Hillsboro School District Weekly Hot News March 3, 2025 - Oregon’s March Economic and Revenue Forecast

Oregon’s March Economic and Revenue Forecast was released on Wednesday, February 26. This is the next-to-last Forecast of 2023-25, and gives a close approximation of how that biennium will wrap up and what the state will be working with for 2025-27. The report showed slight decreases of $109 million in Net General Fund and Lottery Resources for the 2023-25 biennium (compared to the December 2024 Forecast), mostly due to increased expenditures made during the December 2024 Special Session. The projected personal kicker decreased slightly to $1.733 billion and the projected corporate kicker decreased slightly to $993.1 million. Corporate kicker funds are required to be spent on K-12 education during the 2025-27 biennium. Projected Net General Fund and Lottery Resources for the 2025-27 biennium are up $267.5 million, and for the first time have topped $40 billion. The Corporate Activities Tax, which funds the Student Success Act, saw its 2025-27 forecast dip slightly by $9.5 million compared to the December Forecast. Even more than usual, the budget process will likely be a slow one that is not finalized until after the June Revenue Forecast is released in late May. This is due to uncertainty about the possibility of federal-level changes to Medicaid funding, education funding, and many other decisions that could potentially impact Oregon’s budget. K-12 advocates still need to make a clear and convincing case to invest in our public schools to meet the increased, and increasingly complex, needs of our students in the 2025 Session. There are significant needs and requests for investments in affordable housing and homeless services, mental health and addiction programs, wildfire fighting capacity, and other critical state services. Learn more and find our advocacy materials on the Budget Matters page of our website. www.hsd.k12.or.us