By Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis Blog A lot has been made of and discussed about the fact that Oregonians have lower incomes than the nation overall. However, I find myself reaching for various measures of income when the need arises, or to answer specific questions. Are we […]

Miller, Nash, Graham & Dunn LLP NW Law Firm New Overtime Rules Become Effective Dec. 1, 2016; By Jack Cooper, Partner Employment Group As we anticipated in an alert sent last November, the United States Department of Labor has now issued final rules designed to dramatically expand overtime pay eligibility […]

By NFIB A U.S. District Court granted a request by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) to temporarily block the Department of Labor’s (DOL) new union persuader rule until the rule’s constitutionality is settled. “When facing union organization, small business owners are in need of legal advice,” said NFIB […]

By Oregon Attorney General, Oregon Governor Kate Brown and Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum  announced two separate settlements with Volkswagen relating to emissions fraud. A federal settlement will require Volkswagen to pay more than $68 million into a trust to support diesel emission reduction programs in Oregon. The federal settlement […]

By Benjamin P. O’Glasser Bullard Law, Portland law firm In December we wrote about Portland’s “Ban the Box” ordinance. This month the City Council approved administrative rules that will guide enforcement when the ordinance goes into effect on July 1, 2016. The ordinance and rules generally apply to employers of […]

By Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis Blog Every city wants to have a strong local economy, high quality of life and housing affordability for its residents. Unfortunately these three dimensions represent the Housing Trilemma. A city can achieve success on two but not all three at the same […]

By Dr. Eric Fruits, Oregon Economist On Demand Newsletter Britain’s exit from the EU will rattle the U.S. economy U.K. voters yesterday elected to exit from the European Union. This is a major shake up for the U.K. and the rest of Europe and is almost certain to rustle, rattle, […]

U.S. Chamber of Commerce U.S. Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President for Environment, Technology, & Regulatory Affairs Bill Kovacs issued the following statement regarding the D.C. Circuit decision to uphold the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) net neutrality rules: “By upholding the FCC’s net neutrality rules, three unelected commissioners are essentially […]

Oregon Employment Department, At the broad occupation group level, construction (21%) and health care (19%) top the list for fastest growing by 2024. In terms of fastest growing, half of the top 20 fastest growing occupations are in the health care field. Service occupations (which include protective services, building and grounds cleaning, […]

By Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association, Fighting Lodging Tax Creep In virtually every corner of the state, local and county governments seem to have their eyes fixed on lodging taxes and opportunities to raise them. The recent successes of the lodging industry are being widely reported as more tourists find […]