Register-Guard Editorial Board, February 24, 2010
At a time when many Oregonians have been knocked to their economic knees by the Great Recession, the Legislature has provided welcome protection for job seekers by approving a bill that would bar most employers from using credit histories to screen potential hires ...
Before Monday’s 33-26 House vote, Rep. Val Hoyle, D-Eugene, told fellow lawmakers about a family in her district in which both parents had lost jobs at the Monaco Coach factory in Coburg. Hoyle said the wife has since undergone treatment for gastric cancer, leaving the family burdened with large medical bills that threaten their credit history.
“This man is going to have to raise five children on his own,” Hoyle said. “I don’t think that looking at his credit score is going to determine whether or not he is going to work hard. He is going to work hard.”
The bill’s critics insisted that state government should do nothing to put additional burdens on businesses already scrambling in a tough economy. But the burdens that bad credit histories can put on individuals in a bad economy are far heavier — especially when businesses would remain free under SB 1045 to vet job candidate through other means and would retain the ability to check credit histories if they are job-related.
Gov. Kulongoski should reflect on Hoyle’s story as he studies SB 1045 and considers whether to add Oregon the growing list of states that restrict credit checks by employers.