January Legislative Days in the Capitol

Posted by Pam Leavitt on January 15, 2026

Legislators are meeting this week in the Oregon Capitol for the final week of meetings in preparation for the 2026 legislative session. Your GoWest team spent the week talking to legislators, reviewing agenda items, and listening to bill concepts from legislators and other lobbyists.

The 2026 Session begins on February 2^nd and our short session Legislative Luncheon is on February 11^th from 11:00am-3:00pm. You can find more details and register here. We would love to see you and your team there or talk about what your participation could look like.

A couple issues to highlight:

Earned Waged Access (EWA) Discussion – The Association has been invited to a discussion around possible bill in the 2026 session to allow the state to begin to regulate these accounts. No bill has been introduced to date.

EWA, also called On-Demand Pay, lets employees get a portion of their wages as they earn them, before their scheduled payday, through an app or employer benefit. It helps workers cover unexpected expenses or manage cash flow between paychecks, acting as an alternative to high-cost options like payday loans, by giving them access to their own money. The advanced amount is then automatically deducted from their regular paycheck on payday.

We believe that Housing Advocates will be introducing legislation to eliminate Oregon Mortgage Interest Deduction on second homes.

The mortgage interest deduction is an itemized tax deduction that allows homeowners to subtract the amount of interest paid on their home loan(s) from their federal taxable income. This lowers their total tax liability but requires the taxpayer to itemize deductions instead of taking the standard deduction.

The Oregon Realtors Association has created a campaign called “keep your mortgage tax deductions.” We are waiting to see the legislation and who may be introducing the bill. In previous sessions, housing advocates have ask for over 100 million dollars for various homeownership programs. The concept is only expected to bring in 10 million.

This is challenging for credit unions as we have been working side by side with Housing advocates on several pieces of legislation and we do not believe this concept is the way to fund long-term homeownership programs.

In addition, there were hearings on consumer credit, data privacy, debt consolidation companies and several housing discussions.

Chief Prosperity Officer

On Wednesday, Governor Tina Kotek announced that former Republican State Senator Tim Knopp will serve as the Governor’s new Chief Prosperity Officer, charged with spearheading the work in her office to increase the state’s gross domestic product, create family-wage jobs, and grow Oregon businesses consistent with the goals outlined in the Governor’s Prosperity Roadmap.

Last week, Governor Kotek announced the members of her Prosperity Council, co-chaired by Ampere founder Renee James and Port of Portland Executive Director Curtis Robinhold. The Council will hold its first meeting later this month.

Knopp, a native Oregonian and Central Oregon resident of more than four decades, brings decades of experience in public service, small business leadership, and community engagement to his work supporting Oregon’s economy and communities.

Knopp served three terms in the Oregon House of Representatives from 1999 to 2005, including as House Majority Leader, then later served in the Oregon Senate from 2013 to 2025, including as Senate Minority Leader and a member of Ways and Means and multiple policy committees spanning workforce, health care, education and human services.

Posted in Advocacy on the Move, Oregon Advocacy.