Katie Fast, OSU Government Relations
Week 2 – February 14, 2020
University Day at the Capitol was held on Thursday, with over 150 students, staff, and alumni from all over the state supporting shared public university priorities. This included legislation on student food and housing insecurity, underrepresented students, student transfer and capital construction.
This Thursday also marked the deadline for bills to move out of their committee of origin. Here is an update on several of the policy bills Oregon State University’s government relations team is working on:
- HB 4055 – HECC to study and develop recommendations on how community colleges and public universities can best combat food and housing insecurity among their students. Referred to Ways & Means.
- HB 4057 – Bans Lottery from offering betting on collegiate sports. Referred to House Revenue.
- SB 1501 – Allows collegiate athletes to earn compensation for their name, image and likeness. Will be third read in the Senate on Monday, February 17th.
- SB 1554 – Appropriates funding for several ocean programs including ocean acidification and hypoxia. Referred to Ways & Means
Today, the Ways & Means Capital Construction Subcommittee will hear from the Higher Education Coordinating Committee on the university bonding proposals. We will be watching to see if the committee gives some indication on the direction they will take.
Thank you to the Beaver Caucus for all your work in this area. Let’s keep it up!
