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Nearly 300 laws approved by Oregon lawmakers in this year’s legislative session will take effect at the beginning of 2026.
Those laws range widely in scope and subject area, impacting regulations on housing production, labor standards, consumer protections and health care. Many other laws approved this year have already gone into effect.
Meanwhile, legislators are preparing for a busy one-month short session that will begin in February. They are expected to take action on transportation funding, tax policy, business-focused policies, Oregon’s response to federal immigration policy, campaign finance limits and other topics.
One change that Oregonians will not see in January is a higher gas tax or other transportation taxes. That’s because the Republican-led group attempting to halt a scheduled increase to Oregon’s transportation taxes said earlier this month that it had submitted more than enough signatures to allow voters the final say on the tax hikes next November, suspending the increases.
Here are eight laws going into effect Jan. 1:
Ticket prices: House Bill 3167 will make it illegal to sell or knowingly use software designed to bypass ticket sellers’ safeguards, such as limits on ticket purchases or security measures. The law is intended to ensure fair access to tickets for events, including sports games, theater performances or concerts. Trade shows and movie theater events are exempt from the law.
Wolf compensation: Senate Bill 777 will grant larger payouts to ranchers to recoup their losses for cattle killed by wolves. Ranchers will receive up to five times the market value for calves, sheep or goats that are injured or die from wolf attacks, with lower multipliers for mature cattle, working dogs and other livestock.
Telemarketing crackdown: House Bill 3865 will ban telemarketing solicitation calls between 7 p.m. and 9 a.m. and will limit businesses to three solicitation calls to an individual per 24-hour period. The law will also expand the definition of “telemarketing solicitation” to include texting, though the law will not apply to calls or texts from charitable organizations, public agencies and polling firms.
Construction wages: Senate Bill 426, one of the most contentious bills from this year’s session, will make the owner or contractor of a construction project liable for unpaid wages when a subcontractor they’ve paid fails to pay its workers. While supporters said the bill was a step to address wage theft in the construction industry, opponents said it would unfairly harm law-abiding property owners and contractors.
Medical debt: Senate Bill 605 will bar medical debt from appearing on credit reports. Hospitals, clinics and other medical providers will be prohibited from reporting unpaid medical bills to credit reporting agencies. Those agencies will be barred from including medical debt on consumer credit reports, which are used to assess a person’s eligibility for loans, housing, insurance policies and other financial services.
AI deepfakes: House Bill 2299 will make it illegal to distribute an AI-generated sexual image of another person without their consent. The law will apply to digitally generated or altered images that are “reasonably realistic.”
Evicting squatters: House Bill 3522 will make it easier for property owners and landlords to remove squatters. The law will allow landlords to evict individuals who are residing on a property without permission after providing them 24 hours notice. Lawmakers said Oregon’s current regulations, which in some cases require landlords to file civil lawsuits in order to remove unauthorized occupants, can be costly and lead to lengthy legal battles.
Tribal health: Senate Bill 841 will allow federally recognized tribes in Oregon to report cases of certain diseases or outbreaks in tribal communities with the Oregon Health Authority. Tribal health center administrators said the law will provide them with the infrastructure to access key health care datasets and investigate outbreaks.
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