Thousands of bills meander their way through the legislature each session, but only a select few ever become law. Regardless, legislators still put a great deal of effort into proposing, hearing and working on bills, but House Democratic Communication Director Michael Cox said the state’s financial burdens will affect which bills become laws and which ones die.
“There are a lot of really interesting bills out there but given these times, the focus on a bill is what the fiscal impact is going to be on the state,” he said.
All bills must have had a legislative hearing and have a work session scheduled by today; otherwise, they are “dead.”
House Bill 2575 proposed the state give full college tuition scholarships to high school seniors who graduated with a 3.5 grade point average or above, but the bill’s $275 million impact proved too costly for the state. Because of the bill’s projected cost, Oregon Student Association Representative Tom Hojem said no one expected the bill to pass.
“It wasn’t expected that the bill would become a law in this session,” he said. “It was proposed to generate discussion about how the legislature could help families make college more affordable.”
House Bill 3071, which would increase the authority of the Department of Public Safety on college campuses, is another bill that may soon be dead.
“Its status is not entirely known. It could move forward, but it is also likely that it might die in committee,” Hojem said.
The bill would give DPS the ability to write tickets for violations on college campuses. It would also make assaulting a DPS officer and a police officer equal offenses.
Another bill that is likely to die is Senate Bill 478. The bill would allocate more money from the Oregon Opportunity Grant to private schools in Oregon, but has not yet been scheduled for a work session.
Hojem does emphasize, however, that people shouldn’t jump to conclusions about a bill’s fate.
“It is important to stress that a bill is never truly dead until session is over,” Hojem said.
However, despite some bills’ looming deaths, many bills that affect students are still being strongly considered by legislators.
The beer tax and smoking bills have had hearings and work sessions scheduled. House Bill 2461 would raise the beer tax by 1,900 percent, and House Bill 2974 would raise the legal smoking age from 18 to 21 and increase the smoking tax 60 cents.
A spokesperson from Rep. Ben Cannon’s office said all revenue options are being kept on the table because the state of the economy.
House Bill 2386, which would allow students to register to vote and change their voting address online, has also already had its hearing and work session.
Friday is the first deadline for legislature, but there are more to follow. By April 28 all bills must be moved from their house of origin; all House bills must move to the Senate and Senate bills must move to the House.
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