Willamette Valley Household Incomes (Graph of the Week) Oregon Office of Economic Analysis by Josh Lehner This edition of the Graph of the Week highlights improving household incomes here in the Willamette Valley. As we have discussed numerous times lately, the tight labor market has begun driving many positive economic […]

Retail Sales Remain Flat in May by Treacy Reynolds National Retail Federation   Retail sales in May were essentially unchanged on a seasonally adjusted basis after an upwardly revised gain of 0.6 percent, according to calculations released today by the National Retail Federation. In May, sales were 5.3 percent above […]

  OregonSaves Launches In July, Bringing New Requirements to Employers Cascade Employers Blog by Curtis Farmer What and When Beginning in July, employers in Oregon will have a new option for providing a retirement solution to their employees, but it brings with it a mandate for all employers to provide […]

Oregon Recreational Marijuana Forcast By Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis   SB 845, among other things, would give our office the recreational marijuana forecast responsibility. While not current law yet, we went ahead and produced such a forecast for the first time in our most recent quarterly forecast. […]

Oregon Small Business Association Press Release The Oregon Small Business Association opposes HB 2830 and the business sales tax otherwise known as the gross receipts sales tax. Taxing business sales instead of taxing profits means you are taxing businesses when they are not making a profit. It also means you […]

Bonamici Denounces House Bill to Roll Back Consumer Protections Financial CHOICE Act Severely Limits Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) voted against legislation that guts the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and rolls back protections of 2010’s Dodd-Frank financial reform law. The bill would limit the ability of […]

Retailers Welcome Labor Department’s Withdrawl of Burdemsom Joint Employer Guidance Robin Roberts, National Retail Federation The National Retail Federation welcomed the announcement from the Labor Department that it would withdraw burdensome guidance issued under the Obama Administration significantly broadening the definition of a joint employer and creating seemingly limitless liability […]

  Termination Because Of Medical Marijuana Cardholder Status Is Unlawful By Michael G. McClory, Bullard Law In an August 14, 2015 post, The Bullard Edge responded to a (fictional) mailbag letter from Isabel, an HR manager who planned to fire an employee because of his acquisition of a medical marijuana […]

Budget Holes and New Taxes By Anthony K. Smith National Federation of Independent Business State economists recently released Oregon’s May Revenue Forecast. This is the official report that policymakers use to balance the state budget, so these projections will have a very real impact on the decisions that are made […]

  Governor Signs Sweeping Pay Equity Law Barran Liebman Attorneys By Anthony D. Kuchulis and Andrew M. Narus Oregon Governor Brown signed into law the Equal Pay Act of 2017 to address pay disparities among women, minorities, and other protected classes.