2021 LEGISLATIVE SESSION RECAP

​​The 2021 Oregon Legislative Session was held remotely for the most part because of COVID-19 interruptions. The inability to meet in person coupled with the introduction of almost 4,000 bills this session meant there was a lot that did not get done. Legislative leadership primarily focused on police reform, housing, and social justice.

For the hospitality industry, ORLA gained some victories to help our members and managed to help kill some bad bills that would have negatively impacted operators. Below is a summary of the key legislation from the 2021 session for our sector. 

Legislative Wins

SB 317A – Allows holder of full on-premises sales license to make retail sales of mixed drinks in sealed containers for off-premises consumption.

• This bill passed the House and Senate, and at the time of this writing was on Governor Brown’s desk, awaiting her signature. The bill makes permanent the ability for bars and restaurants to offer mixed drinks for takeout or delivery if the guest also purchases a substantial food item.
• ORLA supported this bill and testified numerous times in favor of it.

HB 3361 (Passed) – Requires third-party food platform to enter into agreement with food place before arranging delivery of orders from food place or listing food place on application or website.

• This bill was at ORLA’s request and was sponsored by Rep. David Gomberg (D-Central Coast), Rep. Rob Nosse (D-Portland), and Rep. Daniel Bonham (R-The Dalles). The bill requires third- party food platforms to obtain written consent from restaurants before using their menu, likeness, pricing, etc. ORLA worked with the third-party technology companies on this bill and testified in support at the public hearing on March 24.
• The bill passed the House and Senate and was signed by the Governor on June 8, 2021.

HB 3178 (Passed) – Temporarily removes condition for being deemed "unemployed" that individual's weekly remuneration for part-time work must be less than individual's weekly unemployment insurance benefit amount.

• ORLA President & CEO Jason Brandt was invited to testify alongside BOLI Commissioner Val Hoyle on a similar bill passed last year during the second special session of the Legislature to allow for employees to pick up minimal shifts and still keep their unemployment benefits.
• The bill helps employers keep staff while protecting employees during the pandemic crisis. This bill is a technical fix of the bill passed in 2020. It passed the House and Senate and was signed by the Governor on May 17, 2021, the same date the bill became effective.

HB 3389 – Extends look-back period used to determine Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund solvency level from 10 years to 20 years.

• Provides that calendar years 2020 and 2021 may not be considered high benefit cost period for purposes of making determinations of solvency level of fund.
• Provides that employers’ experience ratings used to determine 2020 unemployment insurance tax rates shall be used to determine rates for 2022, 2023 and 2024.
• Provides deferral of up to one-third of 2021 unemployment insurance taxes for employers whose tax rates increased by 0.5 percentage points or more from 2020 to 2021.
• Authorizes forgiveness of percentage of deferrable taxes according to tax rate increase brackets.
• Reduces fund adequacy percentages used to determine employer tax rate schedules.
• This is one of several bills intended to address the issues with the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund, Unemployment Insurance (UI) Tax rates and experience ratings.
• ORLA testified in support with two additional changes to the bill: One, instead of a deferral of up to one-third of 2021 UI taxes for employers whose tax rates increased by 0.5 percentage points or more from 2020 to 2021, it should be up to two-thirds deferral if the tax rate increased by one percentage point or more; Two, use a combination of federal relief funds and the current UI Trust Fund to help pay down the obligations for those industries hardest hit by the UI Tax increase.
• At the time of this writing, the bill was in a sub-committee of Ways and Means but was expected to pass out of the House and Senate and be signed by the Governor.

 
HB 2205 (Dead) – Establishes procedure for person to bring action in name of state to recover civil penalties for violations of state law.

• The Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) would have allowed private special interests to file lawsuits in the name of the State of Oregon for statutes established to protect workers through education and enforcement actions by state agencies.
• ORLA opposed this bill as it would seriously threaten businesses and have a negative impact on both employers and employees. The bill did not pass out of its sub-committee in the House.

HB 2365 (Dead) – Prohibits food vendor from using single-use plastic food service ware when selling, serving or dispensing prepared food to consumer.

• This bill would have prohibited restaurants and other food service businesses from using single- use plastic utensils, bowls, cups, etc. ORLA opposed this bill. During the pandemic, when the restaurant industry was being shut down and restricted in operations, it was a particularly poor time to introduce such legislation.
• The bill never received a work session or public hearing.
• Two related bills, HB 2617, which would have banned the use of polystyrene containers, and SB 14, which would have established a statewide plastic product stewardship program, also died this session. SB 14 would have been particularly expensive for our industry.

HB 2521 (Passed) – Requires transient lodging tax collector to provide invoice, receipt or other similar document that clearly sets forth sum of all transient lodging taxes charged for occupancy of transient lodging.

• This bill would help establish consistency among lodging operators of all types who collect transient lodging taxes to provide the customer with an invoice, receipt or other document detailing those taxes. Most operators already do this, but this bill establishes it in law and helps ensure transparency and accountability.
• The bill’s Chief Sponsor was Rep. Pam Marsh (D-Ashland). The bill passed the House and Senate and was signed by the Governor on June 3, 2021. It takes effect on the 91st day after the Legislature’s adjournment.

HB 2579 (Dead) – Increases state transient lodging tax rate and provides for transfer of moneys attributable to increase to county in which taxes were collected.

• There were several bills this session to increase the transient lodging tax (TLT) and use the increase to fund something other than tourism promotion. HB 2579 would have increased the TLT from 1.5 percent to 1.8 percent and sent the increase back to the county in which it was collected for the county to use exclusively for affordable housing in the county. ORLA opposed this bill which never had a work session or public hearing.
• HB 2600, another TLT bill that died, would have sent any moneys in excess of 1.475 percent of the statewide TLT to the Oregon Conservation and Recreation Fund. ORLA opposed this bill which had one public hearing.

HB 2593 - Permits Office of Emergency Management to enter into agreement with nonprofit organization representing sheriffs under which organization is authorized to administer program to produce and sell outdoor recreation search and rescue cards.

• ORLA worked with several other organizations and entities including the Oregon Office of Emergency Management (OEM), Travel Oregon, Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association (PNSAA) and the Oregon State Sheriffs’ Association (OSSA) to name a few. The bill creates a program to sell cards to help fund search and rescue programs.
• The cards do not guarantee rescue but instead, are intended to raise money to offset the increasing costs of search and rescue when people go missing in Oregon’s wilderness areas. The bill has had a public hearing and several work sessions in the House.

HB 2818 – Allows payment from Wage Security Fund to be made to wage claimant for wages earned and unpaid in event that Commissioner of Bureau of Labor and Industries has obtained judgment in action or has issued final order in administrative proceeding for collection of wage claim.

• The importance of this bill is in the two amendments added. The first allowed for bonuses or PTO to be granted to employees who wanted to get vaccinated. Without the amendment, employers offering any compensation for vaccinations would run afoul of Oregon’s Pay Equity Law. The amendment allowed for compensation during a public health emergency and excluded vaccine incentives from the pay equity issue.
• The second amendment allowed for hiring and retention bonuses, an important issue for our industry as we recover from the pandemic and look to hire employees or keep the ones already employed.
• This bill has passed the House and Senate is headed to the Governor’s desk at the time of this writing.

HB 2966A – Extends grace period for repayment of nonresidential rent between April 1, 2020, and September 30, 2020, until September 30, 2021, for certain tenants.

• ORLA supported this bill to allow for an extended grace period for payment of nonresidential rent. In addition to this bill, ORLA worked on two other bills related to commercial foreclosure: HB 2009, a bill extending the residential foreclosure moratorium which we had hoped to amend to include commercial foreclosures; and HB 3177, a stand-alone bill extending the commercial foreclosure moratorium originally passed in 2021 (HB 4204) during the first Special Session.
• This bill has passed the House and Senate is headed to the Governor’s desk at the time of this writing.

HB 3058 (Dead) – Increases distance from certain parts of public places and places of employment in which person may not smoke, aerosolize or vaporize from 10 feet to 25 feet.

• ORLA opposed this bill which never had a work session or public hearing.

HB 3296 (Dead) – Increases privilege taxes imposed upon manufacturer or importing distributor of malt beverages, wine, or cider.

• This bill would have raised the beer tax from $2.60 to $72.60 and the wine tax from 65 cents to $10 per gallon, increases of 2800 percent and 1700 percent respectively. ORLA opposed this bill which never had a work session or public hearing.

HB 3351 (Dead) – Establishes increase in statewide minimum wage rate beginning on July 1, 2022.

• This bill would have increased Oregon’s minimum wage to $17 per hour beginning July 1, 2022. ORLA opposed this bill which never received a work session or public hearing.

SB 650 (Dead) – Creates Public Assistance Protection Fund.

• This bill would have assessed employers with more than 100 employees if median salaries or wages paid to employees residing in Oregon would qualify individual or individual’s dependents to receive public assistance to fund a Public Assistance Protection Fund. The money collected would have gone to programs such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Health Care for All Oregon Children.
• Aside from the logistical issues surrounding this bill, there were privacy concerns as well. ORLA opposed the bill which never received a work session or public hearing.

SB 750 (Passed) – Authorizes Oregon Liquor Control Commission to grant temporary letter of authority to eligible applicant for any license issued by commission.

• This bill would allow new owners of bars and restaurants who wish to serve alcohol to be granted a temporary license until they are approved by the OLCC Board of Commissioners. ORLA supported this bill which passed out of the House and Senate and was signed by the Governor on May 21, 2021. The effective date is January 1, 2022.
• Legislative Losses

HB 3177 (Dead) – Limits types of restrictions that Governor may impose on certain businesses during state of emergency related to COVID-19 pandemic.

• This bill would prohibit the Governor from imposing restrictions on eating and drinking establishments and indoor physical recreation and fitness facilities except for physical distancing requirements of up to six feet, requiring physical barriers or partitions between individuals and any restrictions generally applicable to all types of businesses.
• ORLA testified in support of this bill, as did numerous operators, but it failed to move out of committee.

SB 483A (Passed) – Creates rebuttable presumption that person violated prohibition against retaliation or discrimination against employee or prospective employee if person takes certain action against employee or prospective employee within 60 days after employee or prospective employee has engaged in certain protected activities.

• ORLA opposes this bill which states that if an employee files a complaint with Oregon OSHA, anonymous or not, against an employer, and the employer takes any disciplinary action against that employee in the 60 days following the filing of that complaint, the employer would have to prove it was not retaliation.
• Despite ORLA’s efforts to, at a minimum, remove the anonymous component, this bill passed the House and Senate and is awaiting the Governor’s signature.

SB 582A - Establishes producer responsibility program for packaging, printing and writing paper and food serviceware.

• This bill had multiple public hearings and is now in the Ways and Means Committee. ORLA was successful in having single-use serviceware exempted from the bill which includes paper or plastic plates, cups, wraps, bowls, pizza boxes, cutlery, straws, lids, bags, aluminum foil or clamshells.

Other Bills

SB 515 (Passed) – Requires employee of certain licensed premises who is permittee to make report if permittee has reasonable belief that sex trafficking is occurring at premises or that minor is employed or contracted as performer at premises in manner violating Oregon Liquor Control Commission rules.

• This bill requires reporting of suspected sex trafficking by licensees. A permittee making a report under this section in good faith is immune from any criminal or civil liability for making the report. It also requires licensees to report if a minor is employed or contracted as a performer at the establishment.
• This bill passed the House and Senate and was signed by the Governor on May 19, 2021 and will take effect on the 91st day following adjournment of the Legislature.

SB 569A (Passed) – Makes unlawful employment practice for employer to require employee or prospective employee to possess or present valid driver license as condition of employment or continuation of employment.

• This bill prohibits requiring a proof of driver’s license at time of hire with the intent of it being related to the I-9 requirement process. For jobs that require operating a vehicle and needs a valid driver’s license the bill states: “Require, as a condition for employment or continuation of employment, an employee or prospective employee to possess or present a valid driver license unless the ability to legally drive is an essential function of the job or is related to a legitimate business purpose.” Meaning, if the job requires driving, such as delivery driver or parking cars, you can ask for a valid driver’s license.
• This bill has passed the House and Senate is headed to the Governor’s desk at the time of this writing.

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For more information on ORLA's policy positions and priorities, reach out to Greg Astley, Director of Government Affairs.