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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 15, 2019)
A8 NATION East Oregonian Saturday, June 15, 2019 Paid family leave bill tries to avoid political tug of war in Legislature As HB 2005 inches through process, business and labor groups offer support AP Photo/Richard Drew, File By MARK MILLER Oregon Capital Bureau SALEM — Nearly all workers in Oregon would gain the right to take paid leave for family and medi- cal reasons under a proposal advancing through the Leg- islature, but it likely won’t become available until 2023. Under House Bill 2005, employers would have to let an employee — provided the employee made $1,000 or more during the current or previous year — take up to 18 weeks’ leave to care for a new child or ill family member; to deal with seri- ous health problems, a diffi - cult pregnancy or childbirth, or abuse; or some combina- tion thereof. For up to 12 weeks, plus two more for a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, a person could receive much or all of their pay while on leave. The paid leave system that HB 2005 sets up is sim- ilar to workers’ compensa- tion, with employers and employees both contribut- ing a fraction of wages to a state-run insurance fund. Workers taking family or medical leave would apply to the state to get their pay while they’re away from work. It will be up to state offi - cials to decide what the con- tribution rate is, but it can’t exceed 1% of a worker’s wages. The employee would contribute three-fi fths of that amount; the employer, two-fi fths. An employ- ee’s contribution would be deducted from her pay- check, just like payments into the workers’ benefi t fund or a retirement savings account. Employers with 25 or fewer employees wouldn’t have to pay into the fund, but their employees would still be eligible to take paid leave. “Really, truly, we were working to try to make sure that every employee is cov- ered,” said Andrea Paluso, executive director of Family Forward. Paluso’s advocacy group worked with Democratic and Republican lawmakers, labor unions, businesses, and others on the paid leave proposal. Paluso said it’s also important to her group that the policy is “equita- ble,” so that it’s not only available to higher wage earners. Parents need time Under the latest ver- sion of the proposal, work- ers who make less than 65% of Oregon’s average weekly wage would be eligible for full pay while on leave. Workers making more than that would get 65% of the In this June 6, 2019, fi le photo, specialist Anthony Rinal- di, left, and trader Fred DeMarco work on the fl oor of the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks post small losses; investors look to Fed suspected attack on two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz added more uncertainty. The S&P 500 index fell 4.66 points, or 0.2%, to 2,886.98 Friday and ended the week with a slim gain of 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 17.16 points, or 0.1%, to 26,089.61. The Nasdaq composite slid 40.47 points, or 0.5%, to 7,796.66. The Rus- sell 2000 index of small company stocks dropped 13.30 points, or 0.9%, to 1,522.50. The major indexes are still showing strong gains for June — the Dow is up 5.1% and the S&P 500 is up 4.9%. Last week, Fed- eral Reserve Chair Jerome Powell set off a market rally after he signaled that the central bank is will- ing to cut interest rates to help stabilize the economy if the trade war between Washington and Beijing starts to slow economic growth. The Fed holds its next meeting of policyholders next week. No action on rates is expected, but the futures market indicates that investors are almost certain the Fed will cut rates at its July meeting, so they’ll carefully parse a statement from the central bank and comments from Powell on Wednesday. By DAMIAN J. TROISE Associated Press AP Photo/Andrew Selsky Nearly all workers in Oregon would gain the right to take paid leave for family and medical reasons under a proposal advancing through the Oregon Legislature, but it likely won’t be- come available until 2023. average weekly wage plus half of whatever they make above that threshold, up to 120% of the average weekly wage. According to the state Employment Department, the average weekly wage in Oregon is $976. It’s recal- culated every year based on pay fi gures throughout the state, and it is tentatively set to increase to $1,013. House Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson, D-Portland, has been work- ing to pass paid leave for years. It’s a top priority of hers this legislative session, and other Democratic lead- ers are backing the effort as well. “Oregonians across party and demographic lines believe strongly that par- ents need time away from work to welcome a new child, to make sure they can care for a newborn without going into debt, to adjust, to bond, to heal, and to set their kids and their families up for success,” William- son said. “And Oregonians believe strongly that no per- son should have to choose between paying their bills and taking care of them- selves or a loved one.” House Speaker Tina Kotek said Monday, June 10, that she was “optimis- tic” that HB 2005 would pass even as adjournment approaches. Senate Presi- dent Peter Courtney is also backing the effort, said spokeswoman Carol Currie. The Legislature must conclude its business for the year by June 30. Williamson has received a boost from business groups, which are back- ing the paid leave proposal unveiled Tuesday. “Paid family and medical leave is a national trend and it was clear that we would see leg- islation on this issue in Ore- gon soon,” the state’s larg- est business group, Oregon Business & Industry, noted in a statement. Several elements of the latest proposal are soft- ened considerably from ear- lier versions. Most nota- bly, implementation of the paid leave program will be delayed. The state would begin collecting contribu- tions for the insurance fund in 2022. The soonest an employee could take paid leave under the new system is 2023. In the legislative changes, contributions into the insurance fund have also been tweaked to favor employers. Originally, Wil- liamson proposed hav- ing employers and employ- ees pay equal amounts. As part of a deal with Demo- crats not to oppose a new tax on businesses to pay for K-12 education earlier this spring, Oregon Business & Industry lobbied to have the employee pay more than the employer in HB 2005. “Obviously, there was a lot of compromise involved,” Currie said. For her part, Paluso said she’s not surprised that businesses were willing to support a compromise plan. “We’ve seen a lot of data that indicates that when people have this policy, they come back to their jobs,” Paluso said. “And when they come back, they come back ready to work.” The proposal has back- ing from some labor groups as well, including the Ore- gon AFL-CIO. Losing valuable employees Not all business groups are on board. The National Federation of Independent Business has opposed the paid leave proposal from the beginning. The small-busi- ness lobby is concerned about taxing businesses to pay for the program, even if many small businesses are exempt, and it argues the bill doesn’t do enough to protect small businesses who will lose productivity if an employee takes extended leave. “There’s not a way to craft this policy where employers aren’t with- out valuable employees for certain amounts of time,” said NFIB state Direc- tor Anthony K. Smith. He appreciates that the latest version of the policy is a compromise, but it’s not one the entire business commu- nity is comfortable with. HB 2005 would make life diffi cult for the smallest businesses because it would require them to let employ- ees on leave return to the jobs they left, Smith said, and he thinks expecting them to line up temporary workers while they’re gone isn’t realistic: “The idea that you’re going to fi nd a quali- fi ed person who’s willing to do the job for just 12 weeks, that’s the hard thing.” The proposal has some Republican support. Rep. Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles, actually testifi ed in support of the bill on Tues- day, an unusual step for a minority lawmaker with a Democratic leader’s bill. But when the House Rules Committee voted to endorse HB 2005 and send it to the House fl oor Thursday after- noon, June 13, it wasn’t a unanimous vote. Rep. Sher- rie Sprenger, R-Scio, voted against it. The paid leave proposal still has signifi cant hurdles to clear. With an estimated price tag of $15.7 million over the next two years, it will need to be reviewed by the legislative budget-writ- ing committee, which is already considering hun- dreds of other requests for state money this month. Because HB 2005 raises revenue, if it advances to a fl oor vote, it will need at least 36 representatives and 18 senators’ support to pass. Even if it becomes law, Smith noted that it was not uncommon for policies like this to undergo tweaks and changes in the future. NEW YORK — Stocks ended a choppy week of trading with modest losses Friday as investors look forward to getting more clues about the direction of interest rates. Technology shares drove the declines, and energy stocks also fell a day after leading the mar- ket. Some late-day gains in banks and insurers helped temper the market’s losses. Investors dealt with fresh concerns about the impact on businesses of the U.S. trade dispute with China. The chip- maker Broadcom warned that demand for chips has slowed because of U.S. restrictions on sales to Chinese technology fi rms and hesitation among customers to place new orders. It shaved $2 billion from its annual revenue forecast. Trading this week was uneven as investors swung between safe-play holdings and riskier bets. Stocks rose Monday but then seesawed as investors saw signs that the U.S. and China won’t settle their differences on trade any- time soon. 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