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Committee approves amended funding package for summer learning grants
Summary
The Joint Committee on Ways and Means approved an amended recommendation for House Bill 5047, which directs multi‑biennial general‑fund and other‑fund appropriations to the Oregon Department of Education's Summer Learning Grant Program Fund; one senator recorded an objection but the measure was reported as passed as amended.
The Joint Committee on Ways and Means on April 3 reported House Bill 5047 as amended, recommending it be passed as amended and sent to the floor.
The bill, as described to the committee by Legislative Fiscal Office staff Wendy Gibson, “establishes ongoing funding of 35,000,000 per summer for the Oregon Department of Education's summer learning program for the 23‑25 biennium.” Gibson said the measure “appropriates 35,000,000 general fund for deposit into the summer learning grant program fund to support the 2025 summer learning program” and provides additional expenditure limitations in other funds for portions of the summers that fall in adjacent biennia.
The recommendation from the education subcommittee was that House Bill 5047 be amended by the dash‑1 amendment and reported “due passed as amended.” Representative Breeze Iverson asked how the current numbers compared with prior funding. For the record, Wendy Gibson, Legislative Fiscal Office, replied: “Last, in the 2024 session is when summer learning became statutory, and in that 1 I believe it was 30,000,000, for last summer, and that was the 2024 summer.” Gibson also explained the way the bill staggers appropriations and expenditure limitations across the 2023‑25 and 2025‑27 biennia.
During the committee vote sequence, Senator Bonham recorded an objection, saying, “I do. I object. Okay.” The cochair stated that, aside from that objection, the measure passed and would be carried to the House floor.
The committee did not provide a roll‑call tally in the transcript; the record shows the subcommittee recommendation, a single recorded objection, and the chair’s statement that the measure “passes.”
The committee also noted that the education subcommittee’s amendment (dash‑1) was adopted as recommended before reporting the bill to the full body. No further implementation details—such as grant award counts, per‑grant amounts, or an exact schedule for disbursements—were specified in the committee discussion; Legislative Fiscal Office staff offered to provide additional information on how many programs are likely to be served based on applications and partners.
