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Employment Department gives estimates as House committee reopens brief work session on HB 3024
Summary
At a brief reopened work session on House Bill 3024, the Oregon Employment Department gave committee members numerical estimates on how the bill would affect claim processing speed, eligible claimants and trust‑fund payouts; the committee carried the item to its next meeting.
The House Committee on Labor and Workplace Standards temporarily reopened a work session on Feb. 5 to allow the Oregon Employment Department to answer technical questions about House Bill 3024. The committee did not hold a vote and carried the work session until Monday, Feb. 10.
Lindsay Leahy, director of the Unemployment Insurance Division at the Oregon Employment Department, told members the department "estimate[s] that about 400 people per biennium would be eligible to receive these additional benefits." She also said the department expects "approximately 1,200 people per biennium will receive decisions about 3 weeks faster" if the bill is enacted.
Leahy provided fiscal context for committee members: the department estimated an additional $1.3 million in benefits during the 2025–27 biennium if the bill is implemented, and she contrasted that figure with the roughly $1.5 billion the department paid in unemployment insurance benefits in 2023 and 2024 combined.
On operational questions, Leahy said the department uses the unpaid waiting week to verify claimant identity, match reported wages with employer records and resolve issues raised by either employers or claimants; those administrative activities are not changed by the bill’s proposed waiver authority. She also explained that employers contribute to the unemployment trust fund either through regular tax schedules or, in the case of "reimbursing" employers such as many public entities, by reimbursing the trust fund for benefits paid.
Outcome: Chair Graber said the committee will carry over HB 3024 for a future work session with additional technical information requested from the Employment Department.
