A Beginner’s Guide to Getting Involved in Local Legislature

Do you have concerns about bills affecting your rights, but aren’t sure what you can do about it? Are you looking to advocate for legislative changes in your community, but you don’t know where to start? Well, you’ve come to the right place!

In this guide, we’ll walk you step-by-step through the process, from finding and interpreting bills to writing testimonial letters with our easy-to-use templates.

But first, let’s go over some of the basics.

How do Bills Become Laws?

How A Bill Becomes A Law Infographic (credit to Women's Voices for the Earth: https://womensvoices.org/)
Image credit: Women’s Voices for the Earth

Bills are essentially ideas that legislators are proposing be turned into laws. To do this, the bill must be reviewed by both the Senate and the House. Committees are assigned to review and amend the bill via public hearings.

Once the bill passes both the Senate and the House, it goes to the governor, who can either: sign it, not sign it, or veto it. If the governor vetoes it, the bill goes back to the House and the Senate. If the governor doesn’t veto it, it automatically becomes a law at the start of the following year.

So where do you come in? During the committee hearings part of the process, members of the public can submit testimony, expressing their thoughts and opinions about the bill. This is when you can make your voice heard!

When does all this happen?

The Oregon legislative session takes place at the beginning of the year, typically beginning on the first Tuesday after Martin Luther King Jr. Day. You can check the Oregon Legislative Calendar to see exactly when things are happening.

Long vs. Short Sessions

In years ending in an odd number (such as 2025), Oregon State Legislature holds long sessions. Long sessions can last up to 160 days and approve the state budget for the next two years.

In years ending in an even number (such as 2026), they hold short sessions. Short sessions can last up to 35 days. During a short session, lawmakers primarily make technical changes to bills passed in the previous year’s session and make budget adjustments.

Who decides what bills become laws?

You can find your elected officials, as well as ways to contact them, by selecting your district on this site. Reach out to your local legislators via phone, mail, or email, if you have concerns or even an idea for a bill.

Where to Find Bills

To find all the bills currently in session, head to the Bills and Laws page on Oregon State Legislature’s site.

On the left-hand side of the webpage, you can click on the current year’s session to see current bills, or past sessions to look at past bills.

This will bring you to a list of bills for that legislative session, organized by Senate and House bills. You can scroll through to read the bills’ descriptions.

Alternatively, you can use the site’s Find A Bill search engine, to search for bills by keywords, phrases, or bill number.

How to Track Bills

It’s easy to keep track of bills by setting up alerts!

Capitol e-Subscribe allows you to sign up and receive email updates on specific bills, such as committee meetings and hearing dates. You can use this resource to track any bills that interest you.

Interpreting a Bill

Bills may at first feel daunting to understand. However, the text is formatted to help. Just keep in mind the following:

  1. Regular text shows that which already exists in Oregon law.
  2. Boldfaced text shows proposed new additions to existing Oregon law.
  3. [Italicized and bracketed] text shows proposed sections which are to be removed from current Oregon law.

If you forget what each text type means, don’t worry. Each bill contains the following statement on the bottom of the first page to remind you:

NOTE: Matter in boldfaced type in an amended section is new; matter [italicized and bracketed] is existing law to be omitted. New sections are in boldfaced type.

Yay or Nay Language Guide

This guide is used to determine whether a bill would or would not be supported by Capital Pride and to outline which bills might most impact our community. This is not intended to be a comprehensive list.

How to Use This Guide:

Below are a list of possible topics that might relate to the bill you’re addressing. Find the topic that seems most relevant.

If the bill language more closely matches the language listed in the Yay column, then we encourage you to use the Bill Support Template Letter below to submit testimony to the appropriate committee.

If the bill language more closely matches the language listed in the Nay column, then we encourage you to use the Bill Opposition Template Letter below to submit testimony.

Note: This guide is not intended to dictate how you respond to bills or even to outline which bills deserve responses. This is merely a tool to help you better identify bills which might impact the queer community.

List of Topics:
Abortion Rights
Yay
  • Increased access to healthcare needs for those seeking and receiving abortions.
Nay
  • Restrictions on abortion rights such as mandating only specific providers, requiring special permissions for abortions to be performed, setting specific abortion timeframe limitations, limiting reimbursements for abortion related healthcare costs, or limiting medical coverage/providers for abortion services.
Access to Healthcare / Reproductive Health Information / Counseling / Identity Disclosure
Yay
  • Increased access to healthcare/counseling in general and specifically for LGBTQ community
  • Increase funding in underfunded healthcare areas (access to PrEP, pep, HIV/AIDS funding).
  • Requiring healthcare providers to provide information about reproductive healthcare options.
  • Increased healthcare training of sexual orientation, identification, and expression.
  • Protections against disclosure requirements by healthcare professionals of sexual orientation, identification, and expression of child or adult to parents, case workers, foster parents, or other family members.
  • See also: Abortion Rights and Transgender Healthcare sections.
Nay
  • Decreased access to healthcare in general and specifically for LGBTQ community.
  • Decreased funding for healthcare areas.
  • Allowing healthcare providers and facilities to limit providing information about reproductive healthcare options.
  • Decreased protections against disclosure requirements by healthcare professionals of sexual orientation, identification, and expression of child or adult to parents, case workers, foster parents, or other family members.
  • See also: Abortion Rights and Transgender Healthcare sections.
Access to LGBTQ Community Resources
Yay
  • Increased funding and access to community resources for the community in general and for LGBTQ specifically.
  • Additional resources created to support LGBTQ community.
Nay
  • Decreased funding and access to community resources for the community in general and for LGBTQ specifically.
  • Removal of resources specific to the LGBTQ community.
Child Care / Children of LGTBQ Community and Parental Rights
Yay
  • Increased access to child care.
  • Increased services to supplement child care costs.
  • Additional support for single-parent households.
  • Increased access to adoption and foster parent opportunities for LGBTQ community.
Nay
  • Provisions allowing for child care facilities to discriminate against children of LGBTQ parents.
  • Provisions allowing for child care facilities to discriminate against LGBTQ youth.
  • Not recognizing parental rights of LGBTQ parents.
Civil Rights
Yay
  • Increased LGBTQ marriage equality.
  • Enshrining LGBTQ rights into the State Constitution
Nay
  • Decreased LGBTQ marriage equality.
Education / Health Related to Sexual Abuse
Yay
  • Zero tolerance for sexual abuse.
  • Increasing number of people that are required to report signs of sexual abuse.
  • Providing additional resources related to addressing the physical and mental aftermath of sexual abuse.
  • Additional training on how to recognize and address suspected and actual sexual abuse.
  • Increasing spaces that specifically allow youth to discuss these matters openly without the pressures of mandatory reporting.
  • Increasing the age of consent to 18.
Nay
  • Restrictions on when investigations of sexual abuse are conducted.
  • Decreasing the number of people that are required to report signs of sexual abuse.
  • Reducing resources related to addressing the physical and mental aftermath of sexual abuse.
  • Reducing the amount of training required on how to recognize and address suspected and actual sexual abuse.
  • Decreasing the age of consent.
Education Related to Sexual Minorities / Reproduction Health Curriculum
Yay
  • Providing increased protections against discrimination in schools for a youth’s sexual orientation, sexual expression, or gender identity.
  • Increased access to information/resources about sexual orientation, sexual expression, gender identity, and identity questioning.
  • Increased privacy rights for youth and provisions allowing youth to determine whether information about their sexual orientation, sexual expression, or gender identity is shared.
  • Increased protections for LGBTQ teachers against firing or other actions such as forcing the teacher to remove pictures of partner and family.
  • Increased protections for LGBTQ teachers against schools sharing information about their sexual orientation, sexual expression, or gender identity. 
  • More inclusive and informative reproductive health and health instruction in general, and specifically for LGBTQ youth beyond abstinence only.
  • Comprehensive sexual and reproductive health instruction.
Nay
  • Requirement for teachers/staff/coaches to report to parents/case workers/foster parents/family members regarding a youth’s sexual orientation, sexual expression, gender identity, or identity questioning.
  • Discrimination based on a youth’s sexual orientation, sexual expression, or gender identity especially as it relates to instruction in health class, use of building facilities, bathrooms, or participation in specific activities such as sports or clubs.
  • Decreased access to information and resources about sexual orientation, sexual expression, or gender identity.
  • Requirements for treating LGBTQ youth or those questioning differently as it pertains to instruction in health class, use of bathrooms, locker rooms, use of building facilities, or participation in specific activities such as sports or clubs.
  • Decreased privacy rights for youth and provisions which restrict their ability to determine whether information about their sexual orientation, sexual expression, or gender identity is shared.
  • Decreased protections for LGBTQ teachers against firing or other actions such as forcing the teacher to remove pictures of partner and family.
  • Decreased protections for LGBTQ teachers against schools sharing information about their sexual orientation, sexual expression, or gender identity with parents or youth.
  • Limitations on health curriculum relating to information about sexual orientation, sexual expression, or gender identity.
LGBTQ Youth Rights
Yay
  • Updating the child abuse and neglect definitions to include kicking an LGBTQ or questioning youth out of the house.
  • Updating language to make kicking an LGBTQ or questioning youth out of the house illegal.
  • Increasing number of places to have private conversations about possible gender affirming care and questions related to transgender youth.
Nay
  • Giving parents increased rights to kick their LGBTQ or questioning youth out of the house.
  • Decreasing the number of places to have private conversations about possible gender affirming care and questions related to transgender youth.
Transgender Healthcare
Yay
  • Improved access to healthcare for transgender individuals or those wishing to transition.
  • Increased provider services, counseling, or access to hormone treatments.
  • Increased access to different providers.
  • Increased access needs to non-medical gender affirming care (e.g., vocal coaching, electrolysis, cosmetic, etc.).
  • Increased ability for transgender individuals to change gender on official government or healthcare forms.
Nay
  • Reduced access to healthcare for transgender individuals or those wishing to transition
  • Restricted provider services, counseling, or access to hormone treatments.
  • Restrictions on type of providers
  • Increased medical or healthcare costs for transgender individuals.
  • Decreased access to non-medical gender affirming care (e.g., vocal coaching, electrolysis, cosmetic, etc.).
  • Decreased ability for transgender individuals to change gender on official government and healthcare forms.
Voting Access / Voting Requirements
Yay
  • Increased voter access including making it easier to update voter registration and registering to vote. 
  • Increased support for voters with physical, mental, or emotional concerns.
Nay
  • Restrictions on voter access including raising the voting age, purging/invalidating voter registration due to inactivity, or requiring special actions to stay on voter registration.

Writing a Testimony Letter

Now that you’ve determined how to respond, it’s time to write a testimony letter. Simply download and follow along with one of our templates:

Here’s an example of each type of letter, so you can see what a finished letter might look like. These are only to be used as examples and should not be copied word for word.

5 Tips for Writing a Great Testimony Letter:

  • Use a professional and respectful tone
  • Reference the language used in the bill
  • Focus on the impact of the bill and not the bill sponsor(s) or committee members
  • Keep it short and sweet, and use bulleted lists if necessary
  • Share your personal experience or connection to the topic of the bill (only if it’s relevant and keep it brief)

IMPORTANT: Please note that should you choose to submit testimony, you are submitting testimony on behalf of yourself as a community member, and not on behalf of Salem Capital Pride. In your testimony, do not speak on behalf of Salem Capital Pride or any of its board members.

Submitting Your Testimony

To submit your written testimony, you will need to visit Oregon State Legislature’s website. But wait! There are a couple more things you should be aware of…

3 Things to Know Before Submitting Testimony:

  1. Your testimony may be read aloud at the committee meeting
    • If you attend the meeting, you may read your own testimony aloud. If you don’t attend, your testimony will be reviewed by committee members later.
  2. Someone may follow up with you
    • If there is confusion about your testimony or the committee has any questions, someone may contact you to follow up.
  3. Written testimony letters are public information
    • Your testimony will be attached to the committee meeting notes, which are publicly accessible, so anyone will be able to read your testimony and see your name attached to it. Testimony cannot be anonymous, so be sure to sign your letter.

Now it’s time to submit your testimony letter.

And that’s all there is to it!

You’ve successfully made your voice heard about an important issue affecting our community. Now that you know these steps, you can respond to any and all legislation that comes our way.

If you have any questions or suggestions regarding this guide, feel free to reach out to Mathew Oldfield (mathew@salemcapitalpride.org).

For more ways to get involved in your community, attendCapital Pride’s next meetingor sign up for our free newsletter below.