Oregon, like all states, has a unique early childhood policy landscape that is shaped by economics, demographics, political history, coalitions, and other factors that create a state-specific environment for policy advocacy.
State early childhood policy progress is dependent both on the state’s environment and the numerous efforts—by the organizations listed on this page, other organizations, parents, policymakers, practitioners, and more—who work both independently and collaboratively to achieve wins for young children.
Research shows that family economic security is foundational to children’s overall wellbeing. Research also shows that widespread disparities in opportunity (especially by race) drive wide disparities in outcomes. States with policies that offer strong support to young children and their families are more likely to see 1) declining numbers of children in low-income households and 2) low racial disparity among those children.
Young Children in Low-Income Households: Declining
Approximately 33 percent (122,000) of the state’s children 0-8 live in households below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (2022). This number represents a decrease from 42 percent (174,000) in 2017.1
Racial Disparity Among Young Children Living in Low-Income Households: High
Black, Hispanic/Latino, and/or Native children aged 0-8 are significantly more likely to be living in households below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level than are Asian and non-Hispanic White children.2
State General Fund Appropriations: Growing
In the summer of 2025, Oregon’s governor signed into law a series of bills comprising the state’s biennial budget for fiscal 2026-2027, while government agencies operated under a continuing resolution for a period to allow time to finalize the budget. The biennial budget, as finalized by the legislature on June 27, plans for total fund spending over two years of $138.9 billion, a 6.3 percent increase from the enacted budget for the prior biennium. The total budget includes $37.3 billion in general fund spending and $1.8 billion in lottery fund spending, with the combined general and lottery funds enacted budget up 11.7 percent compared to the previous two-year budget. The legislatively adopted budget is based on combined general and lottery fund resources of $39.7 billion, including a $2.2 billion beginning balance and $37.5 billion in projected revenues after the personal income tax “kicker” (see State Budget Rules below), and after accounting for various transfers, reversions, dedications, revenue enhancements and reductions. The state forecasted combined balances in the general fund and lottery fund of $554 million at the end of the biennium. The state projects reserves at the end of the fiscal 2026-2027 biennium to include $1.26 billion in the Education Stability Fund (ESF) and $2.16 billion in the Rainy Day Fund (RDF).3
Largest Per Capita Revenue Sources (after federal transfers):4
Oregon does not levy a general sales tax. Charges are public payments connected with a specific government service, such as tuition paid to a state university, payments to a public hospital, or highway tolls.
State Budget Rules:4
Oregon invested $50 million in lottery bonds to create the Child Care Infrastructure Fund. Distributions fund investments designed to expand child care and preschool facilities.
Also, nicotine taxes fund a health care package that includes Medicaid eligibility up to 133 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. The revenue is roughly $160 million per year and ensures health care for the 135,000 children between the ages of 0-5 on Medicaid in Oregon (about 40% of Oregon’s children).
Further, since 2019, Oregon has had a corporate activity tax dedicated to education—20 percent of which is allocated to programs serving infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. The tax is a form of a gross receipts tax that applies to a variety of corporations, partnerships, and other entities consisting of $250 plus 0.57 percent of the taxable commercial activity that exceeds $1 million in the calendar year.
Political Alignment:6 Aligned Democrat
During the legislative session, the state’s Senate and House were both Democrat controlled. The state’s Governor was also a Democrat.
Types of Common Ballot Measures Available:7 Five
Early Childhood Policy Advocacy Organizations Include:
Early Childhood Policy Advocacy Multi-State Initiatives Include:8
An Oregon coalition of advocates is working with Child Care NEXT funding on a sustained effort to pursue bold transformation for the state’s child-care ecosystem.
Highlights from the state’s early childhood policy advocacy community include:9
SB 692 requires public and private health insurance to cover a minimum of 24 hours plus birth event of doula and lactation counselor coverage, regardless of birth outcome. The bill passed the House Floor on June 27 with a vote of 44 to 4. The new law ensures client flexibility in how to use their doula hours (i.e., if they would rather use all their hours for a postpartum doula or if they want to split hours across a birth and postpartum doula. It more than doubles the reimbursement rate for doula coverage (maximum reimbursement was $1500 and is now $3,760) and advocates believe this makes Oregon’s doula coverage the highest in the nation. Further, the bill creates a Community-Based Perinatal Services Access Fund with $1 million of new funding appropriated, in order to increase access to culturally specific and culturally competent community-based services.
HB 2682 requires the Oregon Department of Education to convene an advisory committee to make recommendations to update the way the state funds EI/ECSE services for children with disabilities age 0 to 5.
HB 3560 allows child care centers in residential zones when they are co-located with certain institutional uses (such as schools or libraries) or high-density housing (like apartment complexes with 12+ units per acre). It also ensures that local governments cannot impose more restrictive regulations on child care centers in commercial or industrial zones than on other uses in the same zone.
The Alliance’s lead ally in Oregon, the Children’s Institute, leverages research, practice, policy, and advocacy to shift systems toward justice for families so that all of Oregon’s children, prenatal to grade 5, have access to opportunity. CI focuses on early learning and healthy development, success in the early grades, and aligned early learning and elementary experiences. CI convenes the Early Childhood Coalition to strengthen advocacy efforts and early childhood policy.
Childrens Institute is working to advance early childhood policies in several areas that align with the Alliance’s birth-through-eight policy framework:
Child Care
Child Care Workforce
K-3 Education
Pre-School and Pre-K
Early Intervention (0-3)
Home Visiting
Early Childhood Finance and Cost Modeling
Early Childhood Governance
Click here for more information on their policy agenda.
The Child Care for Oregon coalition has implemented a new process that sets its policy agenda by first asking parents and practitioners to name the barriers they face and describe the future they envision for child care in Oregon.
NOTES:
1 Kids Count Data Center, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Children Ages 0 to 8 Below 200 Percent Poverty, January, 2024.
2 National Center for Children in Poverty, Children Ages 0 through 8 Below 200 Percent Poverty, October 2024, NCCP analysis of ACS 5-Year Estimates – Public Use Microdata Sample 2018-2022.
3 National Association of State Budget Officers, Proposed and Enacted Budgets, FY 2026.
4 Urban Institute, State Fiscal Briefs, April 2025.
5 Alliance for Early Success, State Examples of Dedicated Funding Streams, 2025
6 National Conference of State Legislatures, 2025 State & Legislative Partisan Composition, January 31, 2025.
7 Ballotpedia, Ballot Measures by State, Kids Count Data Center, 2025.
8 Alliance for Early Success, Multi-State Initiatives for Early Childhood Policy Advocacy, July, 2024.
9 Alliance for Early Success, State-Wide Advocacy Highlights Survey, April-October, 2025.
