The House Committee on Economic Development, Small Business and Trade held a public hearing on House Bill 3048, a study and governance bill that would establish a process to consider a semi‑independent agency combining the Oregon Arts Commission and the Oregon Cultural Trust.

Brian Rogers, who serves as director for both the Arts Commission and the Cultural Trust within Business Oregon, summarized the agencies’ histories, financing and grant programs and described the joint working group process. Rogers told the committee that the Arts Commission was created in 1967 and later moved into Business Oregon in 1993, and that the Cultural Trust was created in 2001 and subsequently moved to Business Oregon in 2002 for administrative support. He said the Cultural Trust raises roughly $5.5 million annually through a state tax‑credit donation program and maintains a permanent fund of about $42 million.

Sean Andries, chair of the Oregon Cultural Trust, and Subhashini Ganesan Forbes, chair of the Oregon Arts Commission, testified in support. Andries described the sector’s structural challenges — shifting audiences, inflationary pressures on donors, and stressed philanthropic capacity — and said the existing structure within Business Oregon is fractured and less responsive than a semi‑independent entity would be. “By combining the trust and the commission into a single, semi independent agency, HB 3048 will create a more effective, responsive, and streamlined organization that better serves Oregon's taxpayers and cultural community,” he said.

Ganesan Forbes summarized the Arts Commission’s core programs — grants for artists and organizations, arts education and teaching artist support, public art (the statewide percent‑for‑art collection) and assistance to rural/urban coalitions — and said the Arts Commission voted unanimously to accept draft amendment language to HB 3048 on Dec. 6, 2024 and to move forward with an exploration phase.

Witnesses described a multiyear planning process: if enacted as drafted, the agencies expect to spend roughly two years developing administrative and operational details and to propose an operative transfer date in July 2027. Committee members asked clarifying questions; no committee vote is recorded in the transcript.