Support Senate Bill 606: Oregon Nonprofit Modernization Act

Join Rose Haven in supporting Senate Bill 606, the Oregon Nonprofit Modernization Act!

The problem:

Government funding is currently non-transparent and inaccessible. For example, most county contracts are reimbursement programs, which means that the nonprofit must front the money to do the work, and then reach out to the county for reimbursement…which sometimes takes months to reconcile. This can mean non-profits are not able to keep up with their bills while they wait for the county to pay them back. These funds can also be very restrictive, and have narrow scopes of work that discourage many agencies from applying at all.

We also need to invest in this work, and non underpay people that are willing to be on the front lines if we want to see solutions to our homeless crisis. Nonprofit staff leave their demanding jobs at higher rates than private and for-profit business counterparts. This is due, in part, to low pay, heavy workload, understaffing, secondary trauma, and the current structure and requirements of state contracts. SB 606 would address some of these challenges and support nonprofit staff.

We need to make the funding that is intended to be invested in the community accessible to the nonprofits that are already doing the work. We need to see more trust based philanthropy, and listen to those who are doing the work for what they say they need.

About the bill:

SB 606 would establish a nonprofit workforce retention fund in the state treasury. In addition, the state treasury would be required to provide grants to qualifying nonprofits and organizations. 

A nonprofit task force would also be implemented. The task force would closely examine streamlining and simplifying contracting, improving payment delivery, reducing burdensome reporting requirements, and raising nonprofit wages to improve employee retention in the long term. This bill creates easy and simple changes to government contracting practices that can be implemented immediately.

By passing this bill, legislators can help Oregon’s nonprofits provide essential services and promote the well-being of all our community members. These grants would support nonprofits such as Rose Haven, helping retain employees by increasing compensation, which would reduce burnout and understaffing challenges. 

How you can help:

/by