Oregon committee advances bill directing renaming of offensive geographic names

The Senate Committee on Veterans, Emergency Management, Federal and World Affairs voted May 13, 2025, to recommend that House Bill 3532b be sent to the floor. The bill directs the Oregon Geographic Names Board executive secretary to compile a list of offensive geographic names in Oregon and submit proposals to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to rename them, and committee staff said the measure carries minimal fiscal impact and no revenue impact.

Representative Tana Sanchez, sponsor of the bill and the state representative for House District 43, said the legislation continues an earlier 2001 effort to remove offensive names, including the slur commonly called the "s‑word," from rivers, mountains, gullies and other natural features that remain on maps. "This bill simply follows up with the Oregon Geographic Names Board to actually move forward with some of these changes that are necessary for the state of Oregon," Sanchez said.

Representative Hai Pham, state representative for House District 36, told the committee the names listed by the Oregon…