Local lawmakers find little progress in 2022 session of Oregon legislature

State Senator Lynn Findley, R-Vale. (Amanda Loman/Oregon Capital Chronicle)

VALE — Significant victories have proven elusive for both state lawmakers in the region in the Oregon Legislature in 2022.

State Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane, and State Senator Lynn Findley, R-Vale, said while there were some minor victories, most Republican-inspired legislation failed against the Democratic majority.

“Very little positive came out of the session,” Owens said.

Republicans hold 23 seats in the 60-person House and 11 in an Oregon Senate with 30 lawmakers.

Owens and Findley, however, pointed to some successes, including their efforts to direct state money to several county institutions.

Findley and Owens helped direct $2 million to the Malheur County Fair, part of a $1.4 billion supplemental budget approved by lawmakers. Findley also said he was able to allocate $2.5 million to Treasure Valley Community College to help launch a renewable energy apprenticeship program.

The two lawmakers also collaborated to funnel $6 million to Oregon’s Eastern Frontier Economic Development Council. Established in 2017, the Border Council offers a range of grant and loan programs to help spur economic development in Malheur County, along the Idaho border.

State Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane, said he was disappointed that a bill providing overtime compensation for farm workers passed before it could be amended. (The Company/PAT CALDWELL).

The successes, however, were overshadowed by a number of legislative defeats, Findley said.

Despite strong opposition from Oregon’s agricultural industry, lawmakers pushed through Senate Bill 4002, requiring for the first time that overtime be paid to agricultural workers after 40 hours. The new law will be phased in over a five-year period and will establish personal and corporate income tax credits to offset new overtime costs.

Seven states have passed similar legislation.

Overtime pay for most people was certified in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, but farm laborers were exempt.

The new legislation was controversial and drew a significant number of testimonies from opponents and supporters.

Proponents of the legislation believe it will level the playing field when it comes to pay and eliminate tenure with racist overtones. Proponents believe farm workers deserve equal treatment as any other worker.

Predictably, most of the opposition to the legislation came from within the agricultural industry. Opponents believe it will create undesirable additional costs for farmers and speed up mechanization, which would lead to fewer workers during planting and harvesting.

“It’s a terrible bill,” Findley said.

He said the bill “will change the way farmers farm”.

“Farmers have extremely thin margins. It needed to be fully vetted and we didn’t and I think that’s terrible,” Findley said.

Owens said he wants farm workers to “earn the pay they deserve,” but “forced overtime isn’t the way to get there.”

A better way, he said, would be to provide short-term overtime exemptions during planting and harvesting seasons. This is traditionally the time when agricultural workers work the longest weeks.

“There was a possibility of getting there,” he said.

Findley said the overtime bill was “frustrating” because Democrats “won’t listen to ways to improve it.”

Findley said exceptions to “recognize peak periods” of 10 to 12 weeks a year – during harvest or planting – would make the new law reasonable.

“We have amended many other bills to make them acceptable,” he said.

Findley and Owens sponsored Senate Bill 1507 to exempt sales of prescription drugs, diapers, formula, and feminine hygiene products from the state corporation activity tax. The bill died in committee.

Owens said Republican lawmakers still play a lot of defense in the legislature.

“We continue to try to minimize the negative effects of bad policy,” he said.

Findley said there were only “a few bad things” approved in the 50 Senate bills that passed.

“Four of them were Republican bills. All the rest were Democratic bills. And most of them were harmful,” Findley said.

Topical advice? Contact journalist Pat Caldwell at [email protected]

Previous cover:

State Rep. Mark Owens considers overtime bill ahead of short session

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