The Oregon State Legislature’s schedule is packed this week with committee hearing about a variety of bills. You may also want to put some time on your own schedule to contact the state representative and state senator for your home district. Share your opinions on these bills before they go to votes. After all, eliminating an existing law is always harder than defeating a bill before it becomes a law.
These bills are listed in order of upcoming hearings.
HB 4058 — Low-income access to air conditioners and filters
Work session on Monday, February 7 at 1:00 p.m.
This bill will instruct the Oregon Health Authority to make air conditioners and air filters available to people who already require state or federal medical assistance. The bill will set aside an initial $5 million to start the program. HB 4058 also updates the Healthy Homes Program, which helps improve safety and energy efficiency of the housing stock available to folks with low incomes. This bill is crucial in reducing heat wave deaths as climate change makes Oregon summers hotter and longer. The bill is currently in the hands of the House Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, but will be referred to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means so that committee can assess budgetary constraints. Rogue Climate Oregon is coordinating an effort to contact legislators on this bill and SB 1536 (more on that bill below).
SB 1510 — Multiple law enforcement reforms
Public hearing on Tuesday, February 8 at 8:00 a.m.
This bill is intended to improve a variety of aspects of law enforcement, including reducing circumstances where law enforcement officers would be allowed to pull over drivers, requiring police to inform motorists of their rights regarding searches, funding several programs shown to prevent community members from encountering police, and updates to the state’s policies on parole and probation. For instance, police could not pull over a driver with a single non-working vehicle light if SB 1510 becomes law. Several of the issues addressed by SB 1510 were considered in a more expansive bill in 2021, which was defeated. Both law enforcement officers and prosecutors are already speaking in opposition to the bill. Given that the bill still allows police to pull over vehicles deemed to be unsafe or a danger to other drivers, it seems like opponents want to maintain the ability to disproportionately target people of color. This bill had a scheduled hearing Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. that was delayed until Tuesday. Once voted out of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Ballot Measure 110 Implementation, it will go to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means. Fair Shot for All is coordinating an effort to contact legislators.
SB 1584 — Compensation for wrongful convictions
Public hearing on Tuesday, February 8 at 8:00 a.m.
This bill would create a procedure for those wrongfully convicted of a crime in Oregon to petition for compensation. Currently, only thirteen states (including Oregon) have no laws in place for compensating those who were incarcerated unjustly. Right now, to get any help from the governments responsible for their incarceration, those who were wrongly convicted have to engage in costly law suits or convince a legislator to create a private bill for individual compensation. This issue may become even more important in the future for two reasons: First, the state legislature is also considering a bill to vacate convictions for people who were found guilty by non-unanimous juries, letting county district attorneys decide whether to retry cases. Oregon courts have already vacated a number of such convictions due to a U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling that non-unanimous jury verdicts are unconstitutional. Second, the on-going shortage of public defenders in Oregon virtually guarantees that more people charged with crimes will be wrongfully convicted because they cannot access legal defense. Once considered by the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Ballot Measure 110 Implementation, it will go to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means to be assessed for budget impacts. The Oregon Innocence Project is coordinating a campaign to gather signatures in support of SB 1584.
HB 4151 — Self-serve gas
Public hearing on Tuesday, February 8, at 8:00 a.m.
This bill would allow Oregon drivers to dispense their own gasoline. Currently, Oregon is one of only two states where only gas station attendants are allowed to pump gasoline (although Oregon has already added exceptions for rural gas stations). While there are have been several opinion pieces lately on the benefits of self-serve gasoline, they all seem to come from gas station owners, rather than anyone who actually does the work of pumping gas. They also rely on some questionable claims, such as suggestions that eliminating gas station attendants will reduce the cost of gasoline — at the very least, gas stations are still required to have someone available to provide full service at any time under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
HB 4002 — Overtime pay for farm workers
Public hearing on Tuesday, February 8, at 5:30 p.m.
This bill would make farmworkers eligible for overtime pay, starting with those working more than 55 hours per week. Employers are currently exempt from paying agricultural workers overtime under federal laws, due to racist efforts dating back to the 1930s. Many farm owners have pushed back against the bill and House Minority Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson has suggested that Republicans might walkout over attempts to pass HB 4002. Farmworkers in Oregon average a yearly income between $20,000 and $24,999 and don’t receive benefits such as health insurance. California and Oregon are already putting overtime mandates in place, which could result in Oregon farm owners facing labor crunches if they continue to avoid paying fair wages. Fair Shot for All is coordinating a legislative outreach effort.
SB 1536 — Limits restrictions on installing air conditioners
Public hearing on Wednesday, February 9, at 3:15 p.m.
This bill would require landlords, homeowners’ associations, condominiums associations, and local governments to allow the installation of air conditioners in residences in most cases. It would also require new and remodeled residences to provide both adequate cooling and adequate power to provide sufficient cooling. Just like HB 4058 (listed above), this bill will help prevent future heat wave deaths. While Wednesday’s hearing will be for the Senate Committee on Housing Development, the bill will also need to go through the Joint Committee on Ways and Means for a budget assessment.
HB 4131 — Rolls back protections on protestors
This bill would allow law enforcement agents to resume use of chemical weapons and other extreme tactics for punishing and controlling protestors. The City of Portland is advocating for this bill, despite multiple ongoing lawsuits against the city government and its police bureau due to its use of violent tactics against protestors and city residents in 2020. No hearing is scheduled for this bill yet, but it has been assigned to the House Committee on Judiciary. Consider emailing members of the committee, as well as your own representatives to oppose this bill.
