Senate committee hears wide-ranging testimony on bill to limit Oregon OSHA reach into single-family farm housing

Senate Committee on Labor and Business held a public hearing April 3 on Senate Bill 999, a measure that would narrow the statutory definition of "farmworker camp" to exclude single-family dwellings occupied by a family or five or fewer unrelated individuals and related small-occupancy housing, and thereby limit Oregon OSHA's application of agricultural labor-housing rules to those sites.

The debate centered on conflicting legal interpretations of existing law and the practical effects for farmworkers and employers. Proponents, including representatives of dairy and livestock producers and the Oregon Farm Bureau Federation, said recent Oregon OSHA rules are expansive and, as applied, threaten longstanding, year-round housing that employers provide as a workforce benefit. Opponents, including the Oregon Law Center and the Northwest Workers' Justice Project, said narrowing the definition could remove safety and habitability protections for people who live in employer-linked housing.

Supporters said the issue arises…