By Josh Lehner Office of Economic Analysis The Oregon Employment Department has been doing a good job every week publishing the latest data and providing insights into who is applying for unemployment insurance. As seen in the chart, the first wave of initial claims from the COVID-19 recession is thankfully […]

Oregon Attorney General, Statement from Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum on Baker City Circuit Court Ruling: “Today, Baker City Circuit Court Judge Matthew Shirtcliff issued a ruling in the Elkhorn Baptist Church et al v Katherine Brown case stating that Governor Brown’s emergency ‘Stay at Home, Save Lives’ executive order cannot […]

Oregon Executive Order Allows Previously Closed Businesses to Reopen — While Offering Specific Guidance for Retailers By Daniel Walker Barran Liebman Oregon Law Firm, Today, Oregon Governor Kate Brown issued Executive Order No. 20-25, which provides a framework for Oregon’s gradual reopening. The process proceeds through three phases, with each […]

NFIB, The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small business advocacy organization, issued a set of Liability Protection Principles, intended to protect small businesses from the threat of unfounded lawsuits as they begin to reopen. An NFIB survey released this week showed that nearly 70% of small […]

Bullard Law, Portland based law-firm On May 7, 2020, the EEOC once again updated its Technical Assistance overview “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and other EEO Laws” providing answers to three additional questions focused on reasonable accommodation issues upon employees’ return to the […]

By Oregon Employment Department, One of the most visible and devastating impacts of the state’s stay-at-home order to protect us from the human health crisis presented by COVID-19 has been mass layoffs. More than 30 million initial claims for unemployment insurance were filed across the nation in the first six […]

Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici Release, Congresswoman Katherine Clark (MA-5), Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, Congressmembers Jahana Hayes (CT-5), Jimmy Panetta (CA-20), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-1), Danny Davis (IL-7), and Tom Malinowski (NJ-7) called for a $100 billion investment to aid in the relief, recovery and revitalization of the child care […]

By Oregon Small Business Association, Small businesses should be alarmed at the $240 million business and income tax by the METRO regional government (Measure 26-201) on the May ballot. COVID-19 caused the worst economic shock since the Great Depression. It will take months or years to recover family wage jobs […]

Wall Street Journal Editorial: May 6 Even during a pandemic, California Democrats have unions to look after. See Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s lawsuit Tuesday against Uber and Lyft for allegedly misclassifying drivers as independent contractors. The state’s blunderbuss law AB5 that Democrats passed last year sought to force businesses to […]

By Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis, I have a round-up of the latest economic data and our office’s thinking on the outlook. First, let’s talk about near-term sources of economic growth. I think most people have a good intuition on this, but our office is working to articulate […]