Sen. Sara Gelser Blouin

Directs the Director of Human Services to ensure that standards and procedures for the assessment and investigation of reports of child abuse committed by certain persons are investigated by a department program that specializes in training, investigations and safety. Applies to assessments and investigations pending or commenced on or after July 1, 2027.

] Creates an exception to abuse of a child in care provisions when the suspected abuse was committed by the parent of the child in care. [ Requires that the Department of Human Services provide parents and guardians with a notice of rights before interviews in child abuse investigations. ] Requires the Department of Human Services to notify a child's parents or guardians that the department representative is not an attorney and cannot give the parent or guardian legal advice. Declares an emergency, effective on passage.

Directs the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to administer a grant program to fund basic needs programming. Appropriates moneys to the commission to establish the program and award grants for basic needs programming. Sunsets the grant program on January 2, 2027. Establishes the Task Force on Student Housing to review and make recommendations on policy changes regarding barriers that students in higher education face in accessing affordable housing. Sunsets the task force on January 2, 2027. Directs the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to award grants to nonprofit organizations that provide affordable housing support to low-income students in higher education in this state. Appropriates moneys to the commission for purposes of awarding the grants. Declares an emergency, effective on passage.

Creates additional rules and requirements for pharmacy benefit managers and a policy or certificate of health insurance or other contract providing for the reimbursement of the cost of a prescription drug.

] Prohibits distributing, selling, attempting to sell or offering to sell flavored inhalant delivery system products or flavored tobacco products in this state , except from premises established as a store by the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission and licensed by the Department of Revenue or authorized by a local government . Defines "flavored inhalant delivery system product" and "flavored tobacco product." Prohibits distributing, offering or providing, without compensation, any tobacco product or inhalant delivery system. Requires any sale of cigarettes, inhalant delivery systems or smokeless tobacco products to occur at licensed premises. Authorizes local governments to adopt regulations that are stricter than state law on the sale of inhalant delivery system products or tobacco products. Declares an emergency, effective on passage.

] [ Requires online platforms to pay moneys to digital journalism providers and the Oregon Civic Information Consortium. Allows an online platform to use an arbitration process to determine the percentage of an online platform's advertising revenue to be remitted to digital journalism providers. ] Prohibits a covered platform from accessing for an Oregon audience the online content of a digital journalism provider without an agreement. Specifies requirements that an agreement must meet. Creates a private cause of action that a digital journalism provider may bring against a covered platform if the covered platform accesses for an Oregon audience the online content of the digital journalism provider without an agreement or fails to comply with an agreement. Allows for the recovery of the greater of statutory or actual damages, and for punitive damages. Bars a cause of action if the covered platform is participating in arbitration or in compliance with a final arbitration order, judgment or settlement agreement. Bars a cause of action for access that occurs between January 1, 2026, and December 31, 2027, if the covered platform elects to pay a certain sum amount. Allows a covered platform or group of digital journalism providers to initiate an arbitration process to determine a percentage of the covered platform's advertising revenue to be remitted to the digital journalism providers. Requires online platforms to report annually certain information about compensation paid to digital journalism providers. Establishes the Oregon Civic Information Consortium. Directs the consortium to award grants for applicants that seek to improve civic information.

Establishes an income tax credit for volunteer firefighters. Applies to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2032. Takes effect on the 91st day following adjournment sine die.

Requires the Department of Human Services to adopt a methodology for payments made to providers of independent living transition services provided to foster children. Takes effect on the 91st day following adjournment sine die.

Maddy summarySB 912 clarifies and expands duties for parents, guardians, and caregivers to protect children from abuse and neglect. It requires them to take reasonable action to prevent or stop abuse, report suspected abuse, cooperate with investigations, and provide basic needs like food, shelter, and medical care based on their financial ability or available community resources. The bill specifically defines "chronic or extreme neglect" as persistent failure to provide basic needs causing serious harm (e.g., malnutrition, developmental harm) or contributing to severe incidents like sexual abuse or near-death situations. This law directly affects families, child welfare agencies, and law enforcement by strengthening how neglect is identified and addressed under Oregon law.

] [ Requires the Department of Corrections to study health care staffing by the department. Directs the department to submit findings to the interim committees of the Legislative Assembly related to the judiciary not later than September 15, 2026. ] Requires the Oregon Department of Administrative Services, in consultation with the Department of Corrections and the labor union representing staff employed in health services at the Department of Corrections, to conduct a market study biennially related to the wages and benefits of health services job classifications at the Department of Corrections institutions. Directs the Oregon Department of Administrative Services to submit a report on the results of the study to the interim committees of the Legislative Assembly related to health services, the Department of Corrections and the labor union representing staff employed in health services at the Department of Corrections. Establishes minimum staffing requirements that apply to the Department of Corrections for certain state employees at Department of Corrections institutions. Phases in minimum staffing ratios between certain state employees and the number of adults in custody to which the employees can be assigned at any time. Provides that violation of the minimum staffing requirements constitutes an unfair labor practice.