Take Action by Tuesday to Help Get Wildlife Funding Bill Across The Finish Line
- Feb 28
- 2 min read
A bill to raise money for several important wildlife causes is close to final passage in the Oregon Legislature. Please contact your state senator now and urge your senator to support House Bill 4134, which is expected to be up for a vote on Tuesday.
HB 4134 would add a 1.25 percent charge to "transient lodging" (hotels, motels and other short-term rentals) to help pay for a variety of wildlife programs. Nine-tenths of one percent would go to carry out the state's wildlife action plan to protect and recover Oregon's imperiled wildlife and their habitats. The additional money would go to a variety of programs, including a "wildlife stewardship" program to promote humane responses to human-wildlife conflict, enforcement of anti-poaching laws, and preservation of wildlife migration corridors. The proposed additional charge would increase Oregon's state transient lodging tax from 1.5 percent to 2.75 percent and raise an estimated $40 million per year for wildlife conservation.
Currently, most of the state's work on wildlife conservation is done by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, which gets a large share of its money from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses. That leads to a focus on animals targeted for hunting and fishing and the interests of people who hunt and fish. A dedicated funding source for wildlife conservation that is not tied to hunting and fishing would free Oregon's wildlife programs to better consider the welfare of all wild animals and the interests of all Oregonians, 80 percent of whom do not hunt or fish.
HB 4134 has been passed by the Oregon House of Representatives and now needs approval from the Oregon Senate and Governor Tina Kotek. On Friday, a Senate committee referred the bill to the full Senate with a "do pass" recommendation. The Senate, which has 30 members, is expected to vote on the bill Tuesday.
Please help get this bill across the finish line by contacting your state senator before Tuesday and urging your senator to support HB 4134, "the 1.25 percent for wildlife bill." Be sure to say you are a "constituent," meaning you live in their district and vote on whether they are elected. Phone calls get the most attention, but an email works too. To see who your state senator is and get your senator's contact information, enter your address here. (Your state senator should be the first name that appears.)
Your comments can be as simple as: "Please support HB 4134, the 1.25 percent for wildlife bill. HB 4134 would provide important funding for wildlife conservation, humane treatment of wildlife, safe highway crossings for wildlife, and enforcement of laws against poaching."
For more information about the bill and talking points to use with your senator, see this fact sheet and this website.
Thank you for helping us support wildlife conservation!
