Task force offers recommendations to improve Oregon's agricultural housing

A task force commissioned by Gov. Kate Brown to address issues and solutions in agricultural housing has submitted its recommendations to the Governor’s Office.

Participants and labor advocates said the effort was a good start; but agriculture representatives said they felt left out of the process.

Employer-provided housing is regulated and enforced by Oregon OSHA.

There are 400 registered labor housing facilities, or “camps,” in Oregon, according to Oregon OSHA’s registry. Oregon Law Center estimates those units house roughly 10,000 farmworkers and family members.

The task force was comprised of representatives from various state agencies including Oregon OSHA, Oregon Department of Agriculture and Oregon Housing and Community Services.

It had its last formal meeting Oct. 28 and submitted recommendations to the Governor’s Office a month later. Each recommendation addressed the group’s three goals: coordinating compliance across different agencies and jurisdictions; finding ways to fund improvements to new and current housing stock; and looking at statewide infrastructure issues like zoning regulations and water resources.

“It was a really good first step,” task force facilitator Lou Savage said. “The work is not done. But we came up with some solid recommendations for moving forward.”

Further coordination necessary for compliance

Conversations like the ones the task force had, with different agencies all at the same table, are precisely what those agencies need to understand each player’s distinct role in the agricultural housing infrastructure, the task force concluded.

The group’s first recommendation to Brown’s office is for state agencies to continue communicating.

But for some agriculture representatives, the task force was a solution looking for a problem.

At several meetings, representatives from the Oregon Farm Bureau and Oregon Association of Nurseries said they felt accusations were being made without any supporting evidence and that the task force should "talk to actual labor housing providers."

It's true that “most” employers are in compliance, Oregon OSHA spokesperson Aaron Corvin said. But the task force determined there are enough violations to cause concern.

"There are serious health and safety issues at a significant number of on-farm housing locations," the memo to Brown states.

Oregon OSHA recorded 51 violations in 2021. Labor advocates from PCUN and Oregon Law Center testified to some of the housing conditions they have observed over the years: missing windows, overcrowding, unhygienic facilities.

But there is confusion, task members found, over which agencies are responsible for enforcement, and how those agencies should communicate with each other when violations are discovered. Should the Bureau of Labor and Industries, for example, communicate with Oregon OSHA if they discover a housing violation over which they have no jurisdiction?

"Given the current limited resources available to Oregon OSHA, referrals and coordination are critical in identifying serious health and safety concerns," the memo said.

The task force agreed agencies should coordinate compliance and maintain consistent channels of communication so each agency understands its responsibility — and understands the rules.

"I think [cross-agency collaboration] is something that we want to see as ongoing," Ira Cuello-Martinez, policy director for PCUN, said. "From PCUN's end, we want to see stronger enforcement and being able to have a strong collaboration between state agencies so agencies can communicate with each other [about] compliance."

Money where the house is

Perhaps the most immediately impactful recommendation, Savage said, is funding for a grant program dedicated to improving existing housing stock.

Financial assistance exists for farmers who want to build new housing on their properties through a tax credit from Oregon Housing and Community Services. But growers who testified at task force meetings observed that it also costs money to maintain their housing units and keep them compliant.

The new grant program, called Funding Agriculture: Residence Modernization, or FARM, would be administered and managed by Oregon Housing and Community Services. Funds could be used for infrastructure improvements that bring existing housing up to OSHA standards, or to help offset operating costs or improvements, according to the memo.

The task force recommended allocating $5 million for the grant program.

Oregon Association of Nurseries President Jeff Stone said the grant program seems productive on paper, but he's waiting to see how (and if) it actually helps.

"Grants are subject to availability and dollars," Stone said. "There are a lot of promises. I would want to see how it would work."

Labor advocates, meanwhile, said they want more specificity regulating how the grant funding is used.

"[The grant] should name specific projects," said Martha Sonato, policy advisor for the Oregon Law Center, at the task force's final meeting.

Sonato said she and other advocates have consistently testified in favor of specific capital improvements like kitchens, hygienic bathrooms, and updated electrical panels that accommodate air conditioning units. Grant funding, she said, should be directly tied to such projects.

Sonato said labor advocates also have "concerns about the operating cost" stipulation. Ideally, she said, all of the grant money would fund projects that directly improve farmworkers' living standards. Operating costs are just a cost of doing business.

Water quality needs further discussion

The final recommendation is to "continue efforts to create a coordinate approach" to infrastructure issues related to employer-provided housing.

The task force determined OHCS's Agricultural Workforce Facilitation Team is the proper venue for such discussions. It already exists, and has the capacity to facilitate communication across state agencies, the memo said.

The biggest infrastructure issue raised in task force meetings was water.

It's an issue that "crosses jurisdiction lines of several agencies" including the Oregon Health Authority and Oregon Water and Resources Department, the memo said.

Farmers have an obligation to provide safe and adequate drinking water, but the task force found that not everyone knows which agency, or agencies, regulate water quality, because such regulation varies across the state.

The task force came to no concrete conclusions about how to ensure water quality, but agreed it should be a priority topic in future discussions.

"We were just able to scratch the surface," Savage said.

Agricultural input

Stone said he felt the agriculture industry at large was excluded from the task force.

"Our opinion was not sought," he said.

But Savage said the water issue is evidence to the contrary. The fact that water was even addressed is a testament to farmers' involvement and input in the task force.

"The reason the water issue came to the table was because [of] growers," Savage said. "At the second meeting, we asked growers to make a presentation on what their concerns were. That's how water came up."

The task force was intentionally comprised of only state agencies, Savage said. They are the ones with the power to regulate.

But Stone said he and other grower representatives would have liked the chance to participate more fully. Stone would have joined the task force if he were invited, he said. And state agencies aren't living in the daily reality of agriculture.

"I certainly understand [state agencies] feel responsible for solving the problem," Stone said. "But sometimes you have to look in the mirror to understand you are the problem."

What's next?

The recommendations proposed by the task force are just that: recommendations. They have no legal or binding power unless the Governor's Office acts on them.

Brown commissioned the task force to pass recommendations onto her successor. Governor-elect Tina Kotek will decide what, if anything, she will do with them when she takes office in January.

Kotek's office did not provide a comment by press time. Her campaign was endorsed by PCUN, the farmworker's union.

But individual agencies still have work to do to fortify the task force's recommendations. Details about the grant program, for example, will be "worked out by OHCS, in consultation with community and agricultural partners, as well as task force members," the memo said.

Oregon OSHA began updating its rules about farmworker housing in 2019. The process was delayed by the pandemic, Corvin said, but resumed in 2022. The agency anticipates proposing new or updated rules in 2023 for public comment, Corvin said.

But Savage and Corvin said it is important to distinguish the rule-making process from the task force recommendations. The task force did not recommend new or improved agricultural housing rules. Instead, it provided a framework for future lawmakers to use in their discussions.

Savage said he hopes the task force's recommendations are useful to Oregon OSHA as it updates housing rules next year.

"There are no rules that are being proposed," Savage said.

But, he added, "any time there's discussion amongst agencies, that's a good thing for public policy. Any time an agency can get that kind of information, it's useful."

"This was a really good first step," Savage said. "But the work is not done."

Shannon Sollitt covers agricultural workers through Report for America, a program that aims to support local journalism and democracy by reporting on under-covered issues and communities. Send tips, questions and comments to ssollitt@statesmanjournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Agricultural housing task force submits memo to Gov. Brown