Archives

January 17, 2019 - How migration changes Oregon

Josh Lehner, Oregon Office of Economic Analysis A couple years ago we examined Oregon’s diversity and the fact that Oregon’s foreign-born population is fairly similar to, albeit smaller than the U.S. as a whole. Now, Oregon does have a somewhat larger Mexican-born population, but many such residents moved to the […]


January 16, 2019 - Lawmakers eye taxing tourists as gold mine

By Oregon Small Business Association, Many of the new taxes unveiled this month involve taxing tourists. This is important because Oregon just doubled the hotel and lodging tax back in 2016 and now lawmakers are eyeing the tourists that visit those hotels. Senate Bill 28 would tax tourists in many […]


January 15, 2019 - Ex-Blazer meets Shark Tank start-up

By Oregon Small Business Association, A Portland Trail Blazers guard became the latest professional athlete to invest in a sports startup when Evan Turner committed money to help ISlide in the manufacturing and sale of customized slide sandals. ISlide, a company formed in 2013 by former Reebok Basketball head Justin […]


January 14, 2019 - Study: Anti-sprawl laws big role in unaffordable housing

By Cascade Policy Institute, So-called smart growth policies are advocated as a means of avoiding sprawl. These policies have at their heart a policy of reducing the availability of land for housing in urban areas. In Oregon and some other states, anti-sprawl policy is implemented by regulations that impose urban […]


January 11, 2019 - DeFazio bill to save Coast Guard from shutdown

US Congressman, Oregon, Peter DeFazio Shutdown impacts over 41,000 active duty Coast Guard members performing missions and protecting the coastal borders Oregon lawmakers applauded legislation introduced by Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR) that would provide funding for the Coast Guard and ensure that […]


January 10, 2019 - Shutdown hits 9,600 Oregon Federal workers

By Oregon Employment Department, Roughly 9,600 jobs in Oregon are at federal agencies that are not currently funded and are affected by the partial federal government shutdown. Some of these workers have already been furloughed. Others have funding to cover operations for a few more days. Excepted personnel are still […]


January 9, 2019 - Shutdown halts E-verify. Now what?

By Wilson Jarrell, By Barran Liebman LLP Oregon law firm As you are undoubtedly aware, we are currently in the midst of a partial federal government shut down, effecting approximately a quarter of government functions. Amongst these is the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) E-Verify Program, which ran out of […]


January 8, 2019 - Restaurant caught in forced labor scheme

By Oregon US Attorney, Oregon Restaurant Owner Sentenced to Prison in Connection with Immigration-Related Forced Labor Scheme. Defendant used debts, fraud, threats of financial and reputational harm, and other means to compel victims to work long hours for minimal pay at restaurants in Oregon and Washington Paul Jumroon, also known […]


January 7, 2019 - HB 2161: Hospitals lose their property tax charity exemption

Oregon Hospitals May Lose Their Property Tax Exemption By Taxpayer Association of Oregon Foundation, Oregon hospitals just got hit with a $320 million revenue tax last year with House Bill 2161 (also known as Measure 101). Now Oregon lawmakers are coming back to tax them again by stripping away their […]


January 4, 2019 - Study: Impact of 2017 Tax Cuts

By NFIB, NFIB, the nation’s leading small business advocacy organization, issued the following statement on behalf of President and CEO Juanita D. Duggan marking tomorrow’s one-year anniversary of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act being signed into law, which has driven record levels of sustained optimism among small businesses: “Small […]