Oregon's Legislative Session Week 4

This is week four of the legislative session and it was a week that was busy was hearings that impacted the DD Community. Thank you to all of you who gave verbal testimony, wrote testimony, or listened in to hearings that were of interest to you.

TRACK BILLS WITH US!

We have streamlined the GO! Bulletin to focus on updates, bills and topics of importance to the DD Community to get it out to you sooner. Then at the start of each week we will post an updated bill tracking report that outlines upcoming hearings and work sessions for the week on our website and Facebook.

If you are interested in specific bills or legislative topics, this video goes through each step to help you find where bills are in the legislative process and how to sign up for email alerts to get updates directly.

Focus on House Bill 2448: DD Services Case Management Funding

The Oregon DD Coalition prioritizes full funding for IDD case management as case management is the connection point between people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and community resources, providers, and services. When we underfund case management, people do not receive the timely responses and proactive advocacy that they need across a lifetime.

IDD case management has a daily impact on the lives of thousands of children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families living across Oregon. People rely upon their Brokerage Personal Agent or CDDP Services Coordinator to be there when they need them. People call their case managers to help during life crises and transitions and provide an extra layer of support to interact successfully with law enforcement, hospitals, and other community resources.

The DD Coalition supports HB 2448, which would create a technical update to the way that IDD case management is funded. While the bill does not increase case management funding, it ensures that case manager responsibilities are recognized as they change, and properly compensated if they become more complex.

Updates

Paid Parent Caregivers

Both SB 91 and SB 646 would allow the state to utilize taxpayer dollars to pay parents to provide attendant care for their own child with I/DD. The hearing was extended to two hours to accommodate those who gave testimony. The Committee Chair announced that both bills had fiscals that exceeded the General Fund allocation. It was noted that Committees were given clear instructions this session to not advance any legislation on to Ways and Means with excessive fiscal costs, so significant amendments would be needed before one of the bills could move forward in the legislative process. The DD Coalition provided written and verbal testimony on SB 91. Listen to the hearing here.

Direct Support Professional Wage Standardization

HB 2457 was another bill that saw quite a bit of testimony on the record. This bill would require payments to provider organizations to pay DSPs (Direct Support Professionals) 150% of the Portland Metro minimum wage and cover the costs of employer and employee contributions for family and medical leave insurance benefits. This bill has been introduced in a prior session and unfortunately, did not pass. This continued workforce crisis impacts people with I/DD as they struggle without consistent, quality support. The DD Coalition provided testimony in support of HB 2457. You can watch that hearing here.

DD Coalition Priorities This Session

Fully Fund DD Case Management with Policy Option Package 130 and House Bill 2448

DD Case Management funding has not kept pace with increased workload and complexity of the work over the past several years. Full funding of the DD Workload Model and periodic administrative reviews are needed to ensure case managers who are a vital lifeline to Oregonians with I/DD are adequately compensated for their work. Link 

Establish DSP Wage Standards with Policy Option Package 132 and House Bill 2457

Finally resolve the DSP wage inequities by setting the average wage for Direct Support Professionals to 150% of the Portland Metro minimum wage and cover the cost of Paid Family Leave to stabilize this essential workforce and reduce turnover that places people with I/DD at higher risk. Long-term solution to a long-term issue. Link

Support Regional Family to Family Networks with $1.5M/Biennium.

Regional Family Networks support more than 13,500 families experiencing disability, many who have barriers accessing the formal developmental disability service system. Regional Family Networks work in partnership with thousands of other community-based organizations to reduce inequities for marginalized families.

Support Healthier Oregon - Policy Option Package 105

Provides access to DD Services for everyone who meets disability criteria for DD Services and Medicaid regardless of their immigration status.

Our DD Advocacy Day Event and Legislator Reception is less than two weeks away on February 23rd! This is an in-person event that you will not want to miss. This reception will give you the opportunity to connect with legislators and/or their staff to discuss the DD Coalition's legislative priorities for this session. If you have not registered for this event, don’t wait. Space is limited!

Registration Link

Visit the GO Project's You Tube Channel legislative advocacy videos created by our GO! Advocacy Team.