SALEM, Ore. -- Money saved by state agencies thanks to Measure 110 reducing the penalties for some drug possession cases is going to be transferred back to the Drug Treatment and Recovery Fund established by the measure.
As part of its quarterly report on the state of Oregon’s finances, the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis mentioned that because Measure 110 reduced the penalties for certain drug possession convictions, some government agencies are saving money. Specifically, the office said the Department of Administrative Services is saving millions of dollars mostly thanks to reduced caseloads for probation and post-prison supervision, as well as smaller jail populations. The office said these savings were reported by the department thanks to Senate Bill 755, a bill passed in 2021 that required the department to calculate the savings from Measure 110.
According to the Office of Economic Analysis, since 2019, the Department of Administrative Services has saved a total of just over $39 million. As per Measure 110 itself, those funds are destined to be transferred from Oregon’s General Fund to the measure’s Drug Treatment and Recover Fund, which funds services such as peer support, housing, supported employment, addiction recovery, and more.
The Office of Economic Analysis theorized that other parts of Oregon’s government are also seeing savings from the implementation of Measure 110. Those include the Judicial Department, Oregon State Police, and the Public Defense Services Commission. The office’s analysis pointed out that none of these departments’ budgets were reduced as a response to Measure 110.
