Family Values at Work - A Multi-State Consortium

Oregon

Time to Care for Oregon Families is a diverse coalition of legislators and organizations that have membership throughout the state including labor unions, the faith community, women's organizations, seniors' advocates, disability organizations, anti-poverty advocates, individual businesses and advocates for children and families. The coalition was formed to promote the passage of Paid Family Leave legislation to ensure all workers can afford to take their legally protect family leave from work. Since its inception, Time to Care for Oregon Families has increased its membership and visibility around the state.

Although the Oregon legislature considered paid leave bills in prior years, 2007 was the first year that a strong effort was formed. Paid Family Leave legislation passed the House of Representatives, garnered strong support from the Governor, but failed in the Senate by just two votes. In fact, Oregon's Governor was quoted saying the failure to pass Paid Family Leave was the biggest disappointment of the 2007 session. The coalition that pushed this effort decided to formalize by creating Time to Care for Oregon Families and rallying efforts for a 2009 legislative push. In 2009, the paid leave bill was introduced again, in both chambers of the Oregon Legislature, with strong co-sponsor support. The bills gained strong support in both chambers, and had plenty of votes to pass in the House, but the coalition was again short two votes in the Senate. The coalition continues work through the interim to ramp up efforts for a successful 2011 legislative push.

Contact:

For more information about the Coalition, visit http://OregonPaidFamilyLeave.org or contact Regan Gray at regan@cffo.org 503-236-9754 or Andrea Paluso andrea@familyforwardoregon.org 503-928-6789.