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The Oregon Legislature will convene for 35 days next week for its annual session. While rebalancing the state’s budget is the legislature’s foremost priority, it will consider a package of bills to counter federal overreach. One proposed bill would allow Oregon to withhold federal payments if the federal government unlawfully withholds its funds. Another proposed bill would prohibit ICE personnel from being on school properties.
Next Wednesday, the state economist will present the first-quarter state revenue forecast to the legislature. The forecast will show the governor and legislature how much revenue will be available to rebalance the 2025-27 biennial budget. Unlike previous biennia, there is a significant budget gap due to the congressional passage of H.R. 1 this past summer. H.R. 1 significantly cut SNAP and Medicaid at historic levels and added costly requirements, such as conducting eligibility of participants more frequently. This requires ODHS and OHA to hire additional employees, among other requirements.
Rebalancing the 2025-27 state biennial budget will likely involve deep cuts to state programs and services. In an op-ed piece, the legislature’s chief budget writers indicated that the state is losing $15 billion in federal funds over the next six years. All of this means that there will be more cuts for the foreseeable future. For Oregon nonprofits that provide social services, there will likely be greater demand for services without commensurate resources. Further, Oregon nonprofits will also be asked to accept volunteers seeking to meet work requirements in order to maintain public assistance. NAO will be going to the capital throughout the session to advocate for the nonprofit sector and report on any legislation that affects it.
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After the tragic death of a second protester in Minnesota, Congress may be heading toward a partial federal government shutdown, as Senate Democrats threaten to withhold their votes on any spending package that includes funding for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Congress and the White House have until January 30th to either extend the current Continuing Resolution (CR) or enact full-year spending bills, or risk a partial government shutdown.
As of now, Senate Republicans are still planning to hold a vote this week on a legislative package of six spending bills, including one for DHS. Democrats, on the other hand, have called for the Senate to move forward with enacting the five spending bills where there is widespread agreement, so that only DHS funding would be held up if they cannot reach an agreement.
The remaining six spending bills amount to about 75% of all discretionary federal funding, so the impact of a partial government shutdown would be directly felt by nonprofits. The six funding bills include: Labor-HHS-Education, Transportation-HUD, Financial Services, Foreign-State, Defense, and Homeland Security.
In addition to a potential shutdown, the Administration is collecting information on federal programs in sanctuary cities and states. The Administration has threatened to withdraw funds for those programs beginning Sunday, February 1st. NAO is monitoring this issue very closely and working closely with other affected nonprofit state associations on a response.
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