Legislative Update
By Oregonians for Food and Shelter,
The month-long Special Session ended this past Monday, when the Senate finally had sufficient attendees and votes to approve the gas tax, payroll tax and vehicle registration package, meeting the Constitutional 3/5th supermajority requirement. However, the fate of the package is still uncertain, as Republicans are gearing up to gather the 78,000 signatures required to refer the increases to voters.
The transportation package wasn’t the only item on the docket in the Capitol this week. Legislators overlapped Monday morning’s vote with the commencement of quarterly Legislative days – the three-day convening of committees for informational hearings.
Typically during the fall, we start to see what may be shaping up for the 2026 session. There’s no question that budget will be at the forefront. As legislators grapple with implementation of federal changes to programs like SNAP and Medicaid, state economists project we are currently short over $300 million for the current biennium.
From a natural resources perspective, the Senate Energy and Environment committee held a long informational hearing on the Washington Climate Commitment Act, as lawmakers consider whether and how to potentially replace Oregon’s existing Climate Protection Program with a more affordable cap & trade type program. In the Senate Natural Resources and Wildfire committee, wildfire was aptly on the agenda. The Committee heard updates from the Oregon Dept. of Forestry and the Wildfire Programs Advisory Council, and held a review of several bills from the 2025 session related to wildfire, utilities, and liability. The House was more agriculture focused, as the Committee On Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water dove into current issues facing grass seed growers. Overall, however, the Legislative Days docket was mostly window dressing as we really have little sense for how Legislators will manage what will inevitably be a challenging 2026 session.
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