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Dear friends,
From May 29-31, the Legislature held its first set of "Legislative Days" since adjournment of the 2024 "short" session. Committees met for informational hearings and to preview possible concepts for the 2025 regular session. Agendas, meeting recordings and materials are available for review on the Legislature's website. The Senate also met to consider confirmations of the Governor's appointments to various boards and commissions.
During May Legislative Days, the Senate Judiciary Committee received a presentation on Oregon law relating to non-compete agreements, among other topics. As chair of the committee and in light of the acquisition of Oregon Medical Group (OMG) by Optum, Inc., I asked Legislative Counsel and others to inform the committee about statutes governing non-competes and how they impact healthcare and patients in our state. You can find a recording of this meeting, here.
As you may have seen reported, following a meeting requesting by Rep. Nancy Nathanson and me, Optum/OMG representatives changed course and notified clinicians that non-compete language in their contracts would not be enforced and that pharmaceutical prescription refill requests would be granted by the OMG clinic. Since news about physicians at OMG leaving clinics following an Optum notice, Rep. Nathanson and I brought the community together to understand the impact it would have on the lives of Oregonians. We penned a letter to the medical group imploring them not to add to disruptions in care, and pressed Optum on the urgency for many constituents who still lack doctors and are in critical need of getting prescriptions refilled.
This news is a win for patients, providers, and members of our wider community who are concerned about the impact of a disruption in health care services in our area. That said, the Legislature needs to continue to look out for our communities as health care companies change to make sure access and cost of care is not negatively impacted. My colleagues and I are committed to continued monitoring of the situation for the local area as the delivery of health care changes rapidly from access to urgent care and hospitals to pharmacies and specialists.
Below you will find information on:
- Session Accomplishments: Education & Kids
- Dept of Revenue Update for Taxpayers Who Experienced TurboTax Error
- "You Belong" Outreach Campaign for Bias Response Hotline
- Farmer's Market Season Opens!
I hope this information is helpful and informative for you or someone you know. As always, feel free to share your comments, questions or concerns with me by phone, mail or e-mail.
Session Accomplishments: Education & Kids
Following the 2024 short Legislative Session, I'm sharing in-depth summaries of bills passed by subject area. Below is a comprehensive listing of accomplishments related to education and kids — by Senate/House bill and in numeric order:
Senate Bills
SB 1502 - School Board Transparency: Individual Oregon school boards have different practices regarding their remote meeting access. This legislation creates more transparency by requiring governing bodies of common or union high school districts, education service districts, community college districts, and public universities — except those with fewer than 50 students — to post videos or audio recordings of each meeting on their website or social media within seven days of the meeting.
SB 1532 - Student Success Act for Immigrant and Refugee Students: This legislation establishes a Student Success Plan for asylum seekers, refugees, or students with other immigration statuses. The need for this intervention is growing as Oregon's immigrant population is rising, with approximately 413,000 residents in 2022. Oregon has successfully established Student Success Plans that create statewide education plans, advisory groups, and grant programs for historically under-served students, including American Indian, Alaska Native, Black or African American, LGBTQ+, Latino and Indigenous, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students.
SB 1551 - Modifying the Oregon Promise: The Oregon Promise was created by SB 81 in 2015 and provides state grants to cover college tuition for Oregon high school graduates. It is the second largest state-funded financial aid program. This legislation requires the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to provide a one-time waiver to students who had the Oregon Promise and dropped out of college or university within one term or those who never applied.
SB 1552 - Education Omnibus: This legislation is an education omnibus bill. It establishes a Youth Advisory Group within the Oregon Department of Education to advise on issues impacting young Oregonians. SB 1552 directs the Higher Education Coordinating Commission and Department of Education to collaborate on implementing direct admission for Oregon students into Oregon colleges. It will stabilize the funding method for youth in county and state correctional institutions and create a process to examine evidence-based co-curricular models for traditional students who would have to take remedial courses and are now allowed to go directly to college-level courses. The bill also helps teachers to access a predetermined licensing board before beginning a career program and directs a study on the Quality Education Model to provide a uniform and equitable design for financing the cost of an adequate education.
House Bills
HB 4082 - Summer Learning: Educators increasingly view summer learning as an effective way to combat learning loss during summer breaks. This legislation appropriates $30 million to establish a summer learning grant program for kindergarteners through 12th-grade students to access enrichment in math, science, language arts, or personal finance.
HB 4147 – School Bus Safety: All school buses have a mechanical stop arm that extends and flashes when students get on or off the bus. Drivers are required to stop when buses turn on these signals. This legislation authorizes school districts, education service districts, and early learning programs to install cameras on their stop arms and use footage from these cameras to identify drivers who put students in danger by failing to stop. It also allows law enforcement to issue citations based on the recordings from these cameras.
HB 4084 – Foster Youth Student Success Act: Foster students' graduation rates are significantly lower than the general student population. This legislation establishes a pilot program to provide grants to specific schools to address academic disparities experienced by students in foster care. Oregon has successfully established Student Success Plans that create statewide education plans, advisory groups, and grant programs for historically under-served students, including American Indian, Alaska Native, Black or African American, LGBTQ+, Latino and Indigenous, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students.
Dept of Revenue Update for Taxpayers Who Experienced TurboTax Error
Approximately 12,000 Oregon taxpayers who used TurboTax to prepare their 2023 federal and state tax returns may be able to reduce their tax owed or increase their refund by amending their state return. Intuit, the makers of TurboTax, said the software program might not have selected the best deduction option (standard vs. itemized) for some taxpayers, resulting in a possible overpayment to the state.
Intuit has contacted the affected taxpayers and provided instructions for filing an amended return at no charge. Taxpayers will need to complete the amended return in TurboTax, print it out, and then choose one of the three options below to file their return:
- Mail their return to the Oregon Department of Revenue at P.O. Box 14700, Salem, OR, 97309-0930;
- Bring their printed amended return to one of the Department of Revenue offices. (drop boxes are available to accept documents after regular business hours); or
- Enter the information from the printed return into Direct File Oregon to electronically file their amended return free of charge.
Some amended returns can take up to six months to process if they require manual review due to errors or missing information. Taxpayers should make sure they follow these important steps that will allow more timely processing of their amended return:
- Make sure the printed return they file is complete, including the federal form and all schedules (like Schedule OR-A);
Make sure they have checked the "Amended Return" box on the first page.
- Use their current address, if it is different from the address they used when filing their original return;
- Provide their direct deposit information for their refund, otherwise the department will mail a paper check;
- Sign their amended return; and
- Affected taxpayers have three years from the date their return was originally filed or from the due date of the return, whichever was later, to file an amended return.
"You Belong" Outreach Campaign for Bias Response Hotline
Hate crimes and bias incidents are on the rise, both in Oregon and nationally. The Oregon Department of Justice Civil Rights Unit (CRU) has officially launched its "You Belong" campaign, a culturally and linguistically inclusive, statewide public outreach effort to increase awareness of Oregon's Bias Response Hotline as a crucial resource in the fight against the continued rise of hate crimes and bias incidents in Oregon.
It is up to all Oregonians to make sure that everyone is safe in our communities.
Oregon's Bias Response Hotline is here to listen, support, and help. CRU's "Report and Support System" is designed to support victims and help track hate crimes and bias incidents. A key focus of this campaign is elevating the voices, faces, and experiences of real community members, and reflecting individual resilience, community strength, as well as resources available through the statewide Bias Response Hotline. The Hotline (1-844-924-BIAS/2427, StandAgainstHate.Oregon.gov) is the best place to report a hate crime or bias incident.
Farmer's Market Season Opens!
Spring is arriving and farmers markets are opening! Shopping at a farmers market is a great way to find the freshest food for your family, while supporting our local farmers and small businesses. One program that helps make farmers markets affordable and accessible for all is Double Up Food Bucks. This program matches SNAP benefits, dollar for dollar, for the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables. Double Up is also available at participating small grocers, farm stands, and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs. Click here for locations near you!
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