Budget & Taxes

Establishes and modifies certain biennial appropriations made from the General Fund to specified state agencies and the Emergency Board. Establishes and modifies limitations on expenditures for certain biennial expenses for specified state agencies. Declares an emergency, effective on passage.

[ Declares that it is the goal of the Legislative Assembly to fund the Department of Veterans' Affairs in an amount that is not less than $10,000,000, from the General Fund, in 2015 dollars, adjusted for inflation. ] [ Requires the Director of Veterans' Affairs to add additional full-time positions within the department. Creates in the department the position of Veterans Employment Coordinator. ] Requires the director to be a veteran who has received a discharge or release under other than dishonorable conditions. Allows the director to appoint a deputy director, subject to approval by the Governor. Directs the department to develop and implement a grant program for suicide prevention and workforce training and preparation. Allows moneys in the Veterans' Services Fund to be used for the grant program. Increases an expenditure limitation for the purpose of the grant program. Directs the director to distribute moneys appropriated for county veterans' service officer programs on a quarterly basis. Directs the department to provide a report on the quarterly distribution process. Changes who are allowed to request county veteran discharge records. Increases, from $5,000 to $10,000, the cap on the individual grant amount that is allowed under the Veteran Educational Bridge Grant Program. Directs the Judicial Department, in consultation with the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, to study methods for providing access to veterans' treatment courts to residents of each county or judicial district. Takes effect on July 1, 2026.

] Prohibits the student member of the Oregon Health and Science University Board of Directors from participating in any discussions or action by the board or attending any executive session of the board involving collective bargaining issues that affect students. Requires the board to meet at least four times per year. Allows directors of education service district boards to receive stipends. Specifies when adjustments for inflation can be made for stipends of school districts. Changes the definition for the term "active duty" in the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. Clarifies that the rulemaking authority for the Department of Education is by the State Board of Education. Allows a school district to not include a member of the educational equity advisory committee on the budget committee if no member of the educational equity advisory committee is willing or able to serve on the budget committee. Directs Portland State University instead of the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to report to the Legislative Assembly on a study examining the labor standards and working experiences of farmworkers in this state and evaluating the adequacy and availability of existing workplace protections for farmworkers. Allows education service districts to be temporarily exempt from certain requirements applicable to lamps in buildings used to provide educational services to students. Declares an emergency, effective on passage.

Oregon's legislature is requesting Congress permanently extend federal tax relief for wildfire victims, which expired at the end of 2025. This follows Oregon's 2024 state law (SB 1520) that provided tax relief for wildfire recovery, but required federal companion relief to prevent liability settlements from being taxed. The memorial specifically urges Congress to make permanent the temporary federal tax cuts established by H.R. 5863 (Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2023). This applies to wildfire victims in Oregon who faced federal taxation on recovery funds after recent catastrophic fires.