Bill would make $8 million for Centers for Independent Living permanent, authors say it saves state money

Representative Paul Wolgamott introduced House File 13 26 on March 4, 2025, asking the committee to make permanent previous one‑time funding for the state’s eight Centers for Independent Living (CILs). Wolgamott described the centers as statutory nonprofits tasked with promoting independence, job skills and community living for people with disabilities.

Why it matters: sponsors and witnesses said CILs provide services that reduce reliance on costly institutional care, help people return to or remain in community housing and support employment, which they said generates large budgetary savings.

Wolgamott told the committee the bill “provides the centers with their original base funding from the last budget cycle of $3,011,000 each year, plus the $4,000,001 one‑time dollars that were allocated each year from the last biennium to be made permanent.” Jesse Bethke Gomez, executive director of Metropolitan Center for Independent Living (MCIL), described federal and state oversight and said centers serve people statewide; he said the centers’ work had helped 1,655 individuals move from or avoid long‑term care institutions in the last budget cycle and that the cost savings for those cases would range from $106 million to $254 million.

Two clients shared personal testimony. Carol LaFleur described long episodes of institutional care and homelessness and told the committee the Metropolitan CIL helped her return to education, complete law enforcement training and become employed by Metro Transit Police Department, allowing her to “pay it forward” in outreach work. John Schneider described being homeless after military service, receiving case management and housing assistance from Access North (a CIL), obtaining housing, education and civic leadership roles, and said the center helped him “break that overwhelming mountain down into small manageable steps.”

Representative Lee Pinto asked the committee fiscal analyst to confirm the current base budget; the analyst responded that the base budget for the 2026–27 biennium is $6 million. Pinto and Wolgamott discussed how the bill would affect base funding and one‑time allocations; members praised the centers’ results and urged continued funding consideration during budget negotiations.

Action taken: the committee laid House File 13 26 over for possible inclusion in the omnibus budget; no final appropriation was adopted during this hearing.

Next steps: sponsors will continue to work with fiscal staff and committee members as the budget process continues; members cited the centers’ oversight structures and client outcomes as reasons to consider making funding permanent.