Governor, higher‑ed and providers back Senate Bill 142 to grow and retain behavioral‑health workforce

Governor Tina Kotek told the Senate Committee on Early Childhood and Behavioral Health that Senate Bill 142 seeks to “bolster the provider pipeline and stabilize worker retention” for mental‑health and addiction care across Oregon. The dash‑1 amendment directs the Higher Education Coordinating Commission and the Oregon Health Authority to administer grant programs and appropriates general fund money for the 2025–27 biennium; the bill declares an emergency effective July 1, 2025.

Kotek outlined four targeted investments in the amendment: $20 million for workforce development through the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to expand instructor and clinical placement capacity (projected to prepare about 4,000 students); $5 million for student scholarships (anticipated to serve roughly 200 students); $8 million for loan‑repayment and forgiveness aimed at roughly 147 master‑level clinicians who commit to public behavioral‑health work; and $13.8 million for employer grants to help retain direct‑care staff through housing stipends, loan repayment and other supports (expected to serve at least 1,000 employees).

“Right now, depending on where you live or what help you need … there are probably not enough people available to help you,” Kotek said, describing workforce shortages for licensed counselors, psychiatrists, certified alcohol‑and‑drug counselors, peer counselors and others. She told senators the investments are “strategically placed” to increase treatment capacity and workforce retention.

Supporters from education and community behavioral‑health providers told the committee the bill complements existing state investments and would help address clinical training, placement and retention barriers. Dr. Andrew Garland Forshey, department chair at Portland Community College, said SB 142 “directly supports our students by reducing financial barriers, expanding training opportunities, and ensuring career pathways into the behavioral‑health workforce.” Cheryl Ramirez, executive director of the Association of Oregon Community Mental Health Programs, urged the committee to focus incentives on organizations that serve primarily Medicaid or uninsured populations and recommended stay requirements for recipients of loan‑repayment awards.

Representatives of school district programs and community providers gave examples of workforce pipelines and retention effects. Evian Doherty of Oregon Community Programs said loan‑repayment awards allowed clinicians to remain in community mental‑health roles and to provide supervision; she described staff who would likely have left for higher pay in private practice without repayment assistance. Chris Moore and Rhonda Rhodes described a Salem‑Keizer high‑school career and technical education pathway that is beginning to place graduates into internships and community roles that could feed the long‑term workforce.

Sen. Rob Nosse (House Behavioral Health committee chair, speaking in a personal capacity) and other legislators said the approach is consistent with parallel House efforts and with prior investments that raised outpatient reimbursement rates. The governor and witnesses said additional investments will be needed over time but described SB 142 as a targeted, near‑term proposal to increase capacity and retention in the publicly funded behavioral‑health system.

The committee heard several implementation questions, including whether the bill explicitly targets the child and adolescent behavioral‑health workforce; Kotek said the bill did not call that out but implementation could be tailored to prioritize child and adolescent needs. The public hearing record closed on SB 142 at the end of testimony; no committee vote on SB 142 was recorded during the March 11 meeting.