The Oregon Biz Report - Business News from Oregon

Tariff threats to the auto industry

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue issued the following statement today in response to the Commerce Department announcement that it will launch an investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 into whether imports of vehicles and auto parts harm national security:

Court makes big employment agreement ruling

Supreme Court Rules Employment Agreements Barring Class Actions Enforceable
By: Heather Fossity

On May 21, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled employment arbitration agreements that prohibit employees from bringing class actions against their employers are enforceable. The 5-4 decision will have a significant impact on employers nationwide.

‘Oregon Small Business Fairness’ petition starts

By Oregon Small Business Association,

Shouldn’t small business get the same tax advantages as big Wall Street Firms?

The Oregon Small Business Association, through the Local, Family & Small Business Fairness Act PAC, submitted sponsorship signatures to the Oregon Secretary of State Elections Division on May 18th for Initiative Petition 2, for the 2020 November General Election. The measure seeks to make all tax rates, calculations and loopholes afforded to the largest publicly-traded companies automatically available for small and family businesses. The ballot measure is in response to Senate Bill 1528, which eliminated tax relief for Oregon’s smallest businesses, while providing the wealthiest Oregonians new tax credits to avoid paying higher federal tax liability.

Seattle’s $250 per worker tax

By Wall Street Journal Editorial Board,

Twenty cities are competing for Amazon’s second headquarters. Then there’s Seattle, Amazon’s current headquarters, which the city apparently wouldn’t mind driving away.

Seattle’s city council unanimously approved a $250 “tax” per full-time employee on businesses with more than $20 million in annual revenue. Progressive council members had originally proposed a $500 jobs tax that would have turned into a 0.7% payroll tax in 2021, but then Seattle’s businesses revolted.

Legislative Watch: What business needs to know

by Mark Hester
Oregon Business and Industry

NFIB: Earnings report hits 45-year high

By NFIB,

Reports of Improved Earnings Reach Highest Levels in 45-year History of the NFIB Small Business Economic Trends Survey

The Small Business Optimism Index sustained record-high levels increasing to 104.8 in April, driven by reports of improved profits, the highest in the NFIB Small Business Economic Trends Survey’s 45-year history. Additionally, the number of small businesses reporting poor sales fell to a near record low. April is the 17th consecutive month of historically high readings, according to the survey that was released today.

Oregon leads in this new fastest growing industry

By Oregon Prosperity Project,

Data centers are one of the fastest growing industries in the United States, and Oregon has emerged as one of the most popular states for companies looking for sites where they can process large amounts of data. Recent reports conducted for industry leaders Google and Facebook calculate the economic contributions of the companies’ data centers.

Highlights of the reports include:

Small Business Taxes: What Happened & What’s Next?

By Anthony K. Smith
Oregon NFIB

Last month, Gov. Kate Brown signed a bill into law that is estimated to generate more than $1 billion in revenue for the state over the next six years by “disconnecting” our state income tax code from the new 20 percent deduction for qualifying pass-through business income – a key feature of the federal Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017.

Normally, when changes occur in the federal tax code, Oregon automatically connects to those changes. A new federal deduction would typically mean that Oregon would also honor the deduction for the purposes of determining a taxpayer’s state income tax liability.

Newspapers critical of Special Session

By M. Martin
Oregon guest writer

The Oregonian Sunday Editorial stated,

“How odd that Gov. Kate Brown would be convening legislators for a special session to expand a controversial tax break benefiting businesses. She is, after all, the same governor who has railed about Oregon’s businesses not paying their “fair share” of taxes. She has bemoaned cuts to government services as revenue hasn’t kept up with spending. But suddenly, Brown is so distressed that some businesses haven’t been eligible for a three-year-old tax break that she is calling an emergency session for lawmakers to write them in? “Odd” doesn’t begin to describe the weirdness of her position. Opportunistic,” however, does.”