removes medical debt from credit reports
	HB 2540	Allows more out-of-pocket medical expenses to count toward insurance deductible
	HB 3064	Requires health insurers to cover menopause and perimenopause treatment
	HB 3243	Prevents “surprise billing” by ambulance companies, once they have been paid by the patient’s health insurance carrier
	HB 3212	Creates additional rules and requirements for pharmacy benefit managers
	SB 702	Prohibits the sale of flavored tobacco

Behavioral Health

	HB 2005	Reforms Oregon’s mental health laws, including our civil commitment law to help Oregonians get the care they need
	SB 729	Expands access to mental health treatment for patients with intellectual and development disabilities
	HB 2059	Establishes the Residential Behavioral Health Capacity Program
	HB 2024	Invests in our behavioral health workforce

Public Safety / Justice System

	HB 2614 / HB 5031	Structural and oversight reforms to Oregon’s public defense system, plus an historic $707M investment to address the public defense crisis
	SB 243	Bans the transport, manufacture or selling of rapid-fire activators (“bump stocks”) and allows local governments the option to ban firearms from their public buildings
	HB 3582	Updates the qualifications for statutes of limitation so victims of child abuse or sexual assault can seek justice
	HB 2975	Clarifies that domestic violence is a crime that cannot be merged with other charges
	HB 2299 / HB 3766	Bans sharing intimate images made by AI or other editing software and prohibits sending unsolicited lewd images
	SB 236	Creates stronger penalties for those dealing fentanyl
	HB 3819	Cracks down on illicit massage parlors that participate in human trafficking
	HB 3194	Makes landowners accountable if they knowingly allow their property to be used as an unregistered farmworker camp for illegal cannabis grows
	HB 3825	Forgives old fines related to the possession of cannabis
	HB 3076	Creates a statewide gun dealer licensing program
	SB 174	Allows Oregonians to seek relief when insurers have gross violations of the Unlawful Trade Practices Act.
	HB 3140	Modifies laws around recreational immunity
	HB 3962	Allows cities and counties to use more of their local transient lodging tax revenue on services such as public safety and infrastructure

Education

	SB 5516	Dedicates $11.4 billion to the State School Fund, the largest investment in state history
	HB 2007	Invests $70 million in ongoing summer learning programs
	SB 141	Creates new accountability measures for Oregon schools to improve student outcomes
	HB 2140	Makes changes to how “current service level” is calculated for school districts, to increase financial stability and predictability
	HB 3040	Expands and improves Oregon’s Early Literacy Success program
	HB 3199	Creates a study on chronic absenteeism in Oregon schools
	HB 3083	Requires Oregon school districts to consider the installation of panic alarm systems to keep students safe
	HB 2586	Grants in-state higher education tuition to asylum seekers
	HB 2953	Lifts the cap on the percentage of state funding that may be used to support students with disabilities
	HB 2448	Increases funding from the State School Fund to the High-Cost Disabilities Account

Supporting Working People

	SB 916	Allows striking workers to access unemployment benefits
	SB 426	Addresses wage theft in the construction industry
	HB 2688	Closes a loophole to strengthen prevailing wage laws
	HB 2957	Protects workers’ right to pursue justice when employers break the law
	HB 5015	Record investment in the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) to investigate cases of wage theft or discrimination
	HB 5006	$2m investment in the Farmworker Disaster Relief Fund
	SB 537	Requires measures to help keep health care workers safe on their jobs
	HB 3187	Provides new protections against age discrimination in hiring
	HB 2548	Creates a study to survey working conditions for farmworkers
	HB 3652	Requires class size to be a mandatory subject of contract bargaining
	HB 3881	Expands apprenticeship requirements on public construction projects to K-12 schools
	HB 3838	Establishes Home and Community-Based Services Workforce Standards Board

Protecting the Rights and Freedoms of Oregonians

	HB 2008	Strengthened consumer data privacy protections, important for those accessing abortion and gender-affirming care in the current climate
	HB 3875	Expands our existing data privacy laws to include information collected by personal vehicles
	HB 5025	Invested $10 million in funding for reproductive health providers to safeguard access to care in the face of federal cuts, plus another $2.5 million for upgrading clinics and supporting patients navigating care
	SB 599	Prohibits housing discrimination based on immigration status
	HB 5006	Invested $15 million in the Universal Representation program (including $4.5 million to the Legal Services Program)
	SB 1191	Protects Oregonians who help others know their civil or constitutional rights from the charge of obstructing law enforcement activity
	SB 1098	Prohibits book bans

Climate, Environment, Water

	HB 2081	Protects Oregon’s pension investments by requiring climate risk analysis and reducing carbon intense holdings
	HB 3365	Requires that schools incorporate climate change into their curriculum
	HB 3336 / HB 2066	Supports a more resilient and efficient energy grid by requiring utilities to consider grid-enhancing technologies and laying the groundwork for local microgrids
	SB 551	Expands Oregon’s 2019 single-use plastic bag ban by prohibiting all plastic-based reusable checkout bags starting in 2027
	HB 3932	Prohibits recreational and commercial beaver trapping on impaired waterways
	SB 1154	Modifies law related to declarations of ground water quality concern areas and ground water quality management areas.
	SB 1153	Creates new standards for water rights transfer application process and a uniform process for contested cases
	HB 2977	Raises statewide transient lodging tax to fund fish and wildlife programs across the state
	HB 3081	Creates a one-stop-shop for energy efficiency incentives and rebates

Transportation

	HB 2025	Transportation Reinvestment Package
	HB 2978	Updates and improves Oregon’s wildlife-vehicle collision reduction program

Early Childhood and Human Services

	HB 3560	Expands allowable locations where childcare locations can be located
	SB 1099	Allows preschools to be located on properties owned by faith groups
	HB 2815	Implements a statewide early learning and care plan for tribal children enrolled in early childhood care or educational programs
	SB 690	Increases access to maternal care supports
	SB 739	Long-term care facility reforms to protecting aging seniors
	SB 228	Expands the rights of family resident councils to increase oversight at long term care facilities
	SB 611	Establishes the Food for All Oregonians Program
	HB 3835	Revises laws related to child-caring agencies, children in certain facilities and those in custody of the state

Economic Development

	SB 110	Increases bonding authority for stadium construction to help bring a Major League Baseball team to Portland
	HB 2411	Invests $40m to the Industrial Site Revolving Loan program
	HB 5006	Allocates $10m to the James Beard Public Market, boosting local food systems, small businesses, and community life across the region

Veterans

	HB 2559	Streamlines Veterans access to critical state benefits, including for those who were discharged under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
	SB 150	Prohibits excessive fees for veterans seeking help accessing benefits
	HB 3920	Raises the qualified age of the Veterans’ Dependent Tuition Waiver, and extends eligibility for those seeking a master’s degree
	SB 230	Expands veteran dental benefits

Wildfire & Emergency Management

	HB 3940	Provides new funding for Oregon’s wildfire management and mitigation
	HB 2581	Strengthens Oregon’s emergency planning for natural disasters

Good News

For more than three years, the EPA and DEQ have been working with our community to clean up the J.H. Baxter facility after its closure. Since August, the EPA has taken the lead on the clean-up effort at the facility itself, and I’m grateful that they have decided to designate J.H. Baxter as a Superfund site on its National Priority List.

A Superfund designation unlocks critical resources to fund the jobs, equipment, and other activities that will be needed to completely clean up the site. There is still a lot of work to be done, but this is a big step in the right direction to bring the J.H. Baxter saga to a close, with support and resources from the federal government.

Whether in session or out, I encourage you to stay engaged and reach out for assistance navigating state government or to share your thoughts on the issues that matter most to you.

Yours truly,

Capitol Phone: 503-986-1414
Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, H-271, Salem, Oregon 97301
Email: Rep.JulieFahey@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/fahey

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To contact me, please click here: Rep.JulieFahey@oregonlegislature.gov

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