Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian visited the House Labor Committee to advocate for two bills designed to expand the State's "Equal Pay for Equal Work" wage-per-hour laws to all protected classes. Currently, the law prohibits wage discrimination based on gender. If passed, one bill would make it illegal to pay workers less for comparable work based on sexual orientation, color, race, religion or marital status. Another bill would add interns and unpaid employees to the list. The bill is backed by the Oregon Council on Civil Rights.