David Smith

This bill expands the power of the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to control procurement, adjust scholarship eligibility for teacher pipelines, and exempts certain higher education subcommittees from public meetings laws while launching new studies and reports. It entrenches unelected higher-ed bureaucrats with less transparency and more authority over Oregon’s universities. CPAC opposes expanding opaque higher education bureaucracy at taxpayer expense and opposed this bill. The Senate passed this bill on 2025-06-11 by a vote of 13-10. The bill later became law.

This bill expands state-directed funding streams, grant programs, and eligibility lists for youth experiencing homelessness, directing agencies to design new spending recommendations and programs rather than reforming failed policies that fuel homelessness. It puts more money and power into state bureaucracies instead of enforcing public safety, strengthening families, or promoting accountability for service providers. CPAC opposes endless program expansion that ignores accountability and root causes of homelessness and opposed this bill. The Senate passed this bill on 2025-06-26 by a vote of 28-0. The bill later became law.

This bill creates new crimes for so-called rapid fire activators with severe penalties, lets local governments gut concealed handgun license protections in public buildings by converting lawful carry into a misdemeanor, and locks in broad enforcement of Ballot Measure 114’s restrictive gun provisions. It further chips away at the rights of law-abiding gun owners while doing little to deter criminals. CPAC opposes new infringements on lawful gun owners and opposed this bill. The Senate passed this bill on 2025-05-29 by a vote of 17-12. The bill later became law.

This bill creates a task force to study the impacts of Ballot Measures 5 and 50, with a particular focus on so-called disparate impacts, and orders a Legislative Fiscal Officer report on options to “modernize” the property tax system. It opens the door to undermining Oregon’s voter-approved property tax limits and justifying future tax hikes under the banner of equity. CPAC opposes efforts that set the stage for dismantling taxpayer protections and opposed this bill. The Senate passed this bill on 2025-06-23 by a vote of 18-11. The bill later became law.

This bill eliminates statutory caps on fees the Higher Education Coordinating Commission may charge to review a school’s degree-authorization application and instead lets the commission set fees by rule to recoup its costs. It hands unelected regulators broad authority to hike fees on educational institutions, costs that will ultimately be passed on to students. CPAC opposes giving higher-ed regulators unchecked fee-setting power and opposed this bill. The Senate passed this bill on 2025-06-12 by a vote of 18-10. The bill later became law.

This bill requires county and city elections officials to post specified election documents on local government websites within a defined timeframe and allows reasonable fees in some instances. It promotes transparency and public oversight of election-related paperwork. CPAC supports greater transparency in election administration and supported this bill. The Senate passed this bill on 2025-05-07 by a vote of 29-0. The bill later became law.

This bill sets the biennial budget for the Higher Education Coordinating Commission, appropriating General Fund, lottery, federal, and other revenues while authorizing extensive spending authority across multiple programs. It inflates the higher-education administrative state instead of demanding cost discipline and ideological neutrality on campus. CPAC opposes growing higher-ed spending without accountability or reform and opposed this bill. The Senate passed this bill on 2025-06-16 by a vote of 21-7. The bill later became law.

This bill extends existing taxes on the privilege of harvesting merchantable forest products on Oregon forestlands and sets new rates going forward. It continues to treat a vital natural resource industry as a revenue target for state government. CPAC opposes extending and increasing targeted taxes on job-creating industries and opposed this bill. The Senate passed this bill on 2025-06-20 by a vote of 20-7. The bill later became law.