Sen. Drazan: My 2 key bills for 2026 Session

My 2026 Legislation
By Oregon State Senator Christine Drazan,

In the upcoming 2026 Short Session (Feb. 2nd – Mar. 9th), legislators are limited to two bills each and I wanted to share with you what I will be proposing:

Restoring Safe Neighborhoods: For too long, people have been distributing needles, foil, pipes, and other biohazardous materials to drug users within active school zones without regulation or accountability. It is time to say: Not anymore. I am re-introducing common-sense legislation that prohibits the distribution of syringes by mobile units within 2,000 feet of a school or a licensed daycare facility. The legislation creates accountability by allowing individuals to sue if needles and other biohazardous litter is left in these buffer zones. Our students deserve to be safe. Kids and their families should not have to worry about exposure to biohazards and dirty needles.

Education Standards & Empowering Teachers: In 2021, the Oregon Legislature suspended the “essential learning requirements” for high school graduation. It is critical that we restore these standards—not only for high school students, but also by requiring literacy benchmarks at the elementary level, when learning to read is most critical. In addition to restoring learning requirements, I am empowering teachers with the ability to remove disruptive students from the classroom. This policy is intended to address students who repeatedly interfere with a teacher’s ability to communicate effectively or with their classmates’ ability to learn.