Contribute to the Holvey Election Campaign

"When you flush the toilet, the lights shouldn't come on." - Rep. Holvey on the importance of investing in a skilled workforce.

Host a Lawn Sign

HB 2662 Press Release

Representative Paul Holvey (HD-8)

May 12, 2005

Contact:  Carrie Gage -503.986.1408

For Immediate Release

House passes Holvey’s bill to help domestic violence victims

HB 2662 broadens unemployment insurance for victims

SALEM—Rep. Paul Holvey (D-Eugene) announced Wednesday that the Oregon House approved his bill to expand unemployment insurance benefits for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.  By a vote of 58-0, the House passed HB 2662, which now goes to the state Senate.

Enacted by the Legislature in 2001, the current law ensures that unemployment benefits are available to anyone who must quit a job for “good cause.”  Holvey, however, explained that the statute has excluded some people whom the Legislature meant to protect.  His bill clarifies the statute and ensures that it provides insurance benefits for victims who must quit their jobs to protect their personal safety or the safety of their children. 

“Without the legal protections offered by House Bill 2662, victims are less likely to leave work to seek safety,” Holvey said. “This legislation enables victims to take critical steps to protect themselves and their children without risking homelessness or bankruptcy.  It helps a very few vulnerable people become survivors.”

Under Holvey’s bill, a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking qualifies for the unemployment insurance after proving that he or she is a victim, and by pursuing reasonable alternatives to leaving a job.  The same provision applies to a parent or guardian of someone who has suffered these kinds of victimization, and must quit a job to ensure personal safety or the safety of a minor child.

Holvey referred to the case of Lane County resident Paula Benitez, whose abusive husband shot her to death in 2004.  Numerous constituents have contacted his office with stories of victims of domestic violence, stories about people who would have left an abusive situation if only they had the financial means to do so, Holvey said. 

“These people, including Paula Benitez, did everything right except leave,” Holvey said.  “Sometimes there’s only enough time to slip out the back and make a new plan.  This bill helps people who face a crisis that threatens their own safety and the safety of the children.”

-###-