State
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday February 10 201
A9
Three-tier minimum wage plan set for Senate vote
By Paris Achen
Capital Bureau
S$/EM ² $ bill to set
three diIIerent minimum wage
rates in the state is headed to
the Oregon Senate Àoor this
week.
7he bill would hike wages
to $14.75 in the Portland metro
area $12.50 in rural and coast-
al areas with struggling econ-
omies and $13.50 in the rest
oI the state by 2022. 7he rates
are based on median income
and cost oI living in those
regions and what it takes to
be “selI-suI¿cient´ ² to pay
basic e[penses such as Iood
housing and transportation
said Sen. Michael Dembrow
D-Portland chairman oI the
Senate WorkIorce and General
Government Committee.
7he committee passed the
proposal Friday 3-to-2.
“Passing minimum wage is
Paris Achen/Pamplin Media Group
A three-tiered minimum wage plan sponsored by
Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, chairman of
the Senate Workforce and General Government
Committee, will get a vote by the full Senate.
not going to be a silver bullet
Ior problems Iaced by low-in-
come Oregonians´ Dembrow
said.
Dembrow said lawmak-
ers still need to increase the
earned income ta[ credit ad-
dress the cost oI child care
and ¿nd ways to increase aI-
Iordable housing in the state
where prices particularly in
the Portland area have sky-
rocketed.
7he vote Iell along party
lines with the committee’s two
Republicans Sens. 7im .nopp
oI Bend and .im 7hatcher oI
.eizer voting no.
“I really Ieel the impact
oI this is going to negative
in many ways´ .nopp said.
“I think it is going to hurt the
people you’re trying to help.´
He said small businesses
would take an economic hit
and employees would lose
jobs.
7he Republicans said they
plan to write a minority re-
port and oIIer an amendment
to the bill on the Senate Àoor.
7he bill could reach the Sen-
ate Àoor as early as 7uesday
Dembrow said.
Dembrow authored the bill
aIter months oI meeting with
stakeholders and consulting
research on selI-suI¿ciency
thresholds Ior every county in
the state he said. 7he bill was
intended to oIIer an alternative
to ballot initiatives that would
raise the minimum to $15 or
$13.50 statewide and would
repeal a ban on municipalities
and counties Irom setting a
higher wage.
7he ¿rst pay bump would
start in -uly increasing the
wage Irom $.25 to $.75
statewide.
7he minimum gradually
will climb to $14.75 in 2022
in the Portland urban growth
boundary which includes
parts oI Multnomah Washing-
ton and Clackamas counties. It
will rise to $13.50 in Benton
Clatsop Columbia Deschutes
Hood River -ackson -ose-
phine /ane /incoln /inn
Marion Polk 7illamook Was-
co and <amhill counties and
parts oI Multnomah Clack-
Senators introduce wild¿re Iunding amendment
By George Plaven
EO Media Group
Oregon Democratic Sen.
Ron Wyden is once again
working with Idaho Repub-
lican Mike Crapo on legisla-
tion to ¿[ wild¿re Iunding.
Wyden and Crapo intro-
duced an amendment to the
U.S. Senate’s proposed ener-
gy bill on Feb. 2 that would
end ³¿re-borrowing´ where
land management agencies
shiIt money Irom other pro-
grams to coYer the cost oI
¿ghting large wild¿res.
Wyden
described
Iire-borrowing as ³budget-
ary Tuicksand´ that drags
down every program at the
Forest Service and Bureau
oI /and Management. 7he
amendment would establish
a new WildIire Disaster Re-
lieI Fund ² which is similar
to how the Iederal government
pays Ior other natural disasters.
$ summary oI the amend-
ment says it will Iree up
roughly $300 million in
Iunding Ior active land man-
agement and ¿re prevention.
“We know that disas-
ter-scale wild¿res are going
to continue to be a threat´
Crapo said. “We can better
prepare Ior the increasing
costs oI wildland ¿re sup-
pression by providing land
managers and ¿re¿ghters the
certainty needed to plan and
allocate resources properly
without robbing Irom oth-
er priorities during each ¿re
season.´
Congress passed a spend-
ing bill in December that in-
creased ¿re Iunding Ior one
year but the senators said
this amendment will provide
a long-term solution. 7he
legislation has support Irom
2 co-sponsors in the Senate
145 co-sponsors in the House
and more than 250 groups
representing hunters anglers
timber companies and conser-
vationists.
7he amendment also in-
cludes several provisions Ior
Iorest management including
measures to Iast-track thin-
ning projects recommended
by a collaborative working
group. Collaboratives must
include scientists conserva-
tionists and land managers
as well as local governments
tribes and industry.
Projects would still need to
comply with local Iorest plans
and Iederal laws but could
move Iorward more Tuickly iI
they meet certain criteria.
Finally the amendment in-
cludes several environmental
provisions such as permanent-
ly authorizing the Forest Ser-
vice /egacy Roads and 7rails
Sedimentation
Program
which lets the agency decom-
mission roads and replace
other unnatural ¿sh barriers.
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amas and Washington coun-
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In rural areas the minimum
will increase to $12.50. 7hose
areas include Malheur /ake
Harney Wheeler Sherman
Gilliam Wallowa Grant -eI-
Ierson Baker Union Crook
.lamath Douglas Coos
Curry Umatilla and Morrow
counties.
7he /egislative Fiscal OI-
¿ce determined that the cost oI
raising minimum wage Ior the
state and local governments is
indeterminate because it’s im-
possible to know how many
positions will aIIected by the
time the increases take eIIect
in the ne[t seven years.
Dembrow’s amendment
¿rst oIIered Wednesday
nudged out a proposal by Gov.
.ate Brown that would have
set two minimum wage rates
in the state.
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