Oregon lawmakers could try again to streamline the state capitol’s process for reporting, investigating and punishing harassment, retaliation and abuse in the wake of growing questions over how best to most efficiently enforce misconduct rules.
State lawmakers sitting on the Joint Committee on Conduct on Monday discussedan annual equity office report,released last month, with Legislative Equity Officer Bor Yang. Yang’s office investigates reports of harassment, retaliation or discrimination, as well as violations of the capitol’s respectful workplace policy, though only the conduct committee can sanction state lawmakers.
“How do we ensure that the more serious cases do get investigated without significant harm to the parties that are involved? And how do we address these lingering questions around free speech for the somewhat serious and less serious cases that do get in the door? Because we do get express permission to refer those to an investigator,” Yang said. “Those are my primary goals.”
Lawmakers established the Legislative Equity Office in 2019, in the wake of the #MeToo movement and a 2018 investigation by the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries that found legislative leaders failed to curb inappropriate workplace behavior.
The potential for new legislation comes after Oregon lawmakers weighedan unsuccessful billearlier this year to significantly overhaul the complaint process by allowing the equity office to investigate incidents without the participation of an impacted party and limiting the public disclosure of misconduct investigations, among other changes. The 20 pages of findings reported by Yang’s office also come after a set of high-profile complaints over the conduct of lawmakers has derailed key priorities for legislative Democrats on issues such as gun control and transportation.
Earlier this year, for instance, a conductcommittee foundthat Sen. Chris Gorsek, D-Gresham, who interrupted and raised his voice at a female Republican state representative during a contentious debate over transportation funding in June 2025, was disrespectful but didn’t break the Legislature’s anti-discrimination policies. In August, a split legislative conduct committee dismissed allegations of misconduct against Rep. Dwayne Yunker, R-Grants Pass, who read a sexually explicit book passage on the House floor to protest the book’s inclusion in libraries. Anotherunsuccessful complaintfrom earlier this year named Rep. Jason Kropf, D-Bend, for his handling of a disagreement over gun control legislation with a fellow Democratic lawmaker.
“In general, there is a lack of trust that any outcome will result in accountability and change. This is not a condemnation of the process but of the greater legislative environment,” the equity office report reads. “Many are struggling with working in a high-demand, high-pressure environment where daily offenses, public humiliation, and threats to credibility are commonplace, expected to be tolerated, protected by a culture cemented by history and in some cases, by freedom of speech.”
Lawmakers on Monday gave little indication of what specific types of amendments or policy changes they would be putting forth. But Rep. Tawna Sanchez, a Portland Democrat and co-chair of the committee, said she was interested in “possibly” bringing back some of the changes that were made by the legislation from earlier this year.
Rep. Thủy Trần, a committee member and Portland Democrat who had accused Kropf of fomenting a hostile environment against her during deliberations over gun control legislation earlier this year, did not speak about her experience or the potential for more legislation.
Based on feedback and interviews, meanwhile, the 2025 equity report said there were mixed feelings in the Legislature over whether the equity office should conduct investigations without the participation of the person who faced the alleged misconduct. But participants in a survey by the equity office stressed the importance of finding more “alternative” ways to resolve disputes and greater confidentiality in the process.
There were also more reports of misconduct in 2025 than 2024, but the number of incidents that triggered a deeper investigation by the equity office slightly decreased. Most reports to the office continue to come from legislative staff, but the report also noted that more complaints this year were filed against lawmakers than legislative staff or other employees. The number of responding individuals to complaints who identified as lawmakers jumped from five in 2024 to 16 in 2025.
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