By Oregonians for Food and Shelter,
(3/28/25) The pace in the Capitol right now is frenetic, as Committees, legislators, organizations, and constituents work quickly to move bills forward or kill them, while evaluating and drafting a myriad of amendments. The Legislative offices, from members to the legislative lawyers are backlogged with meeting and amendment drafting requests as we approach the April 9th first chamber deadline, when bills not yet voted out of committee will die.
On the bright side, OFS was pleased late last week to see several ill-conceived bills that we opposed die, including SB 747 (new fertilizer regulatory program), HB 3512 (poorly defined PFAS restriction and penalties), HB 2960 (recycling prohibition that would impact ag chemical container recycling program), and a longer list of bills aimed at biotechnology including HB 2965 related to aquaculture. This is welcome news for our members and a testament to the hard work of our coalition in reaching out to legislators, submitting testimony and supporting our advocacy work in the Capitol.
Yet, with only 40% of the session complete, we still have plenty of work to do. Current amendments on HB 2679, the proposed restriction on neonicotinoids, still fail to protect access to these products for a variety of important applications and we continue to talk to legislators about the problems with this bill and its amendment.
The Governor’s team came in late in the process with two bills related to water (transfers in SB 1153, and groundwater authorities in SB 1154). OFS and our members are providing feedback on these concerning bills and note that the Legislature introduced the sweeping proposals over a month after the start of session, making it difficult to craft appropriate policy in the proper committees before the looming deadlines.
Earlier this week, the House Education Committee passed HB 2684. The bill is the first statutory requirement for updating the low-impact pesticide list, which dictates what products can be used in and around schools, and it puts the responsibility for this work on school districts, without funding or expertise. This would be a new unfunded mandate on local districts who lack the expertise to conduct the technical and scientific review to comply with the proposed law. OFS also opposed SJR 28 this week, a bill to refer a constitutional amendment to voters that would establish rights to a “clean, safe and healthy environment” and allow private citizens to sue the state when they feel those rights are being violated.
OFS is also working this week with a coalition of livestock organizations on yet another proposal to further restrict dairies and feedlots, despite significant new regulations implemented last year to a program that already leads the nation in groundwater protection and permitting requirements. SB 80 will be heard next Thursday in Senate Natural Resources and Wildfire, followed by SB 1154 mentioned above.
Finally, please join our agricultural members in expressing opposition to the proposed Agricultural Workforce Standards board, which would fast-track a new, unelected board that would implement wage, hour and regulatory requirements for farms as well as hold ag employers to a higher standard in training and terminating employees than any other sector. Take Action Here.
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