Rep. Mark Gamba

Maddy summaryHB 2985 modifies Oregon's administrative procedures for the Public Utility Commission (PUC). It exempts the PUC from standard hearing officer requirements under ORS 183.464 and excludes its final orders from public record accessibility rules under ORS 183.471. These changes streamline the PUC's internal administrative processes without altering utility rates or services. The bill is procedural, focusing solely on how the PUC conducts its administrative proceedings.

Directs the Department of Land Conservation and Development to take certain actions related to rocky habitat management. Authorizes the Oregon Ocean Science Trust to provide competitive grants for nonregulatory rocky habitat management programs. Appropriates moneys [ to the trust ] for the purpose of providing the grants. Declares an emergency, effective July 1, 2025.

] Directs the Department of the State Fire Marshal to establish a grant program to facilitate the retrofitting of dwellings [ and accessory structures ] to reduce vulnerability to wildfire. Appropriates moneys to the department out of the General Fund for the program. Declares an emergency, effective on passage.

Establishes the state policy on the purchase of new zero-emission school buses. Directs the Department of Environmental Quality to adopt rules to require the purchase of new zero-emission school buses in certain areas. Requires the purchase of new zero-emission school buses if the price is equal to a comparable school bus that is not zero-emission. Directs the department to provide technical and financial assistance to school bus fleet owners. Establishes the Zero-Emission School Bus Assistance Fund. Takes effect on the 91st day following adjournment sine die.

Prohibits a research facility from using public funds to directly fund medically unnecessary laboratory research on dogs or cats that is classified under certain pain and distress categories. Prohibits a person from conducting research or testing on nonhuman primates at the Oregon National Primate Research Center. Establishes the Task Force on Planning the Elimination of Research on Nonhuman Primates. Directs the task force to draft a plan for eliminating the breeding of, and research on, nonhuman primates at the Oregon National Primate Research Center. Exempts the task force from public meetings law requirements. Sunsets the task force in 2041.

Requires that public university foundations are subject to the public records laws of this state. Specifies the records that are exempt from disclosure. Specifies the records that are not exempt from disclosure. Requires public university foundations to release an annual report that is publicly available on the website maintained by the public university foundation. Declares an emergency, effective on passage.

Directs the State Department of Energy to develop an energy storage transition plan for the critical energy infrastructure hub. Takes effect on the 91st day following adjournment sine die.

] Directs the Oregon Business Development Department to develop a roadmap for the purpose of promoting voluntary industrial symbiosis activities in Oregon. Requires the department to submit a report to the interim committees of the Legislative Assembly related to economic development not later than September 15, 2026. Appropriates moneys to the Oregon Business Development Department to fund technical assistance for up to six industrial symbiosis pilot communities in Oregon. Authorizes certain county service districts to fund water resource management services with charges for district services, facilities or commodities. [ Sunsets on January 2, 2028. ] Declares an emergency, effective on passage.

] Requires community colleges to pay part-time faculty [ at the same rate, on a per-hour basis, as ] a certain percentage of the total salary that the community college pays equally experienced full-time faculty [ to prepare for and teach a course ] who teach comparable courses . Appropriates moneys to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission for the purpose of paying for salary equity. Declares an emergency, effective July 1, 2025.

Requires the Oregon Health Authority to establish and implement a permanent farmworker disaster relief program. Appropriates moneys out of the General Fund to the authority to carry out the program.