April 10, 2025
Important Deadline Passes: The 2025 legislative session cleared the first chamber deadline on April 9. This is the deadline for measures to be moved out of policy committees in the chambers in which they were introduced. The deadline does not apply to bills in certain committees, however, including rules, revenue and joint committees. With the passage of the April 9 deadline, many bills have now died – though resurrection is possible thanks to the large population of “study” bills into which legislative concepts with related content can be stuffed.
Bill Blowout: A record number of bills were introduced in 2025 – more than 3,400 – making this year’s first chamber deadline particularly welcome. Tracking so many proposals has been difficult for the public, and managing them has strained legislative staff. Legislative committees have scheduled an unusually large number of hearings, limiting time – and even opportunities – for in-person testimony. A smaller population of viable bills will ease the burden on the public and on legislative staff.
Helpful and Harmful Bills: As is always the case, many bills that would hamper innovation and slow economic growth have been introduced during the 2025 session. So, too, have bills that would increase the state’s economic competitiveness and boost private-sector job creation. Many of the latter group echo recommendations in OBI’s Oregon Competitiveness Agenda. OBI and other stakeholders have worked throughout the session to support bills that would increase competitiveness and oppose those that would erode it. Below are a handful of bills in each category that remain viable and on which OBI will continue to engage.
Erode Competitiveness:
- SB 916 – Unemployment insurance for striking workers. Jeopardizes the integrity of Oregon’s unemployment insurance program by forcing employers to subsidize voluntary strike activities. The measure threatens the financial stability of public employers, including cities, counties, and school districts, and is likely to increase labor strikes.
- SB 426 – Extended liability for wage theft claims. Threatens law-abiding homeowners, commercial property owners and contractors with liability for wage theft claims, even in situations where the property owner or business owner had no knowledge the wage theft occurred. This makes innocent parties liable for others’ bad actions.
- HB 2548, HB 3838 – Labor standards boards. Establish unelected boards with broad power to regulate wages, workplace requirements and other policies exclusive to specific industries. The measures threaten to upend fragile industries, including agriculture and long-term care, that already face significant economic headwinds. They also create inherent inequalities among industries.
- SB 174 – Regulating insurance under the Unlawful Trade Practices Act. Places insurance, an already heavily regulated industry, under Oregon’s Unlawful Trade Practices Act unnecessarily. The bill threatens to further increase already significant insurance rate growth at a time when inflation and the cost of living are top of mind for Oregonians and Oregon businesses across the state.
Increase Competitiveness:
- HB 2692 – Rulemaking best practices. Proposes consistent standards and best practices related to agency rulemaking, including a requirement for true economic and fiscal impacts, allowing for better representation in rulemaking processes and requiring proper and appropriate notice about proposed and enacted rules.
- HB 3382 – Oregon Rulemaking Information System. Establishes the Oregon Rulemaking Information System, similar to the Oregon Legislative Information System (OLIS), to create a centralized, comprehensive and easy-to-navigate information tool. This allows stakeholders, the public, the media and anyone else interested to find clear and consistent information about Oregon’s expansive rulemaking activities.
- HB 2112 – Estate tax reform. Increases the exemption level for Oregon’s estate tax, providing relief from one of the most burdensome and costly estate tax structures in the country. This relief would benefit families and small businesses across Oregon.
- SB 960 – Combatting retail theft. Continues and expands funding for the Organized Retail Theft Grant program to support local governments and law enforcement on the frontlines of addressing this criminal activity. This would prevent lost sales and tax revenue while making stores safer for workers and customers.
Learn more: Go here to see the 2025 legislative session calendar and here to learn more about OBI’s Oregon Competitiveness Agenda.
Stay tuned: On April 14, OBI will release a list of this session’s most notable job-killing and job-creating bills.