House bill would expand Oregon resilience officer duties from seismic planning to ‘all‑hazards’ continuity work

Representative Dacia Graber introduced House Bill 2,581 at a public hearing before the House Committee on Emergency Management, General Government, and Veterans on Jan. 30, 2025. The bill would replace “seismic” language with “all hazards” in the state resilience officer’s duties and direct the officer to implement the Oregon resilience plan, the state natural hazard mitigation plan and continuity of operations planning across executive‑branch agencies.

Janna Papa Efthimiou, the state resilience officer, told the committee the change would not reduce attention to Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake planning but would allow the office to coordinate planning for floods, wildfires, extreme heat, pandemics and other hazards. She said continuity of operations planning is critical because many state functions — hospitals, corrections and safety services — must continue or quickly restore critical functions after an event. She said the bill would formalize responsibilities already shared across the executive branch and provide coordination and accountability.

Representative Graber and other supporters — including Rebecca Gladstone with the League of Women Voters — said the state faces a spectrum of hazards and that a single, centralized resilience role better serves the public. Committee members asked about staffing and resources; Papa Efthimiou said she is the only named resilience officer in the governor’s office but works with agency partners and that formalizing the duties will better clarify oversight and priorities.

The hearing record shows the governor supports the bill; no amendments were offered during the Jan. 30 public testimony and the committee indicated it would consider the bill in a future work session.