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Get your dog registered
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ers take a look at whether taxpayers are
subsiding large profitable employers by
paying for benefits they aren’t provid-
ing,” Rosenbaum told the Labor Press.
In the end, DHS administrators de-
cided to respond to the intent of the leg-
islation. O’Sullivan cautioned that the
data is self-reported and isn’t verified,
and that it represents a snapshot in time
based on the day the application was
completed.
Still, lawmakers will find it useful,
said State Rep. Brad Witt, who is also a
staff member at United Food and Com-
mercial Workers Local 555.
“Now the public will have an oppor-
tunity to see which companies are shift-
ing payroll costs to the taxpayers,” Witt
said.
In a letter to House Democrats,
Rosenbaum called the DHS decision a
victory for working families and re-
sponsible employers. “I am sure some
employers will be those we expect and
others will be a surprise.”
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Electricians, Carpenters, Laborers, Glaziers, Sheetmetal Workers, Floorcoverers, Bricklayers, Cement Masons, Roofer, Asbestos Workers, Family, Mill Wrights, Painters, Elevators, Plasterers
SALEM — The state agency that
administers food stamps and Medicaid
has agreed to give Oregon lawmakers
what some have been seeking for four
years: the names of employers whose
workers are getting public assistance.
In an Aug. 14 letter to State Rep. Di-
ane Rosenbaum, Oregon Department of
Human Services (DHS) government re-
lations director Patricia O’Sullivan
promised a report in the fall of 2008.
DHS already asks for the name of the
employer, if any, on applications for
food stamps and the Oregon Health
Plan. But up to now, that information
has stayed on the paper applications in
DHS district offices. Starting this fall,
DHS will add a field to its database sys-
tem so that it can capture the informa-
tion automatically.
In other states where such informa-
tion is publicly available, union activists
have used it to publicly shame low-
wage employers, and to argue for em-
ployer health care mandates. Wal-Mart
is the prototypical large employer
whose workers frequently earn low
enough wages that they can’t afford the
company’s health plan and end up qual-
ifying for taxpayer-funded benefits.
Earlier this year when the Oregon
Legislature was in session, Rosenbaum
had pushed a bill dubbed “the Respon-
sible Employer Act” that would have re-
quired the information be made public;
it passed the House, but failed to pass
the Senate. Both chambers were con-
trolled by Democrats this year for the
first time since 1991.
“Our intention was that elected lead-
Glaziers, Carpenters, Laborers, Electricians, Sheetmetal Workers, Floorcoverers, Bricklayers, Cement Masons, Roofers, Asbestos Workers, Family, Mill Wrights, Painters, Elevators, Plasterers
SEPTEMBER 7, 2007
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
PAGE 3