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SB 426 passes House, advances to governor
March
16, 2007 Issue (77k  )
of Legislative
Highlights
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Senate Bill 426, the bill requiring a state-run health insurance pool for school employees, passed the House March 13 on a 36-20 vote. The bill now goes to the governor for his signature.
Despite compelling testimony and tremendous local opposition and the fact that SB 426 was denied a policy hearing in the House, SB 426 was approved only three business days after a party-line vote passed it out of the Senate.
Representatives who voted "no": Berger, Burley, Cameron, Dallum, Flores, Gilliam, Gilman, Girod, Hanna, Krieger, Krummel, Maurer, Morgan, Nelson, Olson, Richardson, Scott, P. Smith, Thatcher, Whisnant.
Representatives who voted "aye": Barker, Barnhart, Beyer, Bonamici, Boone, Bruun, Buckley, Cannon, Clem, Cowan, Dingfelder, C. Edwards, D. Edwards, Galizio, Garrard, Gelser, Greenlick, Holvey, Hunt, Jenson, Komp, Kotek, Lim, Macpherson, Merkley, Nathanson, Nolan, Read, Riley, Roblan, Rosenbaum, Schaufler, Shields, G. Smith, Tomei, Witt.
Representatives excused: Boquist, Butler, Esquivel and Minnis.
The House vote largely followed party lines, with five Republicans joining majority Democrats to pass the bill.
In leading House debate in opposition to the bill, Rep. Susan Morgan (R-Myrtle Creek) decried the partisan vote on a very important bill. She noted that no school district or community college had testified in favor of the bill in the Ways and Means Committee hearing; all were against it. Morgan also noted that the bill had a total of three hours' public hearing in the Senate and House, half of which was in budget committees. She said that the significant absence of a House policy-committee hearing means that no one has heard from the public at all.
"Please be very clear that this bill does not mean cost savings or money to classrooms," Morgan said. "Please be very clear that we are stuffing this bill down the throats of the school boards, districts, and community colleges of the state of Oregon."
Morgan noted that SB 426 was favored by the state teachers union and associations of community college teachers who would be happy not to deal with OSBA in budget negotiations.
Representative Andy Olson (R-Albany) presented colleagues with a letter from 83 Oregon school districts urging a "no" vote and requesting an amendment requiring an independent Oregon-specific actuarial study of the effects of the bill. Olson said waiting for this study would be a small price to pay versus risking a cost to classrooms.
House members debated SB 426 for 1 1/2 hours before the vote. The governor is expected to approve the bill.
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To find out more, contact Tricia
Yates  ,
director of Legislative and Public Affairs, Oregon School Boards Association, 503-588-2800 or 800-578-6722.
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