Celebrating our short session wins
hb 4044/SB 1527: Minor party parity
Oregon's laws about how parties qualify for the ballot hadn’t been updated since Motor Voter led to an exponential increase in voters. After 2 years of hard work, we passed a bill with bipartisan support to lower the voter registration threshold and make things equitable for all parties in Oregon. We had to clear significant hurdles to get this fix on the floor, including merging our language into a new bill late in the game, and we couldn’t have done without our community. Thank you to all the supporters who contacted their lawmakers, put pressure on the committee to move it forward, and showed the legislature how vital minor parties are to our state’s democracy.
Under previous Oregon law, minor parties could maintain their party status one of two ways: running a statewide candidate who receives votes equivalent to 1% of the total votes cast in the previous election, or maintaining one half of 1% of all registered voters in the state. The Minor Party Parity bill accounts for the influx in automatically registered voters and ensures that minor parties are not impacted by the future increases.
HB 4002: Farmworker overtime
HB 4002 ended the racist practice of excluding farmworkers from overtime pay and took a step towards righting a historic wrong. Starting in 2023, farmworkers will start earning overtime pay after 55 hours of work, and will be phased into earning overtime after 40 hours over the next few years. Oregon’s farmworkers have kept the state running through a pandemic, heatwaves and wildfires, and this critical protection is just one step of the work we must do to ensure justice for farmworkers.
Sb 1510: Transforming Justice
It was disappointing that the legislature failed to pass HB 2002 last session, and ensuring that the legislature followed through on passing meaningful criminal justice reform was one of our top priorities session this year. SB 1510 will limit traffic stops, resulting in fewer interactions with law enforcement and reducing the risk Oregonians face for violence and excessive use of force. It also gives people on probation and parole more resources for success and fund services that reduce racial disparities prevalent in Oregon’s criminal justice system. Oregon has a long ways to go in holding police accountable and ending our participation in the racist system of mass incarceration, but we’re proud of the progress made with SB 1510.
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