Sen. Chris Gorsek

Requires the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to establish a grant program for the purpose of supporting organizations to expand the scope and community reach of college access and success programs. Details the eligibility criteria to receive a grant and the factors the commission must consider when awarding grants. Appropriates moneys to the commission for purposes of the program. Declares an emergency, effective on passage.

Maddy summarySB 705 modifies Oregon's workers' compensation rules for workers with multiple jobs who suffer temporary total disability. It creates a new process where insurers can pay supplemental benefits based on combined earnings from all jobs (instead of just one job), but must then be reimbursed by the state Workers' Benefit Fund for the amount exceeding what would have been paid for a single-job worker. This directly affects injured workers with multiple jobs and their employers/insurers, ensuring the state covers the extra cost of these supplemental payments. The law applies to benefits payable starting January 1, 2026, and clarifies that these supplemental benefit costs won't impact insurance rate calculations.

] [ Requires online platforms to pay moneys to digital journalism providers and the Oregon Civic Information Consortium. Allows an online platform to use an arbitration process to determine the percentage of an online platform's advertising revenue to be remitted to digital journalism providers. ] Prohibits a covered platform from accessing for an Oregon audience the online content of a digital journalism provider without an agreement. Specifies requirements that an agreement must meet. Creates a private cause of action that a digital journalism provider may bring against a covered platform if the covered platform accesses for an Oregon audience the online content of the digital journalism provider without an agreement or fails to comply with an agreement. Allows for the recovery of the greater of statutory or actual damages, and for punitive damages. Bars a cause of action if the covered platform is participating in arbitration or in compliance with a final arbitration order, judgment or settlement agreement. Bars a cause of action for access that occurs between January 1, 2026, and December 31, 2027, if the covered platform elects to pay a certain sum amount. Allows a covered platform or group of digital journalism providers to initiate an arbitration process to determine a percentage of the covered platform's advertising revenue to be remitted to the digital journalism providers. Requires online platforms to report annually certain information about compensation paid to digital journalism providers. Establishes the Oregon Civic Information Consortium. Directs the consortium to award grants for applicants that seek to improve civic information.

Requires public elementary school students to be provided with recess time each day. Prohibits the withholding of recess or the imposition of physical activity as a form of discipline.

] [ Increases ] Specifies, for newly constructed buildings within a metropolitan jurisdiction, the percentage of electrical service capacity for charging electric vehicles or electric vehicle charging stations that must be installed at vehicle parking spaces in the garages or parking areas of [ newly constructed ] commercial buildings, multifamily buildings with [ five ] 10 or more units and mixed-use buildings consisting of privately owned commercial space and [ five ] 10 or more residential dwelling units.

] Directs [ the Department of Education and the Oregon Health Authority to jointly ] the Oregon Health Authority, in collaboration with the Department of Education and the Oregon Board of Optometry, to establish and implement a program that provides eye examinations , [ and ] prescription eyeglasses and related services to students from low-income families. Declares an emergency, effective on passage.

] [ Requires the Department of Corrections to study health care staffing by the department. Directs the department to submit findings to the interim committees of the Legislative Assembly related to the judiciary not later than September 15, 2026. ] Requires the Oregon Department of Administrative Services, in consultation with the Department of Corrections and the labor union representing staff employed in health services at the Department of Corrections, to conduct a market study biennially related to the wages and benefits of health services job classifications at the Department of Corrections institutions. Directs the Oregon Department of Administrative Services to submit a report on the results of the study to the interim committees of the Legislative Assembly related to health services, the Department of Corrections and the labor union representing staff employed in health services at the Department of Corrections. Establishes minimum staffing requirements that apply to the Department of Corrections for certain state employees at Department of Corrections institutions. Phases in minimum staffing ratios between certain state employees and the number of adults in custody to which the employees can be assigned at any time. Provides that violation of the minimum staffing requirements constitutes an unfair labor practice.

Maddy summaryHB 2967 prohibits Oregon landlords from charging applicants a fee to cover screening costs (like credit checks or reference verification) when applying for rental housing. It requires landlords to refund any such fee within 30 days if they don’t screen an applicant or if the applicant withdraws their application. Landlords must also provide written notice of screening criteria, costs, and applicant rights before collecting any fee. The bill applies directly to residential landlords and rental applicants in Oregon and is currently pending in committee.

Appropriates moneys from the General Fund to the Oregon Business Development Department for distribution to local governments and other entities for purposes related to public safety. Declares an emergency, effective July 1, 2025.

] Requires the Department of Corrections to enter into a contract , or renegotiate an existing contract, with a third party to provide voice communications services at no cost to persons confined at a Department of Corrections institution. Prohibits the receipt of financial or in-kind compensation by the department for providing voice communications services to persons in custody. Directs the department to submit a progress report on the implementation of the Act to the Legislative Assembly by February 1, 2026, and a biennial report on certain data to the Legislative Assembly no later than September 15 of each even-numbered year.