(The Center Square) – There’s a slew of new legislative priorities for Oregonians to make their acquaintance with this year, introduced at the behest of the state’s department of justice, and Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum. Seven bills are included in the 2023 legislative package, ranging in theme from consumer protection to abortion access, among other issues.
Taking the overturning of Roe v. Wade last year as a motivating factor, the Reproductive Health and Access to Care bill, not yet formally introduced, would expand access to abortion by working with clinics and providers.
“We are supporting legislative proposals to provide more access to care and provide legal protections for those who provide, assist and seek services,” the media release reads.
Two other pieces of legislation are likewise classified as not yet introduced. They include a bill dubbed Bias Crimes and Incidents, and the Labor Trafficking Task Force Bill. The former appears to build on the work of Oregon’s Bias Response Hotline, which provides “trauma-informed” and culturally sensitive professional input into incidents of bias, to introduce as-yet unknown improvements to currently existing bias crime laws. The latter labor bill (LC 3773), introduced by AG Rosenblum herself, seeks to shore up laws against trafficking in the context of coercive workplaces and job-seeking, and is informed by research conducted and experience gained in the last few years in this area of law.
The Ghost Guns Bill (HB 2005) takes aim at 3D-printed guns, thought to be particularly dangerous because of their lack of serial numbers combined with a trendy consumer technology. 3D-printed guns are not the only type of “ghost gun,” of course, and include those that can be built quickly using a pre-3D print technology kit. This is the bill in the 2023 legislative package that lists the most sponsors, at 7.
The Crime Victims Compensation bill expands on Oregon’s Crime Victims’ Compensation rules by fast-tracking the payment-compensation process for victims of crime, as well as increasing the payments, as “there are several statutory impediments that slow down the payment of expenses to victims and survivors,” according to the press release.
HB 2052, or Data Broker Transparency, would mandate that companies dealing in consumer data register with Oregon’s Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS). The goal is to allow consumers to opt-out of their data’s collection and sale.
Finally, the Oregon Consumer Privacy Act, not unlike HB 2052, makes consumer protection the focus. SB619 however relies on the input of a consumer task force formed in 2019 to implement consumer data safeguards that necessitate cooperation by businesses. “The Task Force (with over 150 participants) has developed Oregon-specific privacy legislation to provide meaningful protections,” explains the media release.