Wall Street Journal Editorial, Any day now the IRS will release new rules that address efforts by states including Connecticut, Oregon, New York and New Jersey to evade last year’s tax reform by masking tax payments as charitable contributions. The danger is that nonprofit scholarship organizations that are funded in […]

by Jason Norris, CFA Ferguson Wellman, NW Financial firmA currency crisis in Turkey and continued trade uncertainty resulted in a volatile week for equities. International stocks, specifically emerging markets, started selling off. U.S. commodities were also weak. This was offset by positive news on the China trade front. Overall, our […]

By National Small Business Association On Aug. 8, the U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released proposed regulations (REG-107892-18) concerning a provision enacted under the new tax law that allows certain owners of sole proprietorships, partnerships, trusts, and S corporations to deduct 20 percent of their qualified business […]

State Treasurer Press Release, Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read is calling for more responsible compensation practices and accountability at pharmaceutical giant McKesson Corp., one of the nation’s largest distributors of prescription opioids. A shareholder resolution filed jointly by the Oregon Treasurer, the AFL-CIO Equity Index Fund, As You Sow, and […]

By Oregon Small Business Association Foundation, A relevant study on product sin taxes comes at a time when Oregon is considering a host of new sin taxes. As we speak, Governor Brown’s PERS task force is recommending a $60 million surtax on liquor, the State Legislator has been looking into […]

By Oregon Employment Department, Oregon’s unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in 2017, which was Oregon’s lowest unemployment rate since comparable records began in 1976.

By Oregon Business & Industry HB 2005, the pay equity bill passed by the 2017 Legislature, becomes law January 1, 2019, and the Bureau of Labor & Industries (BOLI) has begun the process of determining how the different aspects of the law will be implemented. The stakes are high. HB […]

by Timothy D. Carkin Senior Vice President Ferguson Wellman Capitol Management News broke that the Trump administration would consider bypassing congressional legislation to change the capital gains taxes rules to index for inflation. The current strategy that is being floated is to use the Treasury department and IRS rather than […]

Wall Street Journal Editorial Board, Big spending paid off for Big Labor on Tuesday as Missouri voters rejected right-to-work legislation by an overwhelming 2 to 1. Compulsory dues will help offset the unions’ $27 million investment in political coercion. In 2016 unions spent some $12 million to support a Missouri […]

Timothy A. Duy Director, Oregon Economic Forum Department of Economics, University of Oregon The Oregon Measure of Economic Activity slipped to 0.76 in June from an upwardly revised May reading of 0.94. Highlights of this month’s report include: