Oregon AFSCME stands in support of Measure 101, a ballot measure which is a fee on hospitals and insurance companies that fund Medicaid, and provides healthcare coverage for 1 in 4 Oregonians. Our Union endorsed support 101 for some pretty simple reasons and we wanted to make sure members understand why.

 On July, 13th, Oregon AFSCME member Zola Neal and her partner narrowly escaped an apartment complex fire in NE Portland, just blocks from the union’s Portland office. While, lucky and thankful to escape unharmed, the couple did lose all of their belongings in the fire and without renter’s insurance, their situation was even tougher. Zola’s community stepped up for her, creating a GoFundMe page and assisting her with housing and support.

In the final days of session, the Legislature passed a bill that they referred to as a “Cost Containment” bill.  The bill had many provisions but, one that received very little scrutiny and no public hearing was a provision to no longer allow two public employees that are covered under either the state healthcare benefit plan, PEBB, or the school district health plans, OEBB, to both be covered as dependents of each other.  While the bill had several good things and some that caused concerns, we opposed it due to the elimination of double coverage for members.  As soon as we heard rumo