House Bill 2007 passes 34-26, Senate Bill 2 Passes 35-25; Both Bills Receive Bi-Partisan Support
(SALEM) - Today, after nearly 4 hours of debate on the House floor, both The Oregon Family Fairness Act (House Bill 2007) and The Oregon Equality Act (Senate Bill 2) passed the Oregon House with bipartisan support.
Senate Bill 2 will ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in areas such as employment, housing, public accommodation and public education.
House Bill 2007 will create a new statute in Oregon law, separate from Oregon's marriage statutes, to provide same-sex couples with Domestic Partnerships. These Domestic Partnerships provide Oregon's same-sex couples and their families with many of the basic protections, rights, and responsibilities under state law, currently only afforded through a marriage contract. It differs substantially from marriage in several ways – including that the protections of Domestic Partnerships are not portable outside the boundaries of the state of Oregon.
After the historic votes, Basic Rights Oregon's Interim Executive Director Aisling Coghlan said, "Today's votes reaffirm the State's fundamental responsibility and commitment to protect all Oregon families, and to ensure that Oregonians can live and work in an atmosphere without legalized discrimination. It also says a great deal about the values of the people of Oregon, their inherent sense of fairness and their dignity. Today we should all be proud to call ourselves Oregonians."
"All Oregonians are entitled to work in a place free of discrimination and harassment regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Senate Bill 2 creates a fair and comprehensive standard for both Oregon workers and employers," she added.
After the vote, Speaker Jeff Merkley said, "Today, the Oregon House made it clear that discrimination of any kind does not belong in our state. Fairness for all Oregonians and their families is a concept in step with the vast majority of Oregonians. I stand here proud of my colleagues who together took two great strides toward a more fair and equal Oregon."
Chair of the House Ethics, Elections and Rules Committee, and co-carrier of the bill Rep. Diane Rosenbaum said, "There are people in our communities who need a piece of legislation to be able to be in the room as their spouse draws their last breath. There are people in our communities who need a piece of legislation to be secure in their employment and housing. These are people who need us, today, to demonstrate the moral courage to recognize that they and their families count."
In his floor speech, House Majority Leader Dave Hunt stated, "Indeed, even in Oregon, our failure to imagine the infinite nature of equality and freedom has too often led us to deny fairness or delay in addressing inequity. Today, the Oregon House has voted to end that."
In her floor speech, Rep. Tina Kotek (D–N. Portland) said, "It's time, colleagues. Our great state should be a place where simple equality for all is the law of the land. Any opening, any possibility, any allowance for discrimination is not right for our great state."
The Next Steps:
House Bill 2007 will now move to the Oregon Senate for committee hearing and floor vote. Senate Bill 2, which passed the Senate on March 21st in a vote of 21-7, will go back to the Senate for a concurrence vote on amendments to the religious exemption made in the House Rules Committee.
If passed in the Senate, the bills will be sent to Governor Kulongoski, who has pledged to sign both pieces of legislation.
Oregon House Passes Two Historic Bills for Basic Fairness and EqualitySalem-News.com