SALEM — Oregon lawmakers will consider a proposal to pay essential workers who stayed on the job through the pandemic up to $2,000 in new stimulus payments and a separate $1,200 payment to unemployed Oregonians who return to work in frontline jobs by fall.

Labor leaders and some Democratic lawmakers have been pushing to use money from the latest federal stimulus bill to reward essential workers for their work during COVID-19. The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that Congress approved in March authorizes states to spend some of their stimulus money to reward essential workers and get others back on the job. Oregon received $2.6 billion in all.

A proposal being circulated Friday, June 11, by SEIU Local 503, the largest union representing Oregon state employees, would use $450 million of the state’s share of that stimulus money for the essential worker bonus and the back-to-work incentive.

Here’s how each portion would work:

• The essential worker bonus would be $2,000 for workers whose base pay was less than the state’s average wage in 2019 (roughly $26.50 an hour), or $1,000 for workers earning more than the average but less than 150% of it (around $39.70 an hour). Workers making more than 150% of the state average would receive no bonus.

• Frontline workers who were unemployed during the pandemic but are back on the job for at least four weeks by Oct. 15 would receive $1,200.

The proposed legislation lists 17 categories of eligible job categories, among them health care, law enforcement, education, agriculture, food, energy, transportation, communications, defense, residential shelter work and hygiene products and services.

Workers must have been within 6 feet of the public while on the job or cleaned public facilities. Those who worked remotely would not be eligible.

The legislation is sure to face intense competition for funding as lawmakers hash out budget priorities in the remaining weeks of the legislative session. But Democratic leaders, who control both legislative chambers, have indicated they are open to the idea.

“Legislators are prioritizing bills that help communities impacted by the pandemic. Essential workers are the people hit hardest,” Ben Morris, SEIU spokesman, said in an email this week. “So we are hopeful that the essential worker pay proposal will be among the bills that get prioritized.”

Dru Draper, communications director for Senate Republicans, said his caucus will oppose the bill because it leaves in place a $300 weekly unemployment bonus. Some businesses say that federally funded bonus provides an incentive for prospective hires to stay home. The state’s jobless rate remained elevated at 6% in April, even though many small businesses say they’re struggling to find work.

“Other states are using back-to-work payments too, but generous unemployment benefits must also be addressed in any plan, which this bill does not,” Draper said.

Rep. Rob Nosse, D-Southeast Portland, co-authored an opinion piece in The Oregonian/OregonLive last month pitching the value of stimulus money for frontline workers who staffed hospitals and clinics, kept the grocery stores open and continued harvesting food through the pandemic.

“For a lot of those workers, they didn’t actually see any increase in their compensation from their employers,” Nosse said June 10. “It’s a way to say thank you. And candidly, the other reason to do it is there’s a lot of essential workers that don’t make a very rich living.”

While Nosse said the total payout might be trimmed during the budget process, he said he’s hopeful lawmakers will ultimately reward frontline workers.

“There’s still a chance this is going to happen. I doubt it’s going to be a check worth $2,000,” Nosse said. “This is a pretty big swing.”