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Committee hears support to add OHSU chaplains to PERS taxable housing‑allowance rule
Summary
A public hearing on SB 757 A drew testimony from union and PERS staff seeking a technical fix to include Oregon Health & Science University chaplains in the PERS treatment of housing allowances. Witnesses said the change corrects an omission from 2023 legislation and affects a small number of employees.
The House Committee on Labor and Workplace Standards held a public hearing April 28 on Senate Bill 757 A, which would treat housing allowances paid to chaplains at Oregon Health & Science University as taxable income for purposes of calculating PERS (Public Employees Retirement System) subject salary.
Oralis Aguilar, speaking for Oregon AFSCME, told the committee the union supports SB 757 A and described the measure as a technical fix to an oversight. “There’s only currently five individuals at OHSU who are chaplains, and one of them is about to retire,” Aguilar said. Aguilar and AFSCME asked the committee to adopt the bill to extend to OHSU chaplains the same PERS treatment enacted in 2023 for chaplains working at correctional facilities.
Heather Case, senior policy advisor at PERS, said PERS takes no position on the bill but described how the change would work administratively. Case said the bill would add OHSU chaplains to the 2023 change (Senate Bill 128) that included chaplain housing allowances as PERS‑taxable compensation for retirement‑calculation purposes; adding the OHSU chaplains would increase a member’s subject salary and therefore affect IAP contributions and final average salary calculations. Case said PERS stands ready to help OHSU, as a first participating employer, update prior reporting and implement any necessary changes.
Why it matters Supporters said the bill corrects an omission from the 2023 session and affects a very small group of employees. Witnesses emphasized the chaplains’ role supporting patients, families and staff and described the change as narrowly focused on Tier 3 PERS members and housing allowances paid before, on or after the bill’s effective date.
Next steps The committee closed the hearing with no recorded vote. PERS staff and AFSCME indicated readiness to work on implementation details if the bill advances.
