As we enter 2025, the Oregon Center for Public Policy (OCPP) remains steadfast in its mission to advance policies that make Oregonians more economically secure and help them thrive. This year, OCPP is advocating for three legislative priorities designed to lift up workers, support families, and strengthen communities. Here’s a closer look at these initiatives:

Establish Workforce Standards Boards for long-term care and farmworkers

Oregon’s long-term care workers (bill number not yet assigned) and farmworkers (HB 2548) play an essential role in sustaining the health and well-being of our communities. Yet, these workers often face low wages, challenging working conditions, and limited career advancement opportunities. To address these issues, lawmakers should create Workforce Standards Boards tailored to these industry sectors to:

• Establish industry-specific standards for wages, benefits, and working conditions.
• Provide pathways for professional development and career growth.
• Protect good employers from having to compete against firms whose sole advantage is low wages and poor working conditions.

By prioritizing fairness and dignity for these workers, Oregon can set a national example for how to value essential labor.

Strengthen Oregon’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)(HB 2958)

The Earned Income Tax Credit is one of the most effective tools for lifting families out of poverty and supporting hardworking Oregonians. Expanding and improving the EITC will provide immediate, tangible benefits to those who need it most by putting more money into the pockets of low- and moderate-income families, enabling them to pay for essentials like housing, groceries, and childcare. Currently, the Oregon EITC is 12 percent of the federal EITC for families with children under 3 and 9 percent for all other families. Our proposal would:

• Raise the rates to 25 percent for families with children under 3 and 20 percent for all other families.
• Extend eligibility to all working adults, regardless of age.
• Make other improvements such as exempting the EITC from garnishment and adding a trigger for quarterly advance payments.

With these improvements, Oregonians working hard to support their families will be better able to cover their monthly bills. And because families spend most of their money in their communities, these reforms can give a boost to local small businesses.

Expand Oregon’s Tax Infrastructure Grant Program (HB 2991)

Tax credits like the EITC are effective only if families claim them by filing a tax return, so investments in tax filing assistance are crucial. The Tax Infrastructure Grant (TIG) program provides resources to community organizations helping families file their taxes, but the current investment is inadequate to reach many rural communities. Additional resources for this program would help working families in Oregon access nearly $100 million in federal EITC refunds and even more in child tax credits and withholding refunds. Expansion of this program would:

• Help more working families make ends meet by eliminating tax filing fees and increasing tax refunds.
• Expand innovative programs to help students file their taxes and build the tax preparation workforce.
• Ensure rural and marginalized communities receive the support they need to navigate the tax system.

Investing in the TIG program is a critical step toward building a more inclusive and equitable tax infrastructure in Oregon.

Other priorities

In 2025, we will also support other legislative proposals that impact the economic well-being of Oregonians. These include the proposals in the Fair Shot Agenda and an effort to boost funding for the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, among other important work led by our partners. 

As always, we will be looking for opportunities to make Oregon’s tax code more progressive by raising taxes on the rich and corporations and working to prevent tax breaks for the same.

Above all, we will be looking to make the economy work better for all Oregonians.