2022 Legislative Recap
A short session with major wins
The second session of the biennium runs just five weeks, meaning there is less time to pass legislation. Despite the fast pace, determined advocates for racial justice and their allies organized and lobbied the legislature to pass critical policies and resulted in major wins for racial justice in a wide range of issues areas, including the criminal legal system, immigrant rights, environmental justice, housing, and economic justice. This work has only been possible based on the years of community organizing and policy advocacy done by many of our member and partner organizations, and the leadership of the growing BIPOC Caucus. Read on for a detailed recap of the many wins for our priority agenda items, as well as unfinished business to complete in the 2023 legislative session.
Wins for Racial Justice
We are proud to have worked alongside our members and partners for the following wins for racial justice from our 2022 legislative agenda:
Community Safety
Transforming Justice (SB 1510) Building upon the success of HB 2002 during the 2021 legislative session, this legislation will reduce racial disparities in traffic stops, improve success for people on parole, and create a Justice Reinvestment Equity Program supporting culturally-specific services to address racial disparities, reduce prison use, and help people heal.
Community Gun Violence Prevention (budget): The current rise in gun violence has harmed communities across Oregon, with a particularly devastating impact on young BIPOC people, families, and communities. Community-based organizations providing culturally-responsive and culturally-specific services will receive $15 million in investments to address this crisis and support thriving, safe communities.
Immigrant Rights
Universal Representation: (SB 1543) Thousands of immigrants call Oregon their home, yet there is no guarantee of legal representation in removal proceedings, which can have severe, lasting consequences for impacted individuals, families, and communities. Deportations take immigrants away from their communities and tear families apart. Now, thousands more immigrants in deportation proceedings will have access to legal support and other services, helping more families stay together.
Oregon Worker Relief Fund: (budget) The Oregon Worker Relief Fund has been a critical source of support to Oregonians who are not eligible for unemployment insurance. This additional $65 million investment will help sustain critical financial relief during the ongoing crisis for workers.
Economic Justice
Farmworker Overtime (HB 4002): Every worker deserves to be treated with dignity and paid fairly for hours they work, yet agricultural workers have been excluded from overtime pay. Farmworkers will soon be paid fairly for their labor as overtime pay requirements are phased in over the next few years, impacting an estimated 174,000 workers. This long overdue policy helps redress the racist exclusion of farmworkers from overtime provisions in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
Equity Investment Act (SB 1579): This legislation helps remedy the impacts that decades of over-policing, discriminatory policies, and the War on Drugs have had on Black, Indigenous, and Latinx communities by establishing pathways to economic opportunity through $15 million in funding for the newly-established Equity Investment Fund to provide grants to culturally-responsive organizations to support entrepreneurship, workforce development, and paths to home and land ownership.
Child Care for Oregon (HB 4005): COVID-19 shutdowns and the resulting fallout made our inadequate child care system more apparent than ever. HB 4005 increased payments to providers of Employment Related Day Care, increasing affordability, and the Child Care Emergency Response Package was an unprecedented $100 million investment that will be used to support parents and providers, expand access to care, and make our childcare system more equitable.
Stable Homes for Oregon Families:
Housing Stability and Homelessness Prevention Package (budget): In a historic investment for housing, the legislature allocated $400 million to address needs across the housing spectrum, including homeless services, building more affordable homes, and helping low income Oregonians access homeownership to address long-standing inequities in housing as well as to continue weathering the impacts of the pandemic.
Environmental Justice
Emergency Heat Relief (SB 1536): This legislation provides critical protections to vulnerable communities as we face the extreme weather impacts of climate change by allocating $34 million for emergency heat relief solutions that will keep Oregonians safe next summer, including funding for emergency air conditioners, heating and cooling pumps, and cooling centers. It also helps address barriers for renters to accessing cooling in both new and existing housing.
Environmental Justice for All (HB 4077): The strengthening of the Environmental Justice Task Force through additional resources and a new name as the Environmental Justice Council—and better data collection and systems in this legislation will build our state’s infrastructure to advance racial and climate justice.
Education
Pacific Islander Student Success: New resources will create pathways to success for Pacific Islander students and be used to build a plan to meet their educational needs and end disparities in educational outcomes.
The work doesn’t end when the governor signs a bill—we must continue to work for equity in the implementation of these laws and budget investments. And as we move into the interim, we will begin strategizing to pass legislation that did not move this year, and envision future policies and legislation to advance racial justice.
Missed Opportunities
Despite the many wins, the intense pace of the short session can delay important legislative items from moving forward. Other legislation can be politically challenging to pass in a short session and election year. But racial justice cannot wait, and the legislature must take action in 2023 to pass these important policies and investments. Missed opportunities this session include:
Education
Funding for ethnic studies professional development: With ethnic studies, all students will be able to learn about the history and contributions of the diverse communities in our state. As Oregon implements new K–12 ethnic studies standards, our teachers need support and training to effectively teach students this critical material. Not providing these resources is effectively breaking our state’s promise to teachers.
Economic Justice
Race and Ethnicity Data Collection on Income Tax Forms
Disaggregated racial and ethnic data on our income tax forms will enable us to better understand the racial equity—and racial injustices—in our revenue system, including policies such as tax breaks. This legislation would have allowed taxpayers to voluntarily self-identify on their income tax form and give us this critical information.
Legislative Pay Equity:
In practice, serving in the legislature is a full-time job, but our state lawmakers are paid $34,000 per year. As we work to increase diverse representation in the legislature, we face a fundamental barrier: BIPOC leaders, who are less likely to have access to wealth or passive sources of income, realize they cannot support themselves or their families on this salary, and a wave of legislators retired this session for the same reasons.
Strengthening Democracy
Restoration of Voting Rights:
While important reforms to the criminal legal system passed in SB 1510, the legislature neglected to address injustices inflicted on Oregonians in prison, including the denial of voting rights for people in custody, a 150-year-old policy borne out of racist and exclusionary laws.
On to 2023
Thank you to the incredible advocates who organized their communities, educated legislators on the importance of these racial justice priorities, and ultimately secured the votes to pass these historic wins. We know we will be back stronger next year and work together to pass these missed opportunities and take on new priorities to advance racial justice in Oregon.
Support Our Work
Our legislative advocacy work is only possible through the support of our donors. Systemic change relies on individual supporters who believe in our mission for racial justice. Please consider celebrating our victories and preparing for the work ahead by making a contribution today. Thank you.