For 2011 legislative session
AFL-CIO rates Oregon lawmakers
Democratic State Rep. Val Hoyle of
Eugene was named the Oregon AFL-
CIO’s “Legislator of the Year.” The
state labor federation released its rank-
ing of all state lawmakers for the 2011
legislative session last month.
Legislator of the Year is awarded to
an Oregon lawmaker who has “gone
above and beyond to stand up for Ore-
gon’s middle class.” Hoyle was one of
13 lawmakers in the House and four in
the Senate to receive “Gold Medal”
status with the Oregon AFL-CIO’s
Committee on Political Education.
Hoyle was one of the top scoring
legislators in the rankings. Outside of
legislators who chaired key commit-
tees, she was the only legislator in ei-
ther chamber to score over 90 percent.
First appointed to the Legislature in
2009, Hoyle was re-elected last No-
vember to represent House District 14,
which includes West Eugene, Junction
City, Cheshire and Alvadore. She was
an assistant House Democratic leader
during the 2011 session and served on
the Business and Labor Committee,
and the Health Care Committee, and
was co-vice chair of the Education
Subcommittee on Higher Education.
Shortly after the 2011 session ended
she was elected deputy whip for the
House Democrats.
“She considered the effect of every
bill on working people in her district,
and was a true champion for Oregon’s
middle class,” said Oregon AFL-CIO
President Tom Chamberlain.
The Ore-
gon AFL-
CIO’s top
priority lead-
ing into the
2011 session
was job cre-
ation legisla-
tion. And
while only a
few direct
job creation
R EP . V AL H OYLE
LEGISLATOR OF THE Y EAR bills were
passed,
many bills that will make it easier to
bring good jobs to Oregon and
strengthen the economy for the future
were successful. Those bills — as well
as bills to extend unemployment insur-
ance, protect workers’ rights, and ad-
dress other workplace and economic is-
sues, were evaluated.
Additionally, the rankings included
votes on select bills the AFL-CIO sup-
ported on behalf of affiliated unions
and on bills championed by partner or-
ganizations that were deemed impor-
tant to union members.
But floor votes weren’t the only cri-
teria used. Many bills that were atop la-
bor’s agenda didn’t make it out of com-
mittee during the 2011 session. Many
more bills were introduced that would
have stripped workers of key collective
bargaining rights, but did not have the
votes to pass out of committee.
“The rankings recognize that in a
session where very few bills made it to
the floor for a final vote, accessibility,
being open to compromises, and will-
ingness to take a strong stand were also
important,” said AFL-CIO spokes-
woman Elana Guiney.
Legislators with the highest points
were awarded gold, silver and bronze
status.
In the Senate, four Democrats re-
ceived Gold Medal status: Senate Ma-
jority Leader Diane Rosenbaum of
Portland; Richard Devlin of Tualatin;
Suzanne Bonamici of Beaverton; and
Lee Beyer of Springfield.
In the House, the top rankings went
to Hoyle and fellow Democrats Dave
Hunt of Portland; Mike Schaufler of
Happy Valley; Margaret Doherty of
Tigard; Paul Holvey of Eugene; Greg
Matthews of Gresham; Peter Buckley
of Ashland; Jeff Barker of Aloha; Jean
Cowan of Newport; Tina Kotek of
Portland; Tobias Read of Beaverton;
Chris Garrett of Lake Oswego; Terry
Beyer of Springfield; and Brad Witt of
Clatskanie.
Among the legislators with the high-
est marks, six are union members. They
are Sen. Rosenbaum of Communica-
tions Workers of America Local 7901;
and representatives Witt of United Food
and Commercial Workers Local 555;
Barker, a retired president of the Port-
land Police Association; Holvey of the
Carpenters Union; Matthews of Gre-
sham Fire Fighters Local 1062; and
and Doherty, a former Oregon Educa-
tion Assocation member.
AFL-CIO O REGON S ENATE S CORECARD
Legislators are listed in ranked order with medalists noted
GOLD MEDAL
Lee Beyer, D-6
Richard Devlin, D-19
Suzanne Bonamici, D-17
Diane Rosenbaum, D-21
BRONZE MEDAL
Mark Hass, D-14
Jackie Dingfelder, D-23
Floyd Prozanski, D-4
Peter Courtney, D-11
Alan Bates, D-3
Betsy Johnson, D-16
NO MEDAL
Alan Olsen, R-20
Frank Morse, R-8
Bruce Starr, R-15
SILVER MEDAL
Chris Edwards, D-7
Rod Monroe, D-24
Ginny Burdick, D-18
Laurie Monnes-Anderson, D-25
Chip Shields, D-22
Joanne Verger, D-5
David Nelson, R-29
NO MEDAL
Chuck Thomsen, R-26
Brian Boquist, R-12
Doug Whitsett, R-28
Jackie Winters, R-10
Chris Telfer, R-27
Jason Atkinson, R-2
Fred Girod, R-9
Jeff Kruse, R-1
Larry George, R-13
AFL-CIO O REGON H OUSE S CORECARD
Legislators are listed in ranked order with medalists noted
GOLD MEDAL
SILVER MEDAL
Dave Hunt, D-40
Mike Schaufler, D-48
Val Hoyle, D-14
Margaret Doherty, D-35
Paul Holvey, D-8
Greg Matthews, D-50
Peter Buckley, D-5
Jeff Barker, D-28
Jean Cowan, D-10
Tina Kotek, D-44
Tobias Read, D-27
Chris Garrett, D-38
Terry Beyer, D-12
Brad Witt, D-31
Bob Jenson, R-58
Nancy Nathanson, D-13
Vicki Berger, R-20
Bill Garrard, R-56
Debbie Boone, D-32
Brian Clem, D-21
Michael Dembrow, D-45
Greg Smith, R-57
BRONZE MEDAL
Jules Bailey, D-42
Phil Barnhart, D-11
Lew Frederick, D-43
Sara Gelser, D-16
Arnie Roblan, D-9
Jefferson Smith, D-47
Betty Komp, D-22
Bill Kennemer, R-39
Mary Nolan, D-36
Vic Gilliam, R-18
Wayne Krieger, R-1
Carolyn Tomei, D-41
Gene Whisnant, R-53
Ben Cannon, D-46
NO MEDALS
Patrick Sheehan, R-51
Katie Brewer, R-29
Andy Olson, R-15
Matt Wingard, R-26
Jason Conger, R-54
Bruce Hanna, R-7
Julie Parrish, R-37
Cliff Bentz, R-60
Kevin Cameron, R-19
John Huffman, R-59
Sherrie Sprenger, R-17
Mitch Greenlick, D-33
Sal Esquivel, R-6
Chris Harker, D-34
Shawn Lindsay, R-30
Jim Thompson, R-23
Matt Wand, R-49
Mike McLane, R-55
Jim Weidner, R-24
Tim Freeman, R-2
Mark Johnson, R-52
Dennis Richardson, R-4
Kim Thatcher, R-25
Wally Hicks, R-3
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PAGE 8
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
NOVEMBER 4, 2011