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Families and providers urge funding for 'Tenzi's Law' during SB 55 47 hearing
Summary
During the SB 55 47 public hearing, 11 witnesses urged lawmakers to schedule and fund Tenzi's Law (a paid-parent caregiver expansion to the children's extraordinary needs waiver), arguing it would stabilize care for medically complex children and reduce costs by using trained family caregivers.
SALEM, Ore. — During a public hearing on Senate Bill 55 47 on Monday, 11 people testified in favor of funding Tenzi's Law, a proposal to allow parents to be paid caregivers under Oregon’s children's extraordinary needs waiver and to expand access to the waiver.
Witnesses described a shortage of qualified nonfamily caregivers, families that cannot use authorized care hours because they cannot find trusted workers, and situations where parents are effectively providing paid-level care but are barred from being paid. Several speakers urged that rebalance funds—or other budget actions—be used to fully fund Tenzi's Law or otherwise expand paid parent caregiving.
Shasta Kearns Moore, a family advocate, said families see reduced health-care use when stable parent caregivers provide services, telling the committee: “We actually see the savings, when these stable caregivers are given the resources that they need.” Callie Ross said the current rules force families into “unsustainable arrangements or worse into costly institutions” and called lifting the ban on paying legally responsible caregivers a cost-saving change.
Bonnie Hodges, who urged the committee to ask the Ways and Means Chairs to schedule Tenzi's Law for a hearing, said the bill would “enable the state to maximize this existing labor force while improving outcomes for children and easing pressure on more expensive institutional systems.” Dane Ross, a father of a medically complex child, cited studies and told the committee that between 2018 and 2023 families used only 60% of authorized care hours and that 57% of families reported they could not find qualified workers; he said those barriers drove families to unstable arrangements.
Other witnesses framed the change as both a financial and equity issue. Leslie Andrews, Tensie's grandmother, said paying parents would protect caregivers’ retirement by allowing them to earn Social Security credits. Matthew Richardson, a government affairs manager for the Nurse Family Partnership program, asked that a $1,450,000 rebalance allocation for Nurse Family Partnership be dedicated to continue paying the non-federal Medicaid match for home visiting services.
Several nurses and agency-experienced witnesses described the practical limits of the home-care labor pool. Reylyn Vership, an RN who works in pediatric home care, said she had not found a single other qualifying nurse in three years to substitute for her work; she said parents are often the only people who can reliably provide around-the-clock care.
Committee staff reminded witnesses the public hearing was on SB 55 47 and that testimony should refer to the rebalance bill; several speakers tied their requests for Tenzi's Law to how rebalance or other budget actions might fund or prioritize the policy. The subcommittee closed the public hearing and moved to its work session on the rebalance.
No formal committee action on Tenzi's Law occurred during the session; panel decisions recorded in the transcript were limited to adoption of the dash-2 amendment to SB 55 47 and forwarding that bill to full Ways and Means.
