Hi John,

Oregon’s 2025 legislative session begins on Tuesday, January 21st, but I’ve already started meeting with legislators and partners to ensure we’re doing all we can to pass strong pro-climate and pro-environment legislation this year. As promised, here is a summary of OLCV’s and Oregon Conservation Network’s (OCN) priorities for this session!

We anticipate that we’ll have to do a fair amount of defense this session on progress we’ve already made, but there’s still a lot we can accomplish. As always, passing strong pro-climate and pro-conservation budgets remain one of our top priorities. Under Trump’s leadership it will be up to Oregon’s state government to ensure funding for our state’s programs that protect our climate, air, water, forests and wildlife. On top of that, OLCV and OCN have selected three priority packages for this session:

A transportation package that prioritizes climate, equity, and wildlife: This package would build on the historic gains on HB 2017 (which included investments in public transit, Safe Routes to School, and vehicle electrification), to shift the focus to multimodal, safety, and climate-forward investments. This will create a system that saves money over time and builds a more resilient, equitable, and healthy future for all Oregonians.
Energy Affordability and Utility Accountability (HB 3081, SB 88, LC 1547): Oregonians are struggling to keep up with skyrocketing utility bills in the face of ever-worsening climate impacts. HB 3081 would create an active navigator to help Oregonians access energy efficiency incentives all in one place. SB 88 limits the ability of utility companies from charging ratepayers for lobbying, litigation costs, fines, marketing, industry fees, and political spending. LC 1547 ensures that large energy users (i.e. data centers) do not unfairly burden Oregon households.
Safeguarding Streamflows to Protect Oregon's Water (SB 427): OCN members have introduced SB 427, which tackles an outdated regulatory loophole in our water right transfer laws that effectively nullifies Oregon’s ability to protect streamflows on the vast majority of streams across the state. OCN members are also actively shaping the 2025 House water package to make it more environmentally friendly.

It’s worth mentioning that we have also included a special focus area for this session with the Wildlife Stewardship Program (HB 2980) to honor Bob Sallingar’s legacy.