Oregon legislature approved three bills earlier this month, all of which — if approved by Governor John Kitzhaber — will impact students and job growth in Oregon.

House Bill 4116 — also known as the Aspiration College bill — was created with the assistance of community college students in mind. The bill requires the Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development and Higher Education Coordinating Commission to appropriate $750,000 to a competitive grant together.  

The grant will then go on to both develop scholarship programs for community college students in Oregon and support services that work on enrolling more students into a community college so more Oregonians can make progress toward a degree. According to the bill summary, the purpose of the bill is to “increase the number of underserved, low-income and first-generation college-bound students who enroll in community college and make progress toward degree or certificate.”

If passed, House Bill 4117 will provide $500,000 to summer programs and this money will be provided by the Department of Education. This allocation of funds will go to summer programs. The money will enable an additional 60 hours of learning time which K-12 students in Oregon will receive the benefit of.  

Senate Bill 1527 focuses more on job growth than the previous two bills. If approved by Kitzhaber, the bill would establish a retraining program for pilots.

According to Lindsey O’Brein, communications director for the House Majority Office, the program is tailored to the unemployed and underemployed engineers to“address the skills gap in Oregon’s developing bioscience industries.” According to the bill, it will also provide $250,000 for the Dislocated Worker Training Program.  

“The smartest investments we can make are our investments in education,” Representative Joe Gallegos said. “These bills are critical to educate our local workforce, strengthen the state’s economy and put Oregonians back to work.”