---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to scope of tuition equity at public universities; and declaring an emergency."
description: "Exempts graduate students at public universities who qualify for tuition equity from having to pay nonresident tuition."
jurisdiction: "us/states/or"
legislature: "Oregon Legislative Assembly"
session: "2019 Regular Session"
identifier: "SB 859"
citation: "Oregon SB 859 (2019 Regular Session)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Diego Hernandez", "Michael Dembrow"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 27
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2019-02-26T16:44:29+00:00"
last_action: "2019-06-17T15:57:34+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e087e007-88eb-4e4e-905a-d4076c927d89"
source_url: "https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Measures/Overview/SB859"
source_hash: "652609dc93124b308ba7d8bb044b1a79b180baa748f0a87e748c163706ef7154"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-or"]
---

# Oregon SB 859 (2019 Regular Session) — Relating to scope of tuition equity at public universities; and declaring an emergency.

Exempts graduate students at public universities who qualify for tuition equity from having to pay nonresident tuition.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/SB859/Introduced)
2. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/SB859/Enrolled)

## Votes

- Third reading. Carried by Dembrow. Passed. — **23–7** (pass) · upper
- Heard and Reported Out — **3–1** (pass) · upper
- Third reading. Carried by Hernandez. Passed. — **52–6** (pass) · lower
- Heard and Reported Out — **7–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Diego Hernandez — primary (person)
- Michael Dembrow — primary (person)
- Alissa Keny-Guyer — cosponsor (person)
- Anna Williams — cosponsor (person)
- Barbara Smith Warner — cosponsor (person)
- Carla Piluso — cosponsor (person)
- Chris Gorsek — cosponsor (person)
- Courtney Neron — cosponsor (person)
- James Manning Jr. — cosponsor (person)
- Janeen Sollman — cosponsor (person)
- Janelle Bynum — cosponsor (person)
- Jeff Barker — cosponsor (person)
- Jeff Golden — cosponsor (person)
- John Lively — cosponsor (person)
- Julie Fahey — cosponsor (person)
- Kathleen Taylor — cosponsor (person)
- Margaret Doherty — cosponsor (person)
- Marty Wilde — cosponsor (person)
- Mitch Greenlick — cosponsor (person)
- Pam Marsh — cosponsor (person)
- Paul Evans — cosponsor (person)
- Rob Wagner — cosponsor (person)
- Sara Gelser — cosponsor (person)
- Shemia Fagan — cosponsor (person)
- Sheri Schouten — cosponsor (person)
- Susan McLain — cosponsor (person)
- Teresa Alonso Leon — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-02-26T16:44:29+00:00** Introduction and first reading. Referred to President's desk. `introduction, reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2019-02-27T21:42:53+00:00** Referred to Education, then Ways and Means. `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-20T20:01:00+00:00** Public Hearing held.
- **2019-04-03T20:02:00+00:00** Work Session held.
- **2019-04-15T15:57:27+00:00** Recommendation: Do pass and subsequent referral to Ways and Means be rescinded. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-04-15T15:57:28+00:00** Subsequent referral rescinded by order of the President.
- **2019-04-15T18:19:09+00:00** Second reading. `reading-2`
- **2019-04-16T17:06:47+00:00** Carried over to 04-17 by unanimous consent.
- **2019-04-17T18:51:41+00:00** Third reading. Carried by Dembrow. Passed. `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-04-18T16:14:52+00:00** First reading. Referred to Speaker's desk. `introduction, reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2019-04-22T18:17:58+00:00** Referred to Education. `referral-committee`
- **2019-05-06T22:01:00+00:00** Public Hearing held.
- **2019-05-13T22:02:00+00:00** Work Session held.
- **2019-05-17T15:55:39+00:00** Recommendation: Do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-05-17T17:55:33+00:00** Second reading. `reading-2`
- **2019-05-20T19:29:22+00:00** Carried over to May 21, 2019 Calendar by virtue of adjournment.
- **2019-05-21T19:06:09+00:00** Carried over to May 22, 2019 Calendar by virtue of adjournment.
- **2019-05-23T03:28:37+00:00** Carried over to May 23, 2019 Calendar by virtue of adjournment.
- **2019-05-24T04:43:42+00:00** Carried over to May 27, 2019 Calendar by virtue of adjournment.
- **2019-05-27T18:12:22+00:00** Carried over to May 28, 2019 Calendar by virtue of adjournment.
- **2019-05-29T01:47:35+00:00** Carried over to May 29, 2019 Calendar by virtue of adjournment.
- **2019-05-30T01:45:39+00:00** Third reading. Carried by Hernandez. Passed. `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-06-03T15:49:24+00:00** President signed. `passage`
- **2019-06-03T19:00:48+00:00** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2019-06-07T21:02:48+00:00** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2019-06-17T15:51:14+00:00** Chapter 300, 2019 Laws.
- **2019-06-17T15:57:34+00:00** Effective date, June 7, 2019.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e087e007-88eb-4e4e-905a-d4076c927d89`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Oregon legislature records).