Legislative Priorities

2026 Legislative Priorities

We continue to protect democracy and our representative government. Our priority emphasis is on education, housing, health, safety, community resilience, environmental protection, and safety net services for the most vulnerable. It is important that Oregon generate adequate revenue for essential services.

ASSURE ADEQUATE REVENUE from all levels of government to provide essential services while promoting equitable and progressive tax policy. Address changes in federal taxation. Consider new revenue to fund services Oregonians need.

PROTECT DEMOCRACY by protecting privacy and voting rights - including automatic registration. Fund and implement secure, efficient election software, supporting ranked choice voting. Protect against mis-, dis-, and mal-information, including from artificial intelligence. Ensure cybersecurity. Defend and support implementation of HB 4024 (2023) on campaign finance.

SUPPORT HEALTHCARE/BEHAVIORAL HEALTH. Protect accessibility to all healthcare services during federal support reduction. Preserve healthcare decision rights for patients and providers. Advocate for bills that ensure that every Oregonian has access to cost-effective, clinically appropriate and affordable health care as a fundamental right.

SUPPORT HOUSING STRATEGIES that keep people housed by preventing evictions and displacement, providing affordable permanent housing and support services, preserving existing low-income housing and increasing the supply of new units. Maintain shelter beds where needed. Provide state support for infrastructure and pre-development expenses for affordable housing projects.

SUPPORT FUNDING FOR EDUCATION. Provide adequate & equitable funding for early childhood, child care, K-12, after-school and summer care, as well as higher education. Advocate for coordination and transparency in funding.

SUPPORT NATURAL RESOURCES agencies that address water, land use and wildfire, retaining important staff expertise and data collection. Support policies that protect and enhance Oregon's land, sea and air, especially from threats from new federal government actions.

ADDRESS THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY by supporting 2017-2025 Carbon/Climate Executive Orders, net zero greenhouse gas emissions before 2050 while ensuring environmental justice with a just transition for workers and impacted communities.

PROMOTE PUBLIC SAFETY and a more equitable and effective criminal justice system through violence prevention/reduction programs, rehabilitation and reentry programs for adults and juveniles in custody, and common-sense gun laws.

Find our 2025 Issues for Action here!

Jean Pierce, LWVOR Legislative Action Chair, along with our team of volunteers listed below, are available to provide clarifications on League positions. Contact us at lwvor@lwvor.org.

Call our office at (503) 581-5722 or directly contact portfolio chairs in specific areas listed below. LWVOR Action team members are experienced, unpaid volunteers. Our advocates focus on the broad areas of Climate Emergency, Governance and Protecting Democracy, Human Services, Public Safety, Health Care, Housing, Natural Resources, Education, and Revenue.

Advocacy Sub-Categories
Find our 2026 Legislative Priorities here!

Advocacy Leadership

Our volunteers continue to monitor and work on all these issues. We mentor and add new volunteers with more issues, too. We encourage you to contact our office at 503-581-5722 or lwvor@lwvor.org and to reach out directly:

Advocacy Chair & LWVOR 2nd Vice President: Jean Pierce
Access Coordinator: Paula Krane
Climate Emergency Coordinator: Claudia Keith
Governance Coordinator: Norman Turrill
Natural Resources Coordinator: Peggy Lynch
Social Policy Coordinator: Jean Pierce
Past President: Becky Gladstone

Access

Ensure the public have access so that they can participate in the process.

Paula Krane

Climate Emergency

Using the best available climate science to ensure future generations’ stable climate systems (return to < 350 C02 PPM and < 1.5 Degree Celsius warming by 2100). LWVOR supports Our Children’s Trust/Crag Environmental Law Center federal lawsuits. We oppose fossil fuel infrastructure expansion.

Efficient and Resilient Buildings: Bill Glassmire
Environmental Justice: Nancy Rosenberger
Environmental Rights Amendment: Claudia Keith
Natural Climate Solution - Forestry: Josie Koehne
CEI - Critical Energy Infrastructure : Nikki Mandell and Laura Rogers
Community Resilience & Emergency Management: Rebecca Gladstone
Transportation: Claudia Keith
Joint Ways and Means - Budgets, Lawsuits, Green/Public Banking,
Divestment/ESG: Claudia Keith
Find additional Climate Change Advocacy volunteers in Natural Resources

Governance

Support ethics, efficiency, public records law, and contemporary privacy and technology issues. Our focus on election policies includes laws and administrative rules, campaign finance, redistricting, and alternative voting methods.

Campaign Finance Reform: Norman Turrill
Cybersecurity Privacy, Election Issues, Electronic Portal Advisory Board: Becky Gladstone
Election Systems: Barbara Klein
Redistricting: Norman Turrill, Chris Cobey
Voting Rights of Incarcerated People: Marge Easley

Natural Resources

Improve air quality, combat climate change, and support coastal management, clean energy, proper disposal of hazardous materials and solid waste, conservation, land use, parks, clean and abundant water supply for all, wetlands protection and other resource preservation, and Oregon’s 14 natural resource agency budgets.

Agriculture/Goal 3 Land Use: Sandra Bishop
Coastal Issues: Christine Moffitt, Peggy Lynch
Columbia River Treaty: Philip Thor
Emergency Management: Rebecca Gladstone, Lily Yao
Forestry: Josie Koehne
Elliott State Research Forest: Peggy Lynch
Northwest Energy Coalition: Robin Tokmakian
Oregon Health Authority Drinking Water Advisory Committee: Sandra Bishop
Water: Peggy Lynch
Wildfire: Carolyn Mayers
Ways and Means Natural Resource Budgets/Revenue: Peggy Lynch

Social Policy

Support housing, adult corrections, judiciary, juvenile justice, public safety, gun safety, violence prevention, health care, mental health, immigration and refugees, foster care, social services, gender-related issues, age discrimination, and reproductive health. LWVOR actively lobbies for anti-poverty programs to help low income and those at-risk move toward financial stability.