Bill would remove annual limit on IDA matching funds; advocates press legislature to fix program funding

Senator Suzanne Weber, representing Senate District 16, told the House Committee on Early Childhood and Human Services on April 15 that Senate Bill 465A would remove the current annual limit on state matching funds for Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) and instead set a lifetime cap of $20,000 per saver.

"This bill makes changes to fix these limits, making IDAs even more useful," Weber said at the committee hearing. Sponsors and multiple providers said the statutory change would give savers greater flexibility without raising program costs; the Legislative Fiscal Office (LFO) was cited in testimony as saying the bill itself would have no fiscal impact.

Under current practice, providers match savers' deposits and a typical match formula can reach as much as $5 for every $1 a saver contributes, subject to provider allocation and the program's limits. Witnesses said the statutory change would transfer an existing administrative rule—allowing up to $20,000 per saver in total—from rule into statute and would remove a statutory requirement that forces some savers to wait a full year before accessing the full amount of an allocated match.

Neighborhood Partnerships, the program administrator, told the committee that removing the annual cap would let savers who have completed program requirements and reached savings goals access allocated match funds sooner. Luke Bonham, IDA program manager at Neighborhood Partnerships, said the $20,000 cap reflects current administrative rule and that providers decide how much of that total to allocate to each saver: "Nobody is, getting up to $20,000. That is the decision of the provider," Bonham said.

Multiple savers and providers testified in support. Laura Bauer, homeownership program director at Portland Housing Center, said the annual restriction can force savers to choose between buying when market conditions are right and waiting a statutory year to access the full match. ABA Brambila, an IDA saver, described using the program to buy college books and later start a small business; OnPoint Community Credit Union reported supporting 423 IDA savers with more than $320,000 saved through its partnerships.

Speakers and advocacy groups stressed that while SB 465A would not by itself increase available funding, the broader program faces an urgent funding shortfall. Cameron Harrington of the Oregon Housing Alliance told the committee the IDA program's primary funding source — a state income-tax credit capped at $7.5 million — has not been adjusted since 2009 and that without a statutory funding change the program would serve far fewer savers. Harrington urged passage of companion funding bills introduced this session (House Bill 2735 would raise the cap to $16.5 million; House Bill 3809 would add ongoing lottery revenues) to prevent the program from shrinking.

Committee members asked technical questions about minimum participation rules and program administration. Bonham said the program maintains a three-month minimum savings requirement (a program design choice) and related education requirements that would remain in place; he also said providers commonly limit participation to no more than two household members at a time. The committee discussed how providers balance reaching a larger number of savers against deeper investments that enable successful home purchases or business starts.

The committee opened and later closed the public hearing on Senate Bill 465A on April 15; no committee vote or final action on the bill was recorded in the transcript. Witnesses urged the committee both to pass SB 465A and to advance funding fixes that would maintain or expand the number of savers the program can serve.