2025 Legislative Session

2025 Session Results

The 2025 legislative session was a difficult one. Economic uncertainty drove down Oregon’s revenue forecast, leaving the Legislature with tough choices to make. But year after year, public health gets pushed aside—and Oregon’s communities pay the price. Despite CLHO advancing our most ambitious public health agenda to date, no new investments were made in Oregon’s public health system.

CLHO advocated for $65.2 million to ensure that local public health has the staff and tools needed to prevent disease and to equitably serve all Oregonians. We advanced a comprehensive public health agenda, including investments in Public Health Modernization, the public health workforce, addiction primary prevention, and maternal and child health, along with stronger policies for synthetic nicotine regulation and taxation.

However, many of our key proposals stalled in the Joint Committee on Ways and Means and never came to a full chamber vote:

HB 3916 – Public Health Workforce Package:
Would have addressed critical staffing shortages in local health departments across Oregon
HB 2954 – Addiction Primary Prevention:
Would have invested in prevention programs to stop substance use before it starts
HB 2528 – Synthetic Nicotine Regulation:
Would have strengthened protections for youth against unregulated and emerging nicotine products
Public Health Modernization funding:
Would have built a stronger, more flexible statewide public health system
Maternal and Child Health investments:
Would have supported healthy pregnancies and early childhood development

Without these investments, Oregon’s local health departments are forced to operate with shrinking resources, understaffed teams, and reduced capacity to respond to emerging health threats. Federal money from the pandemic has dried up, and public health remains underfunded and understaffed.

The reality:
Flat funding is actually a funding decrease. Rising staff costs mean the funding we have buys less this year than it did last year—so even maintaining current service levels becomes impossible.

CLHO’s 2025 Legislative Scorecard
Despite a challenging 2025 legislative session where no new investments were made in Oregon’s public health system, several legislators demonstrated exceptional leadership. CLHO’s 2025 Legislative Scorecard recognizes Public Health Champions, Rising Stars, and Honor Roll recipients who went above and beyond to support Oregon’s public health infrastructure. Check out the CLHO Legislative Scorecard 2025 to see who rose to the top!

2025 CLHO Legislative Scorecard

How You Can Help:

Thank the champions: Reach out to recognized legislators to express appreciation for their public health leadership
Contact your legislators: Let them know that public health funding matters to you and your community
Stay informed: Follow CLHO on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube
Share your story: Tell legislators how local public health services have impacted you or your family

Contact Your Legislators Now

CLHO Legislative Priorities - Detailed Overview:

Priority 1: Public Health Modernization

Budget Request: $25 Million
OHA POP 410

Ten years after Oregon prioritized public health modernization, lawmakers have committed only about one-third of the money needed to fully fund foundational public health programs. Other states have made significantly larger investments in public health programs. In neighboring Washington, lawmakers have allocated three-quarters of their promised funding. Meanwhile, in Republican-led Indiana, public health funding is double what Oregon lawmakers have committed. This lack of funding means that public health workers don’t have the money needed to prevent communicable diseases like syphilis, hepatitis C and tuberculosis. This budget request would provide $25 million additional per biennium to help public health departments and tribes hire more staff to prevent, track and treat communicable diseases. It would also increase outreach to BIPOC and houseless communities who are at higher risk for disease.

Fact Sheet: Preventing communicable diseases with modernization funding

Story: Portland man is now free of tuberculosis thanks to public health

Priority 2: Addiction Primary Prevention

Budget Request: $25 Million
House Bill: HB 2954
Chief sponsor: Representative Thuy Tran
Co-sponsor: Representative Travis Nelson

Oregon spends 94% of its substance use dollars on recovery and treatment and only 6% on prevention, most of which is earmarked only for tobacco. This bill will allocate $25 million per biennium so counties and tribes can hire at least one staff person dedicated to preventing drug and alcohol use. Right now, there are very few evidence-based prevention programs in the state and those that do exist do not have dedicated, dependable funding. This bill will also help counties sustain or expand these programs.

Fact Sheet: Funding substance use prevention is a good investment

Story: Two Oregon counties teach kids skills proven to reduce substance use

Priority 3: Nurse Home Visiting and WIC

Total Budget Request: $10.2 Million

Nurse Home Visiting

Oregon has four public health nurse home visiting programs: Nurse Family Partnership, Family Connects, Babies First and CaCoon, each tailored to a different population. Visits start during pregnancy or shortly after a child is born and, depending on the family’s needs, can last a few weeks or several years. In the case of CaCoon, the program that serves children with special health needs, visits can continue until the child is an adult. The state matches Medicaid funding for Nurse Family Partnership and Family Connects, this funding will provide $6.2 million per biennium to match Medicaid funding for CaCoon and Babies First.

Fact Sheet: Nurse home visits improve outcomes and save money

Women Infants and Children

The federal WIC program provides food assistance, nutrition counseling and breastfeeding support to families across Oregon. Because federal funding does not cover the costs of running the program, some families wait weeks or months for services. Many counties can’t afford to hire additional staff and turnover is high because wages are not competitive. This request will provide $4 million per biennium to help counties hire more staff and increase salaries–allowing counties to reduce wait times and serve more eligible families.

Fact Sheet: Why WIC needs state funding

Learn More

Story: CaCoon connects family with vital resources

Story: Babies First helps Sandy mother navigate her own grief while raising a newborn

Video: Watch a Nurse Home Visit in Jefferson County:

Video: Watch a Nurse Home Visit in Washington County (English):

Video: Vea una visita de enfermera en casa en el condado de Washington (Spanish/Español):

Video: Watch how WIC helps Oregon families:

Priority 4: Career Pathways in Public Health

Budget Request: $5 Million
House Bill: HB 3916
Chief sponsor: Representative Rob Nosse

Oregon needs more public health workers who speak the same language and come from the same background as the people they serve. But many people with diverse backgrounds and language skills can’t afford the training required to work in public health. This bill will provide $5 million per biennium to pay for training, student loan reimbursement and workforce development. The money will be split among two organizations.

The Oregon Office of Rural Health (ORH) will receive $2 million to help local public health recruit, train and retain their workforce and $1.5 million to train and expand the community paramedic and mobile integrated health workforce.

The Oregon Community Health Workers Association (ORCHWA) will receive $1.5 million to train and expand the CHW workforce.