A bill to end the reimbursement of travel expenses for state employees living outside of Oregon has unanimously passed the state Senate and heads to the House.
Senate Bill 853 was introduced by Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp, R-Bend.
The legislation came in response to a news report last year in the Willamette Week. That August 17, 2022 report found a Department of Administrative Services policy allowed state employees to work remotely in other states and have their travel reimbursed by taxpayers. You can read the full policy here.
The article highlighted the cases of two high-level Oregon Lottery officials who both left the state in 2021 for Texas and Florida. Neither state has an individual income tax.
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The report says each made just under $200,000 in salary. Travel costs for both in 2022, combined, were were just over $4,000.
Knopp estimates the amount of money repaid through the policy ranges from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“If you continue the policy, more people will do it and it will get more expensive over time. And I just don’t think it’s you know, it’s fair to other employees or the taxpayers,” said Knopp.
Knopp says he’s confident the bill will pass the House. One of those in that chamber supporting it is House Minority Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson, R-Prineville.
