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Paid Sick Leave Bill Advances In Oregon Legislature

The Oregon Capitol.
M.O. Stevens
/
Wikimedia
The Oregon Capitol.

Oregon lawmakers are advancing a measure that would require many employers to offer paid sick leave.

The Oregon Senate Wednesday approved a bill that would allow workers in companies with 10 or more people to earn up to 40 hours of paid sick time per year.

Democratic Senator Michael Dembrow said the measure is meant to protect low-income Oregonians.

"It's unfortunately true that many Oregonians are forced to live paycheck to paycheck,” he said. “And the effect of having a day's pay docked from their paycheck can be devastating."

Republicans called it an unfunded mandate on business.

The measure passed the Oregon Senate 17-to-13. The bill now heads for a vote in the Oregon House.

Copyright 2015 Northwest News Network

Chris Lehman
Chris Lehman graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1997. He landed his first job less than a month later, producing arts stories for Red River Public Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Three years later he headed north to DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked as a reporter and announcer for NPR–affiliate WNIJ–FM. In 2006 he headed west to become the Salem Correspondent for the Northwest News Network.