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Committee advances bill letting Paid Leave Oregon director compromise or write off certain debts
Summary
Senate Bill 859 would authorize the director of the Oregon Employment Department to compromise, adjust or write off certain debts and overpayments related to the Paid Leave Oregon program. The committee voted the bill out with a due‑pass recommendation.
Senate Bill 859, carried by the Oregon Employment Department, received a public hearing and a work session before the Senate Committee on Labor and Business on Jan. 28, 2025. The measure would permit the Director of the Employment Department to compromise, adjust or write off specified debts and overpayments related to the Paid Leave Oregon program, aligning that authority with existing unemployment‑insurance practice.
Paloma Sparks, executive vice president and general counsel for Oregon Business and Industry, testified in support. “Existingly under Paid Leave Oregon, employees’ mistakes are able to be waived, but employers are not. We just support this change,” Sparks said, adding the alignment would reduce employer confusion and make treatment consistent with unemployment insurance waivers.
During the work session Nathan Stevens, director of contributions and recovery at the Employment Department, confirmed the bill’s proposed language matches the unemployment insurance (UI) statute and provides the director discretion but that the agency lacks precedent and system capability for blanket waivers across an industry. “If we did receive a request for a blanket waiver, we would follow the approach of looking at each employer individually,” Stevens said.
Committee action: a member moved SB 859 to the Senate floor “with the due pass recommendation.” Vice Chair Bowne was recorded making the motion; Chair Taylor said there was no objection and the motion passed. Chair Taylor volunteered to carry the bill to the floor. The committee closed the work session on SB 859 after the floor motion passed.
The Employment Department and business advocates framed the bill as a technical alignment that would let staff make individual determinations about collection in cases of overpayments or debts under Paid Leave Oregon. The agency noted there would be an administrative cost to implementing any new testing or processes if the discretion were used broadly; committee discussion emphasized that the language mirrors existing UI statute rather than creating a new, broader authority.
