Senate panel hears hours of divided testimony on SB 1505, a workforce standards board for IDD services

The Senate Rules committee took testimony on Senate Bill 1505, a bill to establish a Home and Community Based Services workforce standards board with authority to recommend (and, in some draft language, set) minimum standards for wages, benefits and training across specified HCBS programs. Sponsors and proponents framed the bill as a mechanism to bring workers, service recipients and providers together to set enforceable standards and improve wages and retention; opponents cautioned it would create an unelected body with sweeping authority, duplicate existing regulators and impose unfunded mandates that could destabilize small providers and reduce consumer choice.

Staff described key elements of the bill and the amendments under consideration. The current draft narrows the board's initial scope to services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). According to staff, section 6 directs the board to establish minimum standards on wages, benefits and training, but standards will not be initiated until after a comprehensive review; a standard that requires state funding cannot take effect until the legislature approves funding and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approves any necessary federal waivers or amendments. The bill establishes staggered terms for an 11‑member board appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate and includes an online registry and notification requirements; enforcement timelines and remedies are addressed in later sections and amendments have limited some remedies based on stakeholder feedback.

Proponents — including Crystal Dejarniak (president of SEIU Local 503 Home Care Division), Patty Falkenstein (personal support worker and parent), union and policy representatives and some direct support professionals — said the IDD workforce faces severe pay disparities, inconsistent pass-through of rate increases and insufficient transparency about how public funds are spent. "Workers are struggling to afford the basics," Crystal Dejarniak told the committee, asking members to "please vote yes on SB 1505." Supporters argued that a standards board would give workers and people who rely on services a seat at the table and could reduce turnover by setting industry-wide expectations.

Opponents — including nonprofit providers, provider associations and case-management organizations — warned the board would substitute an unelected body for legislative decision-making, risk imposing one-size-fits-all rules across highly individualized home‑ and community‑based services, and divert scarce rate dollars to administrative compliance. Leslie Hoffman, a nonprofit executive director with three decades in the IDD field, testified: "This bill adds new obligations and creates a new board with rulemaking authority without providing the funding needed to raise wages."

Committee members pressed proponents on several topics: how small and rural providers would be protected from unfunded mandates; whether the board would duplicate work of the Oregon Health Authority, the Department of Human Services (DHS) or the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI); and how standards would affect consumer choice in individualized settings. Staff and sponsors repeatedly emphasized that the bill's timeline delays initiation of standards until a comprehensive data review, that enforcement tied to funded standards requires legislative appropriation and CMS approval, and that amendments are intended to narrow scope and refine appointments to ensure provider diversity.

Public turnout was large, with two overflow rooms; testimony ran multiple hours and the committee left the record open for 48 hours for additional written testimony. No committee vote on SB 1505 occurred during the hearing.

What the bill would require (per staff summary and sponsor remarks): an 11‑member gubernatorial board (subject to Senate confirmation) to evaluate data and recommend or set workforce standards for IDD HCBS; staggered terms; an online registry; a requirement that standards needing state funds be approved by the legislature and by CMS before enforcement; and that enforcement begin 90 days after a funded standard takes effect. Sponsors said some remedies were limited after stakeholder feedback and that the board would not initiate standards before March 2029 following the comprehensive review.

The committee will consider submitted amendments and the record remains open for written testimony; no final action was recorded at the hearing.