Rep. Cate: 8 bills to watch

By Oregon State Representative Jami Cate
Newsletter excerpt

Legislative Short List

HB 2138: One of the Governor’s housing bills, which expands allowable middle housing and expands middle housing requirements to include urban unincorporated lands. Heading to the Ways & Means Committee.

HB 2251: Directs schools to ban the use of cellphones from bell-to-bell. Heading to the House Floor.

HB 2528: Gives the Oregon Health Authority sweeping power to create or raise taxes on any nicotine products they choose, or even ban them outright. Sent to the House Committee on Revenue.

HB 3075: Makes it harder to lawfully obtain a firearm by increasing the firearm permit provisions in Ballot Measure 114, including adding additional eligibility requirements, fees, and doubling the wait time to issue permits to 60 days. Heading to the House Floor.

HB 3076: Directs the Department of Justice to create a state licensure program, adding additional, unnecessary oversight to an industry that already follows extensive federal regulations, including background checks, ATF licensing, and strict compliance laws. Heading to the Ways & Means Committee.

HB 3934: Allows surviving spouses to elect an additional Estate Tax exclusion based on the unused amount of a prior deceased spouse’s exclusion up to $1 million.

SB 83-9: Repeals Oregon’s wildfire maps created by 2021’s SB 762. Heading to Senate Floor.

SB 1189: Allows construction of the North Santiam Canyon Wastewater Project to begin while DEQ clears up red tape. Without this, Marion County and its partners were at risk of losing $50 million in funding that was secured in the wake of the 2020 Wildfires. Passed the Senate!