Sen. Bonham: New Year, New Laws

New year, new laws
By Oregon Sate Senator Daniel Bonham,

On behalf of my family to yours, Happy New Year. New years provide a fresh perspective on how we tackle issues, find solutions and work to make Oregon a better place to live. Here are some bills that are going into effect:

• HB 4113: Expand cost-sharing support for prescriptions – I was honored to support this bill, which removed cost-sharing assistance limits in order to reduce patients co-pays. There is still so much to be done with our healthcare system, but this was a good start.

• SB 1596: Mandating technology to provide repair equipment to third-party repair companies – Masked as a consumer protection bill, this direct government intervention into a private industry will only serve to raise costs for consumers, stifle innovation and disrupt technology security measures. I could not vote for this measure and will be tracking these unintended consequences.

• SB 1553: Increasing penalties for drug use on public transit – This seems like a no-brainer but I was honored to be a sponsor of this bill.

• SB 1502: Requiring school boards to make recordings of their hearings available to the public – With all the decisions being made surrounding our kids, this bill will be critical for parents, policymakers and the media to track decisions made at board meetings. I was happy to support this bill.

• SB 340: Giving prosecutors the tools to hold shoplifters accountable – Property loss from shoplifting reduces tax revenue for local services, causes businesses to shut down and reduces morale for staff and shoppers. This is the least we could do to help our retailers combat this trending crisis.