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Pulled from
In Mother Words
Governor
Kulongoski yields his chair to NMC Volunteer Lobbyist Diane
Garrett
The NMC's Legislative
Effort.
In the
2005 Oregon Legislative Session, NMC authored and lobbied
for SB 618: The Return to Work and Breastfeeding Bill. This
bill proposed that employers be required to allow unpaid
time and a private location for an employee to express milk
at work. Moved forward by the Senate, it was then contested
in the House. Once it was stripped of the mandate
provisions, it passed the House unanimously with bi-partisan
discussion on the floor. A description of what accommodation
would look like is now in Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) 653.
We were excited to celebrate this step forward with Governor
Kulongoski at a bill-signing ceremony.
Governor Kulongoski at a bill-signing ceremony.
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NMC volunteer, Diane Garrett |
During
the interim in 2006, NMC has worked to gather many voices in
support of breastfeeding mothers in the workplace. For the
2007 session, NMC will proposed amending ORS 653 to make it
a requirement that employers allow a woman to meet her
breastfeeding needs during the work day. In addition, we are
proposing an amendment to ORS 167 so that nudity while
breastfeeding would be exempt from Oregon's definition of
obscenity. Senator Ginny Burdick and Representative Vicki
Berger have reached across the aisle in agreement to sponsor
this bill together. NMC volunteer, Diane Garrett, is hard at
work educating legislators, business groups and pretty much
anyone who will listen about the importance of breastfeeding
to our community. Stay tuned for a bill number!
Donations can
be made to our legislative fund by sending your check to:
Nursing Mother's Counsel of Oregon
C/O Treasurer
818 SW 3rd Ave # 372
Portland,
OR 972042 |
