By DIRK VANDERHART/Oregon Public Broadcasting
New year, new rules.
As Oregonians ring in 2025, nearly two dozen bills passed by lawmakers early last year will quietly take effect. From stricter penalties for drug use on transit, to an easier path to fixing your broken device, to nabbing drivers who don’t yield to school buses, these new statutes cover a lot of ground.
Here’s a rundown of some of the more notable laws kicking in on New Year’s Day.
‘Right to repair’
With the passage of Senate Bill 1596 in early 2024, Oregon became the fourth state to enact a “right to repair” law. As of Jan. 1, the law requires companies that make cell phones and other consumer electronics to offer the tools and know-how to repair those devices.
The law is a reaction to the rollout of increasingly complex devices, and manufacturers that only grant the ability to make fixes to a limited network of technicians. That tends to make repairs more expensive.
Proponents say the policy will allow independent shops and owners to fix phones, and will cut down on waste as consumers repair their broken devices rather than purchasing a replacement. But while the law technically kicks in this year, the state won’t begin cracking down on violations until July 2027.
Drug use on transit
Lawmakers recriminalized possession of drugs like heroin and meth during the February 2024 session, setting new penalties in motion in September. But another new drug law takes effect Wednesday.
Responding to safety concerns on public transportation, the Legislature created new penalties for anyone openly using illicit drugs while riding a bus or light rail. That’s now a class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail – a stiffer penalty than the unclassified misdemeanor on the books for drug possession.
“Transit riders and employees should not have to worry about the unpredictable and potentially dangerous behavior of people who are using illicit drugs on public transit systems, nor fear the potential for health risks due to exposure to fumes, needles and residue,” a coalition of transit agencies said in testimony supporting the bill.
Lawmakers considered extending the penalties to drug use in transit centers and bus stops, but wound up scrapping that idea. It is still illegal to carry illicit drugs in those places.
Cleaner state investments
After years of unsuccessfully attempting to force the state to pull public investments in fossil fuel companies, advocates succeeded with a softer approach in 2024.
Under House Bill 4083, the Oregon State Treasury and Oregon Investment Council – two entities that have a hand in investing the $96 billion state pension fund – need to “act reasonably” to ensure the money isn’t invested in companies that mine coal or provide coal-powered energy.
The law requires those agencies to “make reasonable efforts” to investigate the companies the state invests in, and to provide notice Oregon will divest its money unless the companies take steps to transition away from coal – so long as that divestment can be accomplished without losing pensioners’ money.
School bus cameras
School bus drivers and their employers told lawmakers this past year that they’ve seen a growing problem: drivers who refuse to stop as required when school buses turn on their flashing red lights and extend their stop arms.
“We all know this behavior is illegal and dangerous and, alarmingly, our members who drive buses every day say incidents are increasing,” the Oregon School Employees Association wrote in testimony supporting House Bill 4147.
Now that the bill has taken effect, school districts are allowed to install cameras on the stop arms of buses, and to forward footage of drivers to police, who can then write a citation.
School board cameras
Starting Wednesday, school boards around the state will be required to post video or audio recordings of their regular meetings on the web within a week of the meeting.
Many school districts already go beyond that, offering livestream access to meetings as they occur. Senate Bill 1502 was conceived as a way to ensure that the entire state offers citizens insight into how important decisions around public education are carried out.
School districts with fewer than 50 students don’t have to comply with the new requirements, and meetings that aren’t public under state law don’t have to be posted.
SB 1502 originally included language that would have required school boards to livestream their meetings when practicable, but was amended after pushback from some districts worried such a mandate would sap their budgets.
Saving for a ‘rainy day’
One wonky change lawmakers took up last year could ensure that Oregon is prepared when economic hard times hit. Senate Bill 1562 raises the maximum amount that can sit in the state’s Rainy Day Fund before lawmakers are allowed to forego paying into the fund.
Under prior law, the Legislature was not required to make its regular payment into the fund as long as it contained enough money to cover 7.5% of the state’s general fund revenues. With a tiny tweak, lawmakers upped that threshold to 12.5% – theoretically ensuring the state will save more in the future.
The Rainy Day Fund currently sits at about $1.7 billion, and is scheduled to receive an additional $200 million in June.
Penalties for animal torture
Maybe the most gruesome topic lawmakers considered in 2024, House Bill 4145 established criminal penalties for people who create, distribute, or access footage of animals being killed or tortured.
Torturing or maliciously killing animals – which does not include legal and licensed fishing, hunting or trapping – was already a felony under state law. Now creating footage of such acts is also. Disseminating, possessing or accessing those recordings is a misdemeanor.
While there are federal laws against creating footage of animal torture, proponents of the bill testified that they can be difficult to enforce. The Humane Society of the United States called Oregon’s bill “an additional tool for law enforcement to tackle these cases that might otherwise evade prosecution.”
- This story originally appeared Jan. 1, 2025 on Oregon Public Broadcasting.