Limits to 25 the number of legislative measures that a member of the Legislative Assembly may ask the Legislative Counsel to prepare for a regular session of the Legislative Assembly that begins in an odd-numbered year.
Summary
HB 4002 would place new caps on how many legislative measures may be requested from the Legislative Counsel for preparation in Oregon’s odd-numbered-year regular sessions. It limits individual legislators to 25 requests and legislative committees to 15 requests, while exempting the Joint Committee on Ways and Means from those limits. The bill also sets a combined cap of 200 requests for the Governor and state agencies under the Governor’s authority, and 15 requests each for the Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Attorney General, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries, and the Judicial Department.
The measure preserves existing authority for the Legislative Counsel to prepare measures for the Legislature and certain executive and judicial offices, but adds a more structured request system. It also allows the Senate Rules Committee or House Rules Committee to request additional measures on behalf of specified requesters, and permits a requester to seek another measure once the original measure has passed or been adopted by one chamber. The bill applies beginning with the 2027 regular session and includes an emergency clause, making it effective on passage.
Impact
HB 4002 would amend ORS 173.130, changing the rules governing who may request bill drafting services from the Legislative Counsel and how many requests each requester may make. Its practical effect is to limit the volume of prefiled or session-requested measures in odd-numbered-year regular sessions, while preserving exceptions for budget-related measures and allowing certain committee-based workarounds. The bill affects legislators, legislative committees, the Governor, executive agencies, statewide elected officials, and the Judicial Department, but does not alter the substantive policy areas of the bills those entities may request.
Sentiment
Based on the bill text and available context, the measure appears procedural and administrative rather than ideologically driven. There are no recorded committee transcripts or votes in the provided material, so there is no documented public debate to indicate strong support or opposition. The sponsorship list suggests broad legislative backing across multiple members and chambers, which may indicate a generally favorable reception to the proposal as a session-management reform.
Contention
The main point of contention likely concerns whether limiting bill-drafting requests restricts lawmakers’ and agencies’ ability to develop policy proposals, especially in a long session when many measures are introduced. Another possible concern is the differential treatment of requesters: the bill exempts Ways and Means, preserves a larger combined cap for the Governor and agencies, and allows Rules Committees to request additional measures, which could be viewed as either necessary flexibility or an uneven allocation of drafting access. No specific objections or supporters are documented in the provided transcripts, so these are the apparent structural issues raised by the bill itself.
Establishing limitations and deadlines for legislative measures for the 2026 regular session of the Eighty-third Legislative Assembly, and providing certain labor negotiation procedures.
Requiring that a committee of the Legislative Assembly may adopt an amendment to a legislative measure only if the chief sponsor of the measure approves the amendment prior to its adoption by the committee.