Here's are highlights of the bills passed in the Oregon Legislature during the 2015 session, which ended July 6. Find all the session's bills at gov.oregonlive.com/bill and read about those signed by Gov. Kate Brown so far.
*Not yet signed by the governor
CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Grandparents' rights: House Bill 3014 allows grandparents to stay in their grandchildren's lives if the parents' parental rights are terminated. They can also request contact while the children are in state care.
*Chemicals in products: Senate Bill 478 requires manufacturers and importers of children's products to report 66 "high priority chemicals of concern"-- including formaldehyde, arsenic and mercury -- and to create an eight-year phase-out from select products.
Dental screenings: House Bill 2972 requires parents or guardians of students 7 or younger entering school to show the child had a dental screening within the prior 12 months. Schools must provide screenings for children who haven't had them. The law takes effect with the 2016-17 school year.
Family caregivers: House Bill 3378 requires hospitals to identify and record family caregivers, and to provide any instruction or training needed for post-discharge care.
"Conversion therapy": House Bill 2307 bans mental health care providers from using "conversion therapy" - an attempt to change sexual orientation or gender identity -- on people younger than 18.
Foster children: House Bill 2889 allows foster children who are at least 12 to maintain savings accounts in their own names.
Abuse reporting: Senate Bill 622 adds personal support and home care workers to the list of those who must report abuse of children, the elderly and other vulnerable people.
*Child care subsidies: House Bill 2015 gives more working parents access to child-care subsidies for a longer period.
Gender-neutral marriage language: House Bill 2478 alters state code to reflect same-sex marriage as the law of the land. References to "husband and wife" in various statutes will change to "spouses in a legal marriage."
Homeless youths: House Bill 2232 orders the Department of Human Services to create an advisory committee to coordinate statewide services for runaways and homeless kids. DHS also must submit a report to lawmakers every Sept. 15.
WORKPLACE
Paid sick leave: Senate Bill 454 requires Oregon employers with 10 or more workers to offer up to five paid sick days a year.
Domestic workers: Senate Bill 552 extends provisions for overtime pay, rest periods, paid personal time off and protections against sexual harassment and retaliation to an estimated 10,000 domestic workers such as nannies and housekeepers.
Collecting employer debts: Senate Bill 468 gives the Bureau of Labor and Industries the power to garnish assets to collect on delinquent orders and judgments.
Workplace retaliation: House Bill 2007 makes it illegal to punish a worker for discussing pay in the workplace, and gives employees the right to sue for damages.
"Ban the box": House Bill 3025 bans employers from asking about criminal history on job applications.
Social media: Senate Bill 185 bans employers from requiring workers to create and use a personal social media accounts, and bars them from forcing employees to advertise a business on a personal account.
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Rape statute of limitations: House Bill 2317 doubles the prosecution window in rape cases from six years to 12.
Police body cameras: House Bill 2571 requires cities or towns that equip officers with cameras to follow statewide standards on use, and retention and access to footage. Before any public release, all faces -- including officers' -- must be blurred.
*Profiling: House Bill 2002 bans police from targeting suspects based on age, race, ethnicity, color, national origin, language, gender, sex, political affiliation, religion or other identifying factors - unless the officer is acting on precise information from a report. Law enforcement agencies must establish a framework for reporting profiling incidents.
Filming police: House Bill 2704 explicitly allows bystanders and others to film police on the job.
Drug overdoses: Under Senate Bill 839, someone who seeks police or medical help for the victim of a drug overdose can't be arrested or prosecuted based on evidence obtained only because the person called.
"Upskirting": House Bill 2596 bans intentionally photographing someone's "intimate areas" even if covered by undergarments. "Upskirting" and "downblousing" now fall under invasion-of-privacy law.
Revenge porn: Senate Bill 188 outlaws the practice of posting naked photos of a partner on the Internet with the "specific intent" of humiliating the person or ruining the person's reputation.
Hidden cameras: House Bill 2356 creates a felony invasion-of- privacy charge, up from a misdemeanor, for someone accused of setting up hidden cameras to record someone in places where privacy is presumed, such as a bathroom or changing area.
DNA testing: House Bill 3206 allows felons, not just those in prison, with DNA evidence to seek testing in hopes of proving they were wrongly convicted.
Criminal justice: House Bill 5506 sets aside $35 million for grants to counties for preventive measures and post-conviction supervision work meant to keep down the state's prison population. Counties received an additional $5 million in Senate Bill 5507.
Pretrial depositions: House Bill 2316 authorizes judges to order pretrial testimony for material witnesses who are unlikely to show up at trial and could otherwise be jailed until called to testify. It was prompted by the case of a witness held for 905 days and another held for 727 days in a Washington County murder trial.
Animal abuse: House Bill 2693 makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by jail time or a $6,250 fine, for someone to knowingly possess video showing bestiality. The bill also raises the sexual abuse of an animal from a misdemeanor to a Class C felony.
Bomb threats: Under Senate Bill 919, calling in a bomb threat or other false emergency at a public building or courthouse will become a Class A misdemeanor. Repeat offenses will be Class C felonies.
EDUCATION
K-12 budget: House Bill 5017 provides $7.37 billion for K-12 schools for 2015-17. That represents an increase of about $730 million, or 11 percent, over the previous outlay. About $220 million will pay for extending kindergarten to a full day.
School lunches: HB 5017 also provides funding to expand free school lunches to 30,000 more children by eliminating any charge to those previously eligible for reduced-price lunches. The switch takes effect this fall.
Standardized tests: House Bill 2655 makes it easier for parents to opt out of having their children take standardized tests and softens the blow to schools with low test participation.
Attendance: Under Senate Bill 321, children must start attending school at age 6, not 7.
Discipline: Senate Bill 553 aims to tackle bias against students of color by dramatically limiting when administrators can suspend students in fifth-grade or younger. Senate Bill 556 says expulsion is no longer allowed as a punishment for truancy.
*Tuition equity: Senate Bill 932 makes undocumented immigrants who recently graduated from high school and attended Oregon schools for at least three years eligible for state tuition grants.
*Preschool: House Bill 3380 designates $30 million to establish a statewide program in which public and private providers offer full-day preschool, ensure kindergarten readiness, hire lead teachers who have at least a bachelor's degree in early childhood education, and pay them comparably to nearby kindergarten teachers.
*Community college tuition: Between 4,000 and 6,000 students will get all or part of their tuition paid by the state under Senate Bill 81.
Higher education funding: House Bill 5024 appropriates $700 million for the state's seven public universities and $550 million for community colleges. The increased funding will enable Portland State University and perhaps others to reduce tuition increases, boost retention and increase graduation rates.
Campus sexual assaults: Senate Bill 759 requires Oregon universities, colleges and community colleges to give sexual-assault victims written information on their rights, legal options, campus services, confidentiality policies, school disciplinary procedures and off-campus resources. House Bill 3476 makes conversations between sexual-assault survivors and their specially trained advocates private.
TRANSPORTATION
Stoplight mercy: Under Senate Bill 533, cyclists, motorcycle riders and other two-wheeled motorists stranded at a red light that fails to go through a full cycle are allowed to proceed through the intersection with extreme caution.
Cable barriers: Senate Bill 921 orders the Oregon Department of Transportation to spend no more than the next six years installing cable barriers along 100 miles of highway where narrow or unprotected medians might lead to crossover crashes. The bill honors two Oregon State Hospital employees killed in such a crash last fall: Dr. Steve Fritz, husband of Portland Commissioner Amanda Fritz, and Cary Fairchild, a mental health specialist.
*Powell Boulevard, other projects: House Bill 5006 includes $35 million for projects, including $17 million for Southeast Portland's Powell Boulevard between 116th and 136th avenues. The focus will be on fixing up the intersection at 122nd Avenue, Oregon's most crash-prone in 2012. Other projects: a new median barrier and other fixes for Highway 34 ($3 million), snow zone changes on Interstate 84 between Pendleton and La Grande ($4 million) and cable median barriers on Interstate 205 and Interstate 5 in Southern Oregon ($2.5 million).
Self-service gas: House Bill 3011 will let non-commercial drivers pump their own gas between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. in counties with 40,000 people or fewer.
*License plates: Under House Bill 2730, drivers can buy a Trail Blazers license plate. The bill also expands the number of specialty plates the state can offer. Senate Bill 472 doubles the number of Pacific Wonderland plates issued to 80,000.
VULNERABLE OREGONIANS
*Affordable housing: HB 5006 also includes $40 million to build hundreds of affordable housing units. House Bill 2005 includes $25 million to build housing focused on people with mental illness.
*Savings accounts: Senate Bill 777 creates a tax-exempt savings account program, like college 529 accounts, for disabled people to pay for disability expenses.
Tax collections: House Bill 2089 directs the Revenue Department to suspend collection of unpaid state income taxes from seniors and other Oregonians getting by on Social Security and other income exempt from collections.
"Benefits cliff": House Bill 3082 offers relief for low-income families whose rising earnings would otherwise boot them from affordable housing, increasing the income threshold from 60 percent of the area's median income to 80 percent.
ENVIRONMENT
Clean fuels: Senate Bill 324 extends Oregon's clean fuels program, setting progressive limits on vehicle fuels' carbon content over the next 10 years, to combat climate change. The bill was among the most controversial of the session.
*Herbicide spraying: House Bill 3549 establishes a 60-foot no-spray buffer around homes and schools where herbicides can't be sprayed from helicopters, and increases penalties for pilots who spray off-target.
West Hayden Island: Senate Bill 412 lets the Port of Portland continue depositing polluted muck dredged from shipping channels in the Willamette and Columbia rivers onto West Hayden Island.
*Salmon license plates: House Bill 3333 requires the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board to spend money from salmon license plates on restoration projects that benefit the fish.
Polystyrene: House Bill 2762 bars school districts from using polystyrene foam plates, trays, food containers or food packaging unless they recycle it.
Juniper harvests: Under House Bills 2997 and 2998, the state will provide economic development assistance to those harvesting and making products from juniper. Juniper consumes a lot of water and crowds out other vegetation.
MARIJUANA
Opting out: House Bill 3400 makes it easier for some communities to ban marijuana businesses, sets new production limits on medical marijuana growers, and lowers criminal sentences.
*Sales tax: House Bill 2041 abolishes Measure 91's harvest tax and establishes a 17 percent sales tax on recreational marijuana. Localities can add another 3 percent tax.
*Early sales: Senate Bill 460 allows medical marijuana dispensaries to sell dried cannabis, seeds and plant starts to adults, 21 and older, starting Oct. 1. The temporary sales program will end after the OLCC starts licensing retailers in late 2016.
*Expungement: Senate Bill 844 allows those who committed a marijuana offense before age 21 to more quickly have it expunged from their record. It also expands access to medical marijuana to those with "a degenerative or pervasive neurological condition," such as ALS.
GOVERNMENT ETHICS
Commission: House Bill 2019 expands the Oregon Government Ethics Commission from seven members to nine, gives legislative leaders a larger role in appointing members, and speeds timelines for investigating ethics complaints.
Governor's partner: House Bill 2020 clarifies that the governor's partner is a public official who must file economic conflict-of-interest forms. It also bans the governor, the governor's partner, the secretary of state, the attorney general, the treasurer and the labor commissioner from accepting speaking fees.
Audit: Senate Bill 9 orders an audit of state agencies' handling of public records.
EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS
Unreinforced masonry: Senate Bill 85 allows local governments to set up financial assistance programs for property owners looking to make seismic upgrades. The bill is in response to owners in Portland's Old Town/Chinatown neighborhood with unreinforced masonry buildings susceptible to earthquakes but can't afford the necessary upgrades.
*New director: House Bill 2270 adds a chief resilience officer post to the governor's office charged with riding herd on Oregon's preparations for a catastrophic Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake.
*Schools and public buildings: House Bill 5005 sets aside $175 million for seismic improvements at schools across the state in danger of serious damage or collapse in a major earthquake. Lawmakers also hope schools will tap $125 million available for general improvements to make quake-related fixes. Public safety buildings were allocated $30 million for retrofits. The bill also includes $17.7 million to help Multnomah County get started on replacing its quake-vulnerable downtown courthouse.
OTHERS
Voting: The secretary of state will automatically register eligible voters using drivers' license data under House Bill 2177. This first-in-the-nation law could add hundreds of thousands of Oregonians to the voting rolls in time for the 2016 primary and general election.
Gun background checks: Starting Aug. 9, criminal background checks will be required for private gun transfers under Senate Bill 941.
Class-action damage awards: House Bill 2700 directs unclaimed damage awards from class-action lawsuits to the Oregon State Bar's legal-aid fund. Before, sued companies could keep any unclaimed money. Now the money will provide free legal counsel for Oregonians with noncriminal cases.
Birth control: Two new laws will make it easier for women to get birth control. House Bill 2879 allows pharmacists to prescribe birth control pills and patches, saving women a trip to the doctor. House Bill 3343 makes Oregon the first state to require insurers to cover a 12-month supply of birth control, saving women from needing frequent refills.
Retirement plan: Under House Bill 2960, employees who aren't offered a retirement plan by their employer will be automatically enrolled in a state plan, but can opt out.
Convention center hotel: Senate Bill 927 clears the way for a taxpayer-funded hotel at Portland's Oregon Convention Center. The law gives Metro authority to finance the hotel.
Powdered alcohol: Senate Bill 937 pre-emptively bans the sale of powdered alcohol.
Vaping: House Bill 2546 bans puffing on an electronic cigarette indoors -- whether on the job, or at a bar or restaurant --starting Jan. 1. The bill also bans the sale of vaporizers, nicotine liquid and other accessories to minors.
Animal neglect: Senate Bill 614 lets police officers crack into someone's vehicle in certain cases if they see an animal sweltering inside.
Drone-hunting: House Bill 2534 forbids Oregonians from using aerial drones when hunting, fishing or both.
*Gain Share: Senate Bill 129 reforms the revenue-sharing program. Had lawmakers done nothing, Washington County and Hillsboro would have received an estimated $85 million in Gain Share money in 2015-17, far more than the $5 million forecast when the program was approved in 2007. The bill caps the amount any county can receive at $16 million a year, among other changes.
-- Compiled and edited by Michelle Brence
-- With contributions from Denis C. Theriault, Jeff Mapes, Amy Wang, George Rede, Betsy Hammond, Maxine Bernstein, Richard Read, Rob Davis, Emily E. Smith, Casey Parks and Luke Hammill
503-412-7059
@mbrence
This post has been edited to reflect the following correction: An entry regarding a new prosecutor for elder-abuse cases has been deleted; funding was not provided.