Oregon’s Joint Committee on Ways and Means is the bipartisan, bicameral legislative committee that writes the state’s two-year budget and vets any bill carrying a significant price tag. For the 2025–27 biennium, the budget it shaped totals roughly $138.9 billion across all fund sources, with $37.3 billion from the General Fund alone.1Oregon State Legislature. 2025-27 Legislatively Adopted Budget Summary Because it pulls members from both the House and the Senate, it is the single place where legislative spending decisions are negotiated before budget bills reach either chamber’s floor.
Who Sits on the Committee
The committee is built on ORS 171.555, which directs the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House to appoint members after each election. At least two appointees from each chamber must have prior Ways and Means experience, which preserves institutional memory across cycles. If the Speaker or Senate President serves on the committee personally, either may designate an alternate from their chamber, though that alternate cannot preside.2Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 171.555 – Joint Committee on Ways and Means
Leadership runs through two co-chairs, one appointed by the Senate President and one by the Speaker, who alternate as presiding officers under the statute.2Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 171.555 – Joint Committee on Ways and Means Two co-vice chairs, one from each chamber, round out leadership in practice. For the 2025 regular session, Senator Kate Lieber and Representative Tawna Sanchez are the co-chairs, with Senator Fred Girod and Representative David Gomberg as co-vice chairs.3Oregon State Legislature. Joint Committee On Ways and Means – 2025 Regular Session
Oregon defines a quorum unusually here. A majority of House members and a majority of Senate members must both be present, and any action requires a majority vote from each chamber’s members rather than a combined majority of everyone in the room.2Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 171.555 – Joint Committee on Ways and Means Neither chamber can outvote the other inside the committee.
How Subcommittees Divide the Work
The co-chairs can direct reviews through the full committee or through subcommittees focused on specific areas of state government.2Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 171.555 – Joint Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittees typically cover education, human services, public safety, natural resources, general government, transportation and economic development, and capital construction. Each one holds detailed hearings where agency heads defend their spending requests, then passes recommendations up to the full committee for a final vote.
This is where most of the actual line-by-line work happens. A subcommittee that focuses only on human services develops the familiarity with caseload projections and program outcomes that no single member could build if the full committee tried to review every agency at that level of detail.
How the Biennial Budget Gets Built
Oregon budgets in two-year cycles. Each biennium runs from July 1 of an odd-numbered year through June 30 of the next odd-numbered year.4Oregon State Legislature. Overview of Oregon’s Budget Process The process starts when the Governor submits a recommended budget to the legislature at the beginning of the regular session in odd-numbered years. Under ORS 291.216, that document must include a budget message setting out the Governor’s fiscal priorities, a balanced relationship between proposed spending and expected revenue, detailed expenditure schedules by agency, and estimates of federal funds coming into the state.5Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 291 – Financial Administration
The Governor’s proposal is a starting point. Ways and Means subcommittees review each agency’s proposed revenues, expenditures, and performance measures through public hearings. Legislative Fiscal Office staff analyze the numbers and flag technical problems. Subcommittee recommendations take the form of budget reports attached to each budget bill. Floor votes in both chambers then produce the Legislatively Adopted Budget, which often differs significantly from what the Governor originally proposed.4Oregon State Legislature. Overview of Oregon’s Budget Process
Revenue Forecasts and the Balanced Budget Rule
Oregon’s Constitution requires a balanced budget, so the whole process depends on revenue forecasts from the state’s Office of Economic Analysis. The office issues quarterly forecasts that serve as the foundation for state budgeting.6Office of Economic Analysis Department of Administrative Services. Economic and Revenue Forecasts In 2026, forecasts are scheduled for February, May, August, and November, each preceded by preliminary meetings with oversight committees.7Oregon Office of Economic Analysis. 2026 Forecast Calendar
When a forecast shows revenue coming in below projections, spending already authorized for the biennium may exceed what the state can actually collect. Subcommittees then hold hearings where agency leaders present potential cuts or reallocations. Multiple forecasts across the biennium give the committee repeated chances to course-correct rather than finding a shortfall at the very end.
The Oregon Kicker
One constraint makes Oregon unusual. Under Article IX, Section 14 of the Oregon Constitution, if personal income tax revenues collected during a biennium exceed the forecast by two percent or more, the entire surplus goes back to individual taxpayers. Corporate income and excise tax surpluses above that same two-percent threshold go to public schools rather than back to businesses.8FindLaw. Oregon Constitution Art. IX Section 14 Taxpayers claim the kicker as a credit on their return for the odd-numbered year after the biennium closes.9Oregon Department of Revenue. Oregon Surplus (“Kicker”)
For the committee, the kicker is a ceiling. Even if revenue comes in well above projections, the money above that two-percent line isn’t available for new programs or reserves, so budgets get built around conservative revenue estimates.
Policy Bills with Fiscal Impact
The committee’s reach goes beyond the core budget bills. When any bill reported out of a legislative committee could affect state or local government expenditures, the Legislative Fiscal Officer must prepare a fiscal impact statement estimating those costs. The Legislative Revenue Officer prepares a revenue impact statement for any bill that would change state or local revenues. If a bill creates or extends a tax expenditure, the revenue impact statement must project costs for at least three consecutive biennia along with a description of the bill’s public policy purpose.10Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 173 – Legislative Fiscal and Revenue Officers Bills that create new crimes or change sentencing policies get their own specialized analysis covering effects on law enforcement, courts, and corrections.
When a fiscal impact statement flags a significant cost, the bill is typically referred to Ways and Means. The distinction matters: a budget bill simply allocates dollars, while a policy bill with fiscal impact changes the law in a way that creates new spending obligations. The committee evaluates whether the state can absorb those obligations without destabilizing the biennial budget.
What Happens Between Sessions
Oregon’s legislature isn’t in continuous session, but the state still needs a way to respond to fiscal emergencies in between. That role falls to the Emergency Board, a 20-member body chaired by the Senate President and House Speaker that includes the Ways and Means co-chairs and additional members from both chambers. Under ORS 291.326, the Emergency Board can allocate funds from emergency reserves to agencies facing genuine emergencies, authorize agencies to spend beyond their approved budgets from dedicated funds, approve budgets for new activities that arose too late for legislative consideration, and authorize transfers between expenditure categories within an agency’s budget.11Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 291 – Financial Administration – Section 291.326
The board’s power is deliberately limited. No allocation is effective unless at least 10 of the 20 members are present, and the statute emphasizes “emergency” as the threshold for most actions.11Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 291 – Financial Administration – Section 291.326 The overlap between Ways and Means members and Emergency Board members creates continuity between session budget work and interim fiscal decisions.
How to Weigh In
The Oregon Legislative Information System (OLIS) is the hub for engaging with Ways and Means. Committee schedules are posted there, and you can view agendas by selecting a meeting date. Written testimony can be submitted online through the same system, either on a specific bill (enter the bill number and select “Submit Testimony”) or on a broader topic or executive appointment (navigate to the relevant committee page).12Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Legislative Information System Help – Testimony
To testify in person or virtually during a hearing, register in advance. The committee chair sets rules for each hearing, which may include time limits enforced by a chime when your allotted time runs out.13Oregon State Legislature. How to Testify at the Oregon Legislature Written testimony generally has no length restriction and becomes part of the official record, so if your point needs more detail than two or three minutes of spoken testimony allows, writing is often the more effective route.