DD Coalition Legislative Funding Priorities

• Direct Support Professional Wages
• DD Case Management
• Regional Family to Family Networks  
• Healthier Oregon - Access to Services

2023 DD Advocacy Events

Thursday, April 27th

Willamette Heritage Center Dye House, Salem

DD Advocacy Networking Event 3-5P

Legislator Reception 5-7P

Thursday, May 25th

DD Advocacy Online Workshop 10A-12P

Register at https://creatingops.typeform.com/2023DDadvocacy

State Budget Road Show Continues

The Ways and Means Committee have two more Town Hall Meetings to hear from Oregonians about the 2023-25 state budget. This is a great opportunity to show support of Developmental Disabilities Services!

Sign up to testify by using the event agendas linked below to register:

• Friday, April 28 (5-7pm Mountain Time Zone) Four Rivers Cultural Center, Ontario, Oregon
• Wednesday, May 3 (5-7pm) Oregon State Capitol, Salem

Large crowds are expected so plan to arrive early. Please prepare to introduce yourself and share one to two minutes of testimony about the importance of DD Services in your life and/or community, ending with a request to support DD Services funding. Even if you are not called to give testimony, your presence at these events wearing something yellow will show unified support of the DD Community.

Email the Ways & Means Committee

This is the point in the session when it becomes increasingly more important for legislators to hear why investments in DD Services matters. Bills that have a cost associated with them will head to the Ways & Means Committee, which must be passed by the committee to get through the session, but once approved by Ways & Means a bill has does not have to pass through the other chamber. Join us in monitoring the progression of HB 5026 which is the Human Services budget bill.

Your voice matters! And it is especially important this year with so many new legislators in the Capitol, that they hear that DD Services funding matters. Ask the legislature to support full funding for Direct Support Professional (DSP) Wages, DD Case Management, Regional Family Networks, and Healthier Oregon which allow any Oregonians to access DD services if they qualify on the basis of their disability. Include a few sentences about what DD Services means in your life.

Email the Members of the Ways & Means Committee at: Sen.ElizabethSteiner@oregonlegislature.gov; Rep.TawnaSanchez@oregonlegislature.gov; Sen.FredGirod@oregonlegislature.gov; Rep.DavidGomberg@oregonlegislature.gov; Rep.GregSmith@oregonlegislature.gov; Sen.SaraGelser@oregonlegislature.gov; Sen.DickAnderson@oregonlegislature.gov; Sen.WlnsveyCampos@oregonlegislature.gov; Sen.TimKnopp@oregonlegislature.gov; Sen.JaneenSollman@oregonlegislature.gov; Rep.JamiCate@oregonlegislature.gov; rep.AndreaValderrama@oregonlegislature.gov; Sen.MichaelDembrow@oregonlegislature.gov; Sen.LynnFindley@oregonlegislature.gov; Sen.LewFrederick@oregonlegislature.gov; Sen.BillHansell@oregonlegislature.gov; Rep.PaulEvans@oregonlegislature.gov; Rep.PaulHovey@oregonlegislature.gov; Rep.RickLewis@oregonlegislature.gov; Rep.SusanMcLain@oregonlegislature.gov; Rep.KhanhPham@oregonlegislature.gov; Rep.EWernerReschke@oregonlegislature.gov; rep.vikkibreeseiverson@oregonlegislature.gov

If your State Senator and State Representative are not on this committee, include them on your email. To find out who your two state legislators are, visit the home page of the Oregon Legislature website at Oregon State Legislature (oregonlegislature.gov)

Staying Informed This Session

For information on bills that we our monitoring, look for our weekly bill tracking report on our website as well as Facebook where we are also posting Spotlights on policy issues of interest to the DD Community.

If you are interested in specific legislative topics, this video goes through each step to help you find where bills are in the legislative process and how to sign up for email alerts to get updates directly.

Visit the GO Project's You Tube Channel legislative advocacy videos created by our GO! Advocacy Team.