OSPIRG’s 2025 Legislative Agenda

OSPIRG is an advocate for the public interest. We speak out for the public and stand up to special interests on problems that affect the public’s health, safety and wellbeing. We’re excited to announce our agenda for Oregon’s 2025 legislative session.

Expanding Access to Repair 

Right to Repair

Companies use their power in the marketplace to make things harder to repair and many won’t make the tools, schematics or replacement parts available for sale, so even if repairs can be done by the user or an independent repair business, it’s more challenging and done with suboptimal products. Oregon’s landmark right to repair law, passed in 2024, expanded repair access for consumer electronics and appliances but there are more products that face obstacles to repair. 

Senate Bill 550 would expand Oregon’s current right to repair law to require manufacturers to provide necessary resources – from parts and tools to embedded software and essential documentation – to both wheelchair owners and independent repair providers. 

Senate Bill 549 would allow wheelchair users to get their fixed by a technician without having to wait for prior authorization from Medicaid.

Repair Scores

Another tool to make more products last longer is increasing consumer knowledge about how repairable a product is before they purchase it at the store. Repair scores for tech such as laptops, phones, and appliances are like EnergyGuide labels for repairability. They provide consumers with a 1 through 10 score that measures availability of spare parts, ease of disassembly, and longevity of support, before they purchase expensive devices.

Senate Joint Memorial 8 would call on federal regulators to develop a repair score program for a range of products so that the state could later mandate the display of repair scores for consumers. 

Tackling Food Waste

We waste too much food in Oregon– almost 1 million tons of food went uneaten in 2022 alone. That would fill enough garbage trucks to line up along I-5 from the Northern to the Southern borders of Oregon almost three times. About one third of that uneaten food ends up in landfills where it produces methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Given the amount of time, resources and labor it takes to produce our food, the last thing we should do is toss it in the trash, when it could be used to feed Oregonians or enrich our soil. 

House Bill 3018 would standardize food labeling practices to reduce consumer confusion, and require large food waste generators to responsibly dispose of wasted food using alternative methods like composting, rather than sending it to the landfill.

High Value Health Care

The cost of health care continues to rise in Oregon, taking up more of the resources of consumers, businesses, and the public every year. OSPIRG is pushing for policies that will maintain a competitive marketplace, increase consumer choice, and provide better value for consumers.

Limiting hidden hospital “facility fees”

Big hospital systems are tacking on hidden medical fees to patients’ bills just for simply walking in the door– not for actually receiving care. These hidden fees, also known as “facility fees,” can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars and are often not covered by insurance. Many patients are unaware of these fees until the bill arrives, making it difficult for Oregonians to plan for medical expenses even for routine care. 

Senate Bill 539 would limit facility fees for certain routine services and in outpatient clinics, require prior patient notification before fees are charged, and allow the state to collect data on how, where, and to whom these fees are being charged.

Protecting consumers from surprise out of network ambulance bills 

In a medical emergency, patients don’t get to decide which ambulance will respond. Out-of-network ambulances are often dispatched, leaving some Oregonians on the hook for surprise bills of hundreds of dollars. 

House Bill 3243 would prohibit balance billing for ambulance ground transportation services and create a database of local rates for ambulance services to allow for oversight and penalties. However, in its current form we are concerned that the mandated reimbursement rate to ambulance providers would contribute to growing health care costs in the system. We are working to amend the bill to make sure it protects consumers and prevents further increases in the overall cost of health care in Oregon. 

Maintaining programs that address cost growth and consolidation 

Oregon has taken meaningful action in recent years  in addressing the underlying causes for health cost growth through the creation of the Health Care Cost Growth Target and Health Care Market Oversight Program. OSPIRG opposes any policies to weaken these programs or limit their ability to fulfill their mission of bending the health care cost curve and closely scrutinizing further consolidation in the health care market. 

Controlling prescription drug costs 

The high cost of prescription drugs is a major driver of rising health care costs and public expenditures. 

OSPIRG supports policies to further increase transparency throughout the prescription drug supply chain and empower the Prescription Drug Affordability Board to directly limit the high prices of the drugs they review and deem too expensive for Oregonians.

Consumer Protection

Oregonians should be empowered and informed to protect themselves in a rapidly changing marketplace. OSPIRG supports the rights and interests of consumers across the state and champions pro-consumer legislation.

Ending credit reporting on medical debt
Imagine rushing to the emergency room for a life-saving procedure, only to find out months later that the resulting medical debt has wrecked your credit score. This scenario is a harsh reality for too many Oregonians. People should not have to pay higher interest rates when buying a car or not be able to rent an apartment because they get sick or injured. 

Senate Bill 605 will ban this harmful practice by removing medical debt from consumer credit reports and exclude it from credit reports used in tenant and employment screenings.

Transparent auto financing
A car is often one of the most expensive purchases we’ll ever make. Right now, when an Oregon consumer negotiates to buy a car and gets financing at the dealership, the deal can remain open for 14 days. That means they can leave the lot with their new car, only to find out weeks later that the terms of the loan have completely changed.

House Bill 3178 will protect consumers so they can feel confident that car dealers will honor the loan terms they agreed to at the time of purchase.

Predatory interest rate opt-out
Online lenders like Check ‘n Go and OppFi who partner with out-of-state banks should not be able to ignore Oregon’s law that caps interest rates for consumer loans at 36%. Interest rates of 160% or more are unacceptable. 

House Bill 2561 will opt Oregon out of a federal law that allows lenders to bypass Oregon regulations and charge exorbitant interest rates that keep consumers in debt.

Common sense regulation of insurance
Oregon’s Unlawful Trade Practices Act (UTPA) is a powerful tool for consumers to hold bad actors accountable when they are harmed by deceptive or fraudulent business practices. Insurance is currently the only major industry not covered by the UTPA. 

House Bill 174 will include insurance so that the industry is covered under the UTPA.

Protection from predatory towing
Having your car towed is already a hassle. On top of that, predatory towing practices, like denying access to personal items that are left in your car, make the experience even worse. 

We support policies that: 

• set maximum rates for towing and storage
• protect consumers when their vehicle is illegally towed or damaged
• require towers provide exact change on the same day if a person pays with cash 
• allow vehicle-owners to pay for towing and storage with a credit card
• provide the owner or insurance company with an itemized receipt

Beyond Plastic

Nothing we use for a few minutes should pollute the environment for hundreds of years. Most of us diligently recycle, take reusable bags with us when we shop, and look for new ways to stop using so much single use plastic “stuff”. Our individual actions are necessary, but won’t be enough. And since most plastic takes hundreds of years to fully degrade, almost every bit of that plastic will still be out there piling up in landfills, littering our streets, and polluting our environment for generations to come. It’s time to move beyond single-use plastic by getting rid of the most harmful waste, and stopping the use of things we truly don’t need.

Updating Oregon’s bag law and eliminating more wasteful single-use plastics
In 2019, Oregon passed the “Sustainable Shopping Initiative” to phase out plastic film grocery bags. However, grocery stores and restaurants are still allowed to provide plastic film bags to customers, as long as they are “reusable.” This has led to thicker plastic bags being handed out at check out, with no evidence that they are being reused. 

Senate Bill 551 would phase out all plastic film bags at checkout. This bill would also phase out single-use plastic toiletries at lodging establishments and add plastic utensils and condiments to our existing “upon request” laws.

Defending the Recycling Modernization Act
The Oregon legislature passed the Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act in 2021. This law will modernize Oregon’s recycling system, ensure responsible end markets for recyclables, bring producers in to start bearing some of the costs of the system and bring recycling to even more Oregonians. These big, important changes will be going into effect on July 1, 2025, and we will be working to ensure it launches successfully and on time. 

Transform Transportation

From the thousands of lives cut short every year by transportation pollution, to the ever-present threat of traffic accidents on our roads, to the damage diesel emissions are doing to our climate — our country’s car-centric transportation system comes with heavy costs. It’s time to prioritize investments in clean, safe, and well-maintained transportation rather than costly projects like freeway expansions that will result in increased emission levels. Transportation should reconnect Oregonians to the environment and their communities without wasting billions of dollars on megaprojects or compromising public health. As Oregon lawmakers work to develop a transportation package this year, OSPIRG will support policies that prioritize:

• Safety: Legislative action that prioritizes safe transportation, particularly for walking and biking. 

• Public Transit and Electric Vehicles: Expanded funding, education, and incentives for public transit and the use of electric vehicles.

• Investment in Maintenance: Diversify revenue sources to invest in maintenance and safety first and establish a fix-it-first policy before investing in expanded roads.

Transparent and Accountable Government

Oregonians have a right to know how government decisions are made and how taxpayer dollars are spent. Ensuring government transparency enables us to hold elected officials accountable and push back more effectively when powerful interests try to game the system. OSPIRG supports holding off on adding to the 500+ public records exemptions until the Oregon Sunshine Committee can finish its work of reviewing current exemptions and making a final recommendation to the legislature.

Additionally, Senate Bill 890 would update Oregon’s Sunshine Committee statute to make its work more effective and ensure the Committee has the necessary time to review all of its assigned public records exemptions. 

Higher Education 

While college attendance has grown over the past two decades, state appropriations and federal aid have failed to keep pace with the rising cost of college, shifting more costs to students and their families. As a result, more students than ever are experiencing increased rates of food insecurity, housing instability and challenges affording and accessing textbooks. 

House Bill 3182 would fund basic needs programs on campuses like direct aid to students and upgrades and capacity building for things like food pantries.

End the Nicotine Trap

Big tobacco has a long history of targeting children as an untapped market. Tobacco companies use deceptive marketing practices and fun flavors to create life-long addictions and a life-long customer base in one fell swoop. Flavored vapes are a clear pipeline to life-long nicotine dependency for children. 

Senate Bill 702 would ban the sale of flavored nicotine products, including flavored vapes, and limit the sale of cigarettes and similar products to licensed stores.