Committee hears bill to limit school board ethics filings to members receiving stipends

Representative Mark Owens, House District 60, and the Oregon School Boards Association urged the House Committee on Rules on Feb. 10 to narrow the state's statement-of-economic-interest filing requirement for locally elected school board members to those who receive a stipend.

"This has been a very, oh, controversial and frustrating conversation for my district and all of Eastern Oregon for at least 4 years," Representative Mark Owens said, describing volunteer boards in small districts and the difficulty of filling seats after some members resigned when the SEI requirement took effect.

The bill under consideration, House Bill 3130, would limit the requirement that a school district board member file an annual verified statement of economic interest to those members who receive a stipend from the district school board, Melissa (committee staff) read into the record.

Why it matters: Witnesses said the 2023 law (House Bill 2753) and subsequent implementation guidance led some small-district volunteers to resign. Owens told the committee that some districts have only a handful of students ' "We're talking districts that have 4 students" ' and that a turnout of resignations can leave communities without functioning local governance until reappointment processes run their course.

Lori Satinspeal, testifying on behalf of the Oregon School Boards Association, said the bill's discussion is "a little bit windy because it includes stipends, and the SEIs." She described practical challenges for small boards and said the association supports clarifying the conflict-of-interest question and exploring stipend funding.

Implementation and unresolved questions: The Government Ethics Commission (OGEC) raised procedural questions in written comments on OLIS that the committee read aloud: whether stipend adoption or SEI filing should be measured on a calendar-year or fiscal-year basis, whether a board member opting out or in could do so midyear, and how OGEC would track stipend receipt across jurisdictions. Committee members noted OGEC staff were in another hearing and that the commission had told staff it has no current mechanism to verify stipend receipt statewide without added staff time.

Several witnesses and committee members suggested potential fixes: Owens proposed adding a simple first-line question to the SEI form ("Have you received any stipends in the last year?") so filers could quickly determine whether further reporting is required; others said any fix should be coordinated with pending legislation on conflicts of interest.

Related legislation and background: Witnesses cited House Bill 2753 (2023), which prompted implementation work and subsequent clarification requests, and Senate Bill 983 (referenced by witnesses as pending on the Senate side) as a vehicle to address conflict-of-interest issues tied to stipends.

Outcome and next steps: The committee opened and closed the public hearing on HB 3130 on Feb. 10. No committee action (vote or amendment) on the bill was recorded during the meeting. Committee members asked staff to follow up with OGEC and to consider statutory language that could narrow reporting obligations to stipend recipients or to very small districts.

Ending: Proponents asked the committee to consider exceptions for very small rural districts and to coordinate any change with a review of stipend funding. Committee staff noted follow-up would be necessary to resolve calendar-year reporting and OGEC tracking questions.