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Legislative Report - Week of December 1

Governance Team

 

Coordinator: Becky Gladstone and Chris Cobey

  • Artificial Intelligence: Lindsey Washburn

  • Campaign Finance Reform: Norman Turrill

  • Conflicts of Interest/Legislative Ethics: Chris Cobey

  • CEI - Critical Energy Infrastructure : Nikki Mandell and Laura Rogers

  • Cybersecurity Privacy, Election Issues, Electronic Portal Advisory Board: Becky Gladstone

  • Election Systems: Barbara Klein

  • Emergency Preparedness: Cate Arnold

  • Immigration, Refugee, and Asylum: Claudia Keith

  • Redistricting: Norman Turrill, Chris Cobey

  • State Audit Working Group: Sheila Golden 

  • Voting Rights of Incarcerated People: Marge Easley

Please see Governance Overview here.


Jump to a topic:



Our “Governance” advocacy umbrella now has 13 volunteers, but more are always welcome. We particularly seek volunteers who will help track and report on Revenue issues.

Contact advocacy@lwvor.org

Cybersecurity/Privacy/Transparency


Artificial Intelligence. This extremely useful tool has demonstrated value and instances of abuse. Thanks to Lindsey Washburn, our AI expert, for establishing an LWVOR AI policy and working on legislation anticipated by the Joint Information Management and Technology Committee.


Automatic license plate readers. The AG, DAs, and police gave examples in Sen Judiciary:

  • Fighting against organized crime rings in Oregon included stopping a $20M catalytic converter theft ring, by reading a plate in Beaverton.

  • They made an arrest and later convicted an out of state suspect within hours of a carjacking, after violent assaults in Salem.

  • On the down side, a police chief was tracking a former girlfriend.

  • Tracking immigrants is a concern. We need laws on who has access and under what authority.


Sen Judiciary Chair Prozanski mentioned the need to define privacy and sanctions against misuse. We were impressed with his consumer protections’ bill last session, building on AG Rosenblum’s consumer data privacy work. Contact  advocacy@lwvor.org  to connect with  Stephanie Haycock for cybersecurity and Rebecca Gladstone to work on these privacy and transparency issues.

Election Reforms

By Barbara Klein


The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on a bill the LWVOR has agreed to support. The ‘recommended’ draft of the Uniform Faithful Presidential Electors Act bill (adapted to Oregon’s existing election code) is here (with sections of explanation). As background, Oregon already requires presidential electors to take a pledge [ORS 248.355]; this legislation ensures that the pledge is binding. Further, complying with Oregon law requiring that the Secretary of State has a duty to ensure our elections are free and fair, the bill defines specifically what that means with regards to presidential electors. See the excellent presentation from David A. Weinberg, national group policy strategist for Protect Democracy, to the Judiciary Committee. Scroll to approximately 1 hour, 29 minutes. We understand that Senator Jama, Senate Rules Chair, may secure a committee sponsorship for the bill.


Legislators are discussing open primaries. The League supports the concept but not as currently presented.


Campaign Finance

By Norman Turrill and Rebecca Gladstone


The Secretary of State  (SoS) addressed Interim House Rules. He may request a bill next session to correct HB 4024 (2024) ambiguities. The SoS has been slow in implementing those campaign finance reforms. 


ORESTAR. This 20 year-old candidate registration and campaign finance software has long-needed replacement.The Honest Elections group supports these efforts.Speaking to House Rules, the SoS listed obstacles: extremely tight election cycle timing, and high cost. The Elections Division now feels they can’t write code in-house, but it is unclear if they have posted for outside software bids yet. A purchasing delay will probably increase the cost, amid heavy competition for slim funds. 

We spoke with Elections Division and County Clerk heads, both concerned about funding software changes. Election timing is tight and the adoption process needs time to implement transitions, train staff, and educate voters, is not underway yet. Contact l Rebecca Gladstone through advocacy@lwvor.org to help.


Rebecca Gladstone

Elections Audits. Elections are under partisan attack for “voter fraud”, observed at fewer than 1 in a million votes.  Use advocacy@lwvor.org to contact our new volunteer,Sheila Golden, about her work with the States Audits Working Group, which wants to boost Oregon’s enviable elections audit program.

Open primary and a Northwest regional presidential primary. This could transfer some election administration responsibility from counties to the state. The League supports open primaries, but not as currently proposed. See Barbara Klein and Norman Turrill.


Vote-by-mail (VBM) legislation will probably be up again this session. LWVOR has been working on this since 1981 in Oregon, where Vote by Mail started. The SoS answered concerns/attacks in House Rules, including for US Postal Service delivery timing. We’d like to think the SoS used League testimony for historic VBM context. See Chris Cobey through advocacy@lwvor.org  to help.


Immigration Refugee and Asylum

By Claudia Keith


It is too soon to know but it appears in 2026, Oregon will not consider new, comprehensive immigration legislation. Upcoming debates will likely focus on existing issues such as sanctuary state laws, license plate data sharing, as well as legal aid and other support for immigrants. 


Proposed and debated legislation

  • Automated License Plate Readers: A bill to regulate the use of license plate scanning software is being considered due to concerns about data sharing with federal immigration authorities, 

  • License plate recognition, wrongful conviction among 2026 priorities for Oregon lawmakers | Oregon Capital Chronicle

  • Other initiatives and legislative priorities

  • Sanctuary Law: Oregon is a sanctuary state, meaning local law enforcement cannot assist federal immigration enforcement without a warrant, notes this Oregon Legislative

  • Support for immigrants: as in 2025 session it is likely Some groups will  advocate for legislation to expand funding for services for immigrants, such as legal aid and other crucial supports for refugees and newcomers, 

  • State-level initiatives: The state's Office of Immigrant and Refugee Advancement is working on various initiatives, including developing a welcome guide, establishing grant programs for new arrivals, and creating partnerships to support integration, as seen on Oregon.gov. 

  • It is likely a number of Legislature Bipoc Caucus 2025 priorities will return in 2026.


Federal context

  • Federal legislation: While Oregon has been considering its own legislation, there have also been efforts at the federal level to pass immigration-related bills, such as the CLEAR Act, which would impact state and local law enforcement. Details can be found on Congress.gov. 

Source, updates and other news

Attacks on Asian Americans were mentioned in Sen Judiciary. ryhen enger [RG1] is following the Coalition Against Hate Crimes and immigration issues.




Litigation


LWVOR has a hand in LWV litigation, and Governance is observing.

Naturalization ceremony voter registration. LWVUS with 5 state Leagues, is suing USCIS, the Department of Homeland Security, and other federal officials for abruptly banning voter registration by nonpartisan civic engagement groups. Watch for coverage from Chris Cobey for LWVPDX naturalization ceremonies and ryhen enger for immigration.


Protecting our voter roll privacy. LWVOR and the ACLU-OR filed amicus briefs on November 24, in the US District Court of Oregon, to protect voter privacy in the case of the US v the state of Oregon and Tobias Read as Secretary of State.


Voting Rights for Adults in Custody

By Marge Easley


The topic of granting voting rights to adults in custody in Oregon was once again in the public eye during the House Rules hearing on November 17 that included testimony from Rep. Farrah Chaichi, Common Cause and the Oregon Justice Resource Center. Although a bill will not be introduced until 2027, it is important to keep this issue in the forefront of legislators’ minds, following prior efforts in 2023 (SB 579) and 2025 (HB 3785) that were derailed due to cost considerations. In keeping with the League’s belief in a citizen’s right to vote, we look forward to voicing our support for passage in 2027.




Interested in reading additional reports?  Please see our Climate Emergency, Revenue, Natural Resources, and Social Policy report sections.

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