Big Wins and Missed Opportunities for People with Disabilities
Oregon's 2025 Legislative Session wrapped up on June 27th, bringing both significant victories and disappointing setbacks for people with disabilities. Read on to find out what happened with bills that affect you.
Child Welfare: We Stopped Dangerous Policy!
Our biggest victory this session was defeating House Bill 3835, a comprehensive child welfare reform bill that put vulnerable children at serious risk — and we have our supporters’ advocacy to thank! This dangerous legislation would have created loopholes that especially threatened children with disabilities by weakening restrictions on restraint and seclusion and making abuse investigations less useful for protecting children and youth.
Disability Rights Oregon submitted expert testimony to kill this harmful bill and met with legislators and reporters several times while building a powerful coalition of former foster care youth, parents, allies, and other advocates. Our supporters sent over 3,100 emails to legislators, bravely testified in person and online, and helped us spread the word. This hard-won victory was truly a team effort, and we sincerely thank everyone for fighting for foster care children! We did it!!
More Victories for People with Disabilities
We also successfully advocated from January through June for several other important bills that benefit our community members such as:
Justice for Sexual Assault Survivors: People with disabilities are three times more likely than other individuals to experience crime, and the numbers are far worse for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Plus, our community faces major barriers when accessing the criminal justice system. HB 3582 eliminates Oregon's statute of limitations for civil sexual assault and child sexual abuse claims. That means there will no longer be a time limit for survivors to sue their abusers for monetary damages when an assault occurs after the bill is signed into law.
Fair Employment: Historically, people with disabilities have been excluded from many parts of society, including the workforce. And when we have been allowed to work, we have often been wrongly paid less than others. SB 810 writes into state law that all employees with comparable experience must receive the same benefits, salary, support, and opportunities — regardless of whether they have a disability.
Right to Repair: Relying on assistive devices like power wheelchairs and mobility aids to live as independently as possible can be expensive. We fought hard for SB 549 and SB 550, two policies that reinforce people with disabilities’ rights to access repairs. Before these bills passed, individuals were sometimes waiting months and even years for prior authorization of critically needed repairs. Now, the maximum wait time is 72 hours.
Healthcare Access for People with IDD: Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) often encounter problems such as inaccessible facilities, uninformed providers, and limited communication tools when seeking healthcare services, including mental health treatment. SB 729 prohibits discrimination when people with IDD need mental health services.
Special Education: All K-12 students with disabilities have a right to a free and appropriate public education that is tailored to their individual needs so they can thrive in society. But navigating the many hoops involved can feel like an impossible task for parents. HB 2508 improves this complex and often frustrating system by creating a standardized, electronic student database that makes transferring Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and 504 Plans between districts easier.
A Mixed Bag
The budget environment was especially challenging this year, and the remainder of the long session resulted in a mixed bag of results from state leaders. From expanding forced commitment for psychiatric treatment, to zero growth in how much money people can earn and save when receiving medical insurance from the Employed People with Disabilities Program, to the legislature’s repeated failure to increase special education funding, many of our community’s priorities did not move forward.
What happened with accessible housing is a perfect example of this “one step forward, two steps back” pattern: legislators supported rewarding developers who include wheelchair accessible units in projects but shot down requiring 10% of all new developments be fully accessible. We’ll be back to continue the fight.
Thank You
We so appreciate the motivated members of our community who contacted elected leaders, testified, shared petitions, and quickly acted. A few legislative leaders also deserve special shout-outs for defeating policies that harm our community and getting important bills across the finish line. Deep gratitude to Senator Gelser Blouin (Corvallis, Albany, Tangent, Adair Village, South Salem, and parts of Linn, Benton and Marion Counties) and Representative Annessa Hartman (Gladstone, Orgon City, Jennings Lodge, Oatfield, and North Clackamas County) for their tireless leadership to support foster youth and thank you to Senator Patterson (D-Salem) for championing accessible housing.
Looking Forward
The 2025 session presented some difficulties, but we know progress often comes incrementally, and each victory represents real improvement in the lives of Oregonians with disabilities. Our work is far from over, and the coalitions formed this year — around accessible housing, special education funding, mental health rights, child welfare protections, and more — remain strong and committed to continued advocacy.
At Disability Rights Oregon, we’ll spend the next several months building momentum and planning strategies for the 2026 short session. We know you’ll be there when we need to take collective action, so stay tuned. We’re fighting right beside you.
