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Committee hears broad support for HB 3560A to permit childcare by right in residential zones and with community institutions
Summary
Representatives, parents and advocacy groups told the Senate committee that House Bill 3560A would reduce zoning barriers that prevent childcare centers from locating near families and workplaces. Testimony described long, costly conditional-use processes and urged the bill as a practical step to expand childcare access.
The Senate Committee on Early Childhood and Behavioral Health held a lengthy public hearing on House Bill 3560A, a proposal to require local governments to permit childcare centers in many residential and mixed-use zones and to allow centers to colocate with community institutions such as churches and community centers.
Representative Pam Marsh, the bill sponsor, told the committee HB 3560A would remove siting barriers that keep child care facilities out of neighborhoods. "Child care centers should be part of the fabric of every neighborhood where families live and work," Marsh said, citing a 2021 figure that 69 percent of Oregon children under age 6 have all parents in the workforce. She said the bill moves childcare siting provisions into land-use statutes where they belong and implements a recommendation from a state work group on childcare zoning.
Dana Hepper of the Children's Institute urged support and described zoning as a first, gatekeeper question for providers seeking sites: conditional-use permit processes can take six months or more and often cost $20,000 or more, she said. Hepper noted HB 3560A was recommendation number six from the work group convened under House Bill 2727 and that the legislation passed the House unanimously without opposition.
Multiple witnesses gave first-hand accounts of zoning obstacles: Daniel Hauser, a parent and representative of Ash Creek Play School, described a years-long permitting fight in Beaverton that required tens of thousands of dollars in fees and legal costs to retain a preschool in an existing church building. "This bill would solve this problem not just for my children, my school, my community, but for many little preschools and child care facilities all throughout Oregon," Hauser said.
Sam Guthman of Apano Communities United Fund and Representative Courtney Neron described the equity implications: 72 percent of Oregon communities are childcare deserts, with greater gaps in communities of color, rural areas and immigrant populations. Neron and other legislators urged passage to improve access and help parents remain in the workforce.
Committee members asked technical questions about prevailing-wage triggers when childcare is co-located with affordable housing; witnesses said HB 3560A does not directly change prevailing-wage rules and that those issues remain a separate financing and procurement question. Witnesses and legislators framed the bill as a targeted, practical step that complements other funding and regulatory work to expand child-care capacity.
No committee votes were taken during the public hearing; members indicated the committee might schedule a work session to consider the bill.
