In even numbered years, the Oregon legislature meets for a month-long sprint. This year's session was February 2 - March 8. Sierra Club members and staff emailed and met with legislators, submitted testimony, and helped with two great lobby days for the “1.25% for Wildlife” and “Make Polluters Pay” bills, with over 200 people turning out for each. Our biggest win is “1.25% for Wildlife”, a long running campaign over several sessions, which will finally secure a dedicated funding source for wildlife conservation. Several other good bills didn’t make it, but we were able to help stop several very concerning bills.
Sierra Club staffers Richie, Alice, and Monty in Salem for the 1.25% for Wildlife advocacy day.
Good bills that you helped succeed this session:
✅ HB 4134, “1.25% for Wildlife” - 1.25% for Wildlife will raise Oregon’s statewide lodging tax - the third lowest in the country - by 1.25%. The revenue will fund the State Wildlife Action Plan to protect some of Oregon’s most vulnerable and imperiled species and habitats, along with other conservation programs such as habitat connectivity, wildlife rehabilitation facilities, and anti-poaching efforts.
Good bills that unfortunately didn’t pass:
✅ SB 1541, “Make Polluters Pay Climate Resilience Superfund” - The state, counties, and cities of Oregon desperately need funds to cope with extreme weather events and wildfires worsened by climate change. The Climate Resilience Superfund would require major fossil fuel companies - such as Chevron and Exxon - to pay their fair share of climate-related costs, which are staggering. The bill got a hearing with hundreds of people testifying in support, and passed out of its first committee, but then stalled in Ways and Means. We are disappointed because it only needed a small up front funding investment that would have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars of funding returned to the state of Oregon, but we were able to get a lot of attention on the bill and hope to bring it back in 2027.
The Make Polluters Pay coalition in Salem for advocacy day
Bad bills that you helped us stop this session:
❌ HB 4105, “State Forest Logging Bill” - HB 4105 would require the Department of Forestry to pass a timber harvest rule to prioritize clearcut timber harvest at the expense of all other values— like clean water, fish and wildlife, recreation, and carbon absorption. We were very disappointed to see most legislators vote yes in the first committee work session, with only environmental champion Representative Marsh opposing it. This bill didn’t get the funding it needed to make it out of Ways and Means, but we expect it to come back in the 2027 session.
❌ HB 4046, “Nuclear Study” - This bill would devote time and money toward a study of nuclear development in Oregon by the Department of Energy. There are many studies already available on the impacts of nuclear power and we need not divert much needed funds from the current work of our already-taxed agency. This bill didn’t get the funding it needed to make it out of Ways and Means, but we expect it to come back in the 2027 session.
❌ HB 1586, "Hillsboro Urban Growth Boundary Expansion" - This bill would open 1,700 acres of prime farmland to development and extend tax breaks to big tech companies. The Hillsboro community has spoken out vocally against this effort in the past, with particular concern over data center development. Legislators were finally convinced to drop the bill late in the session, but we expect these efforts to keep coming back in the future.
Thank you to everyone who took action this session, and if you are interested in working more with the Sierra Club Oregon legislative committee in future sessions, please fill out this form.