OPB Audio
From safer buses to phone fixes: A rundown of new Oregon laws
This is OPP. I'm Jeff Norcross. If you've ever bristled at the cost of getting your mobile phone repaired or wished the state of Oregon was less invested in coal companies, 2025 is already a good year for you. New state laws passed early last year took effect on January 1st. There were nearly two dozen of them. We're going to hit the big ones now with OPP Politics reporter, Derek Vanderhardt, Derek. Hi. Hey, Jeff. Let's talk about that so-called right-to-repair bill. What problem does it try to solve? Yeah, it's tries to solve a number of problems. The big one is that manufacturers of complex high-tech devices like smartphones have had a practice of limiting who has the know-how and tools to properly fix a broken phone. And they've also ensured in some cases that phones or other devices will cease to work properly if someone uses a cheaper third party part to complete repairs. That's something known as parts pairing. Oregon is now the fourth state to enact a right-to-repair law. And what it essentially says is device manufacturers must make the tools and instructions for making repairs available to both consumers and independent shops. That's aimed at lowering the price of repairs and just making them easier to get. This law is considered actually the most stringent in the nation because it also regulates that practice of parts pairing that I talked about. Do we have any idea from the three other states that have done this, how much it might actually save people? We don't. I have not seen that data, but we have some very vociferous advocates for this law that think it's going to do a lot of good. We also have this new law that stiffens the penalties for using illicit drugs on public transit. What are the details on that? I mean, it's essentially, as you say, lawmakers this year heard from transit agencies. They heard from unions who represent transit workers and in some cases riders about an increase in open drug use on trains and buses since, say, 2020. That's contributed to more riders feeling unsafe. So folks asked legislators to explicitly outlaw using drugs on transit by roping that behavior into an existing law against interfering with public transit as is known. As of New Year's Day, that's an effect that means using drugs on transit is a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. We've been through a lot when it comes to drugs over the past year. One of the big stories in 2024 was the decision by lawmakers to roll back some of measure 110 and basically re criminalize possession of illicit drugs. And I'm wondering if this new law is part of that whole move back to a stronger enforcement position. Yeah, I mean, it's definitely part of that larger conversation. I think one of the biggest issues lawmakers were wrestling with around drugs last year was how to address public use in general, right? Not just on transit. And there was a movement by some to outlaw only public use, but not to criminalize possession in general. Lawmakers ultimately chose, as you say, to re criminalize possession in general. But notably here, that's an unclassified misdemeanor that's actually less serious of offense now than using drugs on transit. Okay, advocacy groups have been trying to get the state to stop investing in coal companies through its pension system. There's a new law that doesn't do that exactly. But what does it do? Yeah, it's sort of a compromise after a number of unsuccessful attempts to force the state's huge pension fund out of coal investments. For context, the state currently invests about $96 billion in a wide variety of things. Advocates argue up to $1 billion of that is invested in coal companies. It's not always clear where it all sits. But the thinking behind these divestment bills is the state could help influence companies to operate in ways that are better for the environment by just pulling this huge amount of funding out. The state also though has a responsibility to make money for its pensioners through these investments. And what we've heard is that pulling money out of coal could be harmful to that, depending on how it happens. So this new law requires the state treasurer and the state's pension board to investigate their investments, take steps to divesting from companies that mine coal or burn coal-powered energy, if, and this is crucial, if that can be done without hurting state investment returns. It's not a necessity that we're going to pull out of these things. So it's basically just try harder. Try your best. And the treasurer has also said they want to get to net zero anyway. So it's sort of a complementary bill to something that's already in existence. Got it. You know, these laws were all enacted when Democrats had a simple majority in the legislature. Now they're going to have a super majority. I'm wondering what kind of bills and laws that will translate into this year. I mean, that's the big question. Where super majorities really matter, though, is in bills to raise taxes because those are the bills that require a three-fifths super majority in both chambers to pass. Democrats now have that, as you say, they have a bare super majority in each chamber. So there's going to be a big discussion next session about a number of things chiefly or maybe most notably where to find potentially billions of dollars to fund the state's Department of Transportation and some major existing highway projects. Like I say, Democrats technically have the ability to pass some sort of revenue package to do that. That doesn't necessarily mean, though, Jeff, as you know, that they can find something that's going to satisfy all Democrats are going to be palatable to Oregonians. Sure. Dark, thank you. Yeah, my pleasure. Dirk Vanderhard covers state politics for OPBE, and you can find more details about all these new laws that are now in effect at OPBE.org.
Nearly two dozen bills passed by Oregon lawmakers in early 2024 take effect on New Year’s Day.