Note:  Education reports after January, 2024, are included in Social policy reports. Education reports prior to February, 2024, can be found HERE.

Please see the Legislation Tracker for 2025 Social Policy bills.

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• Behavioral Health

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Behavioral Health

Trish Garner

Senate Interim Committee on Human Services   

LC 68  is one of a number of proposals which appear to   have caught the attention of Senator Sara Gelser Blouin, Governor Tina Kotek and Democratic leadership which relate to foster care. It began in 2021 with SB 710 proposed by Senators Gelser Blouin and James Manning, Jr. which placed a number of restrictions on the use of restraints and/or seclusions in foster care settings, described when and how abuse complaints could be brought against staff, and defined processes required for out-of-state foster care placements. A number of bills were introduced in 2025 which sought to modify the impact of that legislation. They included SB 3835 which authorized seclusions and/or restraints if the child’s behavior posed a reasonable risk of imminent “serious physical harm” as opposed to the SB 710 standard that required a threat of “severe bodily injury.”  Proponents of SB 3835 argued that SB 710’s rules regarding investigating complaints against residential treatment staff for abuse were also so onerous that  numerous licensed residential facilities had closed.  SB 1113 was also filed by Senator Gelser Blouin in 2025. It essentially went in the opposite direction from HB 3835 and was never voted on by either the House or Senate. HB 3835 remained in the Ways and Means Committee upon adjournment. 

Senator Gelser Blouin also introduced SB 875 and SB 736 in 2025. Each passed in the legislature but Governor Kotek vetoed both.  HB 875 would have modified the Oregon Foster Children’s Bill of Rights to cover children who are awaiting placement. Among other provisions, it defined a process to protect these children from abuse, outlined what constitutes an inappropriate use of restraint or seclusion, and mandated that children in foster care have access to personal belongings. SB 736 would have expanded the definition of a child in care to include any child in legal or physical custody of ODHS, including children living at home with their parents during in-home safety plans or trial reunifications. This would mean that the child abuse investigation framework would apply in these situations. Neither of these bills became law. Governor Kotek’s veto was sustained regarding SB 736. The Senate voted to override the Governor’s veto SB 875, but the motion was tabled in the House.

Returning to the 2026 Session, LC 68  is an omnibus bill that seeks to re-introduce many of the legislative ideas introduced in the 2025 Session.  For example, LC 68 follows SB 875’s (2025) effort which sought to expand the Oregon Foster Children’s Bill of Rights by providing that foster child “essential” rights include the rights to be protected from abuse, exploitation, neglect, intimidation or wrongful use of restraint or seclusion, and that children in foster care have access to personal belongings. One can recognize SB 736 (2025) in LC 68’s definition of “child in care” to include a person under 21 who is in the “physical or legal custody” of the state which would include children living with their parents but under ODHS custody.

LC 280 is an omnibus measure that modifies provisions relating to out-of-state care of children. It also modifies requirements for DHS to impose license conditions on a residential or long-term care facility based on a preliminary finding. 

LC 281 is similar to HB 3835 (2025). It deals with duties of care to a child in residential facilities and foster homes.

Senate Interim Committee on Early Childhood and Behavioral Health

An informational hearing presented LC 216. It arose from Governor Kotek’s request to  the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) which is chaired by First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson. It provides that the previously free-standing State Board of Licensed Social Workers (BLSW) will be placed under the regulatory and administrative jurisdiction of the Mental Health Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The BLSW joins the OR Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists and the Oregon Board of Psychology on the MHRA. LC 216 also seeks to streamline credentialing for behavioral health workers by requiring OHA to develop a centralized process for doing so. LC 216 requires OHA to work with providers in reducing paperwork and to report to the legislature and the Governor every 2 years about progress on this requirement. In seeking to address the lack of access to clinical supervision, LC 216 requires the MHRA and BLSW to develop rules allowing for master’s level licensees to be supervised by any fully qualified behavioral health supervisor rather than requiring that a clinical supervisor have the same license as the supervisee. [An informational hearing on this LC was also heard in the House Interim Committee on Behavioral Health.]

LC 111 creates a new behavioral health provider called a Licensed Behavioral Health and Wellness Practitioner licensed by the Board of Psychology.

LC 282 requires operators of artificial intelligence platforms to provide clear and concise notice to users that they are interacting with AI-generated output. Operators are required to develop and publish protocols for detecting output that consists of suicidal or self-harming ideation.  There are additional requirements if the user is believed to be a minor.

LC 289 relates to labeling of marijuana products. For example, marijuana items that contain industrial hemp-derived cannabinoids must bear a label describing the risks.

House Interim Committee on Behavioral Health

At first glance LC 202 (2026) looks like a simple technical fix bill, but it contains significant changes, particularly regarding the relationship between OHA and others in the public behavioral health care system. It arose from a work group that came from a wide variety of stakeholders – coordinated care organizations, providers, and payors.      LC requires the Oregon Health Authority and coordinated care organizations to ensure that access to behavioral health treatment and documentation standards is no more burdensome than access to medical or surgical treatment.  Changes to outdated language are also proposed in LC 202, such as replacing “emotional disturbance” with “health or substance use disorder.”  Further modifications to LC 202 are anticipated in this Session, including the process of payment for civil commitment services.

LC 229 requires employers to create safety plans, including improved training and safe staffing levels. These plans must include plans for workers working alone and structural safety plans must be specific to a work site.  Employers must provide a copy of this information to new employees.

LC 181 modifies the definition of “transition aged youth residential home” to clarify that it applies to young adults beginning at age17 rather than 17 and 1/2.

House Interim Committee on Early Childhood and Human Services

LC 266 provides that ODHS is required to investigate a report of child abuse if the alleged perpetrator is the child’s parent, caregiver, guardian, child care provider, educator or an adult who has similar access to a child. It modifies the definition of “child abuse” by requiring that a threat of harm to a child be an imminent rather than a substantial risk of harm. LC 266 also raises the standard to substantiate a finding of child abuse from a reasonable cause to a preponderance of the evidence.

Criminal Justice

By Marge Easley & Sharron Noone

Several legislative concepts (LCs) introduced during recent interim House and Senate Judiciary Committee hearings are of interest to the League. 

• LC 97 modifies the 2022 law (SB 1584) related to compensation for wrongful convictions, which passed with support from the League. It creates a new post-conviction process for convictions based on expert testimony that was based on now-discredited forensic science.

• LC 64 makes changes to the death investigation process in cases of domestic violence or child abuse. 

• LC 106 adds new provisions to the crime of “aggregated harassment” to include making serious threats to a public official or a member of the official’s family.

• LC 92, a public safety omnibus, contains at least four unrelated provisions. We will monitor this catch-all bill and expect amendments during session.  

• LC 238 expands the ability of the Department of Human Services to take action against child-caring agencies following certain findings. 

Besides ongoing litigation from the Oregon Department of Justice, the League will be monitoring a  flurry of bills this session from Senate and House Democrats that prioritize “protecting democracy, our elections, and the civil rights of Oregonians from federal overreach.” We expect bills that restrict the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, expand Oregon’s sanctuary laws, protect immigrant rights, mandate parental notification of ICE activity on school campuses, and limit mask use and standardize identification for all law enforcement.  

Education

K-12

 Public school districts around the state are submitting preliminary recommendations for reducing spending. Portland’s proposal to cut $50 million would eliminate 180 positions in schools and 108 positions in the central office. Eugene’s district would cut $30 million, eliminating as many as 159 positions. Salem Keizer has plans to cut $25 million. The cuts are being attributed to decreasing enrollment, increasing costs of labor, special education, and retirement payments.

The Senate and House Education Committees are both promoting legislative concepts directing schools to develop policies related to immigration enforcement.  In addition, the House Education Committee heard  Rep. Finger McDonald describe one of her legislative concepts, which would require schools to notify parents when ICE is present on school grounds. She noted that this would be more accurate than relying on social media.

House Education Committee

This committee heard several presentations relating to the time spent in school. Currently, the law states that at least 80% of the students at each school must receive at least 900 hours of instructional time in K-8, 990 hours in grades 9-11, and 966 hours in 12^th grade.  Dr. Matthew Kraft, from Brown University, reported data from 2017-18, revealing that Oregon ranked 47^th among the 50 states in total hours of time in school during an academic year.  Furthermore, more than 25% of the existing instructional time is lost due to external interruptions (e.g. intercom announcements) and to inefficient practices such as transitions between activities and teacher absences. The committee heard that increased time is related to higher test performance, but Kraft did note that increased time is most effective when steps are taken to maximize the use of the time.  When a committee member noted the high rate of absenteeism in Oregon schools, Kraft observed that is related to graduation rates. In addition, teachers are less likely to introduce new material when a critical mass of students is absent.

The Committee also heard a presentation from the Legislative Policy and Research Office, observing that different methods are currently used to measure student poverty. Previously, poverty rates were estimated based on the number of students receiving free and reduced lunches. But that  is no longer an accurate measure since currently free lunches are provided for all students in schools with high poverty rates. Instead, Oregon calculates poverty in two different ways, depending on the use of the data:

• Students Experiencing Poverty includes families up to 200% of the federal poverty level (FPL) and is based on student characteristics such as eligibility for SNAP or TANF, students in foster care, those who are houseless, and students receiving migrant education services. The Oregon Department of Education considers this when it is important to address the needs of specific students or schools.

• Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates includes families up to 100% of the FPL, and is based on Census data, tax returns, Social Security, etc. This is used to determine education funding for low-income districts. 

Finally, a memo prepared by the Legislative Policy and Research Office reported that the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) documented that in the 2023-24 school year, at least 4,439 incidents of restraint and/or seclusion occurred in Oregon, with the vast majority of incidents involving restraint. Both of these practices are controversial. Physical restraint is defined in Oregon statute as “the restriction of a student’s movement by one or more persons holding the student or providing physical pressure upon the student.” Students have also been restrained chemically or mechanically. Seclusion is “the involuntary confinement of a student alone in a room from which the student is physically prevented from leaving.”  

Twelve percent of the restraint and seclusion incidents involved staff injuries, while 2% involved injuries to students. During the same time period, the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) determined that 20 of the incidents, involving 16 program staff, were considered abusive. It was also concerning to hear that 7% of the incidents between 2019 and 2024 involved at least one untrained staff member. 

Joint Public Education Appropriation

LC 43, being proposed by the Joint Committee on Public Education Appropriations, is an overhaul of school funding based on recommendations made by the American Institutes for Research. The legislative concept would replace the Quality Education Commission (QEC) funding model with a contracted body that meets with professional judgement panels statewide to make recommendations regarding funding needs. While there has been much discussion about replacing the QEC, there are other provisions of the LC that committee members questioned – notably plans for modifying the state’s quality goals for public education and creating a new definition of a standard school district. Committee chairs assured the members that approving the LC would simply enable them to have a conversation about the goals and standards.

Higher Education

In response to a request from legislators, the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) created a public university spending efficiency report. The report noted that public universities in Oregon have taken steps to lower student costs while increasing graduation rates.

However, the state has a history of disinvesting in higher education, and according to the  State Higher Education Finance report Oregon spends $3000 less per full-time-equivalent student than the national average.

This, combined with federal spending cutbacks and increasing personnel costs led to some challenging recommendations from HECC, including partnerships and mergers. The report also mentioned the highly controversial step of asking HECC to audit university degree programs periodically.

Healthcare

LC 300 This legislative concept would require health insurance companies to inform a health care provider of the service each time the service is automatically downcoded by AI. (The process of downcoding reviews, reduces, and reassigns medical billing codes to a lower level of complexity than originally submitted by a healthcare provider.) LC 300 also requires insurers to make the appeals process available to the provider. The League is committed to transparency in health care transactions. The bill would not eliminate AI downcoding or automatic denials of services, but would allow more tracking of AI used in this specific situation. Hopefully this is a first step and there will be more to follow.

LC 241 This will be the omnibus bill put forward by the House Health Committee. It is meant to be measures that are easy to agree about, actionable and do not involve money from Ways and Means. It does cover 65 different sections, all the way from Anesthesia coding to Psilocybin facilitators. It covers dental choice of provider, health insurance mandate advisory committee and automatic primary care assignment repeal along with many other health related concepts. It is very ambitious, but it appears that the league will be able to support many of the provisions.

LC 100 This legislative concept would allow colposcopy after initial abnormal PAP to be covered as a screening procedure. LC 100 requires health insurance carriers to fully cover cervical cancer screenings and follow-ups without deductibles, coinsurance, copayments or other out-of-pocket expenses. Many women are unable to proceed to further work-up of an abnormal pap because of cost. But the PAP smear does not adequately reflect what treatment protocol is reasonable. In these days of very high deductible health plans women frequently cannot pay for further screening from an in office procedure leading to an increase in worsened diseases. Recently the Health Resources and Services updated cervical cancer screening guidelines to include additional cervical testing.

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• Juvenile justice

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