Legislative Priorities Archive

2025 Legislative Session

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.

Check out the CLHO Legislative Scorecard 2025 to see who rose to the top!

2025 CLHO Legislative Scorecard

Additional Resources

CLHO Legislative Priorities - Detailed Overview:
  - Priority 1: Public Health Modernization
  - Priority 2: Addiction Primary Prevention
  - Priority 3: Nurse Home Visiting and Women Infants and Children
  - Priority 4: Career Pathways in Public Health
- 2025 CLHO Local Public Health Workforce Report

2024 Legislative Session

The CLHO Board of Directors and Legislative Committee did not put forward a policy platform for the short Legislative Sessions. Instead, CLHO supported a handful of bills and worked in coalition with other advocates. CLHO also monitored the session for bills of interest to public health.

CLHO Federal Priorities

The CLHO Legislative Committee and Board of Directors approved CLHO’s priorities for federal advocacy for 2024. These priorities included:

• $100 million in funding for the Public Health Workforce Loan Repayment Program
• $1 billion in flexible funding through the Centers for Disease Control Public Health Infrastructure and Capacity Program
• Increased/sustained funding for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
• Increased/sustained funding for the Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Program

CLHO advocates for these priorities in partnership with national organizations, such as the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

Check out CLHO’s two-pager on our Federal Priorities: CLHO Federal Two-Pager 2024

CLHO’s 2023 Legislative Priorities

CLHO had three legislative priorities for the 2023 session:

• Fund Public Health Modernization at $150 million
• Pass a $47 million Public Health Workforce Incentives Package
• Pass a restriction on the sale of flavored tobacco and nicotine products in Oregon.

You can learn more about each of the priorities below.

Public Health Modernization: $150 million

CLHO supported $150 million* in funding for Public Health Modernization. This funding allows Oregon’s public health system to continue implementing HB 3100 (2015) and provide essential services and protections to everyone in Oregon no matter where they live.

*CLHO originally supported the Oregon Health Authority Agency Request of $286 million (Policy Option Package 406 on pg. 1376 of the linked document). In March 2023, the CLHO Board voted to reduce that ask to $150 million due to a constrained budget environment.

Outcome: Public Health Modernization was funded at an additional $50 million.

Public Health Workforce Incentives Package: $47 million

CLHO put forward a Public Health Workforce Incentives Package (HB 2773) for $47 million. This funding would provide:

• Scholarships for public health programs to students from underserved populations
• Barrier removal for underserved populations completing public health education
• Student loan repayment for people who work in local governmental public health
• A retention bonus for local public health professionals at 5 years of service
• Supervision stipends to local public health agencies that host students for nursing programs, internships, and fellowships

This one-time funding would be administered by the Oregon Health Authority through the new Local Public Health Incentive Fund. The funds to be spent within six years of passage.

Outcome: HB 2772 passed out of the House Behavioral Health and Health Care Committee with amendments and was referred to Ways and Means on March 17th. The bill was still in committee upon adjournment and did not pass.

Tobacco Flavor Restriction

CLHO supported partner organizations - including the American Heart Association (Oregon/SW Washington Branch), Smokefree Oregon (part of the Oregon Health Authority), Flavors Hook Oregon Kids, and others - in advancing HB 3090, a restriction on the sale of flavored tobacco and nicotine products.

Outcome: HB 3090 passed out of the House Behavioral Health and Health Care Committee with amendments and was referred to Ways and Means on April 4th. The bill was still in committee upon adjournment and did not pass.

Public Health Town Hall

On January 4th, 2023, CLHO and partners hosted a Public Health Town Hall. This event included an overview of public health services in Oregon communities, Public Health Modernization, examples of this work from multiple local public health departments, the workforce challenges public health is facing, and CLHO’s legislative priorities for the 2023 Legislative Session. This event was attended by over 60 Oregon legislators and staff, county commissioners, public health officials, and community partners. You can watch a recording of this town hall below.

Public Health Townhall 2023 Presentation Slides

CLHO’s 2022 Legislative Priorities

The CLHO Board of Directors and Legislative Committee did not choose any priority issues to lead during the short 2022 Legislative Session. CLHO supports a handful of bills and will work in coalitions with other advocates. In addition to supporting some legislation, CLHO will also monitor the session for bills of interest to public health.

CLHO’s 2021 Legislative Priorities

CLHO had three legislative priorities for the 2021 session. These priorities are summarized below and in our 2021 CLHO Legislative Platform

Public Health Modernization: Budget Request of $68.9 million for the 2021-2023 Biennium

2021 Public Health Modernization One-Pager

Public Health Modernization ensures basic protections critical to the health of all in Oregon and future generations. A $68.9 million biennial investment will continue the great work started in communicable disease control, health equity, and assessment and will expand the work into environmental health threats and emergency preparedness. This will allow the local public health system to be ready to protect and serve all Oregonians.

Public Health Modernization Town Hall

To bring attention to this budget request, CLHO, in partnership with AFSCME and the Association of Oregon Counties, held a virtual Town Hall on January 7th, 2021. This event was attended by over 60 Oregon legislators, county commissioners, public health officials, and community partners and featured speakers from a wide array of organizations. The message of this Town Hall was that public health is powered by people and partnerships, and funding Public Health Modernization invests in both the people doing the work and the partnerships that serve our communities. The recording and presentation of this Town Hall can be found below.

Public Health Modernization: Public Health is People-Powered Presentation

Universally-offered Home Visiting: Budget Request of $5 million for the 2021-2013 Biennium

2021 Family Connects Home Visiting One-Pager

Universally-offered home visiting by a public health nurse promotes safe and healthy environments during early childhood. This creates the foundation for lifelong physical and mental well-being.

Investing an additional $5 million in universally-offered home visiting for the biennium will continue the work started in 2019 by providing training and support to local partners. These partners can connect with all new parents giving Oregon families the support they need so all children can thrive.

Tobacco Retail Licensure

2021 Tobacco Retail Licensure One-Pager

A statewide TRL would require all retailers of tobacco products and e-cigarettes to become licensed, just like retailers of other age-restricted products. Without TRL, tobacco control policies are challenging to enforce.

Data show that most tobacco use begins during a person’s teenage years. TRL allows for greater oversight and enforcement of tobacco control policies and protects young Oregonians, particularly BIPOC youth, from developing harmful habits.

CLHO’s 2020 Legislative Priorities

The CLHO Board of Directors did not choose any priority issues to lead during the short 2020 legislative session. CLHO supports a handful of bills and will work in coalition with other advocates on passage. In addition to supporting some legislation, CLHO will also monitor the session for bills that may put the public’s health at risk.

CLHO’s 2019 Legislative Priorities

An additional $47.7 million biennial investment will continue the great work started with the
initial investment in communicable disease, health equity, and assessment and expand the work to focus
also on environmental health threats so that all Oregonians will have equal access to the same
protections. This $47.7 million investment would provide the Public Health Division, Local Public Health
Authorities and Tribes funding to expand the current work to protect the public’s health through the
prevention of disease and infections, engaging the health system to improve immunization rates, and the
protection of seniors against Norovirus and pneumonia. It also would allow a focus on environmental
health threats from things like drought, deteriorating air quality, wildfires, heat waves, and contaminated
drinking water.

CLHO’s 2019 Legislative One-Pager

Read the 2019 End of Session Report.

CLHO’s 2018 Legislative Priorities

During the short 2018 legislative session the CLHO Board did not prioritize any issues.  We supported a handful of bills and worked in coalition with other advocates on passage.  In addition to the bills we worked in coalition we also opposed at least one bill that would have further put the public’s health at risk. 

Find out more in our 2018 Legislative Report

CLHO’s 2017 Legislative Priorities

1. Support and Improve the Public Health System
   • Continue to fund important public health programs
   • Fund Public Health Modernization with a $30 million first step investment
2. Enact Tobacco Prevention Policies To Decrease Youth Use Of Tobacco/Nicotine
   • Enact a e-cigarette tax at a level high enough to discourage youth use to prevent the next generation of cigarette users
   • Enact a statewide Tobacco Retail Licensure program to create a better enforcement system and punish bad actors from selling to youth
   • Raise the age of sale of cigarettes/ other tobacco products and nicotine from 18 – 21 to ensure youth don’t get addicted while their brains are still developing
3. Support Clean Diesel Legislation To Protect Fragile Children From Diesel Particulate Exposure
   • Enact diesel legislation and incentive programs created to protect everyone in Oregon from the health impacts of diesel pollution

2017 CLHO End of Session Report

CLHO’s 2016 Legislative Priorities

1. Implement a statewide e-cigarette tax
2. Implement a statewide tobacco retail license program
3. Raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21
4. Support public health modernization

2016 CLHO End of Session Report