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September Legislative Days Highlights

Oct 1, 2025

The Legislature is meeting in Salem this week for Interim Legislative Days committee hearings. As always, your AOC Legislative Affairs Department actively participates in and monitors hearings, and will use the opportunity to connect with legislators, particularly around AOC Policy Priorities while they are in Salem.

The Legislature will convene for additional sets of Legislative Days meetings before the 2026 regular session — Nov. 17-19, 2025, and Jan. 13-15, 2026. 

Below are links and highlights from the hearings with particular relevance to county governance, services, and budgets.

Joint Interim Committee on Transportation

Senate Interim Committee on Labor and Business

  • Oregon Employment Department presentation
    • Report on unemployment data 
      • Around 7,500 jobs added in the month of August 2025, but a net loss of over 15,000 jobs from January to August 2025 
      • Unemployment rates are rising

House Interim Committee on Emergency Management and Veterans

  • AOC, Oregon State Sheriffs Association, and the League of Oregon Cities presentation on Local Emergency Management and Federal Funds
    • Uncertainty around federal grant funds continues. Several programs have had funding notices issued, but are subject to court cases regarding terms and conditions related to immigration enforcement.

House and Senate Interim Committee on Judiciary

  • Oregon Crime Statistics Update from the Criminal Justice Commission (CJC)
    • CJC provided an update on the statewide picture of crime through the end of 2024. 
  • Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, Oregon State Sheriffs Association, and Oregon Association of Chiefs of Police update on Law Enforcement Identification
    • Presentation on local law enforcement practices that present a uniform appearance and promote public trust
  • Lane County and Seattle Drug Deflection

Senate Interim Committee on Veterans, Emergency Management, Federal and World Affairs

  • Oregon Emergency Management (OEM) Update
    • Informational update about past disasters and federal funding. OEM’s message that uncertainty around federal funding impacts emergency preparedness is well-aligned with AOC.

House Interim Committee on Rules

  • Oregon Government Ethics Commission (OGEC) Presentations
    • OGEC advisory opinion No. 25-126A (food and beverages for public officials and employees)
      • If a local government does not adopt an official compensation package that includes meals for public officials, then accepting food and beverage violates ORS 244.040(1)
    • FAQ on serial meeting communications 
      • Key takeaways: 
        • A quorum of a governing body does not have to be engaged in the same form of communication at the same time for it to be considered a prohibited serial communication
        • Prohibited serial communications can occur during a public meeting through electronic messages or even hand-written notes 
        • A quorum of governing body members should not attend town halls or community events to discuss matters within the governing body’s jurisdiction. If a quorum is present, then the governing body would need to hold the gathering as a public meeting 
    • AOC staff will be engaging in a legislative workgroup with local government partners in the fall of 2025 to address the food and beverage opinion and serial meeting communications issues. 

Senate Interim Committee on Housing and Development

  • Department of Land Conservation and Development presentations

House Interim Committee on Housing and Homelessness

  • Housing Accountability and Production Office (HAPO) update
    • The HAPO is tasked with ensuring local land use codes and decisions meet state law, provide technical assistance and funding to local governments to update their land use codes, and research areas where barriers still exist to develop ways to help local governments, such as model codes and permit-ready plans.

Senate Interim Committee on Natural Resources and Wildfire

  • Oregon Department of Forestry and the Oregon State Fire Marshal presentation on the 2025 wildfire season 
    • The AOC Natural Resources Steering Committee will hear this presentation on Oct. 10.

Senate Interim Committee on Finance and Revenue

  • The Legislative Revenue Office overview of the impact of Federal House Resolution 1 (H.R.1) on the state’s General Fund, as well as the most relevant tax breaks to individual and business tax filers 
    • Panels of advocates in support and opposition of Oregon disconnecting from the federal tax code gave presentations to the committee. 

House Interim Committee on Early Childhood and Human Services

  • Impacts of federal level changes on nutrition assistance and early learning programs
    • Oregon Head Start programs experienced frozen funding and award delays throughout 2025. The regional office serving the Pacific Northwest was eliminated, resulting in loss of direct contacts at the federal agency and of technical and administrative support.
    • About 310,000 adults will need to be reviewed for work requirements or exceptions for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility; about 3,000 individuals will lose benefits, including refugees, asylees, and other conditionally allowed individuals. SNAP benefits won’t rise with food prices, making it harder for people to afford groceries. About 29,000 households will see an average monthly benefit decrease of $58.

Joint Interim Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Services

  • Work session: retroactive approval of Oregon Health Authority application to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for supplemental Community Mental Health Services Block Grant funding of $302,198. Approved, referred to Full Ways and Means.

House Interim Committee on Health Care

Senate Interim Committee on Human Services

House Interim Committee on Behavioral Health

Senate Interim Committee on Early Childhood and Behavioral Health