Keep An Eye On These Bills Next Year

The 2021 Oregon Legislature wrapped up in June, but not before approving SB 500, granting independence to the Oregon Public Records Advocate's office. The SPJ-backed protection should shield the Advocate, who offers training and mediation around the state, from pressures like those that led to the controversial departure of Ginger McCall in 2019. 

SPJ successfully spearheaded opposition to last-minute legislation that would have made it harder to access public employees' personally identifiable information, a topic that will be discussed over the interim.

In other news: 

  • Legislative leadership declined to move SB 719, an SPJ-backed bill to increase access to public health data, before the session ended. 

  • Two pieces of legislation backed by SPJ to open up access to police disciplinary records did not pass, though momentum is already gathering for next year. 

  • The session ended without a vote on HB 2485, a public records fee reform bill pushed by SPJ; it came close to getting traction — having three times been scheduled for a vote in House Rules — and government lobbyists committed to discussing it after the session. 

  • An SPJ bill to guarantee journalist access to wildfires will go to a workgroup in the interim to hammer out areas of disagreement.

Bottom line: Several lobbyists told us it was a difficult session, as COVID-19 and the push for social justice reforms made it hard to get leadership's attention. Lawmakers, however, complimented the energy and savvy of SPJ's lobbyist, Tom Holt, and next year offers new hope for progress.


SPJ Oregon