What is “Ways and Means,” Anyway?
Making laws is complicated – and that can be a good thing. Good public policy – which OEC has championed from the beginning – requires thinking through how a program will be carried out as well as what resources will be needed to make it successful. That’s why it’s a long, multi-step process requiring collaboration and thorough review from start to finish. (Read more about how ideas become law here).
At times during this process, public input is critical for a bill to become law. For bills that need funding, that time is now. We’ve made it easy for you to take action below.
What is Ways & Means | How to Take Action | Draft Script | Talking Points | Roadshow Schedule
What Is Ways and Means
The state’s budget is where we put values into action. When a bill has a fiscal component – i.e. requires a slice of the total state budget pie in order to pass – it takes an additional step to go from legislative concept to law. Enter: Ways and Means.
Put simply, a ways and means committee is a group of legislators tasked with making decisions about a government’s finances. They take the bills that have been advanced beyond their policy committees, and determine the ways and means of fulfilling their budgetary requirements.
The concept has existed in various forms for centuries. In fact, the oldest committee of the U.S. Congress is the United States House Committee on Ways and Means. In Oregon, the Joint Committee on Ways and Means has existed since before we were even admitted to the Union. Today, it’s a large committee made up of both members of the Senate and House, with up to eight subcommittees, tasked with adopting the budget every two years.
Any bill that doesn’t need state funding skips Ways and Means. For example, this year OEC is supporting SB 88, or the “Get the Junk Out of Rates” bill, which would stop utility companies from charging us for their lawyers, lobbyists, and advertising on our utility bills. Since state funding is not needed for the bill to take effect, it avoids Ways and Means.
Take Action – Testify at the Ways and Means Roadshow
This session, OEC is supporting legislation that will need to make it through Ways and Means in order to go into law. Because the state budget is finite, this step of committee approval is critical for the survival of our bills and to keep state agencies that protect our air, water and climate funded.
That’s why it’s so important we make our voices heard, and tell Ways and Means to fund protecting our water, air, land, and people!
From March through April, Oregon’s Ways and Means Committee is embarking on a statewide “roadshow” to hear directly from the public about the issues that matter most. We need you to speak up for the environment.
1. Testify In Person -OR- Submit Testimony in Writing; Schedule below
2. Wear Blue When You Testify to show support for climate funding!
3. Use our Draft Script to Craft Your Message – Verbal testimony is limited to 2 minutes. Written testimony can be submitted 48 hours after the meeting.
4. Add Talking Points to Support Your Testimony – Topics are listed by key focus area below.
For additional help crafting your message, sign-up for Ways & Means testimony support through OEC’s climate community network. Schedule below includes training links. Our coalition will help you register for the roadshow, develop your testimony, and deliver it in a way that maximizes your impact.
Draft Script – Ways and Means Testimony
Use the template below to craft your testimony. Select a prompt to tell a personal story, then add talking points.
In-person testimony: is limited to 2-minutes (approximately 300 words); select the topic: “Natural Resources/Environment.”
Written testimony: is not limited; select your position on the measure as: “NEUTRAL.”
Testimony Template:
—
Dear Co-Chairs Senator Lieber and Representative Sanchez, and Members of the Ways and Means Committee,
My name is [First and Last Name], and I live in [City]. With the federal government eliminating essential environmental protections, it is critical that state leaders actively protect our communities and our environment.
Out of Oregon’s entire budget, less than 3% goes to the 14 state agencies working to protect our environment. Our Natural Resources agencies cannot afford any further cuts.
I urge you to protect Oregon now and fully fund state-level environmental protections for the following reasons:
- [Share your experience with… extreme weather, wildfires, or community aid during disasters.]
- [Share your experience with… health issues caused by pollutants like toxic PFAS or diesel exhaust.]
- [Share why you care about… ensuring safe drinking water for our communities, fish, and wildlife.]
- [Share why you care about… cutting climate pollution to protect our environment.]
- [Share why you care about… equitable access to safe and clean transportation.]
- [Add one or two of the talking points below.]
Thank you for working to protect Oregon now, and fully fund state-level environmental protections
Sincerely,
Name
City, Oregon
Talking Points – Use In Your Testimony
Climate Protection and Energy Affordability
- Our communities are being threatened by wildfires, extreme heat, unseasonable freezes, coastal erosion, ocean acidification, and other climate disasters. We need to fund the state agencies responsible for enforcing environmental protections, and the programs designed to help our communities during these disasters.
- Climate disruption threatens progress on every other topic discussed today: kids miss school because of extreme weather. As we strive to house more people, our neighbors are displaced by fires and the costs of home insurance is stressing affordability. Oregon’s Resilience Hubs and Networks deliver critical resources like medical supplies and water purification systems to help communities prepare for disasters, save lives, and recover faster.
- For many families, a heat pump can be a lifeline. Heat pumps mean lower utility bills when costs are skyrocketing, safety from deadly heat, and being able to afford and stay in housing. Funding programs that provide heat pumps to Oregonians will help keep people safe, housed, and secure in their communities. But we can’t stop there. Oregon should also fund the One Stop Shop 2.0 program to help families take advantage of all the rebate programs available to help weatherize homes and lower utility bills.
Clean and Plentiful Water
- Everyone should have safe and reliable drinking water. State programs that help low-income Oregonians repair or replace failing septic systems and drinking water wells are essential to protect public health. Access to clean water also requires coordinated water management. And, good water management depends on good data. We must fund water data collection in Oregon to know how much water is getting used, where and when, and make sure that information is easily available to the public.
- Protecting and improving water quality in Oregon is critical. Our public water systems and domestic well users across the state depend on state-funded programs to protect this vital resource. By revising the state’s Groundwater Quality Management Act, we can avoid water management stalemates in places like the lower Umatilla basin.
Protecting a Healthy Environment
- Oregon’s families, workers, and environment depend on fully funded agencies that fight toxic exposures, pollution and workplace hazards. We must invest in protecting our communities and our state from hazards like harmful algae blooms, lead, pesticides, radioactive elements, smoke, PFAS, toxics in children’s products, and other health dangers.
- To better protect the health of our communities and the environment, we must stop toxic chemicals at the source. By funding the state agencies responsible for monitoring and cutting these dangerous toxics from our environment, we can improve our health – and the health of all living things in Oregon.
Transportation Electrification
- Tailpipe pollution contributes to air and climate pollution. Electric vehicles not only cut pollution, but also are cheaper to maintain. Fully funding Oregon’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program makes it possible for Oregonians to purchase or access an electric car, regardless of income or background.
- Oregonians who purchase an electric car or truck need accessible charging, regardless of where they live. Funding for Community Charging Rebates and the Zero Emissions, Medium and Heavy Duty Rebate program brings key charging infrastructure to rural and underrepresented communities across the state.
2025 Roadshow Schedule
Register in advance to testify at the following in-person roadshow events. If you’re unable to attend in-person, the Salem event includes a virtual option:
Gresham | Saturday, March 22 (10:00am – 12:00pm)
Mt. Hood Community College, College Theater
26000 S.E. Stark Street, Gresham, OR 9703
Register to testify in Gresham
Submit written testimony for Gresham
Testimony Help (from our climate coalition) for Gresham
Astoria | Friday, March 28 (5:00pm – 7:00pm)
Liberty Theatre Astoria
1203 Commercial Street, Astoria, OR 97103
Register to testify in Astoria
Submit written testimony for Astoria
Testimony Help (from our climate coalition) for Astoria
Warm Springs | Friday, April 4 (5:00pm – 7:00pm)
Old Warm Springs Elementary School
1112 Wasco Street, Warm Springs, OR 97761
Register to testify in Warm Springs
Submit written testimony for Warm Springs
Testimony Help (from our climate coalition) for Warm Springs
La Grande | Friday, April 11 (5:00pm – 7:00pm)
Eastern Oregon University, Hoke Union Building #339
1 University Boulevard, La Grande, OR 97850
Register to testify in La Grande
Submit written testimony for La Grande
Testimony Help (from our climate coalition) for La Grande
Salem, | Wednesday, April 16 (5:00pm – 7:00pm)
Statewide Virtual Testimony Prioritized
Oregon State Capitol Building, Hearing Room F
900 Court St NE, Salem, OR 97301
Submit written testimony for Salem <- Recommended
Register to testify in Salem (virtual option available)
Klamath Falls | Friday, April 25 (5:00pm – 7:00pm)
Klamath Community College, Building 4 Commons
7390 South 6th Street, Klamath Falls, OR 97603
Register to testify in Klamath Falls
Submit written testimony for Klamath Falls
Testimony Help (from our climate coalition) for Klamath Falls
Join us in the fight for a better future for Oregon: tell Ways and Means to fund the laws that protect our water, air, land, and people!
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