Our 2023 legislative agenda

This year, our legislative agenda advances the 10 pillars of the Oregon Green New Deal by focusing on three key pillars chosen based on collaboration from our policy committee. Those three key pillars are: invest in resilient communities and a just recovery, ensure housing justice, and advance clean energy opportunity.

Whether it be heat waves, drought, ice storms, or wildfires, the place we call home is where we take care of each other. The challenges we face are connected, and so are the solutions. For instance, when everyone in our community has a safe, affordable home, more Oregonians will be safe during the next heat wave.

This year, we have an opportunity to make communities in every corner of the state more resilient by ensuring they have safe and affordable housing, access to clean energy, and community support before, during, and after climate disasters.

Frontline communities are most impacted by the climate crisis, including people of color, low-income families, people with disabilities, and people in rural areas. These legislative solutions will create a more healthy and resilient Oregon where everyone can thrive, and that’s why we’re joining together in Salem to find solutions.

Resilience agenda

  • PASSED: Invest in resilient communities

    OJTA’s 2020 Listening Tour led us to focus on community needs to recover from and prepare for climate-related disasters such as wildfires, droughts, and floods. This year, we advocate for the creation of essential infrastructure that protects our most vulnerable communities from climate harms.

    How We Invest

  • PASSED: Ensure housing justice

    Many people in Oregon struggle to find a home they can afford in a neighborhood with good-paying jobs, green spaces, and walkable neighborhoods. It doesn’t have to be this way. We advocate for increasing the number of affordable homes built in our state while making sure they are built in a way that will most benefit frontline communities.

    How We Ensure

  • PASSED: Advance clean energy opportunity

    Building resilience means building smart from the start, so new homes and buildings run on clean energy. It also means electrification and efficiency upgrades to make them healthier, more affordable, and better for the environment. Moving toward clean energy and away from methane “natural” gas is a win-win-win for Oregonians.

    How We Advance

Download a PDF of our 2023 Resilience Agenda.

Other endorsements

  • SB 426 aims to prevent children's exposures to pesticides on playgrounds, cafeterias, learning spaces and sports fields.

  • HB 2396 directs the Environmental Quality Commission to establish and implement an indirect source review program to control emissions of air contaminants from indirect sources of air pollution.

  • HB 2658 directs the Department of Transportation to determine carbon emissions of motor vehicles and impose additional registration fees based on relative vehicle carbon emissions.

  • SB 610 establishes the Food for All Oregonians Program within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to provide nutrition assistance to residents of this state who would qualify for federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program but for immigration status.

  • SB 907 builds on Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) worker protection standards for heat/smoke to protect workers’ right to refuse work in certain dangerous conditions, e.g. AQI over 300 or extreme temperatures, or other dangerous conditions.

  • Fix It First (HB 2677)

    This legislation would use federally required Transportation Asset Management Plan (TAMP) data submitted by ODOT as a metric to assess the highway state of good repair conditions. For any project adopted into the Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan that is a roadway expansion project, ODOT must provide a funding plan for maintenance on the project that shows how this project will not negatively impact the state of good repair of the highway system.

    Oregon Transportation Commission Reform (SB 2619)

    SB 2619 modifies membership of the Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC). It directs the governor to appoint at least one member who is younger than 25, one who gets around without a car, one who has a disability, and one who represents Oregon tribes. The bill also seeks the appointment of an OTC executive director to manage and oversee the commission, as well as other accountability measures.

    Greenhouse Gas Measurement (Colorado Rule) (HB 3483)

    HB 3483 directs the Environmental Quality Commission to establish transportation greenhouse gas reduction targets. It modifies requirements of long-range transportation plans developed by Oregon Transportation Commission to require that plan achieve greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. It also directs the commission to consider whether projects included in statewide transportation improvement programs are consistent with targets.