Additions/changes in red.

The Health and Human Services & Public Safety Committee (HHS & PS) has been working to fine-tune the proposed Earned Paid Sick Leave ordinance since April of 2018. Now, after many months of feedback, consideration, and work, we have an updated draft ready for another public hearing. That hearing took place on January 8, 2019 at at 5:30pm in Council Chambers at City Hall, 389 Congress Street.

After the public hearing, the committee made a few more changes to the ordinance, which have been added to the original article below. 

You can download  the current draft of the ordinance here.

To help you wade through the changes, I've provided a section by section guide below. I've also written a quick rundown of what the ordinance does—and what it doesn't do—in a separate blog post. 

On January 8, 2019 the Health and Human Services & Public Safety Committee (HHS & PS) held another public hearing on the proposed Earned Paid Sick Leave ordinance. Here's a quick rundown of the ordinance's main points, including changes that were made at the January 8th meeting after the hearing.

Psst! If you want to get into the weeds, check out my Section by Section Guide to the January 2019 Draft. And please, after you've looked through the information, come tell us what you think on January 8th.

When an item is considered by the City Council, there is always an opportunity for the public to weigh in. In fact, there are often several opportunities.

Items usually work their way through one or more other bodies, such as the Planning Board, the Historic Preservation Board, a Council Committee, or another board, committee, or task force, before coming to the Council, and public comment is accepted throughout the process. 

The City Council itself takes public comment on items in a few  different ways.

  Here's a primer on when you can expect opportunities for public comment  before the Council or a council committee, how a public hearing or public comment period works, and how to contact councilors directly if you don't wish to testify in a public setting. 

On April 24, 2018, the Portland City Council's Health & Human Services and Public Safety Committee will hold a public hearing on the proposed mandatory paid sick leave ordinance. For more about where the committee is in the process of reviewing that ordinance, see my April 19th Paid Sick Leave Ordinance Update. To find out how the public comment period will work, read on!