Legislative Update: February 2, 2026
The 2026 Oregon Legislative Session officially kicked off today, February 2, and will run for 35 days. This short session moves quickly, with limited time for committees, amendments, and final votes. As a result, early engagement and ongoing monitoring are especially important.
This legislative update highlights bills the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce is actively tracking this session because of their potential impact on economic competitiveness and our business climate.
The bills included are those that warrant early attention from the business community based on their implications for investment, workforce, land use, taxation, and regulatory certainty. All bills are reviewed and categorized through the Chamber’s legislative and policy agenda framework, which was adopted by the Chamber’s Board of Directors and guides their local, state and federal advocacy priorities and positions.
Members can expect regular updates throughout the session as priority bills move, evolve, or stall. For the most up-to-date information on the Chamber’s and advocacy efforts, we encourage members to visit the Chamber’s Business Advocacy webpage, or contact Paige Walters to be added to the Advocacy Bulletin mailing list.
Bills FAVORABLE to Economic Competitiveness
HB 4071 supports Oregon’s economic competitiveness by restoring the ability for recreation businesses to use liability waivers, a widely used risk-management tool that helps operators remain viable, affordable, and insurable while continuing to offer outdoor and experiential activities. The Chamber has joined the Protect Oregon Recreation coalition in support of this broader fix, while continuing to monitor SB 1517, which applies liability protections too narrowly and leaves many recreation-based businesses facing the same barriers and uncertainty the legislation is intended to address. Learn More.
HB 4084
Governor’s Prosperity Roadmap
This bill supports Oregon’s economic competitiveness by advancing a coordinated statewide strategy focused on site readiness, workforce alignment, and improved cross-agency collaboration to attract and retain private investment. While additional work is still needed to ensure faster, more predictable permitting outcomes, the Chamber supports the bill’s core concept and its intent to better align state tools, agencies, and resources around long-term economic growth.
HB 4102
Expedited Regulatory Review at DEQ
This bill would allow businesses and project applicants to enter voluntary agreements with the Department of Environmental Quality to fund additional staff or authorized third-party support to expedite regulatory review and permitting timelines, without changing underlying environmental standards. The Chamber is monitoring this proposal for its potential to improve predictability and efficiency in the regulatory process.
SB 1566
Prevailing Wage Exemptions for Affordable Housing
This bill supports economic development by providing prevailing wage exemptions for qualifying affordable housing projects, helping reduce development costs and improve project feasibility. While supportive of these targeted exemptions, the Chamber continues to advocate for greater flexibility in prevailing wage requirements more broadly, particularly for large-scale economic development and job-creating projects where labor cost constraints can directly affect investment decisions, project viability, and Oregon’s competitiveness. Learn More.
SB 1586
Oregon JOBS Act
This bill modernizes the Oregon JOBS framework to better support job-creating, traded-sector investment. SB 1586 expands and aligns key economic development tools, including incentives for advanced manufacturing and innovation, enhanced enterprise zone flexibility, improved coordination for large industrial sites, and increased transparency and predictability in state permitting processes. By addressing site readiness, investment certainty, and permitting timelines together, the bill helps Oregon compete more effectively for major private investment while supporting business retention and expansion across the state. Learn More.
HB 4073
Regulatory Fiscal Impact and Transparency
This bill focuses on strengthening Oregon’s regulatory process by requiring more rigorous fiscal and economic impact analysis of proposed administrative rules, with specific attention to costs and impacts on businesses and employers. By improving how agencies evaluate, document, and disclose the economic consequences of regulations before they are adopted, HB 4073 promotes more informed decision-making and helps reduce unintended regulatory burdens that can slow investment.
HB 4108
Noncontiguous Land Annexation
This bill enables property owners of noncontiguous parcels within an acknowledged urban growth boundary to secure city annexation when they collectively petition and the land meets statutory criteria, expanding options for municipal service delivery and coordinated development. The Chamber supports this concept as it increases land use flexibility and can improve the supply of annexable land for housing and mixed-use projects, which in turn promotes economic growth and community investment.
Bills UNFAVORABLE to Economic Competitiveness
These bills would weaken Oregon’s economic competitiveness by allowing Transient Lodging Tax revenues to be diverted from their original, voter-supported purpose of tourism promotion and hospitality-related economic development into general government operations. Diluting this targeted investment undermines a proven job-creation and visitor-spending strategy, reducing long-term economic returns for local communities, which is why the Chamber has joined the statewide HOST coalition opposing these proposals. Learn more.
HB 4015
Federal Tax Code Disconnection
This bill would move Oregon away from alignment with the federal tax code, creating added complexity and uncertainty for employers and taxpayers and increasing compliance costs for businesses operating in the state. Of particular concern is the potential disconnection from federal provisions that incentivize capital investment, including business deductions that support equipment purchases, expansion, and job creation, which could discourage reinvestment and weaken Oregon’s overall business climate.
SB 1507
Retail Sales Tax Framework
This bill is intended to restructure Oregon’s tax system by linking the future adoption of a statewide retail sales tax to reductions in certain income and business taxes. The Chamber supports thoughtful tax reform that improves stability and competitiveness, but remains concerned that the bill does not specify or guarantee the scope, permanence, or distribution of the promised tax reductions. As written, it contemplates a significant new tax without clearly defining how the overall tax burden on businesses and households would be reduced or rebalanced.
HB 4094
Paid Time Off Cash-Out Requirements
This bill would require employers to allow employees to cash out accrued paid time off under specified circumstances, reducing employer flexibility in how PTO policies are designed and managed. The Chamber is concerned that mandating PTO cash-outs interferes with employer-provided benefit structures, increases administrative and financial burdens, and limits the ability of businesses to tailor leave policies that balance workforce needs with operational realities.
HB 4089
Criminal Penalties for Wage and Hour Violations
This bill would expand Oregon’s use of criminal penalties to enforce wage and hour requirements, shifting violations that are currently handled through civil or administrative processes into the criminal justice system. The Chamber is concerned that this approach would apply broadly, capturing technical or inadvertent violations in addition to intentional misconduct, increasing legal risk for employers and creating disproportionate consequences that do not align with the nature or severity of many workplace disputes.
HB 4134
Statewide Transient Lodging Tax Increase
This bill would increase the statewide Transient Lodging Tax, raising costs for visitors and the hospitality sector while further straining an industry that remains sensitive to price competitiveness and economic cycles. Increasing the tax burden on tourism risks reducing visitor demand and local spending, ultimately undermining a key driver of job creation and regional economic vitality, particularly in communities that rely heavily on visitor-based economies.
HB 4098
Insurance Unlawful Trade Practices
This bill would expand the list of actions related to insurance that qualify as unlawful trade practices under Oregon law and authorize enhanced court remedies, increasing potential liability and enforcement exposure for insurers and businesses operating in the state. Broadening liability under the Unlawful Trade Practices Act creates greater legal risk and cost for employers, which in turn can dampen investment, raise insurance premiums, and strain the business environment. Learn more.
SB 1505
Home and Community-Based Services Workforce Standards Board
This bill would create a workforce standards board with authority to adopt minimum standards for compensation, training, benefits, and other workplace conditions for Oregon’s home and long-term care industry. While the Chamber supports efforts to strengthen workforce stability, we are deeply concerned that assigning broad rulemaking authority over wages and working conditions to an appointed board sets a precedent for delegating core policy decisions away from elected representatives and could have implications for other sectors.
SB 1511
Estate Tax “No Net Loss” Adjustment
This bill restructures Oregon’s estate tax by increasing the exemption threshold while simultaneously raising rates to ensure no net revenue loss to the state. While the Chamber supports thoughtful adjustments to the estate tax, this approach concentrates the tax burden on a smaller group of estates, effectively offsetting and, in many cases, negating the benefit of a higher threshold and increasing the disincentive for long-term investment, business succession, and capital retention in Oregon.
SB 1541
Climate Superfund
This bill would impose retroactive financial liability on selected companies for historical greenhouse gas emissions and establish an ongoing cost-recovery program to fund climate-related projects and infrastructure. The Chamber is concerned that layering a superfund-style penalty on top of existing state climate programs that already require large emitters to pay into compliance and mitigation systems creates legal uncertainty, increases cumulative cost burdens, and undermines Oregon’s economic competitiveness.
Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce Business Advocacy
The Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce is a trusted convener and provider of business resources. They recognize the systemic interdependencies of a healthy economy and provide an ear and a voice for local business at the confluence of government, commerce, and community. They advocate for business by increasing visibility, dialogue, and representation at local, state, and federal policy circles around issues of impact and interest to their members. Learn more about the Chamber’s Business Advocacy work.
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