The Oregon Biz Report - Business News from Oregon

Mattress World and Typhoon! hit tax & labor issue woes 
By Oregon Tax News,

Alleged tax and labor law violations potentially costing millions of dollars are forcing Mattress World and Typhoon! Inc., two well-known Oregon retailers, to close their doors. Roughly 300 jobs will be lost.

In the case of Mattress World, the state of Washington slapped the Portland-based company with a $1.7 million unpaid tax bill for failing to pay sales tax on items delivered and installed in Washington. Several Mattress World stores are located just across the border from Washington, where shoppers can easily take advantage of Oregon’s no sales tax. According to a KATU news report, however, Washington requires out-of-state companies to pay sales and other taxes when they operate as a “nexus”—meaning the company resides out-of-state but delivers products in Washington. That news allegedly caught Mattress World owner Sherri Hiner by surprise in 2009 when she was first notified that her company qualified as a Washington business.

Eric Fruits,
Econ International
Oregon economist

The Oregonian seems to have picked up on our earlier posts about misplaced priorities and self-inflicted budget woes at the Portland Bureau of Transportation.

The story so far can be told in four pictures.

1. Record revenues at the Portland Bureau of Transportation. “Discretionary” money has almost doubled since 2000. The city’s excuse that there it has no wiggle room in budgeting simply is not true.

2. A paving backlog that stretches to San Francisco.Portland’s paving backlog has grown by more than 500 miles since 1999. By 2008, Portland had a backlog big enough to pave a two lane road from Pioneer Courthouse Square to San Francisco. Taking the philosophy that a problem doesn’t exist if it can’t be measured, the city stopped calculating the road paving backlog in 2008.

Beware of Oregon Business Filing Notice
By Oregon better Business Bureau

Recent reports to Better Business Bureau indicate that Corporate Regulatory Committee, based in Salem, OR, is sending official-looking “Corporate Annual Report” notices to businesses requesting $238 to renew filings with Oregon Secretary of State.

Business owners are not required to reply or submit money to Corporate Regulatory Committee. According to Oregon Secretary of State Corporation Division, business owners can search their business registrations for free and renew directly online for $100. Corporate Regulatory Committee may be sending out solicitations to file on behalf of companies and collect service fees of $138.

By U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Free Enterprise Blog

Potholes, cracks, crumbling asphalt, and growing congestion – we experience them in our daily commutes, taking the kids to school, and on family roadtrips. The neglect of our infrastructure is costly, as Sheryll Poe reports for FreeEnterprise.com:

“The consequences of inaction on infrastructure are profound. The U.S. Chamber’s Transportation Performance Index shows that the steady decline in the quality of surface, air, and water transportation systems costs the U.S. economy $1 trillion a year in lost economic growth. In just over five years, U.S. infrastructure has plummeted from No. 1 to No. 15 in the World Economic Forum’s economic competitiveness ranking.”

Alliance board of directors endorses Sam Chase for Metro Council seat
By Portland Business Alliance

The Portland Business Alliance board of directors today announced its endorsement of Sam Chase in the race for Metro Council District 5 that represents Northeast Portland.

“The Alliance has worked with Sam on a number of issues over the years during his time as a Portland City Council staff member and we feel like he has a strong understanding of the issues that impact job creation and economic growth,” said Mitch Hornecker, chair of the Alliance’s Government Relations Executive Committee.

Oregon learns a key lesson in job creation with Facebook issue
By Oregon Prosperity Project

The Oregon Legislature just passed the “Facebook bill.”  We are celebrating its passage this week because it was one of the Oregon Prosperity Project’s job-creating priorities going into the 2012 legislative session.

It’s an issue we’ve been talking about since last October because it so clearly demonstrates a key principle for economic growth: Government does not create jobs, but it can provide an environment of tax and regulatory certainty that attracts investment and job creation.

Bill Conerly, Conerly Consulting, Businomics,
Oregon economist

I’ve updated my economic forecast, and it’s not as favorable as last quarter’s projection. I continue to see upward pressure on the economy this quarter and next from the lagged impacts of the Federal Reserve’s second round of quantitative easing. However, I’ve offset most of that with a hit to exports and attitudes from the European financial crisis. The result is a very boring forecast.

Oden: We Hardly Knew Ye
By Patrick Emerson’s
Oregon Economics Blog

Another sad chapter in the story of Greg Oden:

“Although Blazers executives would not say this is the end of the Oden era, the chances Oden plays again in Portland, or anywhere in the NBA, are doubtful at best. Of his five knee surgeries, three of them have been microfracture procedures, including Monday’s surgery in Vail, Colo. Microfracture is the most invasive and serious of knee procedures, and involves making tiny fractures in the knee bone to generate bleeding and stimulate new cartilage growth. No NBA player has come back to play after undergoing three microfracture surgeries.”

I feel terrible for the guy but I feel much worse for myself. I know its tough for Greg, but then again he has been paid more then $20 million over the last five years – more than enough to live in luxury for the rest of his life and pursue whatever other endeavors he wishes.

Oregon Legislature mostly silent on employment law issues in February
By J.L. Wilson
Associated Oregon Industries

Employment law issues will take a back seat in February as the legislature grapples with higher profile budget, education and health care issues, but AOI is actively weighing in on at least three pieces of legislation that will impact family leave, job protections for interns, and how employers advertise their job openings.

HB 4124 grants two weeks of family leave for purposes of bereavement, and up to six weeks of bereavement leave if an employee receives medical verification that counseling or medical treatment is necessary. AOI opposes this legislation to grant additional leave rights. Most employers today already give bereavement leave, and Oregon already has the most expansive workplace leave laws in the nation.

FCC Updates Automated/Prerecorded Telemarketing Rules to Mirror FTC Requirements for Prior Written, Signed Consent, Automated Opt-Outs, and Related Regulations
– FCC Also Remedies Confusion in Its Rulemaking Proposal by Ensuring New Rules Do Not Affect Non-Telemarketing Prerecorded Calls and Text Messages, Such as for Debt Collection, Airline and School Notifications, Fraud Alerts, Surveys Calls, and Wireless Usage Data

By Ronald G. London
Privacy & Security Law Blog
Davis Wright & Tremaine LLP, Oregon Law Firm

The Federal Communications Commission released a Report and Order that revises its rules governing automated/prerecorded telemarketing to modify the consent and opt-out requirements for such calls. The rule change eliminates the “established business relationship” exception that previously allowed autodialed/prerecorded telemarketing to residential lines. Meanwhile, the FCC was careful to ensure the new rules cover only automated/prerecorded “telemarketing” calls and text messages, i.e., those that seek to sell or advertise goods or services, while leaving intact preexisting regulations for non-sales prerecorded calls, such as customer-care, surveys, calls by or on behalf of tax-exempt, non-profit entities, etc.

By U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Enterprise magazine

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals that wanted to use the 13th Amendment’s prohibition on slavery to force an aquatic park to set a group of whales free. The lawsuit, filed last October, was a contestant in a previous Most Ridiculous Lawsuit of the Month poll.

Kudos to the judge for recognizing a frivolous lawsuit when he sees one – unfortunately, his good sense is a mere pittance in the onrush of absurd litigation. To wit, FacesOfLawsuitAbuse.org has yet another slate of nominees for the Most Ridiculous Lawsuit of the Month:

Business Video Pick of the Week:

Starbucks recently launched a nationwide effort to raise money for local start-ups suffering in the recession. One grant went to Gelato Fiasco in Portland Maine which happens to be acorss the block from the nearest Starbucks. The owner expresses his gratefulness in the CNN video, and reminds everyone “We’re not hurting anyone”

Business Video of the week.

What if an online review posted on a popular website was false? This is the question before one local Portland-area small business and the popular City Search website.

The video story is by KOIN-6 below.

AOI Endorses Job-Creation Platform for 2012 Session
Article by J.L. Wilson
Associated Oregon Industries

On the eve of the February 2012 Legislative Session, the AOI Board of Directors endorsed a slate of job-creation bills that will cumulatively put 20,000 Oregonians back to work, create nearly $3.4 billion in personal income growth and generate hundreds of millions in tax dollars to support important government services.

In particular, the AOI Board endorsed:

HB 4098, which increases the timber harvest in Oregon’s state forests. Legislative analysis shows 2,100 new jobs, $414 million in personal income growth, and $33 million in new tax revenues after five years;

Zoo & Convention Center money problems.
– Oregon & across nation face unique problems and losses
By Oregon Tax News

Taxpayer-funded zoos and convention centers across the country are losing money. The Oregon Zoo and Convention Center are no exception. The Portland Business Journal recently cited an independent review conducted by Tampa-based Crossroads Consulting showing the Zoo and Convention Center contributed to a nearly $19 million loss last year spread collectively among the Zoo, Convention Center, Centers for the Performing Arts, and Portland Expo. The Convention Center was responsible for the bulk of the loss—$10 million. The venues lost roughly $16 million during the prior fiscal year.

Oregon’s education “transformation” means “a lot more money” but not much reform
By Dr. Eric Fruits
Oregon Economists
EconInternational

“Transformation” is the word of the year in the Oregon Legislature. Not only is the Legislature looking for ways to transform Oregon’s healthcare delivery system and jump head first into Obamacare, the legislature is sprinting toward the finish line to transform Oregon’s education system from pre-school to post-grad.

The Oregonian reports on the legislature’s progress on one part of the education transformation. Senate Bill 1581 would require every school district, community college and public university to sign a yearly “achievement compact” with the state, pledging key results, including a specific graduation rate, that it aims to deliver.

By Oregon Attorney General,

Attorney General John Kroger issued a statement today announcing that Oregon will join the multi-state agreement with five major financial institutions:

“The Oregon Department of Justice is deeply committed to protecting consumers. In assessing any potential consumer protection settlement, I compare the benefits of the settlement with potential benefits that might accrue in the future if we chose to litigate rather than settle. I have made that assessment in this case, and I am confident that signing this agreement is in the best interest of Oregon consumers.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Self-Service Gas
By Patrick Emerson
Oregon Economics Blog

Let’s suppose that for some reason you expect the whole issue of self-service gas in Oregon to be brought up again in a public forum. It might be best, then, to be prepared for some blowback.

So, though I have written extensively about self-service gas here in the past let me take a moment to summarize my take on the issue.

I think that the banning of self-service gas is an unnecessary regulation and a costly one: it costs every Oregonian in time and money. But even if you think I am wrong about the material gains to allowing self-service gas, there still is little justification for the policy.

Read more here

VIDEO OF THE WEEK:

The American business model will follow any new market and so CNN reports of a new Florida business called Silver Tours which aims to reach senior citizens with medical marijuana and work towarsd removing legal barriers.