Washington County officials summarize 2025 Oregon legislative outcomes; transportation funding remains uncertain

Carly Silva Gabrielson, Washington County government relations specialist, told the Planning Commission on July 15 that the 2025 Oregon legislative session yielded a mix of new programs and unresolved funding for transportation, leaving county staff to prepare for implementation work and to watch for a possible special session.

The session ended June 29 after an unusually large number of bills were introduced. Gabrielson said the high volume strained committee processes and staff review. She described the high-profile failure of the HB 2025 transportation package, uncertainty about funding for the Oregon Department of Transportation, and several housing-related bills that the county must now implement.

The outcome matters to Washington County because it affects future road maintenance funding, transit planning and county workload on land-use and housing implementation. Gabrielson said the county is tracking possible executive action or a special session and working with state agencies on implementation timelines.

Gabrielson said HB 2025, the multi-year transportation package negotiated by legislators and the Joint Committee on Transportation, was amended many times but ultimately did not secure support in both chambers and remained on the speaker’s desk at Sine Die. The failure has immediate consequences: she said the loss of funding has prompted ODOT staff reductions and will defer maintenance work that affects jurisdictions statewide.

She said there is reporting that the governor’s office and some lawmakers are discussing a smaller special-session package before Labor Day that might include a per‑gallon gas tax increase and adjustments to title and registration fees; she cautioned that details and official revenue estimates were not yet available.

Gabrielson also reviewed bills the county will need to implement or monitor: - SB 974: establishes time limits for review of final engineering plans (120 days) and requires streamlined processing of certain residential upzoning and limited land-use decisions; county staff will analyze implementation details and needed code changes. - SB 3031: creates a Housing Infrastructure Production Fund administered by the Oregon Infrastructure Finance Authority with an initial $10 million in lottery dollars for infrastructure to support qualifying affordable housing projects; eligibility is limited to projects inside urban growth boundaries and meeting density and income requirements, and the statewide program reserves percentages for smaller cities and tribes. - HB 2138: expands middle-housing requirements to accelerate duplexes, triplexes, townhomes and cottage clusters; it includes funding for DLCD (Department of Land Conservation and Development) to hire planners and provide technical assistance grants to local governments. - HB 2316 ("Home Start Lands"): tasks the Department of Administrative Services to identify state-owned lands suitable for affordable housing and establishes loans and grants for development; the county found few immediately eligible state parcels within county UGBs but will monitor rulemaking. - HB 22 58: requires local governments to approve residential developments that use preapproved building plans from the Department of Consumer and Business Services; DLCD will lead rulemaking support.

Carol (community planning staff) and Theresa (staff) told commissioners that SB 974 and HB 2138 will require changes to the county’s Community Development Code and that staff had already anticipated some of the work in the adopted 2025–2027 planning work program. Carol said the bills changed through the session and have different compliance timelines; the county will phase code changes through work sessions and ordinances over the coming year.

Commissioners asked about staffing and funding for implementation. Staff noted DLCD appropriations provide funding for planner positions and technical‑assistance grants, but emphasized available consultant capacity in the state is limited and staff remain concerned about implementing consecutive waves of change while budgets and staffing are constrained.

The director’s report portion of the meeting also noted that the Board of County Commissioners adopted the county’s 2025–2027 planning work program the previous day and directed staff to develop a memorandum of understanding and fiscal commitment of $20,000 for the Salmonberry Trail (referred to in the report) for FY 2025–26. The Planning Commission was told those board actions enable subsequent work and ordinance development that may come before the commission for review.

Staff said the county will continue to track state rulemaking, technical guidance from DLCD and Metro (where applicable), and will bring implementation items to the commission as ordinances and code amendments are drafted.