State Relations « OSU Government Relations Update

Welcome to the OSU Government Relations Newsletter.

With this communication, we’ll highlight some of the work conducted by the office, updates from the state legislature and congressional delegation, university engagements with elected officials and other OSU news. The newsletter will be sent at least quarterly. We encourage you to share this newsletter with your colleagues. They can also sign up by using this link.

_{OSU Provost Ed Feser joined a roundtable discussion with U.S. Representative Suzanne Bonamici and Oregon higher education leaders at the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts (PRAx) to discuss the federal landscape.}

State Relations

On March 19, the Ways & Means Co-Chairs, Senator Kate Lieber and Representative Tawna Sanchez, released their 25-27 Budget Framework. It broadly outlined the conservative two-year spending plan, which was mostly a current service level budget that left a balance of $987 million. These remaining funds would be utilized for “only the most critical investments.”

Looming over the state budget is uncertainty around the outlook for federal funding – which makes up about a third of the state budget. The $987 million balance could also be used to bridge potential federal reductions.

Higher education, including the Public University Support Fund and the Oregon Opportunity Grant, received a 7-7.5% increase. This amount represents the continuing service level for universities determined by Department of Administrative Services. The framework that was released will serve as the basis for legislators to build the state budget fund. The 25-27 budget will be officially crafted based upon the state May 14 revenue forecast.

Public universities, including OSU, will present their funding priorities to the Ways & Means Subcommittee on Education during hearings on April 17, 21, and 22. These discussions will provide critical input as lawmakers shape the 25-27 Legislatively Approved Budget. Key items on OSU’s agenda include support for the Statewide Public Service Programs, Outdoor School, and State Programs such as the Oregon Cybersecurity Center of Excellence.

Oregon’s future relies on its public universities to do more than solely educate students. They power our economy, fuel research, and strengthen our communities. They train future teachers, engineers, nurses, and business leaders — people who keep Oregon running. In partnership with the other public universities, OSU is asking the state for a $1.275 billion investment in the Public University Support Fund, and $150 million for the Oregon Opportunity Grant.

_{On March 5, supporters of OSU Extension, the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Forest Research Lab joined OSU leaders at the State Capitol to advocate at OSU Statewides Day. Representative Greg Smith brought 4-H Ambassadors and other participants onto the House Floor for a behind the scenes experience.}

In every long session, Ways and Means committee members travel around the state to hear from Oregonians on budget priorities. These “road shows” present an opportunity to advocate for public university funding priorities through public testimony. Please consider attending and signing up to support investments in the Public University Support Fund, the Oregon Opportunity Grant, OSU Statewides and OSU’s capital improvement requests for the STEM Learning Center and OSU-Cascades. You can review specifics of OSU’s current asks here. These events are likely to be well-attended and persons signed up to testify will be selected at random.

The dates and locations of the community budget hearings are: 

Astoria | Friday, March 28 (5-7 p.m.)
Liberty Theatre Astoria
1203 Commercial Street, Astoria, OR 97103
Register to testify

Warm Springs | Friday, April 4 (5–7 p.m.)
Old Warm Springs Elementary School
1112 Wasco Street, Warm Springs, OR 97761
Register to testify

La Grande | Friday, April 11 (5–7 p.m.)
Eastern Oregon University, Hoke Union Building #339
1 University Boulevard, La Grande, OR 97850
Register to testify

Salem | Wednesday, April 16 (5–7 p.m.)
Oregon State Capitol Building, Hearing Room F
900 Court St NE, Salem, OR 97301
Register to testify

Klamath Falls | Friday, April 25 (5–7 p.m.)
Klamath Community College, Building 4 Commons
7390 South 6th Street, Klamath Falls, OR 97603
Register to testify

On February 26, Oregon state economists Carl Riccadonna and Michael Kennedy presented the March 2025 Economic & Revenue Forecast. As anticipated, the forecast showed little change from November 2024’s outlook, pointing to continued growth, though at a slower pace.

The revenue forecast plays a critical role in guiding OSU’s legislative strategy. Each session, OSU submits a range of funding requests, and the forecast helps assess the likelihood of success. According to the March forecast, the legislature will have approximately $38 billion to allocate this session—an increase of $350 million from November’s projection.

Despite the slightly improved revenue forecast, the legislature faces significant challenges. Federal funding reductions are expected to create gaps in funding for essential state services, leaving uncertainties about the level of state support needed to fill these shortfalls. OSU has been asked to present several funding scenarios outlining how its requests could be adjusted if necessary.

Legislative Dates of Importance

April 3 | OSU Lobby Day & Legislative Reception
April 9 | Deadline for Bills to Move Out of 1st Chamber Committee
May 5 | OSU-Cascades Lobby Day
May 14 | Revenue Forecast
May 23 | Deadline for Bills to Move Out of 2nd Chamber Committees
June 29 | Constitutional Sine Die

For further information or questions or to flag specific issues or actions of interest, please reach out to Katie.Fast@oregonstate.edu or Katheryn.Yetter@oregonstate.edu.

Federal Relations

We are fully underway with the Trump administration and a new-look 119th Congress with Republican control in both chambers. The administration has been driving efforts to implement sweeping changes across the federal government to reconsider what government does, how it does it, and who does it, with goals for significant budget savings. Many administration-led efforts impact federal research and education enterprises and are direct interest to universities. OSU Federal Relations has been working closely with university leaders as we navigate this dynamic federal environment with a focus on issues and funding resources important to our mission and community.

The amount of activity at the federal level this past quarter has been significant – below are some select updates for awareness:

Presidential actions: There have been a flurry of Presidential actions and administration-led changes to federal agencies over the past two months with a complex array of court challenges in response. Most recently, on March 20, President Trump signed an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education. A full closure and transfer of responsibilities, like the federal financial aid enterprise, would require congressional action.
Federal funding legislation enacted for the remainder of the federal fiscal year: Congress enacted legislation on May 14 to fund the government through September 30 at levels relatively similar to federal fiscal year 2024. While the legislation makes $13 billion in cuts to non-defense research and education agencies, the cuts are managed by focusing the impacts on eliminating earmarks and otherwise effectively provides level funding for non-defense agencies. Defense agencies have an overall increase of $6 billion in funds with no meaningful change expressed for basic research but modest reductions to applied research programs. Of note, however, the funding bill does not also provide the administration with an “explanatory statement” that typically accompanies a spending bill – this is the source of additional detail on congressional intent for allocating funds at the agency or program level. In effect, the spending bill gives the administration more flexibility on the allocation of funds across the federal government compared to fiscal year 2024.
Annual appropriations for fiscal year 2026: With the current fiscal year spending bill completed, Congress can turn its attention to legislation to fund the government for the upcoming federal fiscal year (October 1-September 30, 2026). We expect Congress to start getting work underway in April/May.
Federal budget legislation in progress: Congress and the administration share a priority to enact legislation that would reduce overall federal spending, extend and expand tax cuts and make targeted new investments in defense, energy, and border security. In February, the House passed a budget resolution that provides instructions for further legislation to address these goals. The Senate is now considering the legislation with the instructions. Both the House and Senate have to pass the same bill with instructions and then both chambers will work on developing the legislation to achieve the expressed goals. The bill with instructions passed by the House proposes dramatic cuts of at least $1.5 trillion to the federal government, including at least $330 billion to education programs, likely focused on higher education and child nutrition programs, as well as at least $880 billion to energy and commerce programs, which would require cuts to Medicaid or other entitlement programs. This particular type of legislation, a Budget Resolution, can move through Congress under rules that only requires a simple majority to pass in either chamber. While the majority party in both chambers is sufficient to pass legislation without minority party votes, this is a challenging process that will require much debate and more iterations before anything is complete.

A huge thank you to OSU colleagues for promoting the university’s impacts and interests on Capitol Hill: 

Scott Ashford, dean of the College of Engineering, promoted key strategic initiatives like the Jen-Hsun Huang and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex to advance cutting edge innovations, as well as COE’s education programs that are developing engineers and leaders for the future.
Staci Simonich, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Kris Elliott, interim vice president for Extension and Engagement promoted OSU’s statewide programs, partnerships across the state with agricultural and other community partners, and the importance of USDA-sponsored research and extension programs for this work.
Karina Nielsen, director of Oregon Sea Grant, Francis Chan, director of OSU’s NOAA Cooperative Institute (CIMERS), and Bob Cowen, associate vice president for research & operations at Hatfield Marine Science Center promoted OSU’s coastal and oceans work and highlighted the important partnerships OSU has with NOAA, EPA and other federal agencies.
Tom DeLuca, dean of the College of Forestry, promoted strategic efforts underway to advance healthy working forests, mass timber innovation and addressing wildfire, as well as the critical importance of federal partners like the U.S. Forest Service for this work.
We also appreciate all the research faculty who volunteer with their professional associations to help inform Congress of the impacts of federally sponsored research (and who give OSU Federal Relations a heads up of their plans in advance!)

For further information or questions or to flag specific issues or actions of interest, please reach out to Gabrielle.Serra@oregonstate.edu.

OSU in the News

Oregonian | Opinion: An investment in higher education is an investment in Oregon’s economy, February 23, 2025
Oregon Capital Chronicle | Oregon spent millions to grow manufacturing, tech workforces. Educators say it’s their turn, February 13, 2024
OSU Extension | OSU Open Campus personalized support steers Oregon community college students through transfer process, January 2025

_{Becky Munn (right), OSU Open Campus coordinator for Multnomah and Washington counties, meets with a student in the College Access Latinx Initiative Center at the Portland Community College Rock Creek campus. Credit: Liz Mota}

Welcome to the OSU Government Relations Newsletter.

_{^{OSU-Cascades Chancellor Sherm Bloomer joins Central Oregon legislators Senator Tim Knopp, Representative Jason Kropf, Representative Emerson Levy and Senator-Elect Anthony Broadman in celebrating the grand opening of OSU-Cascades Student Success Center.}}

To kick off the new year, OSU-Cascades had a grand opening ceremony for the newly built Student Success Center on January 7. The 17,500 square-foot Student Success Center will feature spaces for study and tutoring, arts presentation, informal gathering and student programming, in addition to offices and facilities for staff who are critical to supporting student success including academic and career advising, health and wellness counseling, student government and The Bridge, the new multicultural space.

State Relations

The 2025 Oregon Legislative Session will convene on January 21, and tackling Oregon’s underinvestment in higher education will be the top priority for Oregon’s public universities. The public universities are requesting a $1.275B investment in the Public University Support Fund to support student success and help keep tuition increases below 5%. Unfortunately, the Governor only allocated $1.08B in her budget, which is below the universities’ base operational costs for the next biennium.

OSU is focusing legislative priorities in areas that will support Prosperity Widely Shared by supporting student success, research development, and community and state collaboration and service. Click here for a copy of OSU’s 2025 legislative agenda.

For the 2025 session, there are leadership changes in all of the higher education related committees.

After serving several sessions as co-chair of the Ways & Means Education Subcommittee, Senator Lew Frederick (Portland) will chair the Senate Education Committee. He replaces longtime chair Senator Michael Dembrow (Portland), who is retiring from public office.
In the House, Representative Zack Hudson (Troutdale) will chair the House Higher Education and Workforce Committee replacing Representative John Lively (Springfield), who will now chair the House Climate, Energy, and Environment Committee.
The Ways & Means Education Subcommittee will be co-chaired by Representative Ricki Ruiz (Gresham) and Senator Janeen Sollman (Hillsboro). The previous co-chairs, Representative Susan McLain (Forest Grove) and Senator Lew Frederick (Portland), will remain on the committee.

Legislative Dates of Importance

January 21 | Legislative Session Convenes
February 26 | Revenue Forecast
March 5 | OSU Statewides Lobby Day
March 21 | Deadline for Bills to Move Out of Committees in Their Chamber of Origin
April 3 | OSU Lobby Day & Legislative Reception
May 14 | Revenue Forecast
May 23 | Deadline for Bills to Move Out of 2nd Chamber Committees
June 29 | Constitutional Sine Die

For further information or questions or to flag specific issues or actions of interest, please reach out to Katie.Fast@oregonstate.edu or Katheryn.yetter@oregonstate.edu.

Federal Relations

The new year brings a new Congress and a new administration. On January 3, the 119th Congress gaveled in with new GOP leadership at the helm of the U.S. Senate, and a tight GOP majority leading the U.S. House of Representatives. The Trump-Vance Administration is set to be sworn in on January 20.

For Oregon, the incoming administration and new Congress brings changes. On the congressional front, the delegation is welcoming two new members, including Rep. Maxine Dexter (CD-3), representing the Portland-Hood River region, and Rep. Janelle Bynum (CD-5), representing the Oregon City-Bend region. Outgoing Rep. Lori-Chavez-DeRemer, former representative of CD-5, is the nominee for Secretary of Labor for the incoming Trump Administration.

OSU is monitoring developments and shifts in the federal policy landscape including both legislative efforts and executive branch actions that are of direct interest to Oregon State University communities and our mission.

While the Government Relations Office is focused on what’s ahead, the Biden-Harris Administration is closing out its tenure. We are thankful to see an announcement from the Biden-Harris Administration on January 14 to provide ~$45M to the Corvallis Microfluidics Tech Hub. This meaningful support from the Oregon delegation will help champion this OSU-led opportunity for the state.

For further information or questions or to flag specific issues or actions of interest, please reach out to Gabrielle.Serra@oregonstate.edu.

Additional Updates

Oregon Business Plan’s 22nd Annual Leadership Summit in December brought over 1,100 Oregonians together. Attendees, including elected officials, business leaders, and community members discussed ways to strengthen the collaborative efforts that will help Oregon’s economy thrive. The Summit focused on innovative workforce and talent development pathways, addressing Oregon’s pressing economic challenges and opportunities. Breakout sessions offered deeper insights into topics such as talent development through industry consortia and rural economic development, providing participants with actionable insights and collaborative opportunities.

During the Summit, OSU President Jayathi Murthy and University of Oregon President Karl Scholz, joined a panel with moderator Jordan Papé, president and CEO, the Papé Group, where they described how the two universities contribute to a robust innovation ecosystem in the southern Willamette Valley. OSU plays a pivotal role in driving innovation through cutting-edge research, partnerships with local industries, and support for startups and entrepreneurs. The panel discussion highlighted how these efforts contribute to job creation, economic development, and the overall prosperity of the Southern Willamette Valley, making it a vibrant hub for innovation.

OSU President Jayathi Murthy engages with moderator Jordan Papé, president and CEO, the Papé Group. Photo credit: The Oregon Business Plan — ^{OSU President Jayathi Murthy engages with moderator Jordan Papé, president and CEO, the Papé Group.
Photo credit: The Oregon Business Plan.}

OSU in the News

Oregonian | Oregon State lands $45 million federal grant for microfluidics research, January 14, 2025
KLCC | OSU awarded nearly $2.5 million for marine energy research, December 10, 2024
OSU Today | Oregon State awarded four HECC workforce grants, November 19, 2024
OPB | New OSU facility serves to return human remains and cultural artifacts to tribes, November 3, 2024

^{Partners in the OSU-NAGPRA Facility (left to right): Chief Jefferson Greene Jr., Wasco Chief, Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Wilson Wewa, Tribal Council, Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Jayathi Murthy, Oregon State University president; Scott Vignos, Oregon State vice president and chief diversity officer; Dawn Marie Alapisco, director of NAGPRA office at Oregon State; Chance White-Eyes, director of Tribal relations at Oregon State; Chief Doug Barrett, Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians. Courtesy of Alteza Films via OSU.}

This legislative session, OSU engagement has been at a record high. Thousands of you wrote letters to your legislators requesting support for OSU student-athletes, who are impacted by conference realignment. Students and stakeholders participated in lobby days to support student-based initiatives. Faculty, students, and stakeholders testified on a multitude of issues and shared their experience with the legislature.

Your engagement validates the work being done across OSU to support students, innovate through research, and engage with communities throughout Oregon. This meaningful work embodies OSU and is why we are Oregon’s team!

While the legislature was only in session for 32 days, in a bipartisan manner, they moved major policy initiatives to reform Measure 110 and address Oregon’s addiction crisis, make investments in and policy changes around housing, and pass compromise legislation creating political campaign contribution limits. The legislature also made some meaningful investments and policy around higher education.

Investments

$10M for OSU student scholarships. While this is only a one-time investment and not the continued funding we requested, it is meaningful and will help us continue to support our student-athletes.

$2M to the College of Engineering for investments around semiconductors.

$1.9M to the Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Lab housed at OSU College of Veterinary Medicine for work on chronic wasting disease and zoonotic diseases

Policy Bills

Name, Image Likeness (NIL) [HB 4119]

Makes changes to Oregon’s NIL laws that strengthen protections for the university and its student-athletes. Importantly, the measure prevents the NCAA from sanctioning OSU as long as it follows Oregon’s NIL laws, and it allows OSU to directly assist student- athletes in securing NIL deals. Effective on passage.

Sexual Misconduct [HB 4164]

Technical changes to HB 3456 (2023), which included the development and dissemination of a sexual misconduct survey and the development of university policies and programming around sexual misconduct. The measure removes persons who are “seeking to enroll” from definition of “student,” repeals the requirement to offer the sexual misconduct survey to students on a leave of absence, and extends the time to make the survey available, among other fixes.

Posting Board Meetings Online [SB 1502]

Requires OSU to post video or audio recordings of its Board of Trustees meetings on its website or social media within seven days of the meetings. Exempted from this requirement are meetings held in executive session.

Education Omnibus [SB 1552]

Makes changes to several K-12 and higher education statutes. Most notably for OSU, the measure:

requires the HECC to establish a direct admissions program for public universities.
makes HECC the body to approve distribution changes to the Oregon Opportunity Grant through a public rulemaking process.
clarifies that part-time faculty who “work,” not just “teach,” at an institution may be eligible for health care benefits.
requires the HECC to conduct a forest workforce study.
exempts Transfer Council subcommittees from public meeting requirements.

AI Task Force [HB 4153]

Creates a 14-member task force to identify terms and definitions related to artificial intelligence that may be used in legislation. Two members will represent public universities.

Board Appointments

In the 2023 legislative session, the legislature passed SB 273, relating to university governing boards. One item in the bill was the creation of two new student positions on universities’ boards of trustees: one graduate student position and one non-voting undergraduate position. This will bring a total of three student positions to board of trustees. While these new positions do not go into effect until July 1, 2024, Governor Kotek started the process of filling these positions and made nominations for appointment during the session. The Senate confirmed the following appointments:

Undergraduate Non-Voting Trustee: MJ Mihro, Biology Major on a pre-veterinary track.
Graduate Trustee: Kate Carter-Cram, PhD student in Public Policy.

By: Katie Fast, Executive Director of Government Relations

Today, the Oregon Legislature convenes it’s short 35-day session. Due to the short timeframe, each legislator is limited to introducing two bills and committees restricted to three. That does not mean that legislators won’t be tackling policy issues this year; in fact, reforms to Measure 110 and solutions to Oregon’s housing needs will be proposed.

Oregon State University is also tackling big issues and is looking to the state for partnership. Below are priorities that we are bring to the Oregon legislature:

Impact of Conference Realignment: The decisions by some universities to leave the Pac-12 not only eroded our 108-year-old conference and legacy but created a significant budget shortfall for OSU Athletics. We need the legislature’s assistance to:
- Maintain OSU’s Commitment to Collegiate Athletic Scholarships: OSU commits $10.4 million annually toward athletic scholarships. As an Oregon public university, we have an obligation to continue supporting student-athletes who are bearing the real implications of conference realignment. For many student-athletes, their scholarships make college financially possible, and without that support, they lose their access to education.

The state of Oregon currently allocates 1% of the Administrative Services Economic Development Fund from the State Lottery Fund to the Sports Lottery Program. For the 2023-25 biennium, $18,329,943 was allocated. However, OSU will only receive about $650,000 annually because the university historically received multimillion-dollar media payments. Unfortunately, OSU can no longer expect the same media income after July 31, 2024. An additional 1% of lottery funds dedicated to OSU student-athletes would meet OSU’s athletic scholarship needs.

Covering OSU Athletics’ COVID Deficit: COVID-19 health protection regulations placed financial burdens on university athletics departments nationwide. OSU faced more than a year of zero sporting event ticket sales while maintaining our financial commitments to student-athletes and athletics staff. Federal COVID support funds received could not be used to support intercollegiate athletics. The university therefore loaned OSU Athletics $31.8 million to cover its COVID-related deficit. The opportunities for athletics repayment have changed due to conference realignment and a subsequent dramatic drop in media income. OSU has an immediate need from the state to help cover this deficit.
Building a Campus to Serve Central Oregon & the State: OSU- Cascades students and supporters are requesting $24 million to expedite the Phase 3 land remediation, which would create 81 contiguous acres for academic buildings and student housing. This is a critical step to meet growth needs of this innovative campus.
Supporting Student’s Needs: We will be working with other public universities and students to request:
- $6 million in renewed funding for Strong Start 2.0: Continued funding for the Strong Start program is critical to ensure students are prepared and supported allowing them to succeed in a university environment. Initially a response to pandemic learning loss, Strong Start allows universities to offer comprehensive services including summer bridge programs, community- building cohorts, academic skill-building, and ongoing wraparound support. This state investment has led to greater retention rates, higher GPAs, and increased credit hour completion for participating students, compared to their peers.
- $5 million to strengthen student basic needs programs and infrastructure on university campuses, includes basic needs centers.
- $1 million in emergency funding to the Open Educational Resources (OERS) program to improve access to low- or no-cost course materials for the remainder of the biennium. Since 2015, Oregon OER grants have saved students $12 on course materials for every program dollar spent.
Addressing Zoonotic Diseases: The Oregon and Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (OVDL) plays a vital role in public health, responding to issues of serious concern for people and wildlife, including highly contagious bacterial disease, avian flu, and mosquito born illnesses. Consistent with recommendations from the legislative report directed by HB 4128 (2022), HB 4148 allocates $3.5 million for critical equipment and capacity necessary for the OVDL and the state Wildlife Health Lab to combat threats such as Chronic Wasting Disease and zoonotic diseases.
Creating Pathways to Semiconductor Careers: In 2023, the legislature invested $200M in Oregon’s semiconductor sector. However, research and supporting the needed workforce was not addressed. HB 4154 invests $30 million in K-12 pathway programs, community colleges and public research universities to provide the faculty and tools focused on semiconductor related work.

To support OSU’s legislative priorities and easily engage with the legislature, consider joining the Beaver Caucus’s advocacy efforts. You can learn more here. https://thebeavercaucus.org/

Welcome New Members of the OSU Government Relations Team

Chance White Eyes joined OSU in December as Director of Tribal Relations. In this position, he will build and maintain collaborative, mutual and trusting relationships with Tribal nations within Oregon and beyond and consult with Oregon State leadership, colleges and programs to advance the university’s teaching, research and engagement missions.

White Eyes holds a doctorate in critical and socio-cultural studies in education from the University of Oregon and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Oregon State. He is an enrolled member of the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin.

In November, Sherry Morgan started as Administrative Assistant. She previously worked in OSU Academics for Student Athletes. In this role, she is managing the office’s administrative needs and assisting tracking bills of interest to OSU and our community.

Katheryn Yetter, OSU University Policy & Standards Specialist, is taking on additional duties and supporting OSU’s advocacy efforts in Salem. We are fortunate for prior the legislative experience Katheryn brings to the team.