The House Business and Labor Committee met this week to hear testimony from Leadership at the beleaguered Employment Agency. The agency is still badly behind in processing unemployment claims caused by Governor Kate Brown's response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The committee took more than an hour of testimony from Employment Department Leadership but Committee Chair, Paul Holvey refused to allow lawmakers to ask any live questions of the agency’s leaders.

Committee Member, Representative Shelly Boshart Davis (R-Albany), said, after the committee hearing, “I’ve heard from countless Oregonians over the last few months regarding their frustration accessing the unemployment benefits they are rightfully due. Many of them are rightfully furious over spending hours upon hours trying to get through to someone in the department who could assist them. The horror stories are endless and have been well documented by the press. I am incredibly frustrated that lawmakers were not given an opportunity to ask questions of the Department’s leadership, including how we ended up in this mess, when the agency realized they had a problem, were they given notification of the Governor's Executive Orders which essentially put tens of thousands of Oregonians out of work overnight, what took them so long to respond and when, exactly, can unemployed Oregonians expect to receive the benefits they have earned."

Some observers are puzzled by the heavy-handed tactics wielded by a Democrat party that has Legislative super-majorities and controls the governorship, yet refuses to let the opposing party have even a symbolic chance to participate. Certainly, the seriousness of the troubles at the Employment Agency call for a bi-partisan conversation.

Boshart-Davis concluded, "This is just the latest glaring example of lack of accountability under our state’s leadership. This is a deeply human crisis and the state has failed miserably. Oregonians deserve answers.”

The House Committee on Business and Labor is expected to meet again on Saturday.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2020-05-28 19:33:11

Last Update: 2020-05-28 19:33:39