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Oregon moves to codify Employment First policy for workers with intellectual and developmental disabilities
Summary
Senate Bill 810 would codify Oregon’s Employment First policies, require advisory committees and annual reporting on competitive integrated employment, and formalize oversight established through prior settlement and administrative action.
Senate Bill 810 would update Oregon law to formalize Employment First policy for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), require statewide and regional Employment First advisory committees, and direct the Department of Human Services and Department of Education to make recommendations on competitive integrated employment. Testimony on Jan. 30 emphasized the state’s recent progress and the bill’s role in sustaining that work.
Dana Hittle, interim director of the Office of Developmental Disability Services (ODDS), told the Senate Committee on Human Services that Oregon is already an “Employment First” state and that the bill would “codify the requirements from past executive orders, the Lane versus Brown settlement agreement, and existing Oregon administrative rules” to ensure continued progress toward competitive integrated employment and to preserve oversight and interagency coordination. Hittle said investments for this work are currently funded in the department’s continuing service level budget and that the bill is not expected to have an additional fiscal impact for ODDS at this time.
Disability Rights Oregon supported the bill in testimony delivered by Ben Gurewitz (reading an expert’s remarks), noting that litigation in Lane v. Brown helped dismantle segregated sheltered workshops and subminimum wages and that SB 810 would continue oversight and reporting that grew from that work. The Oregon Council on Developmental Disabilities supported SB 810, urging that competitive integrated employment be the standard and that the bill’s reporting, advisory bodies and regional committees sustain and extend services statewide.
Self-advocates and a person with lived experience (video testimony from Justin Connolly) described personal benefits of competitive integrated employment and contrasted those roles with earlier sheltered-workshop experiences. Committee members asked clarifying questions; a technical issue prevented one scheduled speaker (Samuel Robinson) from testifying live, and the committee requested written testimony to capture that perspective.
The public hearing on SB 810 closed after testimony; the bill will proceed through the committee process for potential amendment and further action.
