Oregon governor signs anti-Freedom Foundation bill

By Freedom Foundation
June 12, 2025

As expected, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek today signed a bill inviting abuse of the legal process in hopes of weakening the most impactful foe of her allies in the state’s powerful public employee unions.

The measure was approved on a party-line vote last month by both houses of Oregon’s Democrat-dominated legislature.

Dubbed the “Workers Fraud Protection Act”, House Bill 3789 might more accurately be called the “Sue the Freedom Foundation Bill” because it gives unions sweeping new powers to sue their chief opponent.

Proponents of the new law insist the Freedom Foundation’s marketing materials, which inform government employees of their First Amendment right to decline union membership, are designed to deceive the recipient into believing the communications were produced by the union itself.

Throughout the legislative process, however, neither the unions nor their friends in the legislature were able to cite a single example of the alleged fraudulent behavior.

“Democrats had a choice — protect workers or protect their political allies. They chose the latter,” said Senate Republican Leader Daniel Bonham (R-The Dalles) in an earlier press release from Senate Republicans. “This bill targets one side of a political debate while turning a blind eye to serious, proven misconduct from their friends in labor leadership.”

“This is legislatively sanctioned lawfare,” said Jason Dudash, West Coast Director of the Freedom Foundation. “Unions and the majority party are hoping to slow us down by tying us up in court.”

“It is shameful that the Governor and Democrat legislators are once again prioritizing the wishes of their largest donors over the several very real and pressing needs of Oregonians,” Dudash continued. “Oregon’s government unions may view this as a big win, but we won’t be slowing down any time soon.”

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