On April 12, Oregon State Public Interest Research Group students will travel to Washington D.C. to directly advocate with legislators. The application for this opportunity was sent to a select group of OSPIRG members.

OSPIRG had previously partnered with the Oregon Student Association in February. Both organizations lobbied in Salem, Oregon, in order to advocate for the Student Emergency Needs Package and the Right to Repair Act. Now, OSPIRG will join other public interest groups across the nation to lobby in D.C.

Addie Cooper, the current OSPIRG chapter chair, is looking forward to working with state legislators and other PIRG groups. 

“We share ideas with other chapters, which is one of my favorite things. I really love to emphasize how important Federal Lobby day is, and try to get as many people as we possibly can to Federal Lobby day because lobbying in D.C. is so different. Everyone should have that experience,” Cooper said. 

OSPIRG will be advocating for the Student Emergency Needs package (HB 4162), which would aid Oregon college students with housing, textbooks and other materials. The program would receive funds of $6 million, pulled from the state’s general fund, to go toward basic student needs. Following this, public universities across Oregon would be able to apply for Higher Education Coordinating Commission grants to fund their own basic needs programs. With funding, $5 million would go toward food and housing. The remaining $1 million will go to textbook affordability programs. 

Additionally, OSPIRG will be advocating for the Right to Repair Act (SB 1596) on a federal level. This requires tech manufacturers, such as Apple and Microsoft, to release the materials used to fix their devices to the public. Since repairs are limited to select service centers, this will make it easier for the public to fix their own devices. The Right to Repair Act was passed in the Oregon Senate on February 20. 

Prissila Moreno, the statewide vice chair for OSPIRG, is eager to lobby for the Right to Repair act on a national level after having lobbied for the act in Salem in February.

“We lobbied for Right to Repair last year, but it didn’t have as much momentum as it had this legislative session, but it was really awesome. When I lobbied for that in Salem, it was very clear that the representatives and senators definitely cleared with the initiative,” Moreno said. 

Kali Kleven, a coordinator for the New Voters project, reflected on what lobbying in Salem was like. 

“We went around and met with a lot of senators and representatives. Normally it’s just the staff people, but we were actually with a lot of representatives. We talked to them about the bills, and it was really cool to hear their perspectives. Especially on the flaws of the bills because that’s something that’s harder to look at as a student,” Kleven said. 

With both the Right to Repair act and the Student Emergency Needs package, OSPIRG is opening doors for more availability resources provided to the public. 

[Editors Note: OSPIRG will also be lobbying for the Affordable College Textbooks acts, RAWA, Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act, and Food and Date Labelling act, as well as the ones provided in the article.]