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Labor Issues Dominate 2016 Short Session

In a legislative session dominated by labor issues, one result is likely to hit the pocketbook of all Oregon blueberry growers as state lawmakers in February increased the state’s minimum wage.

Depending on where you live in Oregon, the minimum wage will increase on July 1 by either 25 or 50 cents per hour and it is scheduled to increase each year for the next six years until it reaches $14.75 in the Portland metro area and $13.50 in the rest of the Willamette Valley. Outside of the Willamette Valley, considered non-urban counties, workers would earn a minimum of $12.50 an hour by 2022. Non-urban counties, according to the legislation, include Malheur, Lake, Harney, Wheeler, Sherman, Gilliam, Wallowa, Grant, Jefferson, Baker, Union, Crook, Klamath, Douglas, Coos, Curry, Umatilla and Morrow.

Blueberry industry lobbyist Roger Beyer said he will be working alongside several interest groups to try and craft a solution that will soften some of the effect of the new law on farmers.
“Hopefully in the 2017 Legislative Session, we can make some real fixes to the law that will make it less burdensome,” Beyer said.

Whether Beyer and other natural resource industry lobbyists can push forward renovations to the law may prove pivotal to blueberry growers reliant on labor.

Also in the 2017 session, natural resource industry lobbyists are planning to work on “fixes” to the paid-sick-leave law that lawmakers passed in 2015.

“The big obstacle we are facing in regard to these paid-sick-leave fixes is that proponents of the original legislation now see the fixes as a reduction in benefits that are already provided to employees,” Beyer said. “This creates a substantial hurdle that may prove insurmountable for any major fixes. But there are some areas that we may be able to provide some relief for agriculture employers, such as determining sick-leave requirements for employees working under piece rate.

“Employers need certainty in determining the sick-leave requirements to ensure they don’t run afoul of the law and to ensure that all are applying the rules consistently,” he said.
In addition to labor legislation, lawmakers passed a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) in 2016, legislation that Beyer characterized as costly without benefits. The bill, which passed on nearly partisan lines, will require Oregon utilities to remove all coal from their power portfolio by the year 2050.

“This legislation will very likely increase your power costs over the next 25 years, while providing absolutely no gain for the environment, given that the out-of-state coal-fired power plants targeted in this bill will not be shut down,” Beyer said. “The bill simply will require power companies to pay extra to buy their way out of their coal power purchases and to pass the cost onto their customers.”

One development of the minimum wage and RPS bills is that proponents of ballot measures calling for a minimum wage increase and a new RPS have indicated they are going to drop their efforts to put the issues on the 2016 ballot. Minimum wage proponents, nevertheless, have indicated they are likely to return to the Legislature in 2017 with proposals to speed up the rate of the wage increase.

While those two measures won’t be on the ballot, there are several likely to be that are of concern to the blueberry industry, Beyer said, the biggest of which may be an issue now referred to as Initiative Petition 28. This initiative would slap a 2.5 percent gross receipts tax on large C corporations.

“This tax is expected to generate about $2.5 billion annually for state revenue, most likely at a cost to consumers, given that the cost of this tax almost certainly will be passed onto consumers in the form of increased costs of goods and services,” Beyer said.

Growers also should keep an eye on initiatives being circulated that deal with aerial applications of herbicides and a repeal of the state’s preemption laws, Beyer said.


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