Dear OSCC Members & Colleagues –

We are down to the last five weeks of the 160-day legislative session. By Constitution, the session must adjourn by 11:59pm on Sunday, June 29^th, but legislators are talking openly about a June 20^th wrap up date.

All of the policy committees are now closed.

The only committees that are open for business now are the Joint Ways and Means Committee with its seven subcommittees, Joint Tax Expenditures, and Joint Transportation Reinvestment, as well as the House and Senate Rules Committees and House and Senate Revenue Committees.

This is the time when leadership deals start to be made and the horse-trading starts.

Bills will start being assigned to the Ways & Means subcommittees which means they have been prioritized to move by leadership.

The hottest discussion in town right now centers on an emerging Transportation Package, with  conversations and negotiations happening behind closed doors. We do have some line of sight on the details of such a plan as a memo was released last Thursday outlining the details and progress of the transportation negotiations. 

Please notice the reference on the 2^nd page: “Exercising appropriate legislative authority to replace the current Climate Protection Program with a market-based emissions reduction program, linking to other West Coast markets and generating ongoing revenue.”

This is a MASSIVE development as it signals the legislature may be willing to overturn the DEQ’s onerous, job-killing Climate Protection Plan (CPP). However, the devil will be in the details as whatever the legislature replaces the CPP with would need to be demonstrably better for manufacturers and consumers. That is yet to be seen.

It is unlikely that Democrats would be able to muster the necessary votes to support a Transportation Package, with its associated taxes, without major concessions to Republicans and Republican votes. So OSCC is watching the development of this package carefully.

We continue to believe a permanent wildfire funding infrastructure is the other main policy objective of the 2025 legislature. House Bill 3940 is the bill that attempts to create a permanent and dedicated source of funding to address increased costs associated with fighting wildfires. OSCC will be engaged in this issue as it pertains to the taxes being discussed. 

In terms of final floor votes in the coming weeks, be prepared for Action Alerts from OSCC on the following:

• GENERAL CONTRACTOR / PROPERTY OWNER LIABILITY (Senate Bill 426): OSCC has written about this bill several times and OPPOSES SB 426. OSCC continues to be deeply concerned about the idea that holding property owners and general contractors liable for any unpaid wages at the subcontractor level would further dampen investment in Oregon communities. The bill directly punishes the wrong parties for wage theft at the subcontractor level and will have a chilling effect on commercial construction and improvements. The House committee narrowed the bill down to apply to only commercial and residential projects with six or more residential or commercial units on a single tract.

The comment period is now closed on the bill, so all communication will need to be directed to individual legislators – specifically all House Democrats and Republican Greg Smith (R-Heppner).

• UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS FOR STRIKING WORKERS. (Senate Bill 916)  This bill dominated the early labor policy landscape in 2025 with several public hearings and a very close vote in the Oregon Senate. It passed last week on a party line vote in the House Committee on Labor. OSCC is opposing the bill as it stands. It would force taxpayers to foot the bill for striking public sector workers; and for the private sector, it would force thousands of small employers to subsidize labor disputes for much larger corporations. OSCC testified and submitted comments to OPPOSE this bill. OSCC is also actively lobbying the bill.

The House Committee rejected attempts to make SB 916 mirror the Washington bill (3-week waiting period, 6-week maximum benefit) and instead passed an amendment to allow local governments to claw back UI payments in future paychecks.  Oregon’s school superintendents weighed in this week to oppose the bill. 

OSCC is expecting a House vote on this issue as early as Thursday. OSCC will issue an ACTION ALERT at the appropriate time.

Legislative calls are held weekly from 9:30-10am Friday mornings throughout session. These calls are open to chamber executives, advocacy staff, as well your Government Affairs or Board Chair.