In a short session with significant behavioral health and public welfare implications, the Committee advanced pragmatic, patient-centered policy solutions; protected the integrity of psychological practice; strengthened standards for supervision and workforce development; and elevated safeguards for vulnerable Oregonians. The Committee’s work combined subject-matter expertise, coalition-building, and timely testimony and written advocacy, with a consistent focus on ethical care, privacy, and access.

Protection of Practice and the Public

HB 4070: This bill created clarity on the qualifications required to provide behavioral health telehealth services to Oregon residents. While physical health statutes explicitly mandate that providers must have an Oregon license, behavioral health statutes were ambiguous, potentially compromising the quality and oversight of care delivered to Oregon consumers. This resulted in out-of-state companies utilizing unlicensed providers from outside Oregon to provide care via telehealth.

• OPA members joined the coalition of providers by enforcing that in order to provide behavioral health treatment to an Oregon resident via telehealth, the provider must have a license to practice in Oregon. Alternatively, if a provider is unlicensed in Oregon, they must be employed by and practice within an Oregon facility within an agency that has the statutory authority to supervise associates.
• This ensures providers are accountable to Oregon's licensing boards, and confirms providers meet Oregon’s high standards of care including the provision of gender-affirming care and the prohibition of conversion therapy for adolescents.

SB 1547: Created a new licensure type for bachelor’s level clinicians who complete a specialized curriculum focused on children and youth, and requiring more than 700 hours of clinical supervision. The new licensure type will sit under the Board of Psychology and have clear guidelines that limit the scope of practice, excluding diagnosis, assessment, and therapy. They also mandate permanent supervision by a licensed Master’s or Doctoral level MH provider.

• OPA members worked with the Ballmer Institute throughout the development of this concept to ensure that the scope of practice is extremely limited. They will continue to work with the Mental Health Regulatory Agency to promulgate rules to support Legislative intent.
• OPA worked closely with the Mental Health Regulatory Agency to ensure that the scope of practice for psychologists was not impacted by this new provider type. As a result, we identified several areas to address in the 2027 Session including support for impaired psychologists and language that may be a barrier in the future when RxP legislation is reintroduced.

SB 4083: Known as the “Governor’s Behavioral Health Talent Council”, this bill will expand workforce by streamlining licensing and credentialing and improving recruitment and retention across the state. Recommendations include expanding access to supervision, reducing administrative burden, improving workplace safety and compensation, streamlining the credentialing process, and strengthening education pathways - particularly for rural communities, culturally specific providers, and those serving Oregon Health Plan members.

• OPA members successfully advocated to ensure that licensed psychologists in Oregon can supervise master’s level behavioral health associates, and protected statutes that only allow licensed psychologists to supervise psychologist interns and residents.

SB 1546: This bill requires operators of artificial intelligence companions and artificial intelligence companion platforms to provide notice to users that the users are interacting with artificial output if a reasonable person that interacts with the artificial intelligence companion or artificial intelligence companion platform would believe that the person was interacting with a natural person.

• OPA provided technical recommendations to strengthen transparency requirements for AI companion platforms, emphasizing youth safeguards and ensuring that individuals with suicidal ideation or plans are routed to live support.

Bills related to ICE activities in Oregon

OPA provided broad testimony on several bills supporting immigration policies that support the welfare of immigrant populations, particularly with respect to receiving healthcare services. Specifically, OPA supported transparent, publicly available immigration policies which consider the welfare (physical, psychological), privacy, and needs of immigrants and their families; that outline psychologists’ and other healthcare providers’ roles in protecting access to healthcare and education; and that support psychologists and other healthcare providers to provide services in a manner that is ethical, confidential, and trauma-informed.

• HB 4079: Directs school district boards and governing bodies of institutions of higher education to adopt policies that address how the school district or the institution of higher education will respond when a federal immigration authority enters school property or a campus.
• SB 1594: Requires the Department of Justice to consult with the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Advancement when the department develops, reviews, or updates model policies intended to limit immigration enforcement at public facilities.
• SB 1570: Requires hospitals to have policies and procedures in place that address how the hospital will respond if a law enforcement authority arrives at the hospital and designate which areas of the hospital are not open to the public.

Other issues/Bills:

HB 4028: While this bill did not pass, it successfully raised issues related to establishing fair and transparent standards for insurance companies when conducting behavioral health audits and seeking financial clawbacks from providers. Currently, many Oregon behavioral health clinics face unpredictable and inconsistent audit practices from commercial insurers. Clinics are often required to return large sums of money immediately—even when documentation discrepancies are minor or unintentional. At times, these audits are prompted by A.I. reviews of billing codes without an appropriate assessment of the supportive documentation in the medical record.

• The bill did not pass due to a conflict with federal Medicaid standards that will be mediated before the 2027 Session, with plans for successful passage.

PsyPact: There were no bills related to interstate compacts this session. OPA continues to engage legislators with a consistent focus on ensuring Oregon’s standards for gender-affirming care and the ban on conversion therapy are protected, and that our high standards for background checks are maintained. We anticipate that interstate compacts will be proposed in 2027 and hope to resolve the remaining issues before then.

Scope of practice: The Mental Health Regulatory Agency has identified four areas they would like to address in the 2027 Legislative Session. They are as follows:

#1: Current state: Has practiced or attempted to practice medicine without being licensed to do so;

Change to: Has practiced or attempted to practice psychology medicine without being licensed to do so;

#2: Current state: Suspend the license of a psychologist or psychologist associate for a period of not less than one year;

Change to: Suspend the license of a psychologist or psychologist associate for a period of not less than one year;

#3: Add New: Impaired Professionals evaluation

Require a person to undergo a mental, physical, chemical dependency or competency evaluation at the person’s expense when the board has objectively reasonable grounds to believe that the person is or may be unable to practice physical therapy with reasonable skill and safety, with the results being reported to the board. The report shall not be disclosed to the public but may be received into evidence in a proceeding between the board and the person when the mental, physical, chemical dependency or competency of the person is at issue, notwithstanding any claim of privilege by the person.

MHRA is evaluating if there will be any additional cost to license fees so licensees can access the existing Impaired Professionals Program.

#4: Add new: Relicensure:

A person whose license has expired may apply to be relicensed as follows: 

(a) If the person’s previous license has been expired for more than two years, the person must apply and qualify for a new license in the same manner as a person who has never been licensed. 

(b) If the person’s previous license has been expired for two years or less, the person is not required to meet the degree, experience and examination standards for a person who has never been licensed, but must meet all other requirements for relicensure as the board may establish by rule. An application for relicensure under this subsection must be submitted in the manner required by the board and must be accompanied by the payment of the application fee and the renewal fee. 

If you’ve made it this far in this report, YOU may be ready to become a member of the OPA Legislative Committee! We’ll be recruiting new members later this summer, so look for announcements regarding  our official Lobby training, “How a Bill Becomes a Law!” Whether you’re interested in joining or just want to better understand the Legislative process, this training lead by our Lobby Team Lara Smith and Betsy Jones is a great opportunity to learn how the sausage is made!