Oregon House passes 10 third‑reading bills, including literacy expansion and DEQ permitting changes

The Oregon House of Representatives passed a bipartisan slate of 10 bills on third reading Tuesday, advancing measures on early‑childhood literacy, consumer protections for ticket buyers, technical fixes to utility rules, animal‑rescue regulation, behavioral health services and agency permitting procedures.

The most prominent education measure, House Bill 4022, codifies the Dolly Parton Imagination Library into state law to provide a free children’s book each month to eligible children. Representative Mark Bowman said Oregon faces “a literacy crisis,” noting state results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress and that “73,116 children in Oregon are receiving a book by mail each month.” Bowman and Representative Elmer said the program’s book selections are vetted by a panel of early literacy experts and include bilingual titles; the measure was carried on a voice vote and declared passed.

Consumer protection was the focus of House Bill 4024, which bans speculative ticketing practices. Sponsor Representative Marsh said the bill ensures “if you resell a ticket, you must actually have the right to that ticket,” and described consumer stories of buyers arriving at events to find tickets were fake. Representative Reschke raised a floor question about whether the phrase “persons affiliated with a reseller” could be read to include phone carriers or delivery firms; after sponsor clarification she changed her vote to yes. The bill was declared passed.

Representative Dobson presented House Bill 4102, a technical and procedural change giving the Department of Environmental Quality clearer authority and guardrails to use receipts‑funded contractors to expedite permitting. Dobson emphasized that “this bill does not waive any environmental protections or public engagement requirements under state or federal law” and that DEQ retains final decision authority. Several members supported the measure as a capacity tool; Representative Gamboa and others noted concerns about long‑term agency funding and environmental justice sideboards but voted in favor and the bill passed.

Other measures on the calendar included:

• HB 4005 A — Water Professionals Appreciation Week, described by Representative Boyce as an effort to encourage careers in water management; passed. • HB 4012 — Directs the Construction Contractors Board and Bureau of Labor and Industries to carry out targeted assessments on unlicensed labor contractors and report findings to an interim committee by October 2027; passed. • HB 4013 — Preserves state child‑labor hours at the level of the Fair Labor Standards Act as of Jan. 1, 2026; passed. • HB 4025 — Clarifies that the winter moratorium on rate increases applies to electric and gas utilities overseen by the Public Utility Commission but not to small water utilities; passed. • HB 4034 — Moves regulation of animal rescue entities into ODA rulemaking to provide regulatory flexibility for volunteer‑driven rescue organizations; passed. • HB 4068 — Expands eligibility for transition‑age residential treatment homes to ages 17–25 and declares an emergency for immediate effect; passed. • HB 4097 — Allows the Oregon Ocean Science Trust to create a nonprofit entity to collect and spend external funds for marine research; passed.

Floor activity also included routine motions to allow two members to change recorded votes without changing outcomes, several remonstrances about a pending gas‑tax referendum and economic policy critiques, and a brief moment of silence requested by Representative Bobby Levy for a recent community loss. The Speaker adjourned the House to 11 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026.

What’s next: the bills will proceed to any required enrollment steps and, where noted in law, take effect as specified; HB 4068 was declared an emergency and will take effect immediately upon completion of the enrollment process.