The Oregon Legislature began the 2022 short session today, February 1, and these are some of the bills that the region’s five legislative representatives signed onto as chief sponsors.
To read more about each bill, visit olis.oregonlegislature.gov and click on the “bills” tab at the upper right corner. There, you can search by bill number, sponsor, or text.
Sen. Janeen Sollman (D-Hillsboro)
Stepping away from her role as District 30 House representative, a seat she held since January 2017, Sollman is a chief sponsor of four bills.
SB 1576 – Establishes a product stewardship program for mattresses. It would require mattress producers to take responsibility for developing, maintaining, and administering a statewide system for the financing, collection, and environmentally sound management of discarded mattresses. The bill imposes civil penalties per day per violation of as much as $100 for retailers, $1,000 for producers or renovators, and $1,000 for stewardship organizations. This bill had a previous life in 2021 as SB 570 but failed to pass.
SB 1584 – Creates a procedure for individuals wrongfully convicted of a crime and imprisoned to petition the government for financial compensation of $65,000 for each year of imprisonment and $25,000 for each additional year served on parole or post-prison supervision.
SB 1590 – Directs the Department of Education in consultation with the STEM Investment Council, to develop a statewide, long-term strategic plan to provide computer science education opportunities to every Oregon public school student by the 2027-28 school year. Interestingly, the bill in its current form would sunset in 2028.
HB 4098 – Expands designated state agencies – Department of Corrections, Department of Human Services, Oregon Health Authority, Department of Education, Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, Oregon State Police, and the Oregon Youth Authority – to work with the state Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission. The bill would require those agencies to meet with the commission quarterly to review and report on their progress, outcomes, and measures as established under the commission’s comprehensive addiction, prevention, treatment, and recovery plan.
HB 4147 – Allows people convicted of a felony to register to vote, update voter registration, and vote in elections while incarcerated.
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Rep. Susan McLain (D-Hillsboro)
McLain, whose January 26 newsletter highlighted her attendance at a hearing for the Joint Committee on the I-5 Bridge, said she wants to hear the opinion of her constituents on 2022 bills “to get a better sense of the priorities that the residents of House District 29 have.” email Rep. McLain at [email protected].
HB 4109 – Directs the Newborn Bloodspot Screening Advisory Board to evaluate and make recommendations on adding diseases to the Oregon newborn bloodspot screening panel under specific circumstances. Newborn bloodspot screening is a free blood test offered to every newborn baby to check if he or she was born with a medical condition.
Rep. Suzanne Weber (R-Tillamook)
Weber, who now is running for a seat in the Oregon Senate after just one year as District 32’s House representative, is the chief sponsor of three bills.
HB 4039 – Modifies the financial requirements for coordinated care organization expenditures on social determinants of health and health equity. The bill would require the Oregon Health Authority to spend an amount greater to or equal to three percent of the agency’s expenses in the previous calendar year and to annually report expenditures to interim committees of the Legislative Assembly.
HB 4053 – Requires ODOT to conduct a review of Oregon Route 6 and present that report to the Joint Committee on Transportation no later than September 15, 2023. Seven people died last year in vehicle crashes on the Wilson River Highway stretching between Banks and Tillamook.
HB 4124 – Requires the Department of Education to conduct a survey related to assessments administered to students by school districts, develop recommendations and best practices related to those assessments, and report those findings to the State Board of Education.
Rep. Brad Witt (D-Clatskanie)
Witt, who survived professionally House Conduct Committee findings last year that he violated workplace rules against sexual harassment and created a hostile work environment through texts he sent to a fellow lawmaker, announced he will not run for reelection under the new District 31 boundaries established under redistricting.
HB 4078 – Authorizes the issuance of lottery bonds to produce proceeds for distribution to the City of St. Helens for the purpose of stormwater management at St. Helens Industrial Park.
HB 4079 – Establishes the Oregon Freedom Pilot Program in the Department of Human Services to provide monthly stipends to low-income families. The program would provide monthly payments of $750, using a special debit card, to adults participating in the program. Participants would be required to attend a financial literacy program provided by the state.
Newly-sworn-in Sen. Rachel Armitage is not listed as the chief sponsor, or co-sponsor, of any bills yet.
