The Oregon Council for Behavioral Health Policy Action Committee (OCBH PAC) is the Political Action Committee (PAC) for OCBH. Your donation helps elect lawmakers who support improving Oregon’s behavioral health system. Lawmakers have the power to directly impact rules and regulations that break down barriers to care, allocate state investments, and increase state Medicaid rates.

It's important to elect leaders who believe in a robust behavioral health system that serves all Oregonians. This PAC will allow us to educate lawmakers on our issues, attract attention to our cause, and elevate behavioral health to the forefront of policy decisions.

In previous legislative sessions, we’ve impacted key investments in the behavioral health sector, like a 30% increase in Medicaid rates and substantial investments for workforce development and retention. We also successfully advocated for capital investments in more substance use and mental health residential facilities across the state to meet the ever-growing need.

Past wins:

2021 Legislative Investments:

• $130M for “Regional Development”

• $80M for workforce development

• $25M for the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic program (CCBHC)

• $15M dedicated to crisis system infrastructure

• $31M for 2 24-bed units at the Oregon State Hospital

• $21.5M for Aid and Assist

• $7.5M to support PSRT service capacity

2023 Legislative investments:

• A one-time 30% rate increase and 3.4% annual adjustment going forward

• $84.7M for infrastructure expansion

• Commissioned report on Oregon residential treatment system

• $25M enhancement to the Behavioral Health Initiative Subaccount

Without active participation in elections and constant interactions with lawmakers, our work wouldn’t be possible. We started this PAC to support behavioral health in the Oregon legislature and we hope you will join us in creating a sustainable, equitable, and accessible system.