Oregon Capitol Updates
Posted by Pam Leavitt on January 6, 2025

Statewide Elected Officials Sworn In
On Monday, Jan. 6, GoWest staff attended the swearing in ceremonies for Oregon’s newly elected Secretary of State, Tobias Read, and State Treasurer, Elizabeth Steiner.
Secretary Read was sworn in at Willamette University in Salem where he attended college and has long supported the school that is located across the street from the Oregon State Capitol. Kerry Tymchuk, Executive Director of the Oregon Historical Society, gave the over 300 attendees a history of the those who served in the role since the State began in 1859.
In the evening at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland, State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner was sworn in by Governor Tina Kotek.
Committee Assignments
Over the holidays, the Speaker of the House and Senate President released the committee assignments for the 2025 legislative session. These are the important committees we will track priority legislation. A couple of committees we watch closely that will review legislation related to financial institutions are:
House Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee: Nathan Sosa, Chair, and Representatives David Gomberg, Farrah Chaichi, Courtney Neron, Virgle Osborne, E. Werner Reschke, Jami Cate, Kim Wallan, Willy Chotzen, and Jules Walters
Senate Labor and Business: Sen. Kathleen Taylor, Chair, and Senators Daniel Bonham, Aaron Woods, Cedric Hayden, and Khanh Pham
Getting Ready for Session!
Legislators will be sworn in on Jan. 13 and have one full week of training prior to the start of committee hearings on Jan. 21.
More than 1,200 bills have been pre-session filed with the Chief Clerk’s Office. In comparison, in 2015, there were 795 pre-session filed bills. These bills represent the bills that will be First Read on Jan. 13. The deadline to introduce unlimited amounts of legislation for each member ends on Jan. 17. Therefore, that number is expected to grow even larger. After that, each member will most likely have five “priority” bills left to utilize.
Posted in Advocacy on the Move, Oregon Advocacy.