Rep. Travis Nelson

Provides that high school student in grade 11 or 12 may be awarded high school equivalency diploma if student has received certificate for passing approved high school equivalency test and meets other conditions. ] Requires Department of Education to conduct study to examine possibility of creating high school equivalency diploma and submit report to interim committees of Legislative Assembly related to education. Allows student who is 16 or 17 years old to take high school equivalency test with consent of parent or legal guardian. Declares emergency, effective on passage.

Requires that dental and vision are included in health benefits available to part-time faculty members. Requires public institutions of higher education to notify potentially eligible part-time faculty members of eligibility requirements and details of health care benefits available to part-time faculty no later than 30 days before application deadline. Reduces amount of time part-time faculty must work to qualify for health care benefits from 50 percent of full-time equivalent employee to 30 percent of full-time equivalent employee. Requires institution to include noninstructional work when making eligibility determination. ] Alters requirement for part-time faculty to qualify for health care benefits from 50 percent of full-time equivalent employee to part-time faculty member being eligible for membership in Public Employees Retirement System or comparable retirement plan. Declares emergency, effective on passage.

Prohibits pharmacy benefit manager from retroactively denying or reducing payment on claim after adjudication unless pharmacy and pharmacy benefit manager agree that payment was incorrect due to clerical error. Prohibits pharmacy benefit manager from imposing fees on rural ] pharmacies after point of sale. Requires pharmacy benefit manager, if denying or reducing reimbursement on claim, to provide notice to pharmacy of specific claim that is denied or reduced and explanation for denial or reduction. Declares emergency, effective on passage.

Establishes Task Force on Tribal Consultation and specifies task force membership. Requires task force to identify and clarify requirements of state agencies to engage in tribal consultation. Requires task force to report findings and recommendations on tribal consultation to interim committee of Legislative Assembly related to government by September 15, 2024. Sunsets December 31, 2024. Takes effect on 91st day following adjournment sine die.

Requires Oregon Health Authority to convene work group to study access to behavioral health treatment in rural and medically underserved areas of this state. Directs authority to submit findings to interim committees of Legislative Assembly related to health not later than September 15, 2024. ] major barriers to workforce recruitment and retention in publicly financed behavioral health system in this state and to develop recommendations on specified topics. Specifies membership. Requires authority to report work group's initial recommendations, no later than January 15, 2025, to interim subcommittee of Joint Committee on Ways and Means related to human services and report final recommendations, by December 15, 2025, to subcommittee and to interim committees of Legislative Assembly related to health care. Sunsets January 2, 2025 ] 2026 . Declares emergency, effective on passage.

Directs Health Licensing Office to establish guidelines for professional methods and procedures used by registered behavior analysis interventionists. Allows applied behavior analysis professional to provide outpatient treatment for mental or emotional disorder or chemical dependency to certain patients without parental consent. Requires applied behavior analysis professionals to report child abuse and to report prohibited or unprofessional conduct of another applied behavior analysis professional. Prohibits applied behavior analysis professional from practicing conversion therapy. Takes effect on 91st day following adjournment sine die.

Prohibits landlords from terminating lease or taking other specified actions due to status of tenant as victim of bias crime. Provides that tenant who is bias crime victim is not responsible for damages resulting from commission of bias crime. Provides that perpetration of bias crime by tenant constitutes cause for termination of tenancy. Establishes process for victim of bias crime to be released from lease without penalty. Provides that release assistance officer and court enter order prohibiting defendant charged with crime involving bias from contacting victim. Provides that information reported to hate crimes hotline that might reveal identity of individual is confidential. Provides that victims of bias crime in the first degree must be consulted during plea negotiations. Expands Address Confidentiality Program to include victims of bias. Expands eligibility for protected leave to bias crime victims. Provides that Department of Justice employee who staffs hate crimes hotline is eligible to request that records kept by Department of Transportation contain employer address instead of home address. Directs Department of Justice to develop and deliver training program for district attorney victim assistance programs to assist with providing services to bias crime victims.

Requires hospitals to establish professional and technical staff and service staff staffing committees, meeting specified criteria, to develop staffing plans, in addition to nurse staffing committee. Prescribes methods for resolving disputes arising in development of staffing plans. Establishes minimum nurse-to-patient staffing ratios for direct care registered nurses and provides exceptions. Imposes penalties for failure to adopt hospital staffing plans or to comply with staffing plans or requirements for development of staffing plans. Requires Oregon Health Authority to post staffing plans to authority's website and to establish method for filing complaints through authority's website regarding hospital's failure to adopt or to comply with staffing plans. Establishes mechanism for employees or exclusive representatives of employees of hospitals to seek enforcement by Bureau of Labor and Industries of rules adopted by bureau regarding meal periods and rest periods. Prescribes complaint process. Adds enforcement tools for authority to enforce nurse staffing requirements. Prohibits imposition of new provisions regarding civil penalties for violations occurring before June 1, 2025. Restricts to specified provisions authority's statutory authorization to adopt rules related to hospital staffing. Declares emergency, effective September 1, 2023.

Modifies allocation formula for grants to children's advocacy centers. Establishes Child Abuse Assessment Account within State Treasury for purpose of grant program for children's advocacy centers. Authorizes Child Abuse Multidisciplinary Intervention Program to reallocate undistributed moneys to specified organizations. Appropriates moneys from General Fund to Department of Justice for purpose of funding grant program. Limits biennial expenditures by department for grant program from Child Abuse Assessment Account. ] Modifies authority of Advisory Council on Child Abuse Assessment to deposit contributions to Child Abuse Multidisciplinary Intervention Account and Child Abuse Assessment Account. ] Takes effect on 91st day following adjournment sine die. ] Appropriates moneys from General Fund to Department of Justice for Crime Victim and Survivor Services Division, for distribution to eligible children's advocacy centers. Declares emergency, effective on passage.

Establishes Early Literacy Success Initiative. Prescribes purposes and requirements under initiative, including establishment of Early Literacy Success School Grants, Birth Through Five Literacy Plan and Early Literacy Success Community Grants. Repeals Oregon Early Reading Program and Early Success Reading Initiative. Establishes Birth Through Five Literacy Fund and Early Literacy Success Community Grant Fund. Declares emergency, effective on passage.