Myths and Facts:
Correcting Rep. Holvey's false statements
More to come! Check this space for updates!
The Workers Rights bill Holvey killed was somehow illegal.
The flashpoint of this recall was Holvey's complicity in killing HB 3183, a bill that would have protected workplace rights for thousands of cannabis employees around Oregon. So he's come up with a seemingly solid argument about why he couldn't advance the bill: his attorneys (Legislative Counsel) told him it was illegal:
The quote above is from his website, paulholvey.com, as of June 29, 2023. If you can't read it, it says: "Our Legislative Counsel confirmed twice that the proposed legislation was in fact preempted by federal law and would not be legal." Versions of this premise have been spread far and wide.
Holvey's own attorneys reminded him that's not what they said.
(It says: "... absent judicial guidance on this issue, we cannot predict with certainty how the NLRB or a court would ultimately decide.")
As much as Holvey would like his attorneys to take the blame for his decision-making, they're not having it. After Holvey held up a preliminary advisory memo as evidence that the bill was illegal, a labor attorney with UFCW 555 fired back with an explanation of their own. Then Legislative Counsel issued a response memo on May 15 that clarified their position on both memos. It said:
So even after Rep. Holvey received this letter from Legislative Counsel saying that they could not predict how a court would decide, he characterized the letter as saying that "Legislative Counsel confirmed" that the bill "would not be legal." Whether that's an example of intentional misrepresentation or just poor reading comprehension skills on Rep. Holvey's part, Holvey's own attorneys busted that myth.
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(It's also worth noting that several states including California, New York, and New Jersey have had similar laws on the books for years without any court challenges!)
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And since the actual documents aren't anywhere on Paul Holvey's own website, here are all the relevant documents so you can see for yourself and make up your own mind:
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House Bill 3183 | Proposed amendments
First Legislative Counsel Memo
