SENATOR DIANE ROSENBAUM   DISTRICT 21 - PORTLAND CHAIR, SENATE COMMERCE & WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

 

News Release

 

April 6, 2009

Contact Kristie Perry: (503) 986-1721

 

 

Senate committee hears from coalition pressing

the state to prepare a strategic plan for improving diversity

 

SALEM -- The Senate Committee on Commerce and Workforce Development today heard testimony from elected officials, community groups and apprentice advocates today on a package of three bills designed to improve access to the workforce and contracting opportunities in construction for women and people of color.  Senate Committee Chair Diane Rosenbaum (D- Portland) and her committee members heard three bills, Senate Bills 894, 895 and 896.

 

“It is important to prepare and train more women and minorities in the trades right now so they can access new opportunities in construction related to renewable energy and energy efficiency,” said Senator Rosenbaum.  “Women are 25% more likely to succeed in nontraditional occupations when the public takes steps to help assure their success,” she said.

 

“Michigan, Missouri and Wisconsin are engaged in collaborative efforts to adopt strategic plans to increase diversity in construction,” said Representative Chip Shields (D- North Portland).  Shields told committee members that “Oregon needs to learn from this work and then adopt plans to do it the Oregon Way.”  Representative Shields and many of his colleagues introduced similar bills in the House. 

 

"Everyone in Oregon pays the taxes that shape our state infrastructure, and all of us use our public spaces.  We must ensure that all Oregonians benefit from the jobs created when we award the contracts that build our state," said House Majority Leader Mary Nolan (D-Portland).

 

“State studies have shown that women and minority groups are underutilized in state contracting and in construction-apprenticeship programs,” said Rep. Nick Kahl (D-Gresham).  Kahl said further, that “the scheduled retirement of many construction workers and the availability of stimulus dollars present a real opportunity to bring more women and minorities into these training programs.  Now is the time to lay that foundation—state contracts and stimulus dollars should benefit all communities.” 

Former Oregon State Treasurer Randall Edwards, now Co-Chair of the Oregon League of Minority Voters, agreed.  “During this time of an incredibly difficult job market, we must not forget that minority families were already suffering higher levels of unemployment and fewer workplace opportunities before this economic crisis.  Part of the state and federal stimulus money must be targeted towards minority contractors and workers.  The OLMV supports these bills because it helps Oregon take a longer term view in developing a minority workforce ready to meet the jobs of the future,” said Edwards.  The Oregon League of Minority Voters (OLMV) is a nonprofit that advocates for public policies that uniquely impact all people of color throughout the state.

 

OLMV Co-Chair Sho Dozono, a Portland businessman and former Portland mayoral candidate, stressed “When the state spends over $1.8 billion dollars in one year on construction, diversity needs to be part of our public investment strategy.”

 

Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian also offered supportive testimony today, saying: “These three bills, taken together, represent steps towards a coordinated statewide strategy aimed at providing equal opportunities for all of our citizens, regardless of race, ethnicity or gender, to participate in the building trades as workers and contractors.” He continued, “This is good workforce policy and good for business which should utilize best practices to develop an increasingly diverse workforce.”

 

“These bills give us the tools of transparency and training to help Oregon apply recovery dollars to job creation that lifts all boats,” said Connie Ashbrook, Executive Director of the Oregon Tradeswomen Inc (OTI).  OTI is a nonprofit organization that supports and trains girls and women seeking to enter the trades in the construction, manufacturing and energy sectors. 

 

Other groups supporting the effort to increase diversity, accountability and transparency in state contracting include Construction Apprenticeship & Workforce Solutions (CAWS), Coalition for a Livable Future, the Urban League, and Organizing People Activating Leaders (OPAL).

 

The package consists of three bills that propose:

 

1. To create a Diversity Oversight Board that will prepare a unified state strategic plan with recommended goals and best practices to improve diversity outcomes (SB 895);

 

2. Have the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) conduct a pilot program by using best value contracting on certain projects to see if this method will increase diversity outcomes as it has with TriMet and PDC (SB 896); and

 

3. Require ODOT set aside the maximum amount (one half of one percent) it can from federal highway dollars to train and improve diversity (SB 894).

 

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