Latest news with #AlexBaumhardt
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Oregon lawmakers scale back proposal for unemployment strike payments amid blowback
Hundreds of educators, parents and students joined a rally Nov. 1. 2023 at Roosevelt High School in north Portland to support striking teachers. Teachers like them could soon receive up to 10 weeks of unemployment benefits under a compromise negotiated by Oregon lawmakers.(Alex Baumhardt/Oregon Capital Chronicle) A particularly controversial measure that would give unemployment benefits to public and private Oregon workers during labor strikes survived a key Wednesday hearing after lawmakers agreed to cut the length of time in which workers on strike could cash checks by more than half. Senate Bill 916 would have limited striking workers to receiving benefits for 26 weeks, in line with the current caps on unemployment checks for Oregonians. But after the Senate rejected an amended version of the bill on Tuesday, a bicameral conference committee voted Wednesday to set a new cutoff at 10 weeks after a two-week waiting period. Committee members voted along party lines, with the sole Republican present voting against the amendments. 'I do feel like this is a massive compromise,' said Rep. Dacia Grayber, D-Portland, the bill's lead author. 'It's not something I'm entirely thrilled with.' The measure would be a first-in-the-nation move by Oregon, establishing a right to strike for public and private employees while ensuring them the ability to apply for unemployment benefits. Aside from traditionally strike-exempt public employees such as firefighters and police, workers such as nurses and teachers could claim benefits after two weeks of striking. The bill has been among this session's most controversial measures, laying bare deep divisions over how best to use the state's $6.4 billion unemployment insurance fund. The changes come after support for a Democrat-led bill collapsed in a concurring Senate vote on Tuesday amid concerns from Republicans and a key dissenting Democrat. It had already drawn opposition from school board leaders who help negotiate teacher strikes, business groups, and local government leaders who contribute to the state's unemployment fund. 'We have a healthy fund today due in no small part because all the agreements in the years have been honored,' committee member Sen. Daniel Bonham, R- The Dalles, told his colleagues before voting against the amended bill. 'It is a healthy enough fund that I don't know that this will be a massive draw on it, but again the kids will lose if teachers are incentivized to strike.' House Democrats got the bill over the finish line in their chamber last week, arguing that the benefits would be used sparingly and not as a tool to prolong strikes, but to shorten them. A change made in a House committee would cap benefits to eight weeks if the state's unemployment fund is at risk, and lawmakers also included an amendment that mandates deductions in backpay for benefits claimed by teachers during strikes. Grayber on Tuesday repeated a promise she has made to continue monitoring the bill's implementation if it were to pass, but also signaled that she hoped to move past concerns that the bill would promote misuse of the unemployment system or dramatically hamper school life and public facilities. She said she's been 'guided by the math' behind the bill from the beginning, a subtle nod to the estimates from the state's employment department that the bill would not change existing tax structures for businesses and government agencies paying into the state's unemployment funding. 'I have heard the opposition,' she said. 'I very much look forward to moving past what feels like a worst-case scenario focus that we've maintained for several weeks now.' Oregonians who have lost a job can currently apply for unemployment weekly checks ranging from $196 to $836. The bill would allow benefits to kick in immediately if workers are locked out of facilities by their employer during negotiations. Sen. Mark Meek, D-Gladstone, is a sponsor of the legislation, but withdrew his support when it came up short in a 15-14 Senate vote on Tuesday. In a brief interview after the hearing, he declined to comment on whether he supported the proposed changes. He referred to another attempt at a transportation and infrastructure funding bill that the Legislature has taken up in the final weeks of the session: 'If there's time to pass a transportation package, there's time to get this right,' he said. The new amendment pushes the bill closer to a similar law passed in Washington that caps benefits at six weeks, but which doesn't go so far as to protect public employees like Oregon's proposed legislation. New Jersey and New York have also passed laws in recent years to provide unemployment benefits to striking private sector workers, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar effort in 2023 over fiscal concerns. Another bill extending benefits to striking workers in Connecticut is currently sitting on Gov. Ned Lamont's desk, but he is expected to veto it. The bill passed out of committee on a 4-1 vote. Rep. Lucetta Elmer, R-McMinnville, was excused. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Resignation of Crater Lake head leaves Oregon congressional delegation concerned
Crater Lake on a hazy afternoon Aug 4, 2021, caused by wildfires in southern Oregon. (Photo by Alex Baumhardt / Oregon Capital Chronicle) While Democratic members of Oregon's congressional delegation expressed alarm at the sudden resignation of the leader of the state's only national park, the Republican who has the park in his district declined to take a position Friday. Kevin Heatley, the new superintendent of Crater Lake National Park, resigned from his post May 30 over staffing concerns after just five months on the job. Heatley, who had previously worked at the Bureau of Land Management, told Oregon Public Broadcasting, KGW, The Washington Post and several other news organizations that staffing was already lean at Crater Lake, and layoffs of probationary employees President Donald Trump ordered, followed by hiring freezes, mandates to leave vacant positions unfilled and new federal incentives from the Office of Personnel Management and the office known as the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to resign or retire were making it worse. Oregon's congressional delegation met the news with differing levels of concern. U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter, representing Oregon's 3rd Congressional District, wrote Wednesday to Doug Burgum, secretary of the Department of the Interior, demanding to know if he or the agency had undertaken any analysis of what staffing levels were like there or how bad it had gotten. Dexter is also a member of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. On X, formerly known as Twitter, Oregon's U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat, said it is clear to him that Trump is 'hellbent on destroying natural treasures like Crater Lake.' U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, who represents Oregon's 2nd District —his district includes southern Oregon's Crater Lake — said on the phone Friday he'd 'look into it.' 'The person's (Heatley) concern may be well founded. It may not. Until I know the facts better, I'm not going to take a position on it, but now that you've raised an issue, we'll look into it,' he said. The national park in southern Oregon, famous for its vibrant and translucent volcanic lake that is among the deepest in the world, typically sees about half-a-million visitors each year. But this summer, 60 to 65 seasonal positions will need to be filled, Heatley told journalists in several reports, and just eight ranger positions have so far been filled to keep visitors in the 286-square-mile park safe. 'I mean, the train is still running on the tracks, but it's not heading in the right direction,' Heatley told OPB on June 2. 'I cannot, in good conscience, manage an operation that I know is moving in the wrong direction.' Spokespeople for Crater Lake did not respond to Capital Chronicle requests for staffing and hiring data. The federal jobs portal USA Jobs does not list any current vacancies at Crater Lake. The Kansas-based company running Crater Lake's lodging, concessions, retail and boating operations had 18 vacant positions listed on its site as of June 5. The National Parks Conservation Association, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit conservation group, called the staffing issues at the 63 National Parks a 'full-blown staffing crisis.' They report that the Department of the Interior's own workforce database shows that as of May 13, the Park Service had just over 18,000 employees across all parks, a more than 16% drop from 2023, the previous fiscal year — a decrease equal to that of the previous ten years combined. The association said the recent sharp drop was driven by Trump-incentivized buyouts, early retirements, deferred resignations and leaving vacancies unfilled. Interior Department data also shows 39% of seasonal and temporary staff at the national parks have been hired so far — about 3,300 employees. That's less than half the number of seasonal employees Park Service officials said they'd hire in a February memo. In her letter to Burgum, Dexter called Heatley's resignation a 'flashing red warning sign that something is very wrong,' in a news release Wednesday. This article was first published by the Oregon Capital Chronicle, part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Shumway for questions: info@
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Resignation of Crater Lake head leaves Oregon congressional delegation concerned, clueless
Crater Lake on a hazy afternoon Aug 4, 2021, caused by wildfires in southern Oregon. (Alex Baumhardt / Oregon Capital Chronicle) While Democratic members of Oregon's congressional delegation expressed alarm at the sudden resignation of the leader of the state's only national park, the Republican who has the park in his district declined to take a position Friday. Kevin Heatley, the new superintendent of Crater Lake National Park, resigned from his post May 30 over staffing concerns after just five months on the job. Heatley, who had previously worked at the Bureau of Land Management, told Oregon Public Broadcasting, KGW, The Washington Post and several other news organizations that staffing was already lean at Crater Lake, and layoffs of probationary employees President Donald Trump ordered, followed by hiring freezes, mandates to leave vacant positions unfilled and new federal incentives from the Office of Personnel Management and the office known as the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to resign or retire were making it worse. Oregon's congressional delegation met the news with differing levels of concern. U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter, representing Oregon's 3rd Congressional District, wrote Wednesday to Doug Burgum, secretary of the Department of the Interior, demanding to know if he or the agency had undertaken any analysis of what staffing levels were like there or how bad it had gotten. Dexter is also a member of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. On X, formerly known as Twitter, Oregon's U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat, said it is clear to him that Trump is 'hellbent on destroying natural treasures like Crater Lake.' U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, who represents Oregon's 2nd District —his district includes southern Oregon's Crater Lake — said on the phone Friday he'd 'look into it.' 'The person's (Heatley) concern may be well founded. It may not. Until I know the facts better, I'm not going to take a position on it, but now that you've raised an issue, we'll look into it,' he said. The national park in southern Oregon, famous for its vibrant and translucent volcanic lake that is among the deepest in the world, typically sees about half-a-million visitors each year. But this summer, 60 to 65 seasonal positions will need to be filled, Heatley told journalists in several reports, and just eight ranger positions have so far been filled to keep visitors in the 286-square-mile park safe. 'I mean, the train is still running on the tracks, but it's not heading in the right direction,' Heatley told OPB on June 2. 'I cannot, in good conscience, manage an operation that I know is moving in the wrong direction.' Spokespeople for Crater Lake did not respond to Capital Chronicle requests for staffing and hiring data. The federal jobs portal USA Jobs does not list any current vacancies at Crater Lake. The Kansas-based company running Crater Lake's lodging, concessions, retail and boating operations had 18 vacant positions listed on its site as of June 5. The National Parks Conservation Association, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit conservation group, called the staffing issues at the 63 National Parks a 'full-blown staffing crisis.' They report that the Department of the Interior's own workforce database shows that as of May 13, the Park Service had just over 18,000 employees across all parks, a more than 16% drop from 2023, the previous fiscal year — a decrease equal to that of the previous ten years combined. The association said the recent sharp drop was driven by Trump-incentivized buyouts, early retirements, deferred resignations and leaving vacancies unfilled. Interior Department data also shows 39% of seasonal and temporary staff at the national parks have been hired so far — about 3,300 employees. That's less than half the number of seasonal employees Park Service officials said they'd hire in a February memo. In her letter to Burgum, Dexter called Heatley's resignation a 'flashing red warning sign that something is very wrong,' in a news release Wednesday. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Oregon workers could soon claim strike payments under bill passed by House
Hundreds of educators, parents and students joined a rally Nov. 1. 2023 at Roosevelt High School in north Portland. A new bill would extend unemployment benefits to them during work stoppages. (Alex Baumhardt/Oregon Capital Chronicle) Oregon could soon become the first state in the nation to extend unemployment benefits to striking workers. House lawmakers passed Senate Bill 916 Wednesday in a 33-23 vote along party lines with one dissenting Democrat, a decision that followed an hours-long debate about the bill's impact on schools, health care, and private businesses. The bill already cleared the Senate in May in a 16-12 vote, but will need to go back to that chamber before the month's end for a re-vote to clear further amendments. The legislation would allow striking workers — including most public employees — to collect unemployment benefits after their first two weeks of striking and up until the eight week of a strike, pending the financial stability of the state's unemployment fund. Several other states, including Washington, New Jersey, and New York, extend unemployment benefits and payments to striking private sector workers, but not to public employees. If unemployment funding is available, striking workers could collect benefits for up to 26 weeks. Payments range from $196 to a maximum of $836 weekly, according to a 2024 policy from the Oregon Employment Department. After the House voted down a scaled-back proposal by Republicans Wednesday morning, lawmakers debated the extent to which Senate Bill 916 would lengthen or shorten strikes, and the potential strain it could impose on schools and private business. 'SB 916 won't encourage strikes — it will shorten them,' state Rep. Travis Nelson, D-Portland, wrote in an emailed statement Wednesday. 'It will bring employers to the table faster, and let workers stand up without having to worry that their families will starve should they choose to exercise their right to strike. Fundamentally, this legislation is about dignity and fairness for workers.' Republicans, led by state Rep. Lucetta Elmer, R-McMinnville, sought to derail the proposal with their own measure that also would've capped benefits to six weeks of payments after the first two weeks of a strike. 'We can have the conversation about making sure that employees are paid well and they are protected and their voices heard,' Elmer said. 'This bill isn't the way — this is too much and too far.' Prior to the vote, opposition to the measure was piling up in testimony from school board leaders and business groups concerned the bill could allow strikes to drag on and put a wrench in day-to-day operations. Leaders of teacher unions and the Congress of Industrial Organizations, a statewide coalition of unions that represents over 300,000 workers, have testified in support of the bill, as have nurses, teachers and state workers. 'Regardless of income level or industry, Oregon workers all want the same things — to work hard, support themselves, and build a better life,' the Oregon AFL-CIO said in a social media post prior to the vote. 'Senate Bill 916 is an opportunity for our state to support working class Oregonians by strengthening their right to strike through expanding unemployment benefit access.' The Oregon Employment Department told the Legislature in April that the bill wouldn't result in any changes to unemployment taxes paid by employers. The bill was amended in the House Committee on Labor and Workplace Standards in May to allow school districts to deduct the cost of benefits from backpay some teachers receive after a strike has ended, under union contracts. Multiple Democrats reiterated their argument following the vote that the bill would not raise costs for businesses and schools. 'I also firmly believe that this policy will help our businesses, education and healthcare communities by bringing these strikes to a close sooner and with greater certainty,' said state Rep. Dacia Grayber, D-Portland, in closing the discussion on the House floor. If the bill clears its revote in the Senate, it will head to Gov. Tina Kotek's desk for final consideration. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Oregon Capital Chronicle wins three awards in multi-state northwest journalism contest
Senior reporter Alex Baumhardt smiles Monday, June 2, in front of some of her past awards. Baumhardt will soon be able to add more hardware to her office space after winning three awards in the annual five-state Northwest Excellence in Journalism contest. (Julia Shumway/Oregon Capital Chronicle) Oregon Capital Chronicle senior reporter Alex Baumhardt swept the investigative category of the 2024 Northwest Excellence in Journalism contest. The Capital Chronicle and Baumhardt won three total awards in the contest, which covered the best journalism of 2024 in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Washington. The Greater Oregon chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, which co-runs the contest with the Western Washington chapter, announced winners Tuesday. Baumhardt took first place in investigative reporting for small newsrooms with her January 2024 report 'Timber industry tied to proposal shifting wildfire protection costs from landowners to public.' For that article, Baumhardt drew on public records and interviews to detail the extensive role timber companies played in an ultimately unsuccessful proposal from then-state Sen. Elizabeth Steiner, now Oregon's treasurer, that would have shifted costs for fighting fires from the timber industry to all Oregon property owners. She took second place in the investigative reporting category with 'Behind schedule, over budget, state-backed rail projects costing $70 million sit idle,' also published in January 2024. In that article, she spelled out how lawmakers spent tens of millions on two rail shipping centers that were intended to reduce truck emissions Baumhardt also placed second in the feature (hard news) category for her February 2024 article 'Oregon homeowners face soaring premiums, few property insurance options over wildfires.' She chronicled how homeowners in central, southern and eastern Oregon have seen their home insurance costs skyrocket or be canceled altogether since the 2020 Labor Day fires. The judge for that category praised the article as 'a very solid, timely look at the cost of securing homeowners insurance in a world beset by fires, risks and ever-higher premiums. It explores a cautionary tale for people in and beyond Oregon.' Kelcie Moseley-Morris, a national States Newsroom reproductive rights reporter whose work often appears in the Capital Chronicle, also placed second in health reporting for her series of articles on Idaho's emergency abortion care lawsuits. The judge for that category wrote that Moseley-Morris took 'a legally complex situation and explains the critical consequences for panicked pregnant patients and their doctors juggling medical and legal mandates,' bringing a national debate home to the Northwest. The Capital Chronicle has won awards in the highly competitive multi-state contest every year since launching in October 2021. Find all of our past awards here. The Capital Chronicle depends entirely on donations. If you appreciate this kind of award-winning work that shows how policies impact people's lives, please consider making a donation. Note: Capital Chronicle editor Julia Shumway serves as treasurer of the Oregon SPJ board. The board trades award entries with other states, and no Oregon journalists were involved in judging this contest.
