Oregon paid time off bill pared back | Legislature to decouple from federal tax code

A legislative committee backed off on an amendment to House Bill 4094 that would have required employers who provide paid vacation time to payout at one-hundred percent of their employee’s rate of pay for unused earned paid time off when separating. Instead, the House Labor and Workforce Development Committee adopted an amendment that simply requires employers to follow through on their own paid time off policy or be subject to fines. In Oregon, employers are free to determine their own paid time off policy, including whether or not to even have one. Oregon does not require employers to offer paid time off or cash out upon separation. The committee sent the amended bill to the legislature’s Joint Ways and Means Committee for further review. Proponents of the bill recognized that there is more work to be done to make the bill more amenable to nonprofit employers. An interim work group is being discussed. NAO has advocated to be included. 

On Wednesday, the legislature passed Senate Bill 1507. The bill selectively decouples Oregon’s tax code from specific federal tax cuts. When Congress passed H.R. 1 last summer, it created a $900 million hole in the state’s two-year budget. H.R. 1 cut federal taxes and the SNAP and Medicaid programs. It also added new work requirements for the two programs, costing the state millions to comply with them. Once signed by the Governor, Senate Bill 1507 is expected to recover roughly $311 million in tax revenue for the state budget.

The bill passed despite unified Republican opposition, with lawmakers calling the bill anti-business. On the House floor, Republican Representative Ed Diehl announced plans to seek a voter veto by gathering enough signatures to get the measure on the ballot in November.