Verde Advocacy’s Reflection After Legislative Session
Oregon's 2025 legislative session had a historic number of bills proposed (3,400 in total). With the changing financial landscape, Oregon faced many budgetary issues, leading to many of the impactful bills not passing or being left out, including ones that are critical needs for our communities.
Our team took some time to reflect on the successes that we achieved together, and bills that didn’t make it through the legislature. We have big ideas for what’s next, and we can’t wait to share them with you.
Water
While renters who rely on wells now have protections for drinking water quality (HB 3525), access to water quality information for all renters is lacking. It’s also likely we’ll have to see legislation that limits sources for contaminants in drinking water.
“Safe and clean water for all is essential to human, environmental, and economic health in Oregon,” said Rose Poton. “Verde will continue to support policies like HB3525 which provides critical information about the quality of water to renters so that they can make informed decisions about their health.”
In addition to addressing water quality, Verde has begun collaborating with community partners and the City of Portland to address water affordability at the local level through community workshops and surveys. In partnership with the Water Equity and Climate Resilience Caucus, Verde is also working to address water affordability at the state and national levels.
Air Quality and Climate
Legislation for air quality and climate were often ignored during the past legislative session. The Healthy Communities Act sought to protect areas like schools, neighborhoods, and hospitals from industrial pollutants, but sadly died at the legislature.
“We will continue to support legislation that protects communities from the harms that are posed by industrial development and subsequent air pollution,” said Xitlali Torrez. “We have gained a lot of momentum in fixing this, so we are preparing to bring something stronger back to the legislature”. The Healthy Communities Act will return to the state, and we hope to see similar local legislation in the meantime.
Energy
The energy space saw different exciting pieces of legislation come through. But with federal rollbacks on vital programs like LIHEAP, Oregon leadership will need to bolster energy affordability programs.
“Next session, we anticipate needing to get even more creative - especially in how we uplift community voices, secure long-term funding, and protect people from disconnections during extreme weather,” said Anahi Segovia Rodriguez. As we work with partners on this strategy, we will continue centering frontline communities in this work.
Transportation
Despite having initial wins for safety, the legislature left a lot out of the Transportation Package. Unfortunately, the investments we were expecting to see were cut immensely. Transit services are still expected to be cut, while almost 600 jobs at the Oregon Department of Transportation face layoffs.
"Communities across Oregon still need safer streets, cleaner air, and better transit - and our state legislature must deliver real progress towards these goals in any special session,” said Indi Namkoong. “This won't be the end of this conversation; it's the beginning of a long term effort to fund Oregon's transportation future in a fair and sustainable way, and to govern in a way that wins back the trust of our communities." The special session in August will hopefully provide more stability for transportation that benefits all of Oregon.
Next Session
Verde Advocacy works towards crafting ideas that will positively impact vulnerable communities throughout the state. We look forward to speaking with community members, like you, to further develop our priorities and ways to fund innovative programs for the next legislative session.