HB 4089
Plain-language analysis
Generated analysis, not an official summary or legal advice. Confirm with linked Oregon documents.
HB 4089 expands Oregon’s theft-of-services statute to explicitly cover intent to avoid full or partial payment, establishes criminal liability for general contractors and subcontractors who knowingly hire unlicensed construction labor contractors, elevates penalties for unauthorized use of contractor license numbers to Class C felonies, and mandates the Interagency Compliance Network to develop joint investigative methods targeting wage theft and tax/employment noncompliance. Material consequences include increased criminal exposure for construction industry hiring practices, coordinated multi-agency enforcement against payroll fraud, and clarified parallel civil-criminal remedy pathways for workers.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Enrolled
Official sources do not state why this measure was proposed.
Sponsor testimony, staff summaries, committee materials, or statutory findings may explain it.
Inferred from cited text; not a stated purpose.
The text’s structure—aggregating theft values over 30- and 180-day windows, mandating interagency data sharing for cash-pay workers, and criminalizing the hiring of unlicensed contractors—supports a bounded hypothesis that fragmented civil-only remedies have proven insufficient to deter systemic wage theft in construction.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Enrolled
Face new criminal liability (Class A misdemeanor, escalating to Class C felony) for knowingly hiring unlicensed construction labor contractors.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Enrolled
Gain a clarified criminal theft-of-services pathway alongside existing civil/administrative wage claims, with potential for faster multi-agency enforcement.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Enrolled
Face elevated Class C felony charges for unauthorized use of contractor license numbers or acting without proper licensure.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Enrolled
Must coordinate through the Interagency Compliance Network to develop joint audit methods and share data on cash-pay workers and theft-of-services suspects.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Enrolled
General contractors must verify construction labor contractor licensure before contracting, with criminal penalties for failure to do so knowingly. Workers may pursue parallel civil and criminal actions without statutory preclusion. Minimal immediate fiscal impact is reported, but agencies may request future funding for training and investigations if enforcement activity increases. Multi-agency data sharing bypasses standard confidentiality statutes for network meetings, streamlining investigations. Criminal tiers depend strictly on aggregated service value ($0-$99 misdemeanor to $10k+ felony), with no new eligibility thresholds.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Enrolled; Fiscal Impact Statement B
Construction direct contractors and subcontractors
A subcontractor systematically hires a licensed contractor who then illegally subcontracts to an unlicensed crew, causing widespread unpaid wages across multiple projects. Under HB 4089, the subcontractor faces Class C felony charges, and coordinated DOJ/BOLI audits recover back wages and penalties rapidly through shared data, deterring industry-wide wage theft networks.
Basis: Inferred
Construction direct contractors and subcontractors
A small contractor makes a good-faith administrative error in verifying a subcontractor’s license status due to outdated state records. The contractor is charged with a Class C felony for a subsequent offense, faces severe collateral consequences, and chills legitimate contracting activity despite lacking intent to defraud workers.
Basis: Inferred
The text legally permits criminal prosecution of contractors who knowingly hire unlicensed laborers and authorizes interagency data sharing for enforcement purposes. However, weak enforcement or misclassification could lead to disproportionate felony charges against contractors relying on ambiguous licensure statuses, or agencies could overbroadly classify routine payroll discrepancies as “theft of services” to bypass civil wage claim procedures, effectively criminalizing administrative errors or expanding regulatory duty creep into standard business compliance.
HB 4089 trades expanded criminal liability and interagency enforcement authority for workers against the risk of overcriminalizing routine construction contracting errors and straining agency resources with minimal immediate fiscal backing. Upsides include stronger deterrence against systemic wage theft and clearer civil-criminal remedy pathways; downsides include potential felony exposure for good-faith licensing mistakes and unquantified long-term enforcement costs.
Stronger deterrence against systemic wage theft through coordinated multi-agency enforcement and clarified parallel civil-criminal remedy pathways.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Enrolled
Potential felony exposure for good-faith licensing mistakes and unquantified long-term enforcement costs.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Enrolled
The enrolled version retains the B-Eng structure and adds explicit statutory definitions for “construction labor contractor,” “direct contractor,” and “subcontractor” in Section 4(7)(c) to clarify criminal liability thresholds. No substantive policy changes were introduced between the A-Eng and enrolled versions.
Added explicit definitions for “construction labor contractor,” “direct contractor,” and “subcontractor” to clarify criminal liability thresholds.
Reduces ambiguity in applying the new Class A misdemeanor/Class C felony tiers to direct contractors and subcontractors.
Sources · Enrolled
Tradeoff: Clarifies definitions for “construction labor contractor,” “direct contractor,” and “subcontractor” to clarify criminal liability thresholds. No substantive policy changes were introduced between the A-Eng and enrolled versions.
high confidence. Analysis is grounded exclusively in the enrolled bill text and official fiscal/staff summaries. No legislative intent or external events are assumed.
Possible effects if adopted; not current bill text.
If adopted, the amendment would criminalize a direct contractor or subcontractor’s knowing decision to hire a construction labor contractor whose license has been revoked or suspended under ORS 658.445, classifying it as a Class A misdemeanor for first offenses and a Class C felony for repeat offenders, while explicitly excluding contractors licensed under ORS chapter 701 or exempt from those requirements.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Amendment -A7 — proposed amendment; Fiscal Impact Statement A; Fiscal Impact Statement B
Official sources do not state why this measure was proposed.
Sponsor testimony, staff summaries, committee materials, or statutory findings may explain it.
Inferred from cited text; not a stated purpose.
The amendment likely aims to close a potential enforcement gap by explicitly treating the hiring of a contractor with a revoked or suspended license as equivalent to hiring an unlicensed one, ensuring that contractors cannot avoid liability by claiming they hired someone who technically held a license at some point. This inference is drawn from the text’s specific focus on licenses that are 'revoked or suspended under ORS 658.445' and its explicit exclusion of chapter 701 licensed entities.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Amendment -A7 — proposed amendment; Staff Measure Summary A; Staff Measure Summary B
Face new criminal liability for knowingly contracting with labor contractors whose licenses are revoked or suspended, requiring stricter pre-contract verification of both active licensure and current disciplinary standing.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Amendment -A7 — proposed amendment; Fiscal Impact Statement A
Those with revoked or suspended licenses face increased scrutiny; those licensed under ORS chapter 701 or exempt from licensure are explicitly shielded from this provision.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -A7 — proposed amendment
Tasked with enforcing the new criminal standard, potentially requiring updated compliance training, verification protocols, and coordination with law enforcement.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Fiscal Impact Statement A; Fiscal Impact Statement B
Will handle increased prosecutions for Class A misdemeanors and Class C felonies related to construction labor contracting, alongside parallel civil wage claims.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Fiscal Impact Statement A; Fiscal Impact Statement B
Contractors must verify not only active licensure but also current disciplinary standing before hiring, creating a dependency on timely BOLI database updates.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Amendment -A7 — proposed amendment; Fiscal Impact Statement A
The measure preserves existing civil and administrative wage claims, meaning criminal prosecution runs parallel to civil liability without precluding other remedies.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Fiscal Impact Statement A; Fiscal Impact Statement B
Fiscal impacts are projected as minimal for state agencies and local governments, with enforcement costs dependent on the actual number of investigations and training needs.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Fiscal Impact Statement A; Fiscal Impact Statement B
The amendment operates as an Oregon statutory change, while incorporating definitions from other Oregon Revised Statutes chapters for scope.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -A7 — proposed amendment
Construction industry and workers
A large commercial developer implements rigorous contractor vetting aligned with the amendment, resulting in a measurable reduction of unpaid wages and improved safety compliance across multiple construction sites.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Fiscal Impact Statement A
Small residential contractors
A small contractor hires a labor provider whose license was suspended due to a clerical error that BOLI has not yet updated publicly; the contractor faces felony charges despite acting in good faith and relying on standard verification practices.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -A7 — proposed amendment
The text legally permits prosecution only when a contractor knowingly contracts with a revoked or suspended license holder. Weak enforcement, delayed database updates, or misclassification of exempt contractors could lead to unlawful prosecutions of parties who relied in good faith on official records or whose work falls outside the statutory scope. Duty creep may occur if agencies interpret 'knowingly' broadly to include constructive knowledge rather than actual awareness.
Sources · Amendment -A7 — proposed amendment; Fiscal Impact Statement A
The amendment strengthens worker protections and contractor accountability by criminalizing contracts with suspended or revoked labor providers, but it increases legal exposure for contractors who depend on potentially delayed licensing data or face ambiguous exemption classifications.
Enhanced deterrence against wage theft and exploitation in the construction sector.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Fiscal Impact Statement A
Clearer criminal liability standards for direct contractors and subcontractors verifying labor provider status.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -A7 — proposed amendment
Increased prosecution burden on district attorneys and courts for Class A misdemeanors and Class C felonies.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Fiscal Impact Statement A
Potential for good-faith contractors to face criminal liability if licensing databases are not updated in real time.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -A7 — proposed amendment
medium confidence. The amendment text is clear on its criminal penalties and definitions, but lacks explicit legislative rationale or industry impact data. Fiscal projections are minimal but contingent on actual enforcement volume.
The amendment creates a new criminal offense under Oregon law for direct contractors and subcontractors who knowingly hire construction labor contractors that are legally required to hold a license but do not, escalating penalties from a Class A misdemeanor for first offenses to a Class C felony for repeat offenders. If adopted, it would shift enforcement of unlicensed contracting practices from civil administrative actions to criminal prosecution, requiring contractors to verify licensure status and exposing them to potential incarceration and permanent criminal records.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Amendment -A6 — proposed amendment; Fiscal Impact Statement A
Official sources do not state why this measure was proposed.
Sponsor testimony, staff summaries, committee materials, or statutory findings may explain it.
Inferred from cited text; not a stated purpose.
Lawmakers likely intend to deter the use of unlicensed labor in construction by increasing the legal and financial risk for hiring entities, thereby reducing wage theft and improving industry compliance.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Amendment -A6 — proposed amendment; Fiscal Impact Statement A; Staff Measure Summary B
Face new criminal liability for knowingly hiring unlicensed labor contractors. Must implement rigorous verification procedures before contracting and bear the risk of misdemeanor or felony charges, legal defense costs, and potential loss of licensure or bonding capacity.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Amendment -A6 — proposed amendment; Fiscal Impact Statement A
Unlicensed operators face reduced market access as hiring entities avoid criminal exposure. Licensed operators may experience less price competition but could also face tighter project timelines if contractor hiring slows.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Fiscal Impact Statement A; Staff Measure Summary B
Potentially benefit from reduced wage theft and safer worksites if unlicensed operators are deterred. May face fewer job opportunities or delayed payments if contractors reduce hiring to mitigate criminal risk.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Fiscal Impact Statement A
Assume new responsibilities for investigating and prosecuting criminal violations rather than relying solely on civil wage claims. May require updated training and future resource requests to handle increased caseloads.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Fiscal Impact Statement A; Fiscal Impact Statement B
Contractors must actively verify license status and retain documentation before engaging labor contractors, shifting compliance from a civil record-keeping duty to a criminal due diligence requirement.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Amendment -A6 — proposed amendment; Staff Measure Summary B
The 'knowingly' standard requires proof of actual awareness, which may complicate prosecutions but protects contractors who conduct good-faith verification.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -A6 — proposed amendment
Fiscal impact is projected as minimal for the current biennium, but agencies may request additional funding later if investigation volumes or training needs increase.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Fiscal Impact Statement A; Fiscal Impact Statement B
Construction industry and workers
A major general contractor systematically audits all subcontractors, eliminates unlicensed labor entirely, and reports a significant reduction in wage theft claims on its projects, improving worker retention, project timelines, and public safety standards.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Fiscal Impact Statement A
Small residential contractors
A small remodeler hires a handyman who later fails to renew their license due to a bureaucratic delay. The contractor is charged with a Class C felony for a first-time offense because prosecutors interpret circumstantial evidence as satisfying the 'knowingly' standard, leading to severe financial ruin and loss of livelihood despite good-faith compliance efforts.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -A6 — proposed amendment
The text legally permits prosecution only when actual knowledge is proven. Weak enforcement standards or duty creep could transform a targeted criminal provision into a broad compliance tool that penalizes administrative oversight rather than intentional evasion.
Sources · Amendment -A6 — proposed amendment; Fiscal Impact Statement A
The measure trades increased criminal liability and compliance burdens on construction contractors for a stronger deterrent against wage theft and unlicensed labor practices.
Deters exploitation of workers by raising the legal stakes for hiring entities that bypass licensing requirements.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Fiscal Impact Statement A
Aligns contractor accountability with existing civil wage claims, creating a unified enforcement pathway for labor violations.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Fiscal Impact Statement A
Risks overcriminalization of good-faith administrative errors, increasing legal costs and chilling legitimate small-contractor participation.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -A6 — proposed amendment
May reduce labor market flexibility without guaranteeing improved worker outcomes if contractors simply reduce hiring rather than improve compliance.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Fiscal Impact Statement A
high confidence. Analysis is grounded in the explicit text of the proposed amendment, official fiscal and staff summaries, and current bill context. All claims are bounded by the provided documents; speculation is clearly labeled as unknown or inference.
If adopted, this amendment would criminalize the partial or full nonpayment of wages as theft of services under Oregon law, establish tiered felony and misdemeanor penalties based on the aggregate value of unpaid compensation, mandate a multi-agency compliance network with broad data-sharing authority to investigate wage theft and worker misclassification, and elevate criminal penalties for knowingly hiring unlicensed construction labor contractors and misusing contractor license numbers.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -4 — proposed amendment
Official sources do not state why this measure was proposed.
Sponsor testimony, staff summaries, committee materials, or statutory findings may explain it.
Inferred from cited text; not a stated purpose.
The amendment targets cash-based payroll practices and independent contractor misclassification to close enforcement gaps that traditionally allow wage theft to persist without criminal deterrence.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -4 — proposed amendment
Face new criminal liability for underpaying wages or hiring unlicensed labor contractors, alongside mandatory license verification obligations.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -4 — proposed amendment
Gain a statutory framework that treats wage theft as a crime with clear monetary thresholds, potentially increasing recovery rates through coordinated agency action.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -4 — proposed amendment
Must establish intergovernmental agreements, override standard confidentiality rules to share employment and tax data, and develop joint audit procedures for cash-based payroll systems.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -4 — proposed amendment
Contractors must verify labor contractor licenses before engagement to avoid misdemeanor or felony charges.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -4 — proposed amendment
Employers must ensure full payment of agreed compensation to avoid crossing criminal thresholds, with prior disputes within 30 or 180 days aggregating toward prosecution.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -4 — proposed amendment
Agencies will need updated training and potential future funding for joint audits and investigative method development, though official analysis notes minimal immediate fiscal impact.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Amendment -4 — proposed amendment; Fiscal Impact Statement A
Workers and state enforcement agencies
A construction firm systematically classifies dozens of workers as independent contractors to avoid payroll taxes and pays them in cash; the new network enables a joint audit that uncovers the scheme, triggering felony charges under the $10,000 threshold and securing full wage recovery for all affected workers.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -4 — proposed amendment
Small business owners and payroll administrators
A small business owner makes a routine accounting error resulting in a $75 underpayment to an employee; when combined with a separate, unrelated $40 dispute from three weeks prior, the aggregation rule pushes the aggregate past $100, triggering a Class A misdemeanor charge despite the absence of fraudulent intent.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -4 — proposed amendment
The statutory language authorizes broad information gathering on cash payers and misclassified workers without requiring proof of criminal intent for the initial data collection phase, creating a pathway for regulatory overreach if audit thresholds are applied inconsistently.
Sources · Amendment -4 — proposed amendment
Expanding criminal liability and interagency data-sharing powers for wage theft strengthens worker protections but risks overcriminalizing minor payroll disputes and burdening small employers with heightened regulatory scrutiny.
Clearer criminal thresholds and coordinated agency enforcement may deter systemic wage theft and improve recovery rates for vulnerable workers.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -4 — proposed amendment
Aggregation rules and broad data-sharing exemptions may increase prosecution risks for administrative errors and strain small business compliance resources.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -4 — proposed amendment
high confidence. The analysis is grounded exclusively in the supplied proposed amendment text and official fiscal/staff summaries. No legislative intent or external events are assumed.
The amendment would expand Oregon’s theft-of-services statute to criminalize partial or nonpayment of wages, establish a multi-agency compliance network to share employment and tax data across confidentiality barriers, create criminal penalties for hiring unlicensed construction labor contractors, and elevate contractor license fraud to a felony. If adopted, it would shift certain wage disputes from civil to criminal enforcement in specific circumstances, mandate interagency coordination that bypasses standard public meeting rules, and impose new criminal liability on contractors who engage unlicensed workers.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Official sources do not state why this measure was proposed.
Sponsor testimony, staff summaries, committee materials, or statutory findings may explain it.
Inferred from cited text; not a stated purpose.
The amendment suggests an effort to close enforcement gaps by treating partial wage nonpayment as criminal theft of services and targeting cash-based payroll practices through interagency data sharing. This aligns with provisions that explicitly add full or partial payment to the intent requirement, mandate information gathering on cash payers and worker misclassification, and require joint audits of entities avoiding tax or employment laws.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Face new criminal liability for knowingly hiring unlicensed labor contractors and potential theft-of-services charges for partial wage payments, with transaction values aggregable over 30 or 180 days.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Gain a parallel criminal enforcement pathway alongside existing civil remedies, potentially increasing recovery rates for unpaid wages but also exposing them to potential misclassification disputes.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Must execute intergovernmental agreements, share confidential employment and tax data, conduct joint audits, and coordinate enforcement without standard public meeting requirements.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Gain expanded prosecutorial authority over wage-related conduct and license fraud, with new felony classifications for contractor violations.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Contractors must verify labor contractor licensure before hiring and may face Class A misdemeanors or Class C felonies for knowingly using unlicensed workers. Employers could be prosecuted for partial wage payments if intent to avoid payment is established, with transaction values aggregable over 30 or 180 days. Agencies must formalize data-sharing agreements that override standard confidentiality statutes and exempt coordination meetings from public meeting laws, streamlining investigations but reducing transparency. Fiscal impact statements indicate minimal immediate costs, though agencies may request future resources for training and enforcement operations.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment; Fiscal Impact Statement A
Construction industry workers and enforcement agencies
A construction firm systematically underpays dozens of workers by misclassifying them as independent contractors and paying in cash; the new network enables joint audits that uncover the scheme, leading to felony convictions for the hiring entity and full restitution for workers without lengthy civil litigation.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Small business owners and payroll administrators
A small business owner makes a good-faith accounting error or misclassifies a worker due to ambiguous guidance, pays partial wages during a cash-flow shortage, and faces a Class C felony theft-of-services charge because the statute removes the full payment requirement and allows aggregation of transactions over 180 days.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
The text legally permits interagency data sharing for employment and tax compliance, criminal prosecution for intentional wage avoidance, and felony charges for hiring unlicensed labor contractors. A potentially unlawful outcome could arise if agencies use the broad theft-of-services definition to criminally prosecute routine civil wage disputes, misclassify workers based on weak evidence, or leverage the confidentiality exemption to share data beyond its statutory purpose, effectively bypassing due process protections normally required for criminal investigations.
Sources · Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Expanding criminal liability and mandating interagency data sharing strengthens enforcement against wage theft and unlicensed labor but risks overcriminalizing civil payment disputes and reducing transparency through confidentiality exemptions.
Provides a direct criminal enforcement tool for wage theft, potentially accelerating restitution for workers who previously faced lengthy civil proceedings.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Mandates coordinated interagency audits and data sharing, which could uncover systemic payroll fraud and unlicensed contractor networks more efficiently.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Removes the full payment requirement for theft of services, increasing the risk that accounting errors or temporary cash-flow shortages trigger felony charges.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Bypasses standard public meeting and confidentiality rules for interagency coordination, reducing transparency and potentially enabling data sharing beyond statutory enforcement purposes.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
high confidence. The analysis relies exclusively on the supplied proposed amendment text and official fiscal/revenue impact statements. All claims are grounded in explicit statutory language or official legislative documents. No speculation is presented as fact.
If adopted, this amendment would narrow the original bill by removing proposed criminal penalties for general wage payment disputes and instead focus on criminalizing the use of unlicensed labor contractors, elevating penalties for contractor license fraud, and establishing a new interagency network to coordinate enforcement against worker misclassification and tax/employment noncompliance. Material consequences include shifted enforcement priorities toward contractor licensing and classification consistency, with minimal direct fiscal impact but potential increases in administrative coordination and criminal prosecutions related to contractor fraud.
Basis: Stakeholder claim · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Official sources do not state why this measure was proposed.
Sponsor testimony, staff summaries, committee materials, or statutory findings may explain it.
Inferred from cited text; not a stated purpose.
The amendment likely responds to legislative or stakeholder concerns that the originally introduced bill’s broad criminalization of wage payment practices could overextend criminal law into routine civil employment disputes, prompting a pivot toward targeting contractor licensing fraud and systemic misclassification instead.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Face new criminal liability for knowingly using unlicensed labor contractors and for license number misuse; subject to mandatory interagency data sharing, joint audits, and classification consistency mandates.
Basis: Stakeholder claim · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Lose the proposed direct criminal pathway for general wage theft but retain civil and administrative remedies; may benefit from improved interagency enforcement of misclassification and licensing rules.
Basis: Stakeholder claim · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Gain statutory authority to form an Interagency Compliance Network, share confidential employment and tax data across agencies, conduct joint audits, and coordinate enforcement without public meeting restrictions.
Basis: Stakeholder claim · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Contractors must verify labor contractor licensure before hiring; agencies must establish intergovernmental agreements for data sharing and joint audits. Criminal penalties shift toward licensing violations rather than wage calculation disputes, while workers retain civil wage claim options. Employers face heightened criminal risk for contractor vetting failures and license fraud.
Basis: Stakeholder claim · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Subcontractors and workers
A subcontractor systematically using unlicensed crews to undercut bids is swiftly prosecuted under the new felony provisions, while the Interagency Network successfully dismantles a multi-agency misclassification ring, recovering millions in unpaid wages through coordinated civil actions.
Basis: Stakeholder claim · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Small contractors and workers
A small contractor with a clerical licensing lapse faces a Class C felony charge for unknowingly engaging an unlicensed laborer, while a large employer avoids criminal liability by structuring payments to fall outside the narrowed theft of services definition, leaving workers to navigate costly civil litigation alone.
Basis: Stakeholder claim · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
The text legally permits interagency data sharing and joint audits targeting tax/employment compliance. Weak enforcement or broad interpretation could lead to duty creep, where routine payroll discrepancies are treated as criminal misclassification schemes, or confidential business records are shared beyond statutory purposes despite the 'only for enforcing compliance' limitation.
Sources · Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
The measure trades broad criminalization of wage payment disputes for targeted criminal penalties on contractor licensing fraud and systemic misclassification enforcement. Upsides: Reduces criminal overreach into civil labor disputes while strengthening coordinated enforcement against unlicensed operations. Downsides: Leaves general wage theft to civil remedies only, potentially increasing litigation burdens on workers, while expanding interagency data-sharing powers raises privacy and compliance costs for businesses.
Reduces criminal overreach into civil labor disputes while strengthening coordinated enforcement against unlicensed operations.
Basis: Stakeholder claim · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Leaves general wage theft to civil remedies only, potentially increasing litigation burdens on workers, while expanding interagency data-sharing powers raises privacy and compliance costs for businesses.
Basis: Stakeholder claim · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
high confidence. Analysis is grounded exclusively in the supplied proposed amendment text and official fiscal/staff summaries. No enacted status or prior published bill-text comparison is claimed.
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Earliest loaded signal
Introduced bill text posted
Posted Jan 28, 2026, 3:25 PM PST
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Selected document summary
Substantial replacement
What the document says to change
Delete lines 5 through 23 and delete pages 2 through 6 and insert:
Inferred policy relationships
Likely revised proposal · Amendment -4
High confidence from shared inserted text: ORS 164.125, ORS 174.111, ORS 192.610, ORS 314.835, ORS 652.197, Effective date.
This is a text-based early signal, not an official statement that one amendment changes the other.
No deeper official pre-number history was found.
Chief sponsors: Representative Thuy Tran, Senator Courtney Neron Misslin, Representative Lesly Muñoz, Representative Farrah Chaichi, Representative Gregory Smith, Senator James Manning Jr., Senator Floyd Prozanski
Regular sponsors: Representative Tom Andersen, House Majority Leader Ben Bowman, Representative Paul Evans, Representative Lisa Fragala, Representative Mark Gamba, Representative Zach Hudson, Representative Shannon Isadore, Representative Cyrus Javadi, Representative Sarah McDonald, Representative Susan McLain, Representative Travis Nelson, Representative Nathan Sosa, Representative Lamar Wise, Senator Wlnsvey Campos, Senator Sara Gelser Blouin, Senator Jeff Golden, Senator Kayse Jama, Senator Deb Patterson, Representative Nancy Nathanson, Representative Sue Rieke Smith, Representative Jason Kropf, Representative Mari Watanabe, Senator Janeen Sollman
House carrier
Representative Dacia Grayber
Third Reading Of House Bills · Version B
Senate carrier
Senator Courtney Neron Misslin
Third Reading Of House Measures · Version B
A carrier presents the measure or report but is not necessarily its sponsor or author.
Records already listed in Activity are not repeated here.
Official origin records are incomplete; missing facts are not inferred.
48 events
Full timeline
48 entries shown.
Chapter 53, (2026 Laws): Effective date January 1, 2027.
Governor signed.
President signed.
Speaker signed.
Third reading. Carried by Neron Misslin. Passed.
Ayes, 26; Nays, 2--Linthicum, Robinson; Excused, 2--Drazan, Hayden.
Second reading.
Recommendation: Do pass the B-Eng. bill.
Staff Measure Summary · Version B
Public Hearing and Work Session held.
Public Hearing and Work Session
Heard and Reported Out · Agenda item 2 · Room HR C · Modifies the crime of theft of services to include partial payments.
IS_Impact HB 4089 B
Revenue Impact Statement
Referred to Rules.
First reading. Referred to President's desk.
Third reading. Carried by Grayber. Passed.
Ayes, 33; Nays, 9--Boice, Breese-Iverson, Cate, Elmer, Harbick, Levy B, Owens, Scharf, Wallan; Excused, 17--Boshart Davis, Diehl, Edwards, Helfrich, Javadi, Lewis, Mannix, McIntire, Nelson, Osborne, Pham H, Reschke, Skarlatos, Tran, Valderrama, Wright, Yunker; Excused for Business of the House, 1--Hartman.
Second reading.
House Amendments to A-Engrossed bill text posted
Recommendation: Do pass with amendments and be printed B-Engrossed.
Public Hearing and Work Session held.
Public Hearing and Work Session
Heard and Reported Out with Amendments · Agenda item 2 · Room HR 50 · Modifies the crime of theft of services to include partial payments.
Amendment -A7 proposed
IS_Impact HB 4089 A6
Revenue Impact Statement
Amendment -A6 adopted
House Amendments to Introduced bill text posted
Referred to Rules by order of Speaker.
Without recommendation as to passage, with amendments, be printed A-Engrossed, and be referred to Rules.
Work Session held.
Work Session
Heard and Reported Out with Amendments · Agenda item 4 · Room HR 60 · CARRIED OVER FROM THE 2/11/2026 MEETING: Specifically includes in the crime of theft of services the nonpayment of compensation of employees and independent contractors.
IS_Impact HB 4089 4
Revenue Impact Statement
Amendment -4 adopted
Amendment -1 proposed
Work Session
Not Heard · Agenda item 3 · Room HR 60 · Specifically includes in the crime of theft of services the nonpayment of compensation of employees and independent contractors.
IS_Impact HB 4089 1
Revenue Impact Statement
Amendment -1 proposed
Public Hearing held.
Public Hearing scheduled.
Public Hearing
Heard · Agenda item 2 · Room HR 60 · Specifically includes in the crime of theft of services the nonpayment of compensation of employees and independent contractors.
Referred to Labor and Workforce Development.
First reading. Referred to Speaker's desk.
“Enrolled bill text posted”
Confirm with the official record.
Supplemental, source-linked analysis from project researchers and community contributors. It is separate from Oregon's official record.