SALEM — A bill to end Oregon’s agricultural exemption from higher overtime wages will be considered by a joint committee of lawmakers from both chambers of the Legislature.

On Feb. 22, the House Revenue Committee voted to move House Bill 4002 to a newly created Joint Committee on Farm Worker Overtime, which consists of 10 members from the House and Senate.

Six members are Democrats and four members are Republicans.

“I am hoping a rational solution can be achieved that works for all folks,” said Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner, a member of the House Revenue Committee. Smith said his vote to move the bill shouldn’t be interpreted as support for the legislation.

Proponents of HB 4002 argue the exemption is racist and unfairly discriminates against one type of workers, but critics claim the bill will force farmers to cut weekly work schedules, mechanize their processes and switch to different crops.

Under an amended version of HB 4002 passed by the House Business and Labor Committee, the 40-hour threshold for a time-and-a-half pay rate would be phased in between 2023 and 2027.

Farmers would also be eligible for tax credits that would cover part of their overtime wage payments, up to a total of $27 million per year.

The tax credit would begin next year at a rate of 75% for farmers with fewer than 25 employees and 60% for those with more, then drop each year until hitting 15% for both groups in 2028, its final year.

Tax credits are typically used to encourage certain behavior, like building affordable housing, said Rep. E. Werner Reschke, R-Klamath Falls, a House Revenue Committee member.

“It shouldn’t be used to offset a cost that’s artificially placed on producers,” Reschke said.

Supporters of HB 4002 haven’t been willing to budge on the 40-hour weekly threshold, while farmers don’t see the tax credits as a long-term solution, said Mary Anne Cooper, vice president of government affairs for the Oregon Farm Bureau.

The new joint committee will operate until the closure of the 2022 short legislative session, which must end on March 7.

“It lets them dive in and find out if there is a workable compromise,” Cooper said.