---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to the Oregon Government Ethics Commission."
description: "</b> </i>] [<i>Provides that the Governor shall appoint one member of the Oregon Government Ethics Commission who has local government experience.</i>] <b>Provides that at least one member who is appointed to the Oregon Government Ethics Commission must have local government experience.</b> Provides that attorney-client privilege is not waived when a communication is made to the commission for purposes of providing information regarding a complaint alleging a violation of government ethics laws or public meetings laws."
jurisdiction: "us/states/or"
legislature: "Oregon Legislative Assembly"
session: "2026R1"
identifier: "HB 4159"
citation: "Oregon HB 4159 (2026R1)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 5
action_count: 20
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2026-02-05T18:16:55+00:00"
last_action: "2026-04-13T15:31:38+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3db59f78-111e-45fe-bc0b-e4d22a4ac8c8"
source_url: "https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2026R1/Measures/Overview/HB4159"
source_hash: "8cca212586b1882ca8c79daa51750742679bb94de392076e851b5b2532f14de0"
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 HB 4159 (2026R1) — Relating to the Oregon Government Ethics Commission.

</b> </i>] [<i>Provides that the Governor shall appoint one member of the Oregon Government Ethics Commission who has local government experience.</i>] <b>Provides that at least one member who is appointed to the Oregon Government Ethics Commission must have local government experience.</b> Provides that attorney-client privilege is not waived when a communication is made to the commission for purposes of providing information regarding a complaint alleging a violation of government ethics laws or public meetings laws.

## Version chain

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

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2026R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/HB4159/Introduced)
2. **Senate Amendments to Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2026R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/HB4159/Senate%20Amendments%20to%20Introduced)
3. **A-Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2026R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/HB4159/A-Engrossed)
4. **SRULES Amendment -1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2026R1/Downloads/ProposedAmendment/30773)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2026R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/HB4159/Enrolled)

## Votes

- Heard and Reported Out with Amendments — **5–0** (pass) · upper
- Third reading. Carried by Golden. Passed. — **28–0** (pass) · upper
- Heard and Reported Out — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- Third reading. Carried by Sosa. Passed. — **49–2** (pass) · lower
- House concurred in Senate amendments and repassed bill. — **37–15** (pass) · lower

## Timeline

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

- **2026-02-05T18:16:55+00:00** First reading. Referred to Speaker's desk. `introduction, reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2026-02-05T20:13:21+00:00** Referred to Rules. `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-17T16:01:00+00:00** Public Hearing held.
- **2026-02-19T16:02:00+00:00** Work Session held.
- **2026-02-21T01:49:09+00:00** Recommendation: Do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-23T20:37:10+00:00** Second reading. `reading-2`
- **2026-02-25T01:44:02+00:00** Third reading. Carried by Sosa. Passed. `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-25T18:50:06+00:00** First reading. Referred to President's desk. `introduction, reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2026-02-25T19:07:20+00:00** Referred to Rules. `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-27T21:01:00+00:00** Public Hearing held.
- **2026-03-02T16:02:00+00:00** Work Session held.
- **2026-03-02T23:26:19+00:00** Recommendation: Do pass with amendments. (Printed A-Eng.) `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-03T19:11:21+00:00** Second reading. `reading-2`
- **2026-03-04T23:56:16+00:00** Carried over to 03-05 by unanimous consent.
- **2026-03-06T01:30:15+00:00** Third reading. Carried by Golden. Passed. `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-03-06T22:55:15+00:00** House concurred in Senate amendments and repassed bill.
- **2026-03-10T19:28:36+00:00** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2026-03-10T20:49:13+00:00** President signed. `passage`
- **2026-04-07T22:30:54+00:00** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-13T15:31:38+00:00** Chapter 124, (2026 Laws): Effective date January 1, 2027.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/3db59f78-111e-45fe-bc0b-e4d22a4ac8c8`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Oregon legislature records).