Committee adopts amendment defining "traditional eastern medicine," sends SB 874 to House floor

The House Committee on Behavioral Health and Health Care adopted a dash-2 amendment to Senate Bill 874 and voted to send the bill to the House floor with a due-pass recommendation during a May 20, 2025, work session in Hearing Room C.

The amendment replaces the bills original term "oriental medicine" with "traditional eastern medicine" and updates related definitions for acupuncture and the traditional eastern medicine pharmacopoeia. Brian, a committee staff member, told the committee that the bill "came to the committee from the Oregon Medical Board" and that "with the dash 2 amendment there remains minimal fiscal impact and no revenue impact."

The changes narrow the statutes terminology while keeping the regulatory oversight with the Oregon Medical Board. Representative Nelson said she would vote for the amendment but stated she preferred the dash-1 draft because it included "whereas" clauses calling attention to historical discrimination, adding that she objected to "codifying any further discriminatory language such as Oriental" into Oregon law.

After brief discussion, the committee adopted the dash-2 amendment by roll call and then voted to move SB 874, as amended, to the House floor with a due-pass recommendation. Committee staff called roll during both votes; multiple representatives voted yes on the bill as amended and the motion passed. A member agreed to carry the bill to the floor.

The bill was presented to the committee as originating with the Oregon Medical Board and as containing no material fiscal impact after the amendment. Committee members did not debate further statutory changes during the work session.