The Oregon Biz Report - Business News from Oregon

DeFazio: New .1% Wall Street Tax Plan

Oregon US Representative Peter DeFazio Press Release,

U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR), U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI), and U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) will introduce legislation to create a new progressive tax on financial transactions that would generate billions in revenue, while addressing economic inequality and reducing high risk and volatility in the market.

US Chamber weighs in on Brexit vote

US Chamber Release,

Marjorie Chorlins, executive director of the U.S. Chamber’s U.S.-UK Business Council, issued the following statement in response to the UK Parliament vote today to delay Brexit:

NIKE setback in sex discrimination case

By Oregon Small Business Association

Attorneys representing four women who alleged gender discrimination by Nike Inc., the sportswear giant based in Portland, won the first round in an attempt to broaden their litigation into a class-action lawsuit.

Federal Magistrate Judge Jolie Russo rejected Nike’s motion to dismiss class and collective claims, which would have limited the number of plaintiffs who could be added to the discrimination lawsuit, according to Footwear News.

New overtime rules

By J. Chris Duckworth
Bullard Law,
Oregon law firm

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed a new rule that would raise the salary threshold required to qualify for overtime exemptions to $35,308 per year, up from the current threshold of $23,660 per year that was set in 2004. The rule also proposes to increase the Highly Compensated Employee exemption from $100,000 per year to $147,414 per year. The DOL states that if finalized, these updates to the Fair Labor Standards Act’s regulations would make more than one million additional workers in the country eligible for overtime.

How a gross receipts tax would hit Oregon

Tax Foundation
by Garrett Watson, Nicole Kaeding

This week, Oregon’s Legislative Revenue Office (LRO) provided economic projections to the Joint Committee on Student Success Subcommittee on Revenue to assess the impact of a proposed gross receipts tax on Oregon’s economy. The committee is interested in raising about $1 billion in annual revenue from a new source to improve the state’s public education system. This is the third time Oregon has considered a gross receipts tax in the past five years, after a legislative proposal failed in 2017 and a ballot initiative to enact a gross receipts tax was rejected by voters in 2016.

Oregon new job trends

New and Emerging Jobs in Oregon: The Latest Trends
By Oregon Employment Department

The Oregon Employment Department’s occupational employment projections through the year 2027 include the latest trends in new and emerging jobs in Oregon. Projections provide the expected growth rate and annual openings for 724 different occupations from 2017 to 2027. Occupations generally include numerous types of jobs, from old familiar job titles, to new job titles that may not even exist yet. In many cases, new and emerging jobs are reflecting within the fastest growing occupations.

Job growth breaks 45-year NFIB record

By NFIB,

Job creation among small businesses broke the 45-year record in February with a net addition of 0.52 workers per firm, according to NFIB’s monthly jobs report, released today. The previous record was in May 1998 at 0.51 workers per firm. The percent of owners citing labor costs as their most important problem also hit an all-time high, with 10 percent of owners reporting labor costs as their biggest problem.

Oregon economy appears to be slowing

Timothy A. Duy
Director, Oregon Economic Forum
Department of Economics, University of Oregon

Below is the University of Oregon State of Oregon Economic Indicators for December 2018. The release date is March 5, 2019. Special thanks to our sponsor, KeyBank

The Oregon Measure of Economic Activity rose to 0.41 in December from a downwardly revised October reading of 0.25. Highlights of this month’s report include:

The looting of Oregon hotel taxes

70/30 Split Protecting Lodging Tax Investments Threatened
By Oregon Restaurant Association,

Oregon’s lodging tax investments could be drastically reduced if Senate Bill 595 passes.

If successful, SB 595 would eradicate the critical lodging tax reforms of 2003 by taking 30% of our industry’s 70% of any new or increased lodging tax implemented since July 2, 2003, and allowing local governments to redirect those funds for “affordable workforce housing” projects. The result would allow only 40% of new or increased local lodging taxes to be protected for tourism promotion and tourism-related facilities.