One of this legislative session’s most hotly debated bills passed out of the Oregon House on Wednesday morning, now one step closer to becoming law.

Senate Bill 916 would grant striking workers unemployment benefits after two weeks. Debate about the bill has concentrated on how it might affect public employers, specifically cities, counties and school districts. While private employers’ payroll taxes fund Oregon’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, thus cushioning the bill’s impact, public employers don’t pay into this trust and would shoulder the full cost of unemployment benefits.

The bill has been amended in the House, so it will head back to the Senate, where it first passed in late March, for another vote. It passed the House on party lines, by a 33-23 vote. In the Senate, two Democ

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