Every even-numbered year, the Oregon Legislature meets for five weeks in a “short session” to address priority issues and, if needed, to rebalance the state’s two-year budget. This year’s very busy session wrapped on March 6. 

Before the session began, we laid out an agenda that was extremely ambitious for a short session. I’m pleased to say that we accomplished what we set out to do and more—far more than many thought possible at the beginning of February. 

We approached the session with three major goals: to make Oregon a more affordable place to live, with good jobs and thriving businesses; to insulate Oregonians from blatant overreaches of the Trump administration; and to rebalance our state budget after the federal budget bill (HR 1) significantly cut the resources we have available to us as a state.  

In just five weeks, we passed legislation that delivered on every single one of those goals. I’m incredibly proud of the work we did to make Oregon stronger. Read on for highlights from the 2026 session. 

Affordability continues to be one of the top concerns I hear about from voters—and this session, we made real progress to address those concerns. We expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit to put more money in the pockets of working Oregonians. We also worked to protect homebuyers, lower health care costs, and strengthen consumer protections. There’s more work to do, but this is real progress – see the links for more information about each of these bills. 

• Expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit for over 200,000 households. (SB 1507) 

• Prioritized families over Wall Street investors in the housing market. (HB 4128) 

• Closed predatory lending loopholes exploited by out-of-state lenders. (HB 4116) 

• Increased transparency in the ticket resale market. (HB 4024) 

• Eliminated out-of-pocket costs for cervical cancer screenings. (SB 1527) 

• Safeguarded public lands in Oregon that are managed by the federal government from being sold to the highest bidder. (SB 1590) 

• Expedited the siting process for renewable energy projects, so they can draw down the expiring federal tax credits as soon as possible, in advance of the deadlines the Trump administration has imposed. (HB 4031) 

• Updated Oregon’s child labor laws so that state standards for minors’ working hours cannot be weakened by shifting federal rules. (HB 4013) 

• Codified federal McKinney-Vento practices in state statute to ensure homeless students can continue learning and accessing the resources they need to succeed, regardless of whether there are federal rollbacks. (HB 4149) 

Last year, President Trump signed a budget bill that gave big tax breaks to billionaires and corporations, while cutting funding for people who rely on Medicaid and food assistance. Because Oregon’s tax code is automatically tied to the federal code, those changes hit our state budget too – reducing our available resources for the 2025-27 budget cycle by $900 million without any input from Oregonians or the legislature. 

Unlike the federal government, which can run a deficit, the State of Oregon is required to balance our budget each biennium. To close the deficit created by the Trump budget bill, we knew we would need to take a balanced approach – both tightening agency budgets and closing some of the new tax loopholes, in order protect the essential services that Oregonians depend on. 

Part of our plan to balance our budget included passing SB 1507, which will cut taxes for more than 200,000 working households, give a $25 million tax credit for businesses that create good-paying jobs in Oregon, and close some loopholes in the Trump budget that mostly benefit the wealthy and corporations. Passing SB 1507 allowed us to adopt a budget that protected our education budgets, as well as the key programs and services that Oregonians depend on. The remainder of our budget gap was closed by leaving some state agency positions unfilled and reducing or reallocating certain operational costs.  

Our work to balance the 2025-27 budget in a responsible manner means that key areas like healthcare, education, childcare, and public safety will avoid cuts that would have impacted Oregon’s working families. This OPB article has more information about the legislature's budget work this session.  

• Established a Joint Permitting Council to speed up regulatory approval for large capital projects ($25M–$100M+ depending on location), coordinate agency timelines, and increase accountability. (HB 4084) 

• Improved transparency, efficiency, and public input in state permitting and rulemaking to clearly explain why permits are denied and how applicants can appeal. (HB 4020 and HB 4021) 

• Passed legislation to speed up environmental permit reviews at the Department of Environmental Quality, while maintaining public safeguards. (HB 4102) 

1.25% for Wildlife (HB 4134) 

Oregon's diverse wildlife populations face threats from habitat loss, invasive species, poaching, and climate change, yet the state's wildlife conservation programs remain chronically underfunded. HB 4134 increases Oregon's state transient lodging tax (a tax paid for by people staying in hotels or other short-term lodging) from 1.5% to 2.75%, dedicating additional resources to the Recovering Oregon's Wildlife Fund Subaccount. The fund supports multiple conservation priorities, including the State Wildlife Action Plan, species recovery and management, wildlife stewardship, invasive species control, poaching prevention, and the Oregon Conservation Corps. This bipartisan bill was a major priority for environmental organizations this session and was championed by Rep. Ken Helm (D) and Rep. Mark Owens (R).   

To help reduce administrative barriers for behavioral health workers, HB 4083 directs the Oregon Health Authority to establish a uniform electronic credentialing process for behavioral health providers. The bill also prevents coordinated care organizations from adding credentialing requirements and allows certain cross-license supervision among provider types.  

Protecting Minors from AI Companion Chatbots (SB 1546) 

As technology evolves, we must build guardrails that help keep people safe–especially children. SB 1546 requires AI companion platform operators to disclose to users when they are interacting with AI, develop protocols to detect and respond to users experiencing thoughts of self-harm by referring them to crisis services, and prohibit manipulation and inappropriate content for minors.  

Balancing Tourism Promotion with Community Resilience Funding (HB 4148) 

Local governments in Oregon are allowed to improse their own transient lodging tax – the majority of the funds generated from those local TLTs have historically been spent on tourism promotion. At the same time, rural communities that rely on tourism increasingly need these revenues to fund essential services. HB 4148 allows local governments to use a greater share of local transient lodging tax revenues to fund services, with transparency requirements and a future study to evaluate how the tax structure serves both tourism and community needs. 

Improving School Attendance Data and Transparency (HB 4154) 

Regular attendance at school is a key predictor of student success – and yet in the 2024-2025 school year, 34% of Oregon students were chronically absent. HB 4154 requires the Oregon Department of Education to publish quarterly attendance data, beginning in the 2026-2027 school year, providing communities with more frequent visibility into school attendance trends.  

During the 2026 session, I’m proud to have secured funding for important priorities in our community, including: 

• $5 million for infrastructure on Clear Lake Rd. to grow strategic manufacturing industries and family-wage jobs in our community. 

• $1 million for the Eugene Airport to modernize airport infrastructure to support future growth, including improving operational efficiency, passenger experience, and energy performance. 

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,