Oregon’s 2022 short legislative session ended with a number of bills that passed amidst challenging global and local circumstances. With the ongoing pandemic and last summer’s deadly heat waves taking a disproportionate toll on marginalized communities, it was heartening that Oregon’s legislature took action on so many important issues.
Oregon PSR united with our partners to push for a bold state legislative agenda in 2022. We celebrate the passage of legislation that addresses racism as a public health crisis, farmworker overtime, emergency heat relief, and safety in the critical resilience energy hub. We believe Oregon's leaders need to be bold and proactive to protect human life from the gravest threats to health and survival. We call on lawmakers to build foundations for an Oregon where everyone is treated fairly and compassionately, is safe and healthy from climate induced events, and where everyone has a bright future.
Here’s where the legislation we supported ended up:
Oregon PSR’s 2021 State Legislative Agenda Results
Bills we supported that passed:
SB 1567 - Fuel Storage Seismic Vulnerability
HB 4002 - Farmworker Overtime
SB1563 - Emergency Heat Relief
Note that this bill was combined with HB 4058, which we also supported.
HB 4052 - Racism as a Public Health Crisis
Read testimony and signatures from over 200 health professionals and advocates
Bills we supported that did not pass:
SB 1568 - Early Compassionate Medical Release
Unfortunately, SB 1568 Early Compassionate Medical Release did not pass this short legislative session. According to Senator Dembrow, SB 1568 was the “object of a Senate Republican misinformation campaign, (falsely) claiming that putting these very ill people into care will lead to more crime in our communities.” We are looking forward to supporting this bill next session.
Read testimony from medical professionals and public health advocates
Healthy Climate Action Team members: Ann Turner, MD, Catherine Bax, PA, Theodora Tsongas, PhD, MS
HB 4115 - Treasury Transparency Bill