Committee orders annual DHS report on tax-outreach grants and trims appropriation to $5 million

The House Committee on Early Childhood and Human Services on Thursday adopted language requiring the Oregon Department of Human Services to submit an annual report on the agency’s grant program that funds organizations helping low‑income individuals claim tax benefits and file returns, and approved a companion bill that reduces funding for that grant program from $14 million to $5 million and was referred to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means.

The requirement was advanced as a dash‑1 amendment to House Bill 3,795, a placeholder cleared to carry a reporting mandate after committee staff said constitutional rules prevent combining an appropriation and substantive provisions in the same bill. The committee then considered House Bill 29,091, which contains the appropriation. A dash‑2 amendment reduced the appropriation to $5 million; the measure declares an emergency and is effective July 1, 2025.

The reporting requirement formalizes a practice DHS already follows, committee members were told. Taylor, an OLIS staff member who…