Legislative Report - September Legislative Days

Jump to topic:

• K-12 Education 

• Higher Education

• Child Care 

• Healthcare 

• Housing  

Social Policy

By Jean Pierce, Social Policy Coordinator and Team

K-12 Education  

By Anne Nesse

House Revenue, 9/24/24, 2:30 PM, held report and discussion about how parameters of distribution of dollars of equalization between our school districts is decided, based on poverty, special education, individual education plans (IEP’s), etc.. A report from Revenue Dept. was that any changes to this plan would create winners and losers among school districts. The written report is printed here.

Joint House and Senate Education, 9/23/24, 11:30 AM, Several Joint Task Force reports were heard on chronic school absenteeism, recruitment and retention of substitute teachers, and teacher’s salaries. Our teacher’s salaries are currently competitive nationally for experienced teachers, it was stated, but low for beginning teachers.

The universal free school meals program was presented by David Whelan, and has been expanding in our State to include all but 65 of the 197 school districts in Oregon. This fact is thanks to the lowering of the Federal classification requirements for poverty, and our State’s Student for Success Act dollars. All the youth in these schools, on any day can receive free meals, without the need for record keeping. These egalitarian meals are known to have a positive life long effect on children. Food waste, a climate change problem, was discussed among the legislators. The legislators seemed to agree that students needed sufficient time to eat their meals, so that food was not thrown away, and healthy foods should be presented pleasingly.

House Education, 9/23/24, met after the joint meeting. SB 1557 was discussed, giving increased Medicaid funding for behavioral health issues, administered by OHA. There is continuing increase in participation among school districts.

Senate Education, 9/23/24, met after the joint meeting. SB 819 was discussed about the supervision of abbreviated school days by ODE. Tom Stenson, from Disability Rights Oregon, stated that there was significant evidence that families were being told it was beyond their control to keep some students in school, and that this was not being reported to the ODE accurately. Sen. Dembrow stated that ODE would continue to try and address this problem.

Higher Education

By Jean Pierce

Easy Transfer of Credit Between Schools

The House Committee on Higher Education heard an update on progress in implementing SB233 (2021) which created a Transfer Council in order to ensure  the easy transfer of credit between public institutions of higher education in Oregon.

A Core Transfer Map has been created to identify common core courses, and work is proceeding on Major Transfer Maps. Common courses are identified with a Z (e.g.Math 100 Z).So far, maps have been created for Computer Science, Business, Biology, English, and Elementary Education. Workforces are still meeting for Human Development and Family Services, Sociology, and Psychology. The Criminal Justice work force is no longer meeting. This will be an ongoing project as courses are revised and the need for new courses is identified.

Communicating the system to students will take more work. It is hoped that a transfer portal will be created.

Even some private universities in Oregon are agreeing to accept transfer credits.

Financial Aid for Students

According to the State Higher Education Finance Report looking at data from 2022-23, the Oregon legislature Oregon ranks 44th in the nation for public funding of higher education and 37th in the nation for per-pupil funding. Although the legislature’s investment has increased recently, the state is still contending with over a decade of underfunding higher education. 

This year an Oregon Student Association Survey identified four top concerns of students in higher education in the state:

• Housing

• Food and other basic needs

• Mental Health Support

• Investment in Higher Education

Despite a rocky rollout of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), Oregon has practically caught up to where it should be at this time of year. This was a tremendous effort which took a lot of outreach with partners and intensive staff training. 

60,000 students are currently authorized for Oregon Opportunity Grants, with 74% of recipients receiving the maximum allowable (over 44,000 students). The number applying has been increasing each year since the pandemic. The Class of ‘24 saw 11% more applications than the class of ’23. The award covers up to 75% of the average cost of tuition at Community Colleges and Universities.

Oregon Promise awards an amount of the average cost of community college tuition. The Student Aid Index (determined from the FAFSA) increased in July, 2024, and more students became eligible for the award. 81% of students authorized for aid did indeed attend classes.

Nevertheless the need for financial support  far exceeds current efforts.

Child Care 

By Katie Riley

The Senate Education Committee held a joint session with the House Education Committee on 9/23/24 and had an interim report on the results of HB4082 to date. A total of 43 school districts and 13 ESD's received summer funding and 50,000 kids were served with the $30k that was allocated by the legislature. The bill also provided for a task force to do planning for the future. It was remarked that sustainable funding is needed. The task force has reviewed information from other states and made early recommendations. A summit was held for 130 people and additional input was received. A final report on results of evaluations and recommendations will be drafted in November and finalized in December. There was no indication of preliminary recommendations.

Healthcare  

By Christa Danielson

The Senate Committee on Health Care met on 9/23/2024 and discussed boarding in emergency rooms and its effect on patient safety as well as  potential serious problems with health in a community.

This was followed by a report by OHA directors around capacity and future needs for facility beds to provide housing and care for people boarding in the hospital and emergency room.

Please see the dashboard for further information. 

Housing  

By Nancy Donovan and Debbie Aiona

Oregon Housing & Community Services (OHCS) Agency presented an overview of its state agency budget request, and fielded questions and feedback from Housing Alliance members. LWV of Oregon is a member and attended the meeting.

Housing Alliance priorities mostly mirror the state OHCS requested budget. 

Oregon Housing & Community Services Agency Request Budget for the 2025-2027 Biennium, investing in stable, affordable homes for all Oregonians

Prevent homelessness and provide lifesaving shelter and services

• Rent assistance and homelessness prevention, $150 million

•  Homeless shelter operations, maintain statewide network of emergency shelters

• Youth Experiencing Homelessness Program, $54M

• K-12 youth homelessness prevention, $15M

Preserve Oregon’s existing affordable housing supply

• Investments to preserve Oregon’s existing affordable housing supply, $200M

• Tenant outreach and support services, $2M

• Affordable housing operations and stability for residents, $150M

Expand affordable homeownership, and build new homes for affordable homeownership

• General Obligation bonds for the LIFT homeownership program, $100M

• Homeownership Development Incubator Program, $50M

• Develop new manufactured housing parks and resident-owned cooperatives, TBD

• Support lower-income homebuyers and homebuyers

o   Individual Development Accounts, $35M

o   Down Payment Assistance funds administered by culturally responsive organizations, $45M

o   Accelerated-equity mortgages, $20M

o   Foreclosure prevention counseling, $3.5M

o   Fair housing investigation and enforcement, $5M

o   Regional Housing Centers, TBD

Develop new affordable rental housing in all parts of the state, build new affordable rental homes, including permanent supportive housing (PSH)

• General obligation bonds for the LIFT program and PSH, $500M

o   Private activity bonds, All available

• Farmworker Housing, $20M

• Housing development pipeline, for all categories of regulated affordable housing

  • Land acquisition, $25M

  • Pre-development lines of credit for affordable housing developers, $50M

  • Project-specific pre-development loans, $10M

  • Project feasibility and community engagement for projects on nonprofit-owned land, $10M

Reserve fund for disaster recovery, TBD