Myths and Facts - Holvey's Record

Myths and Facts:

Correcting Rep. Holvey's false statements

More to come! Check this space for updates!

Paul Holvey has a great pro-worker record in the Legislature

It's election season, so of course every politician wants to say they have a great record on every issue. But Holvey, with his background as a union carpenter and position as Chair of the Business and Labor Committee, should have a better record than most, right? He says: "I have been a champion for labor my entire career as a union carpenter and in my tenure in the legislature. I have fought hard for worker protections and fair compensation" (www.paulholvey.com)

For a Democrat, he's got a below-average record on labor issues.

When his labor record is set beside other Democrats, Holvey is typically average, and in some cases even far below his colleagues.

On AFSCME's 2022 Legislative Scorecard, Paul Holvey voted "AYE" on 5 out of 5 bills! That's great!... But so did every other House Democrat. What's not shown are the bills that didn't make it to the floor because they didn't have the juice to get out of Holvey's Business and Labor Committee. But was Holvey one of the nine lawmakers honored as "Legislative Champions" for going above and beyond? No, he didn't make that cut... even Republican Bobby Levy from Echo did! (Note: AFSCME has endorsed Paul Holvey.)

On the Oregon Education Association's 2022 Scorecard, Paul Holvey is rated an 83%, which gets a passable B- in school, but compared to his fellow House Democrats means that Paul Holvey tied for 32nd place out of 37. (Note: OEA has endorsed Paul Holvey.)

And let's not forget that he's always been willing to sell workers out when it's politically expedient:

In 2013, despite cautionary memos from attorneys, Holvey voted for SB 822 which attempted to slash public employee pensions. Holvey didn't raise a peep against the bill and in fact supported it, and of course the bill ended up getting overturned by the Supreme Court shortly thereafter.
In 2017, Holvey took testimony on UFCW 555's Predictive Scheduling bill, HB 2193. After hearing from the business opponents without time limits, Holvey then limited labor testimony. He moved the bill to the Rules Committee to die.
In 2019, Holvey took the lead on trying to slash pension benefits once again with SB 1049, despite another cautionary memo from Legislative Counsel that came on the heels of the previous court case on August 31, 2016. Through some creative re-defining of terms, the State managed to pass legal muster after a costly legal battle.