Washington County government-relations team briefs commissioners on courthouse planning money, behavioral-health funding and workforce bills

Zakharcan, a Washington County government-relations manager, told the Board of Commissioners on Feb. 4 that one legislative priority would provide matching funds for the county’s courthouse planning work.

“This bill was introduced by Representative Sosa and would appropriate $1,250,000 in matching state funds to Washington County for our courthouse replacement planning project,” Zakharcan said. He told commissioners HB 3180 was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee and had bipartisan sponsors from the Washington County delegation.

County government-relations staff gave an overview of bills they said officials are tracking closely this short legislative session: funding for courthouse planning, reforms and formula changes for behavioral-health resource network funding, proposals to allow jail-based medication grant dollars to be used in community corrections, workforce-development and clinician licensure bills, housing-production measures and legislation to create or adjust task forces on services and sustainability for county-run programs.

The presentation named bills and timing for hearings. Pablo Nevis Valenzuela identified HB 3009, which would allow jail-based medication-for-opioid-use-disorder grant funds to be used in facilities such as the county’s community corrections center; he said that bill was scheduled for a public hearing on the House committee the next day at about 5 p.m. He also said Senate Bill 610, which staff described as a vehicle for behavioral-health resource network funding formula reforms, had a public hearing scheduled for Feb. 26.

Carly Silva Gabrielsson described SB 610 as addressing three areas: building a new funding formula for the 2026–29 funding cycle, establishing a future formula process that would include Administrative Procedures Act requirements, and creating an advisory body that would include behavioral-health and public-health officials, oversight and accountability council members, Oregon Health Authority staff and community members. She said staff from public-health, behavioral health and the county ARPA team had worked together on the bill.

Staff also flagged an Association of Community Mental Health Programs cost study that they said found a statewide $64,800,000 shortfall over the biennium to fully fund aid-and-assistance civil-commitment services; that figure was described as central to the county’s legislative agenda. The presentation listed other bills: HB 3129 (pipeline development for counseling and social-work careers), a $25 million ask described as HB 2204 to retain workforce in community mental-health programs, HB 2202 to reduce administrative burden, and LC 2056 — a draft concept that would create a task force to provide counties guidance on services and sustainable funding for law enforcement–adjacent services; staff said they were holding that LC as a potential vehicle if an informal legislative work group could not be formed.

Why it matters: staff told the board that changes to state funding formulas and the state budget could have direct financial effects on county services for behavioral health, shelter and justice-related programs. Several bills named by county staff carry specific dollar figures or scheduled hearing dates, and staff said they were working with legislators and the Association of Oregon Counties (AOC) on amendments and coalition strategies.

Commissioners asked for follow-up on bills not yet scheduled for hearings and for additional detail on licensure and workforce measures; staff said they would email more information and include those bills on future briefing lists. Staff also outlined next steps for county engagement in Salem: a deadline for introducing bills and a planned county day at the Capitol in March when commissioners could meet with the Washington County delegation.

Staff emphasized that the current short session is fast-moving, with thousands of introduced measures and many placeholder bills that still lacked full language. They said county staff were watching for bills that could create unfunded mandates and working with AOC and other counties to respond.

Staff quoted in this article are from the county’s government-relations team and are identified in the transcript excerpts below. The presentation included specific hearing dates, bill numbers and funding figures that staff said they were tracking.