Oregon Continues to Legislate Morality
Providing jobs for returning veterans is a noble cause; many local governments and private companies in fact do so. In its zeal to demonstrate concern for veterans, the Oregon legislature has moved the practice from a nice thing to do to one that is mandatory for state agencies (and for the state’s whipping boys, the cities and counties in the state).
A November 11, 2011 article in the Oregonian describes a settlement reached between the Oregon State Hospital and a disabled army reserve veteran resulting from the hospital’s failure to “consider his status as a disabled veteran when weighing his application for a promotion.” In addition to a cash payment to the veteran, as part of the settlement, the hospital agreed to provide training for its staff in applying the point preference system in hiring and promoting vets.
Human resource systems in large bureaucracies such as the state government reduce human beings to a single number (made up of the sum of “points”) when making hiring and promotion decisions. Two individuals with the exact same point count will, presumably, perform exactly the same in a work situation. To give veterans an edge, state agencies and local governments must give them more points for being a veteran, and even more points for being a disabled veteran (the soldier in the Oregonian story was disabled through a knee injury in a training exercise).
Realizing that the law doesn’t go far enough, the Oregon legislature is using its between-sessions break to consider a number of refinements. Rep. Orem Bukshot (R-Toadleg) said, “points are good, but if we’re giving points for some lieutenant shuffling papers on an army base in Arizona, shouldn’t we give more points for some guy who’s actually dodging bullets on the front line in Afghanistan?” Not to be outdone, his counterpart in the Senate, Margaret Beekeep (D-Shiphole) said, “I will insist that more points be given for disabilities that arise through combat.” In an example provided through a press release, a limb lost due to an exploding IED would be awarded 22 points, while a limb lost in a truck accident on I-5 next to Fort Lewis while picking up a pizza order would be awarded only 13.5 points.
Lobbyists from a variety of professional guilds protected by the state have taken notice, and have drafted further amendments. Similar points would be awarded for police officers, firefighters, nurses, pastors and rabbis, social workers, sewer workers, garbage collectors, ambulance drivers, and teachers. Injuries sustained while working would result in extra points; fatal injuries would receive the maximum possible points (100). The proposed amendments would make the point count process mandatory for all employers in the state, including fast food outlets and berry farms.
In recognition of the fact that the forthcoming legislation will make it virtually impossible for normal people to understand the legal requirements for hiring and promotion, a new unit of the State Department of Administrative Services has been created to make the hiring and promotion decisions for all organizations in Oregon, including private companies and nonprofits. This division is encountering difficulty in filling its available positions. In response, the governor has formally petitioned President Obama to initiate another war of adventure, in order to increase the supply of available disabled veterans.
