Sen. Sarah Gilles de Blue told attendees at the Benton County legislative breakfast that Tuesday is the policy‑committee deadline and that the compressed schedule and fiscal constraints mean ‘‘there is no money for any policy bill’’ without a leadership priority or a shift in revenues.

The senator described heavy committee workloads — five committees for some members, late evening hearings and a pipeline where amendments must flow through counsel and the legislative fiscal office before a bill can be voted on. ‘‘Youcankick it out of the rules committee within a week or two,’’ she said, summarizing procedural options; but she added many bills that are not ready simply die at the deadline.

Gilles de Blue spent much of her remarks on bills affecting students with disabilities. She described hearings that included allegations of unsafe restraint and seclusion in schools — children ‘‘dragged down the hallway by their wrists and ankles’’ and students returning home with bruises — and said the Department of Human Services requested a bill to allow substantiation of abuse where seclusion or restraint violates existing law. The senator said the bill was crafted to avoid penalizing staff put in impossible situations but to enable investigations when legal limits are breached.

School districts and organizations including the Oregon School Boards Association and the Coalition of School Administrators have pushed back on language that would limit districtsor expand state oversight, prompting amendments that let the Oregon Department of Education and DHS identify training programs while preserving district flexibility. Gilles de Blue said the legislation was revised to be ‘‘consistent with this statute,’’ removing direct DHS control language to address opposition.

Beyond the restraint language, she described related measures to let teaching assistants read IEPs and 504 plans for students they support and said some district groups oppose those bills because of potential cost or unintended consequences. The senator also criticized a work group rewriting parts of the bills that she said met without inviting all stakeholders. ‘‘Thereis a secret meeting someplace where these other people who did not testify on the record ... are secretly going to decide what happens to them in the future and not have to be heard in public,’’ she said.

Why it matters: Gilles de Blue framed the debate as both legal and logistical — courts have stepped in before where the legislature did not act, she said, and counties and families are watching whether the Legislature will adopt enforceable policies or leave remedies to litigation. She urged local officials and school board members to press their representatives to ensure practical training, transparency and funding accompany statutory changes.

Next steps: The senator said she expects continued negotiation into May and June as revenue forecasts and co‑chairsbudget frameworks impose limits on how much new policy can be funded. Several bills she discussed have been amended in committee and may be revised further before floor votes.