Archive for the ‘Featured’ Category

HB 2654B prohibits current and prospective employers from demanding access to social media accounts

SALEM – The Oregon Senate today passed a bipartisan bill designed to protect the privacy rights of employees and job applicants. House Bill 2654B, which passed on a 28-1 vote with one excused, prohibits a current or prospective employer from demanding access to a private social media page, such as Facebook, as a condition of employment.

“Employees and applicants have a right to keep their professional and personal lives separate,” said Senator Ginny Burdick (D-Portland), a sponsor of the bill. “This bill draws a clear line for the working world by allowing employees to keep their accounts private, without intrusion from management.”

In addition to prohibiting access to a personal social network as a workplace requirement, the bill disallows retaliation based on an employee or applicant’s refusal to disclose information. HB 2654B does not restrict employers’ ability to access information that is otherwise publicly available.

“Supervisors don’t have the right to rifle through their employees’ journals and diaries. Why should this be any different?” said Senator Elizabeth Steiner Hayward (D-Beaverton). “Today’s vote reaffirms the idea that people can keep their personal information private, even in a digital form.”

In April, the Senate passed SB 344A, a similar bill that restricts colleges and universities from compelling a student to share social media account information as a condition of admission or enrollment.

“Job applicants should have a fair shot to get hired, and private social media accounts shouldn’t be a part of the process,” said Senate Majority Leader Diane Rosenbaum (D-Portland). “This bill helps Oregonians get back to work by allowing them to compete for jobs based on their qualifications.”

House Bill 2654B now returns to the Oregon House of Representatives for a concurrence motion.

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For more information on the Senate Majority Caucus, please visit www.orsenatemajority.org

SB 307A gives the state and local businesses certainty that they will continue to use the single sales factor

SALEM—The Oregon Senate this morning passed a bill that provides tax clarity for businesses in the state. SB 307A, which passed the Senate on a 29-0 vote with one absent, revises Oregon’s participation in the Multistate Tax Compact, making it clear that the state will continue to use the single sales factor for purposes of Oregon businesses’ tax apportionment.

“Today the Senate has taken swift action to pass a proposal that will provide tax certainty and pave the way for more companies to relocate here,” said Senator Ginny Burdick (D-Portland), chair of the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee. “SB 307A protects Oregon’s reputation as a great place to do business while ensuring much-needed revenue for vital state services like education and health care.”

SB 307A will boost job creation in Oregon by making it abundantly clear to corporations and businesses that the state will not unilaterally change the way business taxes are calculated. Oregon initially adopted the Multistate Tax Compact in 1967 in order to assist corporations doing business in more than one state pay their fair amount of taxes. Since then, Oregon has moved to calculating corporate taxation solely through the single sales factor, which only takes into consideration sales within Oregon’s borders.

“Guaranteeing use of the single sales factor will provide accountability and fairness for Oregon taxpayers as well as revenue certainty for the state,” said Senator Alan Bates (D-Medford). “With SB 307A, we can safeguard state funding for vital services and assure businesses that we aren’t changing our rules on revenue apportionment.”

During the 2011 and 2012 sessions, Senate Democrats took the lead on improving Oregon’s economic development strategy to recruit companies outside the state to relocate here and help local businesses grow. This session, Senate Democrats will build on that progress by providing more tools for industrial recruitment and business expansion.  SB 307A is one of a number of jobs bills that Senate Democrats hope to advance in the 2013 session.

SB 307A expands on legislation from the December 2012 special session, which provided the state with an additional tool to recruit companies and make strategic investments to attract business.

The bill now goes to the Oregon House of Representatives for consideration.

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For more information on the Senate Majority Caucus, please visit www.orsenatemajority.org

SB 822 puts PERS on a sustainable course with substantive reforms that produce billions in long-term savings

SALEM—After a lengthy public process and conversation, the Oregon Senate today voted to advance a proposal that will help provide over $1 billion in new education resources by making equitable changes to the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS). The substantive reforms contained in SB 822 are estimated to produce billions in system-wide savings over the long run and over $800 million directly for the 2013-2015 biennium.

“The provisions in SB 822 will result in $805 million in PERS savings this biennium and billions of dollars over the life of these reforms, allowing school funding to increase by $1 billion,” said Senator Floyd Prozanski (D-Eugene). “Our vote today sets PERS on a more sustainable course with fair, equitable changes to the retiree Cost-of-Living Adjustment, and asks a little more of higher-income retirees in order to fund our schools.”

In March, the Co-Chairs of the Joint Ways and Means Committee released the ‘Turning Point’ budget framework for the 2013-2015 biennium, which calls for a $6.75 billion investment in public education. In order to procure the additional resources needed to make an increase of $1 billion over current education budget levels, the Co-Chairs identified potential PERS savings, efficiency measures, and increased revenue through closing tax loopholes.

The changes included in SB 822 will stabilize the fund that supports PERS, which took a substantial hit when the 2008 Wall Street crash affected portfolios across the market. While that fund has recovered somewhat over the intervening years, the fund cannot entirely recoup those losses through an improvement in the market alone. Provisions of SB 822 will repair the fund that supports PERS by restructuring the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) and eliminating the income tax reimbursement for out-of-state retirees.

“We’re asking retirees to give back some of their hard-earned retirement in order to make a substantial reinvestment in our schools and our future,” said Senator Arnie Roblan (D-Coos Bay). “As a former principal, I’ve seen how hard teachers work for their students. Asking teachers to sacrifice part of their benefits is not something we should consider lightly, and everyone should share in the effort to substantially reinvest in our schools.”

The substantial savings produced by SB 822 will recalculate PERS employer contribution rates and provide immediate budgetary relief for school districts, local governments, and other participating agencies. Changes to the COLA and out-of-state tax provision will help alleviate rising costs for these entities into the future while making the overall PERS fund more sustainable with long-term savings.

“It’s time to reinvest in Oregonians’ top priorities. By passing SB 822, we can begin to stop the trend of teacher layoffs and increasing class sizes in Oregon schools and move towards a brighter and more stable future for students across Oregon,” said Senate Majority Leader Diane Rosenbaum (D-Portland). “We commend Senator Devlin for his leadership and tireless work to ensure we can fund critical state services.”

SB 822 now proceeds to the Oregon House of Representatives.

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For more information on the Senate Majority Caucus, please visit www.orsenatemajority.org

Senate Bill 413A improves transparency of the public review process when insurers increase premiums

SALEM—The Oregon Senate approved a bill this morning that will require health insurers to highlight how consumers can find out about proposed insurance premium rate increases. Senate Bill 413 builds on the public review process Oregon has created for insurance rate hikes by enhancing the notification method for policyholders. The bill passed the Senate on a unanimous vote.

“Health care costs remain too expensive for too many Oregon families, and rate increases continue to put quality, affordable care further out of reach,” said Senator Chip Shields (D-Portland), chair of the committee on General Government, Consumer and Small Business Protection. “Senate Bill 413A will put a brighter spotlight on spiraling health care costs by increasing public awareness of rate increases. More Oregonians should be able to participate in the review of these premiums, not less, and Oregon insurance carriers should have to justify their premium increases”

Dramatic rate increases over the last decade have called attention to the process and protocol for approving requests to increase rates. The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services has the authority to review rate increases on individual plans, health plans offered by employers with 50 or fewer employees, and portability coverage for some Oregonians when they leave a group plan. In recent years, Oregon has passed legislation that enhances transparency of insurance rate increases in order to allow consumers greater access to information that will affect the costs of their health care.

Senate Bill 413A will require these insurers to provide information to customers on a yearly basis regarding how they can receive notice about rate filings and hearings reviewing proposed premium increases.

“Consumers should be able to get access and notification when insurance companies request to raise their health care rates,” said Sen. Laurie Monnes Anderson (D-Gresham), chair of the Senate Health Care and Human Services Committee. “SB 413A will help consumers become fully informed when making health decisions and help them affect the rate review process.”

According to research from the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, states that have an active, robust and publicly inclusive rate review process are generally better at getting lower premium increases for policyholders.

“Business owners and families need robust information about the costs of their health care premiums, and SB 413A will ensure that they can get the facts about proposed rate increases in a timely manner,” said Senate Majority Leader Diane Rosenbaum (D-Portland). “To make health care more effective, we need to both expand access and lower cost. Senate Democrats have made this a priority, and this bill provides one more tool to help us reach that goal.”

The bill now goes to the Oregon House of Representatives for consideration.

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For more information on the Senate Majority Caucus, please visit www.orsenatemajority.org

Early Detection Critical to Ensuring Children’s Health

SALEM – A bill that will help to detect infant heart defects passed the Senate today on a bipartisan vote. Senate Bill 172 will require all newborns to be screened for congenital heart defects using pulse oximetry, an effective tool in the early detection of heart defects.

“Increasing the detection rate for heart defects is critical to supporting children’s health,” said Senator Alan Bates (D-Medford). “By establishing this standard today, we are taking a big step to ensure that health care providers can get valuable information to identify and treat congenital heart defects before it’s too late.”

During his presentation of the bill on the Senate floor, Dr. Bates, a physician, demonstrated an example of heart screening technology.

According to an advisory committee to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, congenital heart defects affect nearly eight out of every 1,000 births, and the hospital costs to treat these individuals totals $2.6 billion each year. While the practice of prenatal ultrasound screening has been somewhat effective at detecting heart defects, recent studies have shown that pulse oximetry is substantially more effective. SB 172 requires Oregon’s birthing facilities to screen newborns using pulse oximetry before releasing them.

“As with so many common health problems, early detection can mean the difference between life and death,” said Senate Majority Leader Diane Rosenbaum (D-Portland). “Implementing modern screening standards for newborns is the least we can do to make certain that our children get the care they need and can lead healthy lives.”

The bill now moves to the Oregon House of Representatives for consideration.