Senate committee advances package of bills to expand perinatal, maternal and behavioral health programs

The Oregon Senate Committee on Early Childhood and Behavioral Health on April 3 adopted amendments and voted to send a group of bills aimed at strengthening the perinatal and behavioral health workforce and services to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means.

Committee members approved changes and recommended that Senate Bill 527, Senate Bill 691, Senate Bill 693 and Senate Bill 695 be placed on the floor with a "do pass" recommendation and referred to Ways and Means for funding review.

Katie, committee staff, summarized the bills’ provisions on the record. "Senate bill 527 directs the Oregon Health Authority to create a grant program to fund pilot programs that create opportunities for high school students to receive training to enter the behavioral health workforce and allocates $3,500,000 from the general fund," she said. The amendment to SB 527 requires grant programs to be based on evidence from successful training models and to provide culturally and linguistically specific training for students from underserved communities.

On SB 691, Katie described the bill as a measure "to expand a project for improved maternal and neonatal outcomes and change medical assistance coverage requirements for a person with a substance use disorder who is pregnant or the parent of an infant." The dash-1 amendment allocates $6,500,000 from the general fund to the Oregon Health Authority for the 2025–27 biennium, with $500,000 set aside for technical assistance to new and existing sites, $5,000,000 for grants to new sites and $1,000,000 for grants to existing sites. The amendment also requires coverage of certain services for people who are pregnant or parents of infants and have a substance use disorder, including peer support services and certain medically necessary inpatient hospital stays, and permits OHA to seek any necessary approvals from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Senate Bill 693, as explained by Katie, establishes a task force on the perinatal workforce, increases minimum membership and requires at least two members who are current or former recipients of perinatal services and one member recommended by the Commission on Indian Services. SB 695 was amended to direct the Oregon Health Authority and coordinated care organizations (CCOs) to develop whole-person maternal health programs, to collaborate with early learning hubs and federally qualified health centers on community health assessments, and to prioritize early childhood and the first 1,000 days of life in community health planning. The amendment also directs the metrics and scoring subcommittee of the health plan quality metrics committee to consider equity-focused measures related to pregnancy and early childhood.

Motions to adopt amendments and to advance the measures passed on party-line-style roll calls recorded in the committee minutes. For each bill the committee adopted the proposed amendments and then voted to send the amended bills to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means by prior reference.

Quotes on the record highlighted the bills’ intent. Senator Anderson, who moved several of the measures, said the high-school behavioral health training bill "expose[s] high school students to the opportunities in working the behavioral health field" and provide[s] students with emotional intelligence and other tools valuable both personally and professionally. Chair Senator Lisa Reynolds, a pediatrician, framed the package as part of a broader strategy to improve maternal and infant health by expanding upstream behavioral health and workforce investments.

Committee discussion included technical and implementation questions raised by CCO representatives. Rick Blackwell, director of government relations with PacificSource, told the committee that CCOs would need to coordinate with OHA during rulemaking to determine where screening data are stored and how CCOs are notified of completed screenings and follow-up actions. "I think we can get there through rulemaking," he said, while urging clarity on how tobacco cessation efforts and tracking would be interpreted during implementation.

The committee recorded the following formal actions (motions to adopt amendment; motion to send bill to the floor with a do-pass recommendation and referral to Ways and Means). Vote tallies are taken from the committee roll calls recorded in the hearing transcript and minutes.

Votes at a glance: - SB 527 (dash-2 amendment adopted): amendment roll call included: Senator Korsig — Yes; Senator Lythiccum — No; Senator Patterson — Aye; Vice Chair Anderson — Aye; Chair Reynolds — Aye. Motion to send SB 527 as amended to the floor with a do-pass recommendation and referral to Ways and Means: Senator Gorsek — Yes; (one member listed as "Littigund" in the roll) — No; Senator Patterson — Aye; Vice Chair Anderson — Aye; Chair Reynolds — Aye. Outcome: advanced to Ways and Means. - SB 691 (dash-1 amendment adopted): amendment roll call included: Senator Corsic — Yes; Senator Lythcum — No; Senator Patterson — Aye; Vice Chair Anderson — Aye; Chair Reynolds — Aye. Motion to send SB 691 as amended to the floor with a do-pass recommendation and referral to Ways and Means: committee recorded similar roll call results; outcome: advanced to Ways and Means. - SB 693 (dash-1 amendment adopted): amendment roll call included: Senator Gorsek — Yes; a senator recorded as "Luthicombe" — No; Senator Patterson — Aye; Vice Chair Anderson — Aye; Chair Reynolds — Aye. Motion to send SB 693 as amended to the floor with a do-pass recommendation and referral to Ways and Means: roll call recorded similar votes; outcome: advanced to Ways and Means. - SB 695 (dash-1 amendment adopted): amendment roll call included: a senator recorded as "Vorsig" — Yes; a senator recorded as "Lythagun" — No; Senator Patterson — Aye; Vice Chair Anderson — Aye; Chair Reynolds — Aye. Motion to send SB 695 as amended to the floor with a do-pass recommendation and referral to Ways and Means: committee roll call recorded similar votes; outcome: advanced to Ways and Means.

The committee noted that fiscal impact statements are available on OLIS for these measures and that the measures were referred to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means by prior reference. Several members emphasized that advancing the bills is an intermediate step; specific funding and implementation details will be addressed in Ways and Means and through subsequent OHA rulemaking where applicable.

The committee concluded its April 3 session by scheduling continued work on related items and noting additional hearings scheduled for April 8.

Ending: The package moves to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means for budget consideration; committee staff and agency representatives signaled they will work on implementation details and rulemaking if the measures proceed.