ORS § 350.379

Current through 2024 Regular Session legislation effective June 6, 2024

Section 350.379 - Use of apprentices, minority individuals and women in qualified contracts; report; exceptions

(1) As used in this section:

(a) "Apprentice" has the meaning given that term in ORS 660.010.

(b) "Community college" means a community college as defined in ORS 341.005 or a community college district as defined in ORS 341.005.

(c) "Institution of higher education" means a public university listed in ORS 352.002, a community college or the Oregon Health and Science University.

(d) "Minority individual" has the meaning given that term in ORS 200.005.

(e) "Qualified contracts":

(A) Means contracts that:

(i) Are for improvements to real property;

(ii) Have a cost that, at the time the contract is executed, is estimated to be greater than $8 million; and

(iii) Are to be paid, in whole or in part, from proceeds of bonds issued by the State of Oregon.

(B) Does not include contracts for purchase or installation of specialty medical or research equipment or any necessary related personal property or fixtures sold or installed by a vendor of such equipment.

(f) "Woman" has the meaning given that term in ORS 200.005.

(2) An institution of higher education may not award a qualified contract to a prospective contractor unless the prospective contractor is a training agent as defined in ORS 660.010.

(3) Except as provided in subsection (5) of this section, an institution of higher education, in all qualified contracts, shall require contractors to:

(a) Award each subcontract with an estimated cost of at least $200,000 only to a subcontractor who is a training agent as defined in ORS 660.010;

(b) Establish and execute a plan for outreach, recruitment and retention of women and minority individuals to perform work under the contract; and

(c) Require any subcontractors engaged by the contractors to abide by the requirements set forth in paragraph (b) of this subsection.

(4) On or before February 1 of each year, institutions of higher education with ongoing qualified contracts shall report to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means or Joint Interim Committee on Ways and Means on the amount of work performed by apprentices, women and minority individuals under qualified contracts.

(5) The requirements of subsection (3) of this section do not apply to a qualified contract if the institution of higher education determines that compliance with the requirements would, with respect to the qualified contract:

(a) Cause unreasonable expense or delay; or

(b) Limit the pool of bidders to fewer than three.

ORS 350.379

Formerly 352.629

Sections 1 and 2, chapter 514, Oregon Laws 2023, provide:

Sec. 1. Pilot program to enhance hiring of students by nonprofit organizations. (1) The Higher Education Coordinating Commission shall establish a pilot program at Portland State University and Eastern Oregon University to enhance the hiring of public university students by eligible nonprofit organizations.

(2) Under the pilot program:

(a) One or more individuals designated as pilot program administrators at each participating public university shall register:

(A) Enrolled students at the participating public university who wish to participate in the pilot program; and

(B) Eligible nonprofit organizations that wish to participate in the pilot program;

(b) The pilot program administrators shall match students who register under paragraph (a)(A) of this subsection with eligible nonprofit organizations that register under paragraph (a)(B) of this subsection and shall match each student, to the degree practicable, with an organization that operates in a field relevant to the student's course of study;

(c) The eligible nonprofit organization shall employ each student that it is matched with for between 10 and 20 hours per week;

(d) The eligible nonprofit organization shall pay each employed student wages at an hourly rate not less than the Oregon minimum wage; and

(e) For each academic term in which a student is employed by an eligible nonprofit organization under this section, the student's cost of tuition at the participating public university shall be reduced by 20 percent.

(3) If a student who is employed by an eligible nonprofit organization under the pilot program stops working for the organization during an academic term:

(a) The student shall continue to receive the discounted tuition described in subsection (2)(e) of this section for that academic term; and

(b) The student may not participate in the pilot program during the following academic term.

(4) Each participating public university shall adopt policies relating to the administration of the pilot program, including but not limited to:

(a) How enrolled students and eligible nonprofit organizations can apply to participate in the pilot program;

(b) The number of enrolled students and eligible nonprofit organizations that can participate in the pilot program during each academic term; and

(c) Subject to subsection (5)(b) of this section, the rate at which the wages paid to students by eligible nonprofit organizations under this section will be subsidized.

(5) Participating public universities may use moneys appropriated by the Legislative Assembly for the purposes of conducting the pilot program:

(a) To offset the reduction in tuition moneys received by participating public universities resulting from the participating public universities' participation in the pilot program;

(b) To reimburse eligible nonprofit organizations that participate in the pilot program no more than 50 percent of the amount the eligible nonprofit organizations paid in wages to students who participate in the pilot program; and

(6) No later than September 15 of each year, each participating public university shall evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot program described in this section and submit, in the manner provided by ORS 192.245, a report on the results of the evaluation to the interim committees of the Legislative Assembly related to higher education.

(7) As used in this section:

(a) "Eligible nonprofit organization" means an organization that:

(A) Is a not-for-profit corporation that is tax exempt under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code; and

(B) Has an annual budget of $5,000,000 or less.

(b) "Participating public university" means:

(A) Portland State University; or

(B) Eastern Oregon University. [2023 c. 514, § 1]

Sec. 2. Section 1 of this 2023 Act is repealed on January 2, 2028. [2023 c. 514, § 2]