Oregon AFL-CIO prioritizes bills
for 35-day legislative session
SALEM — Oregon lawmakers be-
gan a short legislative session Feb. 3,
with plans to adjourn by March 9. Coor-
dinating for organized labor, the Oregon
AFL-CIO is prioritizing several bills.
One would make it illegal for large
employers to cut workers’ hours in or-
der to avoid the obligation to provide
health insurance under the Affordable
Care Act. Federal penalties of $2,000 a
year per full-time employee were sup-
posed to kick in Jan. 1 for companies
with over 50 employees — if any of
their employees purchased government-
subsidized coverage through the new
individual insurance exchanges because
their employer wasn’t providing it. But
President Barack Obama last fall an-
nounced he would delay enforcement
of that provision for one year. Some
companies are seeking to avoid the
penalty by reducing hours below 30 in a
week — the law’s threshold for defin-
ing full-time. Under Oregon Senate
Bill 1543, sponsored by State Senator
Michael Dembrow, companies could
owe back pay and punitive damages if
they reduce hours for the sole purpose
of evading the law’s requirements. SB
1543 also contains a provision making
health insurance available to commu-
nity college and public university fac-
ulty whose part-time hours at several
schools add up to full time.
The other priority bill, says Oregon
AFL-CIO Legislative Director Elana
Guiney, would make it clear that ap-
prenticeship training programs are part
of Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber’s
“40-40-20” education goal. Under leg-
islation passed in 2011, the state set a
goal that by 2025, all adult Oregonians
would have at least a high school
diploma: 40 percent would have a bach-
elors degree or higher, 40 percent would
have an associates degree or some kind
of post-secondary certificate, and 20
percent would have just a high school
diploma or GED. SB 1543, which
passed unanimously out of committee
on the session’s first day, would add ap-
prenticeship programs registered with
State Apprenticeship and Training
Council to that middle 40. They were
overlooked previously.
Guiney said the state labor federa-
tion will also be pushing to revive plans
for a new I-5 bridge over the Columbia
River. The Oregon Legislature last year
approved spending $450 million for the
bridge on condition that the Washing-
ton Legislature match it and the project
get federal funding. But the Washing-
ton Senate refused to vote on a trans-
portation funding package. Since then,
Kitzhaber has tried to renew funding on
a go-it-alone basis, but Oregon legisla-
tors have balked. If it’s ever built, the
bridge would be a massive employer of
construction workers. But Kitzhaber
has said he will declare the project dead
if the Oregon Legislature doesn’t act
during this session to resuscitate it. As
of press time, no bridge building bill
had been introduced.
Guiney said the Oregon AFL-CIO
will also act to support bills backed by
affiliates and other unions. Those could
include bills that would:
• Curb initiative petition circulator
abuses;
• Bring certain firefighters currently
classed as supervisors into the category
of workers eligible for union represen-
tation;
• Let private individuals hire home
care workers for themselves or family
from the state registry maintained by
the Home Care Commission; and
• Require agencies employing indi-
viduals with disabilities to pay state
minimum wage and otherwise comply
with state labor and occupational health
and safety laws.
IMPORTANT DATES: Work ses-
sion for bills must be set by Feb. 7. Only
bills that make the deadline and are
scheduled for a hearing by Feb. 13 will
move forward this session.
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