Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Childcare Erdc Waitlist topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee opens interim work group after ERDC bill stalls; advocates urge study of wait list and student access
Summary
The committee received an update on the Employment‑Related Day Care (ERDC) program and a plan to form an interim work group after House Bill 2593 stalled; advocates said students remain underrepresented on ERDC and the name change generated an unexpected systems fiscal estimate.
Chair Hartman opened an informational update on the ERDC program at the close of the Senate Bill 20 discussion and invited Family Forward and AFT Oregon to summarize next steps on House Bill 2593. Delina Binyam, advocacy manager for Family Forward, and Andrea Havercamp, political and legislative organizer for AFT Oregon, briefed the committee on a planned interim work group.
Binyam and Havercamp said House Bill 2593 — which included a name change for Employment‑Related Day Care and a study of program access — did not advance because of a larger fiscal cost that surfaced. They described a pivot: the legislative name‑change effort will be moved to a work group recommendation rather than a session bill, and the group will study enrollment trends, wait‑list impacts and outreach strategies with campus stakeholders and student parents.
Advocates noted students only recently became eligible for ERDC in 2023 but remain a small share of enrolled families. Testimony to the committee said student parents account for about 5% of the ERDC caseload (roughly 800 families) and students alone make up about 2.5% of the program; overall students comprise less than 8% of enrollment. The Higher Education Coordinating Commission’s student childcare grant is available to some student parents, but testimony said the average award recently was about $798 and that grant demand outstrips funding.
Andrea Havercamp said the work group’s goals include tracking how the November 2023 wait list affected access, recommending outreach strategies for campuses, assessing progress toward any name change and proposing legislative recommendations the committee can consider. Stakeholders identified for the group include Family Forward, the childcare for Oregon coalition, HECC, campus benefit navigators, student parents, the Department of Early Learning and Care, lawmakers and labor representatives.
Chair Hartman told the committee the name change would have required roughly $700,000 in system updates based on administrative estimates; that fiscal impact contributed to the decision not to advance the bill this session. Committee members expressed interest in continuing the topic during interim work and coordinating with education committees and the Department of Early Learning and Care.
No formal vote or directive was taken; the committee said it will convene the interim work group and monitor progress.
