The Oregon Biz Report - Business News from Oregon

Portland venture fund remains a mystery

By Joel Grey
Cascade Policy Institute

The Portland Seed Fund started as a public-private venture intended to close a funding gap for small loans to entrepreneurs. The City of Portland, the City of Hillsboro, and the State of Oregon provided a majority of the funds for the first Seed Fund and a significant portion of the second Seed Fund. It was sold as a way for public entities to help private companies begin, with the expectation that the Fund would earn money.

A way Obama can reform immigration w/o Congress

By Alex Nowrasteh
Cato Institute

President Obama seems poised to act on immigration, with or without the help of Congress. Last week, he announced that he’s “beginning a new effort to fix as much of our immigration system as I can on my own, without Congress.” Critics have decried this very pledge as illegal. But there are legal executive actions he can take to improve our dysfunctional immigration system now.

Granted, without Congress, Obama’s options are limited. Like making small repairs on a totaled vehicle, he’s left tinkering around the edges of a broken system so long as Congress remains deadlocked. Still, even relatively small fixes could improve the lot of millions of immigrants and smooth out some of the rough patches in our overly restrictive system.

For example, Obama could allow some illegal immigrants to apply for green cards through the current immigration system. Currently, unlawful immigrants can’t earn a green card because, in order to apply, they have to leave the country. This then triggers a legal catch-22 that bars them from re-entering.

Agencies attack employee speech restrictions (Part 3)

Ater Wynne LLP
NW Law frim

Such restrictions are common in agreements resolving employment disputes. Indeed, many companies would not think of entering into a settlement in which they were not assured that the affected employee(s) would comply with the company’s confidentiality policy, maintain confidentiality of the fact and/or terms of the settlement, and refrain from disparaging the company. While policy considerations associated with settlements are arguably different from those associated with other employment practices attacked by the agencies, the employment rights at issue are largely the same. If the courts embrace the positions held by the EEOC and NLRB, employers may start to see both current and former employees challenge undesirable settlement terms by filing suit or administrative charges, or raising the issue as a defense to enforcement. Either way, if the courts invalidate such terms, employers will have a lot less incentive to settle.

WA pot law & employee drug policy

By Bullard Law,
Portland law firm

Sparks are flying in Washington. On Monday [July 7] the Washington State Liquor Control Board issued the first licenses, which allowed for legal marijuana sales to begin on Tuesday. By Wednesday there were news and social media reports that the “first buyer” in Spokane had lost his job as a security guard (later reports are that his employment was not terminated). And on Thursday KGW interviewed me to ask about all of this.

Bottom-line question: What does this mean for employers in Washington and Oregon?

“Lawyerly” answer: Nothing and everything. It all depends. Let’s look at three issues.

Issue #1: Does an employer have to modify its existing drug policy?

NIKE outperformed in World Cup — even the winning kick

By NIKE,

With one strike of his Nike Magista boot, German striker Mario Gotze sent his nation into raptures and sealed his place in football history.

For Nike Football, the moment capped an exciting year for both the brand and business.

On the pitch, Nike started the tournament with 10 sponsored teams, while 53 percent of all players selected for their squads wore Nike boots, more than for all other brands combined. Throughout the competition, Nike-sponsored players scored 76 goals, including the winner in the final from German striker Mario Gotze, and the goal that took his fellow striker Miroslav Klose to all-time tournament goalscorer, breaking the cumulative record previously held by Ronaldo of Brasil.

Seattle taxpayers pay $1,100/hr lawyers to hike minimum wage

By Washington Lodging Association (WLA)

Seattle taxpayers forced to fund expensive outside counsel for city attempt to defend discrimination

The City of Seattle’s decision to hire expensive outside legal counsel to try to defend its discriminatory actions against small businesses in the recently adopted minimum wage ordinance should outrage every taxpaying resident and business, according to Jan Simon, President and CEO of the Washington Lodging Association (WLA).

The City announced it had hired Susman Godfrey, a Texas law firm with offices in Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York City and Seattle, and Erwin Chemerinsky, dean at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, to assist in its defense of the ordinance.

Initial jobless claims fall to 8 year low

University of Oregon Regional Economic Indexes
By Tim Duy
Oregon Economic Forum
University of  Oregon

Oregon Economic Indicators:

Oregon posted another month of above average growth in May. Highlights of the report include:

- The Oregon Measure of Economic Activity rose to 0.69, compared to a revised 0.16 the previous month. The three-month moving average, which smooths month-to-month volatility in the measure, is 0.50 where “zero” for this measure indicates the average growth rate over the 1990-present period. All sectors contributed positively to the measure.
- Employment and hours worked components both indicated solid manufacturing activity. The construction sector gained on the back of somewhat above average level of housing permits. Low levels of initial unemployment claims continue to be a very positive factor in the household sector.

Labor market dynamism fallen since 2000

Cover Oregon fees to rise (as it looks for Fed bailout)

by Betsy Earls
Associated Oregon Industries

Oregon’s largest business advocate

Cover Oregon Moves to Fed to Save Money – Yet Fees Go Up

Cover Oregon went through another round of explaining itself recently, updating legislative committees during three days of meetings designed to begin planning for the 2015 Legislative Session.

Clyde Hamstreet, Cover Oregon’s Interim Executive Director, and Tina Edlund, the Technology Transition Project Director, gave presentations to the House Health Care Committee and the Senate Health Care and Human Services Committee on the process of switching over to the federal exchange. This switch is the result of the Cover Oregon Board’s vote on April 25 to transition the commercially insured market (those purchasing qualified health plans or QHPs) to federal technology.