3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 2017 State House passes bill providing increased penalties for unequal pay By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau Courtesy Oregon Department of Forestry State Treasurer Tobias Read said Tuesday that he sees a “path forward” for public ownership of about 82,500 acres of the Elliott Forest in Coos and Douglas counties. Read signals intent to pursue public ownership option for Elliott Forest State treasurer could side with Gov. Brown SALEM — The state House of Representatives has passed a bill that increases potential civil penalties for paying women and minorities less than their counterparts who perform the same job. While the state has laws barring discrimination, the wage gap between white men and women and minorities still persists, said state Rep. Ann Lininger, D-Lake Oswego, the bill’s chief sponsor. “One of the things we need to do to make sure that people are not discriminated against based on pay is to strengthen the penalties for discrimina- tion,” Lininger said. Lawmakers voted 36-24 to pass the bill Tuesday after debating for two hours on the House floor. The legislation now proceeds to the Senate for consideration. The bill makes exceptions for higher pay in certain cir- cumstances, such as when an employee has seniority or produces demonstrably higher quality or quantity of work product. The legislation bars employers from screening job Substitute rejected Before passing the mea- sure, legislators first con- sidered a substitute bill offered on the floor by House Minority Leader Rep. Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte. The GOP-spearheaded minority report would have removed punitive penalties, provided a self-evaluation defense and would have made veterans one of the protected classes in the bill. Republicans won support from some Demo- crats, including Reps. Brian Clem of Salem and Deborah Boone of Cannon Beach. The self-evaluation defense would have encour- aged more compliance with the law and spurred fewer lawsuits, McLane said. “Do you want lawsuits, or do you want compliance? Because you are going to choose today,” he said. The concept was that busi- Consult a By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau SALEM — After a sus- tained outcry from environ- mental groups, state Trea- surer Tobias Read appeared to signal his intent Tues- day to side with the gover- nor in her evolving plan to stop the impending sale of an expanse of coastal forest in southern Oregon. Read said Tuesday that he sees a “path forward” for public ownership of about 82,500 acres of the Elliott Forest in Coos and Douglas counties. Last month, though, the treasurer voiced qualified support for a proposal to sell the forest to a partnership between a Roseburg tim- ber company and a Native American tribe. Read announced Tuesday that he would work with the Department of State Lands to develop a plan for the for- est that would end its obli- gation to generate reve- nue for the Common School Fund, which is essentially an endowment for K-12 education. In 2015, the State Land Board — then com- prised of Gov. Kate Brown, then-Treasurer Ted Wheeler and then-Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins — decided to sell the land after litigation challenged the state’s man- agement of areas occupied by protected species. The state said lawsuits prevented it from harvesting enough timber to generate money for the fund. But a year later, only one entity — the partner- ship between Lone Rock Resources, a Roseburg timber company, and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians — had submitted an acquisition proposal, which drew fire from the state’s environmental groups. And Brown has said she no longer wants to sell the forest. Environmental activ- ists have been lobbying the board for months, and of late have focused on Read. They warn that the sale of the Elliott to a private com- pany would realize fears that under the administration of President Donald Trump, states will follow the pres- ident’s lead and privatize public land. In a statement Tuesday, Brown alluded to those con- cerns, saying public owner- ship was “critical” to sus- tainable timber harvests and protecting the environment for future generations. “I remain committed to applicants based on their salary history or to seek salary history from candidates. The proposal also spells out that an employee who has been discriminated against as a member of a pro- tected class has a right to a jury trial and actual, compensatory and punitive damages. nesses that had made a good faith effort to address pay dis- parities by conducting an evalu- ation of salaries could use that as a defense if sued by an employee. But Lininger and other law- makers asserted the substitute bill would actually roll back protections that already exist in the law for those who are discriminated against, includ- ing for gender, disability or sexual orientation. “It actually weakens penal- ties for those employers who have discriminated if they demonstrate that they have done a self-evaluation that sat- isfies this affirmative defense test,” Lininger said. She said she would encour- age the Senate to consider add- ing veterans as a protected class in the bill. Rep. Julie Parrish, R-West Linn, voted against Lininger’s bill and for the substitute bill because she said both would likely hurt the state’s budget. “The fact is for us to send this bill out and say no fiscal Astorias Best.com exploring a path toward pub- lic ownership of the Elliott that continues to honor the Common School Fund,” Brown said. “I am heartened that Treasurer Read shares this vision and I appreci- ate his unwavering commit- ment to the state’s fiduciary responsibility to Oregon schools.” Brown has proposed using the state’s bonding capacity to buy a portion of the forest. Read said Tues- day that the governor had worked to drum up support for that strategy. “I have made it clear to all sides that if Gov. Brown brought forward a viable alternative I would consider it,” Read said. “The gover- nor and her team have con- tinued to refine her frame- work, and most importantly she has worked to build sup- port for key bonding com- ponents among legisla- tors, including the Senate president.” State Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, has suggested using reve- nue bonds payable from rev- enues generated by the forest — whether through timber harvests or other activities. The lone Republican on the land board, Secretary of State Dennis Richard- son, voted in favor of mov- ing forward with the sale in February. His office did not immediately respond Tues- day to a request for com- ment on Treasurer Read’s announcement. On Sunday, the Dem- ocratic Party of Oregon passed a resolution that urged the state Land Board to work with the governor on the public ownership option. The move puts newly elected party chairwoman Jeanne Atkins in the posi- tion of advocating against a concept she signed off on when she was secretary of state and member of the Land Board in 2015. Read, who was elected treasurer in November, is a Democrat, as is Brown. The Land Board meets again May 9 in Salem, until then the Department of State Lands is both preparing a sale agreement and a report on public ownership options. O pen 7 D ays a W eek ! M-F 10-6 Sat & Sun 11-4 77 11th Street, Suite H Astoria, OR 503-325-2300 Roby’s Furniture & Appliance Astoria • (503) 325-1535 1555 Commercial Street Store Hours Mon. - Fri. 9:30am-5:30pm Saturday 10am to 5pm More Locations: Tillamook • (503) 842-7111 1126 Main Ave Lincoln City • (541) 996-2177 6255 SW Hwy. 101 Newport • (541) 265-9520 5111 N. Coast Hwy. Florence • (541)997-8214 18th & Hwy. 101 Egregious offenders A report in 2014 by The Statesman Journal showed Oregon state government is one of the most egregious offenders of pay equity, even in state offices led by Demo- crats, Parrish noted. “I would like to have that discussion, but we are sitting here in a $1.8 billion short- fall, and we’re proposing to put forth legislation that will directly impact state and local governments in a time when we don’t have dollars,” she said. One lawsuit with punitive damages could wipe out the budget of a small school dis- trict, Parrish said. “Again, I’m not saying the conversation isn’t important. As a woman and as an Arab woman, I have been paid less,” she said. The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. 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