Subcommittee advances bill requiring cultural-response training and provisional physician licenses for internationally trained professionals

On June 12, 2025, the Ways and Means Human Services Subcommittee opened a work session on Senate Bill 476 and recommended the bill be moved to the full Ways and Means Committee after adopting two amendments.

LFO staff summarized SB 476 as requiring professional licensing boards that interact with internationally educated individuals to receive culturally responsive training approved by the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Advancement. The bill also grants the Oregon Medical Board (OMB) authority to establish a provisional license for qualified, internationally trained physicians and requires OMB to report provisional-license statistics to the legislature by Feb. 1 of every odd-numbered year.

Two recommended amendments addressed fiscal and programmatic elements. The dash A3 amendment removes an internationally educated workforce reentry grant program and the associated $10,000,000 general fund appropriation. The dash A4 amendment increases an other-fund expenditure limitation for the Oregon Medical Board by $59,747 to hire one part-time position to process licenses and support consulting, training and background checks. LFO recommended adoption of dash A3 and dash A4; the subcommittee adopted both amendments and moved the bill to the full committee with a due-pass recommendation.

A motion to carry the bill to the House and Senate floors and to assign sponsors was recorded; the committee noted objections for the record from Senator Hayden and Representative Scharf. The transcript does not record additional fiscal detail beyond the two amendments.