Subcommittee advances Board of Licensed Social Workers budget with fee increase and licensing-database reporting requirement

The Joint Committee on Ways and Means Education Subcommittee approved the Legislative Fiscal Office(LFO) recommended 2025-27 budget for the Board of Licensed Social Workers, which includes a proposed 20% fee increase and a directive to report back in 2026 on a proposed licensing database acquisition.

LFO presented a recommended budget of $3,122,120 in other funds and 9 positions (8.5 FTE), noting the recommendation is a 10.7% increase from the 2023-25 legislatively approved budget and a 5.7% increase from current service level. The LFO recommended two packages: a revenue-only 20% fee increase to generate an estimated $392,977 in revenue and a one-time expenditure limitation to extend a full-time limited-duration Office Specialist 2 position to reduce application-processing time.

The LFO slide deck said: "On page 3, we have package 100, and this is a revenue only bill that will increase fees by 20% and is expected to generate $392,977 in revenue. The additional revenue will raise the board's 20 25 27 ending balance to approximately $618,723, the equivalent of 4.8 months of operating expenses." LFO recommended the board would otherwise have about two months of operating reserves without the fee increase.

Ray Miller, executive director for the Board of Licensed Social Workers, told the committee about board membership changes when asked: "For the record, my name is Ray Miller, executive director for the board of licensed social workers. ... So if you're asking about board members, yes, the we were short 3 board members, and we recently in in in June, we'll we'll be short 1 public member." Miller also clarified a prior temporary application-fee waiver: "That was a one time limited program ... where we waive new application fees for new, clinical social workers ... those fees are no longer being waived."

Representative Juncker raised questions on the record about whether vacancies listed on the board's website were filled and about a reported increase in Department of Justice fees; LFO staff clarified that DOJ fees are set later in the DAS budget-development process and that the preliminary percentage presented may change. The committee approved the LFO recommendation and adopted the dash 1 amendment reflecting the recommended budget; the bill was moved to the full committee with a do-pass recommendation.

The LFO also proposed a budget note directing the Board of Licensed Social Workers, in consultation with the Mental Health Regulatory Agency, to return to the education subcommittee during the 2026 session with a report on the status of developing a new licensing database, including estimated costs, timelines, and a funding plan using licensing revenue for operations and maintenance; the committee approved that budget note.

The subcommittee approved the LFOrecommended key performance measures as presented, and closed the work session on House Bill 5018 after adopting the amendment and moving the bill to the full Ways and Means Committee.

Ending: The committee asked LFO and agency staff to provide an update at the next meeting and scheduled several reports and work sessions for subsequent days, including an ODE grant request on lead remediation and an Equitable Water Access Report.