Oregon’s Democratic lawmakers tout 2023 legislation taking effect on Sunday

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) - Sunday is a key implementation date for legislation passed during the 2023 Legislative Session with an effective date of 91 days after adjournment.

The House and Senate majority offices issued a list Friday of the legislation, which they said "includes investments and policy changes that will make Oregon more affordable for working families; produce more housing; grow a strong, stable economy and create more good-paying jobs; and protect Oregonians’ health and safety."

“During the 2023 Legislative Session, Democrats stood up for hard working Oregonians. We delivered for the parents stretching their budgets further and further to keep a roof over their kids’ heads. We invested in sustainable, family-wage jobs that will support this generation and the next, and we stood up emergency services that will save Oregon lives. There’s more to do, but our state will be stronger because of this work,” said Senate Majority Leader Kate Lieber (D - Beaverton & SW Portland).

“The work we achieved this year will make sure Oregon continues to be a great place to live, work, and raise a family. We’re putting money back into working families’ pockets and making sure Oregonians have more housing options, quality health care, stronger schools, and good paying jobs -- and we’re committed to continuing this work into 2024 and beyond,” said House Majority Leader Julie Fahey (D - West Eugene & Veneta).

MAKING OREGON MORE AFFORDABLE

Oregon Kids’ Tax Credit (House Bill 3235)

This bill provides much-needed relief to families impacted by rising cost of living with the Oregon Kids’ Tax Credit, a fully refundable $1000 tax credit per child between the ages of 0 and 5 for families earning $30,000 or less.

The Oregon Center for Public Policy estimates that nearly 55,000 children across Oregon will benefit from this credit, with a higher representation in rural communities and communities of color. Providing support to families who are facing financial challenges is critical to reducing child poverty rates. After implementing the Federal Child Tax Credit in July 2021, child poverty rates declined 46%, its lowest ever recorded.

Incentivizing Production of Affordable “Middle Housing” (Senate Bill 919)

This bill will help address Oregon’s housing crisis, and particularly the shortage of “middle housing” by granting new tools for local governments to incentivize new construction.

SB 919 will allow local governments to exempt newly constructed ADUs, duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes from local property taxes for five years, if the new units are used as a primary residence. This will preserve local decision making, while incentivizing more housing. The law will also ensure that these incentives only go towards new housing stock for Oregonians, not out-of-staters with short term rentals.

Middle housing is a range of house-scale buildings with multiple units including, duplexes, accessory dwelling units (ADUs), triplexes, quadplexes and cottage clusters and was identified in the Oregon Housing Needs Analysis, commissioned by the Legislature, as an important gap in Oregon’s housing supply, SB 919 will work to close this gap.

Keeping Oregon Competitive (Senate Bill 310)

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, antitrust laws promote competition and protect consumers. By ensuring consumers have a healthy range of choices, antitrust laws incentivize innovation, lower prices, and higher quality products. Oregon last increased its civil penalty amount for violations of antitrust laws in 1999.

SB 310 increases the civil and criminal penalties for a violation of antitrust laws from $250,000 to $1 million. It allows the Attorney General to seek equitable relief, disgorgement of gains, and injunctive and monetary relief. It increases the criminal penalty from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class B felony.

GROWING A STRONG, STABLE ECONOMY

Supercharging Oregon Semiconductor and Advanced Manufacturing (House Bill 2009)

Earlier this year, Oregon seized on a once-in-a-generation opportunity to capitalize on $52 billion in federal funding by enacting the Oregon CHIPS Law (Senate Bill 4) to accelerate our state’s already nationally celebrated semiconductor manufacturing industry. HB 2009 includes a research and development tax credit, extends the enterprise zone program, and updates Oregon’s strategic investment package to set up Oregon’s semiconductor and advanced manufacturing businesses for success. HB 2009 will create family-wage, long-term jobs in every corner of the state and keep Oregon’s economy stable and competitive in the 21st Century.

Boosting Small Business Development (Senate Bill 1048)

SB 1048 directs the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to establish a small business development program to aid qualified small businesses to compete for ODOT public improvement contracts. This bill works to make sure investments in Oregon infrastructure benefit Oregon companies and grow Oregon jobs.

Raising Wages for Oregonians Doing Hazardous Jobs (Senate Bill 594)

Oregonians doing dangerous jobs deserve to be compensated for the risk they take on at work. SB 594 makes Oregon’s economy more fair by requiring accurate prevailing wage rates. The law includes adjusted rates for the demolition of or removal of hazardous waste from:

• Road, highway, building, structure or improvement in public improvement contract that uses $750,000 or more of public funds or that occurs on real property that the state owns, including demolition.
• Removal of hazardous waste that occurs in connection with construction, reconstruction, renovation or painting of road, highway, building, structure or improvement.

Investing in Oregon Veterans (House Bill 2295)

We have a duty to support the veterans who put their lives on the line to protect our safety, our rights, and our freedom. Veterans are more likely to start businesses and hire their fellow servicemembers. HB 2295 empowers their entrepreneurship by broadening public contracting preference for businesses that service-disabled veterans own to include all veteran-owned businesses.

PROTECTING OREGONIANS’ HEALTH AND SAFETY

Funding the 9-8-8 Suicide Prevention & Behavioral Health Line (House Bill 2757)

HB 2757 provides a stable funding source for Oregon’s two 9-8-8 call centers and helps to build out the mobile crisis response system so that services are uniformly available 24/7 across the state. Oregonians experiencing a mental health crisis can call the line and receive immediate care through compassionate one-on-one conversations and the support they need in their toughest moments. In Oregon, 9-8-8 resolves or de-escalates nearly 97% of calls over the phone.

Importantly, HB 2757:

• Establishes the 9-8-8 Trust Fund, which will streamline federal and state funds. This back-end coordination of funds will help the 9-8-8 system run smoothly.
• Sets a small fee on telecommunications similar to the fee for 9-1-1. The fee is restricted to funding call centers and baseline funding for mobile crisis response. Both are essential core functions that require sustainable funding.
• Creates a multi-stakeholder advisory group to guide implementation and provide oversight as the 9-8-8 system develops.

Low-income households participating in the Oregon Lifeline subsidized telecom program are exempted from the monthly fee.

Increasing Consequences for Street Racing (Senate Bill 615)

SB 615 will empower law enforcement with new tools to deter street racing, including tougher consequences for those convicted of street racing. This change comes after multiple street racing crashes in Oregon have claimed the lives of both racers and pedestrians.

The bill increases the penalties for a person convicted of street racing to a maximum of 364 days' imprisonment, a $6,250 fine, or both. It increases the punishment for second and subsequent convictions within a five-year period by a maximum of five years' imprisonment, $125,000 fine, or both. It will also allow law enforcement to use criminal forfeiture to seize street racers’ cars.

Supporting Survivors of Child Sex Trafficking (Senate Bill 745)

SB 745 works to support survivors of child sex trafficking by requiring the juvenile justice system to determine if youths taken into custody are survivors of child sex trafficking and connect them with appropriate resources, including access to a special advocate.

Protecting Oregon Kids from Dangerous Chemicals (House Bill 3043)

HB 3043 expands the Toxic-Free Kids Act, allowing the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to regulate by classes of chemicals, rather than individual chemicals one-by-one. It also removes limits on how many chemicals can be added to the regulation list at a time – allowing OHA to be more responsive to the hundreds of new chemicals introduced each year.

In 2015, the Toxic Free Kids Act was passed to keep every kid in Oregon safe and healthy. Since then more than 4,000 reports have been filed with OHA on chemicals of concern in kids’ products.