What Salem-area lawmakers are prioritizing for the 2026 session
Salem lawmakers want to regulate federal immigration officers, end the Cherriots’ board’s ability to levy taxes without a public vote and beef up the state’s emergency management system.
Oregon’s month-long legislative session got underway on Monday, Feb.2. The fast-paced short session occurs in even years. It’s typically when lawmakers make small tweaks to laws or respond to urgent issues.
Major issues ahead include how Oregon will respond to tax cuts and cuts to social safety net programs at the federal level and confronting inadequate funding for state maintenance and road projects.
Each lawmaker is limited to two bills. Some lead committees that also can propose legislation. Local senators and representatives shared with Salem Reporter their priorities and what prompted the choices.
Jump to a lawmaker
Sen. Deb Patterson, D-Salem
Senate District 10 – south Salem
Wheelchair-accessible housing
SB 1576 would require new apartment buildings to make at least 10% of the rented units wheelchair-accessible. Only 0.3% of Oregon’s housing now is accessible by wheelchair, according to a summary of the bill. The legislation would require two state agencies to take action to ensure new developments meet the broader requirement.
Hospice care oversight
SB 1575 would add protections for patients in hospice care. The new rules would include requiring a background check for business owners, ensuring agencies have the financial resources to care for patients and pausing the issuance of new hospice licenses until the state rules are implemented.
Patterson said the change was at the request of the Oregon Hospice and Palliative Care Association. “In other states there has been a lot of fraud and abuse, and we want to prevent that from happening here in Oregon,” she said.
Insurance contract mediation
Patterson chairs the Senate Health Care Committee. The committee will introduce SB 1529 to require a meditator to be present when insurance companies and providers can’t come to an agreement during contract negotiations. That would address talks such as those last year that fell through between Salem Health and Regence BlueCross BlueShield.
“What this bill would do, would say … ‘If you’re getting close to not being able to sign a contract, then you have to go to mediation to find a path so that folks don’t lose access to health care,” Patterson said. “Patients can’t afford to be without health insurance, and they really were scrambling with just a few weeks’ notice to try to find other insurance coverage, particularly when they might have been on Blue Cross, Blue Shield for decades.”
Sen. Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer
Senate District 11 – north Salem, Keizer
Child abuse false reporting
SB 1579 would make false reporting of child abuse a more serious crime. Current state law says it’s a violation to falsely report child abuse with the intent to influence child custody or child support proceedings. The bill would make false reports a class B misdemeanor, a class A misdemeanor for a second offense, and a class C felony for subsequent offenses.
Woodburn urban growth boundary
SB 1564 would add land to the city of Woodburn’s urban growth boundary.
“This helps one of the fastest-growing cities in the state, to bring into the (boundary), a piece of land that is ready for development with utilities and roads already stubbed in. They are running out of buildable land now. It is not a matter of if this land gets developed, it’s a matter of when. The overly burdensome land use process will only needlessly delay the building of several hundred houses, 30% is dedicated to affordable housing,” Thatcher said in an email.
Wrongful conviction
Thatcher also wants to create a process for people wrongfully convicted of crimes based on discredited forensic science to receive state compensation. She’s the vice chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has introduced SB 1515 to do so.
Rep. Tom Andersen, D-Salem
House District 19 – south Salem
SJR 203 proposes a Constitutional amendment requiring law enforcement officers not wear masks and requiring them to wear identifying information in most circumstances. Evans and Patterson are also chief sponsors.
“With the recent actions of the federal government in Minneapolis, I believe we are at (a) critical moment in our nation when people from every state and every community must stand up to defend our freedom and our Constitution. People who protest and vote can stop this madness,” Andersen said in an email through his spokesman.
HB 4106 would declare that enforcement officers can’t be prosecuted or face civil liability for using restraints or force on a person while transporting them for involuntary mental health treatment, so long as the officer believes the force is necessary to protect the person. Mannix is also a chief sponsor.
Andersen said the bill would get more people into mental health treatment. “Unfortunately, current laws make it difficult for sheriffs and other law enforcement personnel to transport people who are civilly committed because of liability risks,” he said in an email.
Rep. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth
House District 20 – West Salem, Monmouth, Independance
Emergency preparedness
HB 4121 is intended to better coordinate emergency management across the state by requiring state agencies to designate emergency management liaisons. It creates a new statewide emergency preparedness office to coordinate activities, evaluate state facilities and issue grants to improve state and regional preparations for disaster response, supplies and continuity of governance.
“It is the next strategic investment in our abilities to respond to crisis and recover from disaster. If passed, it will transform our capacity to meet the exigencies inherent to our future,” Evans said in an email. “Among the most important duties we hold as public officers is the ability to respond during times of crisis – to preserve and protect our people and place.”
Veterans services
HB 4132 would require the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs to add new positions, including a veterans employment coordinator, and require the state to start a grant program for veteran suicide prevention and workforce training.
Evans said in an email it would move the department “into a better position to meet the needs of current and future veteran generations. We have made significant progress since 2016… but we need to adjust to the changing nature and complexities of an emergent veterans cohort.”
Rep. Kevin Mannix, R-Salem
House District 21 – north and east Salem, Keizer
No taxes from Cherriots board
HB 4023 would restrict Cherriots’ ability to institute taxes without a public vote. Last summer, the board of the bus system announced a wage tax on local businesses to pay for increased hours and additional transit centers. That’s now paused as discussions are underway with a committee. The board, whose members are appointed by the governor, have the authority to impose wage taxes under state law. This bill would require an election for any tax increases.
Stalking warrant response
HB 4045, called “Kristil’s Law,” would require communication companies to respond to a warrant for records within 72 hours in the case of stalking or domestic violence. The bill is named in honor of a Colorado woman, Kristil Krug, who was murdered by her husband in 2023. Mannix told Salem Reporter in January that he believes the bill has an “extraordinarily good chance of passage.”
Rep. Lesly Muñoz, D-Woodburn
House District 22 – northeast Salem, Woodburn, Gervais, Brooks
Immigration enforcement lawsuits
HB 4114 requires federal and out-of-state law enforcement agencies to notify the Oregon Department of Justice about operations in Oregon. It allows individual property owners or occupants to sue federal agents if they enter private property without a warrant signed by a judge. Andersen is also a chief sponsor.
During a new conference with the Legislature’s BIPOC Caucus on Tuesday, Feb, 3, Muñoz said the measure would protect Oregonians’ constitutional rights against immigration agents who have arbitrarily detained people based on race, accent and without cause.
“This is not public safety. It is racism with a badge,” she said. “Your home is yours. Your school, your church, your hospital should be safe.”
More providers on for worker’s compensation
HB 4119 requires managed care plans that treat worker injuries to allow any qualified medical provider in the geographic area the plan serves to join. It would also allow nurse practitioners, physician associates, chiropractic physicians and naturopathic physicians to be considered “attending physicians” when treating injured workers.
Muñoz did not respond to a Salem Reporter request to explain why the bill was a priority for her.
Senior reporterAbbey McDonald contributed reporting.
Contact Managing Editor Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241. Contact reporter Hailey Cook: [email protected]
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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers education, economic development and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for over a decade and is a past president of Oregon's Society of Professional Journalists chapter. Outside of work, you can often find her gardening or with her nose buried in a book.
