...Oregon Legislature wraps up session in 34 days
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not the states, but the Oregon Senate
weighed in this year, saying “enough
is enough”: A non-binding resolution
calls on Congress to pass a law known
as the TRADE Act, which would man-
date that NAFTA, WTO, and all simi-
lar trade agreements be reviewed and
renegotiated to add labor and environ-
mental standards, food and product
safety protections, language preserving
federalism, and rules penalizing cur-
rency manipulation. State Sen. Chip
Shields (D-Portland) allied with State
Sen. Brian Boquist (R-Dallas) as spon-
sors of the measure, which failed in the
2011 session. This time, it passed 21 to
6, with six Republicans and 15 De-
mocrats voting in favor.
Lawmakers passed unanimously a
bill sponsored by State Sen. Laurie
Monnes Anderson (D-Gresham) that
expands “Buy America” provisions
when transit agencies purchase vehi-
cles with federal funds. The bill lets
transit agencies purchase vehicles that
have over 60 percent U.S.-made com-
ponents, even if they’re not the lowest
bid.
On the other hand, a measure re-
quiring the state to favor Oregon-made
— when buying recycled paper —
died in the House Business and Labor
committee. Oregon Working Families
Party, a union-backed third party,
worked hard to assemble a bipartisan
coalition for the bill, and may push it in
a future legislative session. Unlike the
transit vehicle bill, which had no oppo-
sition from business, the recycled pa-
per bill was opposed by Georgia-Pa-
cific, which owns paper mills both
locally and overseas.
E MPLOYMENT
D ISCRIMINATION
Oregon employers can still discrim-
inate against the unemployed, but they
can no longer say so in Help Wanted
ads, under a new law sponsored by
State Sen. Diane Rosenbaum (D-Port-
land) and State Rep. Jefferson Smith
(D-Portland.) The act, which passed
unanimously, prohibits any print or on-
line employment ad from precluding
unemployed workers from applying.
I NFRASTRUCTURE
I NVESTMENT
At the beginning of the session, the
Oregon State Building and Construc-
tion Trades Council hoped lawmakers
would fund Portland State University’s
proposed Oregon Sustainability Cen-
ter, non-road transportation infrastruc-
ture through a new round of a program
called Connect Oregon, and a new
state psychiatric hospital in Junction
City. But those projects came up
empty.
Instead, the Legislature approved
$80.9 million in lottery-backed bonds
for Oregon State University to build a
new student center and dorm and reno-
vate an existing building. That funding
bill also included $9.6 million to build
and upgrade technical training facili-
ties at 17 community colleges, includ-
ing $1 million for Portland Commu-
nity College to remodel a surplus state
facility at Portland’s Swan Island In-
dustrial Park for use as a trades training
center. And lawmakers approved $4
million to aid rebuilding schools after
the floods in Vernonia.
State Rep. Val Hoyle (D-Junction
City), who has championed the psy-
chiatric hospital project, said backers
will try again in 2013 to secure $29
million for the project’s next phase. In
the meantime, $20 million that was
previously authorized will pay for site
prep work this year. When complete in
2015, the hospital will house up to 172
patients, and provide upwards of 500
local jobs.
Building trades officials also
praised passage of SB 1532, dubbed
the “Facebook bill.” The legislation re-
tains tax breaks for Facebook’s data
center in Prineville, as well as other
data centers built on property that is
part of an enterprise zone agreement.
S TATE B UDGETS
State revenue forecasts have
dropped since the Legislature passed
its two-year budget in mid-2011, so
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NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
lawmakers had to modify the budget.
In the end, they did so in part by cut-
ting state agency budgets 3.5 percent.
But Oregon AFSCME helped beat
back a proposal to close Santiam Cor-
rectional Institution for the budget sav-
ings. And labor was able to save a pilot
program that will expand high school
shop classes. That program, $2 million
in grants for career and technical edu-
cation, had just received the grant ap-
plications, when there was talk of cut-
ting it; in the end, it was cut 3.5
percent.
A bill sponsored by State Rep.
Michael Dembrow (D-Portland) deliv-
ered some budget savings by speeding
up last year’s legislative mandate to
slim down management at state agen-
cies. That idea — in which large state
agencies are mandated to aim for an
11-to-1 worker-to-manager ratio —
came originally from members of
Service Employees International
Union Local 503. Under the new act it
will take effect this year.
Several proposals opposed by labor
were defeated:
• A bill sponsored by State Rep.
Kim Thatcher (R-Keizer) requiring
state agencies to screen new hires us-
ing the federal government’s E-Verify
system didn’t get a hearing. E-Verify
checks to see if an employee is legally
allowed to work in the United States,
but the national AFL-CIO has said it
opposes its use unless part of a com-
prehensive immigration reform.
• An attempt to roll back an anti-pri-
vatization law passed in 2009 was
nixed behind the scenes. The law says
the state can’t contract out work unless
doing so saves money, and the money
saved can’t be because the workers
have lower pay or benefits. It applies
to all contracts valued at over
$250,000, but in some late-session
horse trading over bills, some legisla-
tors sought to change that threshold to
$1 million.
And as always, some union-backed
proposals in the 34-day session didn’t
make it, including:
• A bill sponsored by State Rep.
Mary Nolan (D-Portland) to make lo-
cal producers and “high road” Oregon
employers a little more competitive in
bids for state contracts. [Formulas for
calculating the lowest bid would favor
bidders that provide pension and health
benefits and higher wages, and disfa-
vor bidders that would have to ship
goods long distances from elsewhere.]
• A bill sponsored by State Rep.
Tina Kotek (D-Portland) to crack down
on the practice of workers leaving state
employment only to return at higher
pay as consultants. [Workers leaving a
state agency would have to wait at least
a year before working for a contractor
doing work for that agency.]
• A bill to protect the names of Pub-
lic Employee Retirement System re-
tirees from public disclosure.
See nwlaborpress.org for links to
the bills.
MARCH 16, 2012