Oregon early‑learning agency reports $66.6 million underspend, outlines reallocation and monitoring plan

Summary

The Department of Early Learning and Care told the Ways and Means education subcommittee that $66.6 million in 2023–25 state funds went unspent — largely because grantees did not claim allocated dollars — and described new controls, a reallocation plan and targeted technical assistance to reduce future underspend.

Alyssa Chatterjee, director of the Oregon Department of Early Learning and Care, told the Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on Education on Feb. 3 that the agency identified about $66.6 million in underspend from the 2023–25 biennium and outlined steps to reduce similar shortfalls going forward.

Chatterjee said the majority of the underspend was ‘‘unclaimed funds’’ — money awarded to grantees that was not spent by the end of the biennium — rather than unobligated dollars that the agency never assigned. She said roughly $42 million of the total came from the Early Learning Account; the remainder was general fund dollars. "We did have a little over 66,000,000 in underspend," Chatterjee said during the presentation.

The nut graf: DELC (the Department of Early Learning and Care) told lawmakers the shortfall reflects a mix of agency start‑up challenges, grantee capacity problems and sector‑wide workforce shortages, and that the agency has…

Oregon early‑learning agency reports $66.6 million underspend, outlines reallocation and monitoring plan

Summary

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