A fight is brewing in the Oregon Legislature over a proposal to give farmworkers overtime pay after 40 hours a week.
Democratic supporters say the change is long overdue and that extending overtime pay to a group of essential workers who toil long hours, do difficult work and earn low wages is a matter of equity. But Republican opponents say the bill would slice into farming revenue at a time of lower commodity prices and devastating climate changes and force owners to cut worker hours or sell their operations.
State Rep. Vikki Breese-Iverson, R-Prineville, the House minority leader, suggested during a presentation with the media before the session started that Republicans were so strongly opposed to the bill that they might walk out.
House Bill 4002, sponsored by Reps. Paul Holvey, D-Eugene, and Andrea Salinas, D-Lake Oswego, follows Oregon’s overtime law which requires employers to pay many hourly workers time and a half for more than 40 hours worked a week. The change would be phased in with overtime pay required for more than 55 hours a week in 2023 and 2024, 48 hours a week in 2025 and 2026, and then 40 hours in 2027.
The bill includes tax credits through 2029, allowing employers to deduct 50% of overtime pay in 2023 and 2024, 35% in 2025 and 2026 and 20% in 2027 and 2028.
The proposal gets its first legislative hearing at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday...
China has removed all medical advertisements on national television channels containing false claims as of the end of March, the National Radio and Television Administration said on Thursday. The ...