By Allison Coleman Cascade Policy Institute Portland-area voters just approved Ballot Measure 26-178, which imposes a five-year property tax that will generate $80 million dollars for Metro to maintain parks owned by the agency. On the surface, this seems like a wonderful thing; everyone likes parks, and they need to […]

US Chamber, New Report Urges Congress To Override Agency WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new report released today by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Workforce Freedom Initiative (WFI) shows how, despite assurances given by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), its 2011 decision authorizing “micro-unions” has enabled these fractured bargaining units […]

By Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis Blog. Checking in on employment across Oregon’s counties reveals a number of encouraging trends. First, in recent years, job growth has returned to all regions of the state. Every region and every single county has seen some gains from the depths of […]

By Oregon NFIB, The next big issue for small business is on the table, and it’s called “flexible scheduling.” “It’s going to be a big deal,” Sen. Michael Dembrow (D-Portland) said in The Oregonian. “But we really think that the time to tackle this is now.” The flexible scheduling legislation […]

By Oregon Small Business Foundation, By now, millions of Americans have hitched a ride on Uber, stayed overnight in an Airbnb, funded a Kickstarter project, or hired someone on TaskRabbit to do the odd job. Last New Year’s Eve, more than 20,000 Portlanders used Uber’s ridesharing service. By now, millions […]

By Oregon Small Business Foundation, If you want to know how the construction business is doing in your city – just look up. Look for the construction cranes. This year Seattle topped the list nationwide, with 58 construction cranes, 18 more than Los Angeles, more than New York and San […]

Oregon Continues Strong Job Growth in October By Oregon Employment Department Oregon added 6,100 nonfarm payroll jobs in October, continuing a trend of strong job growth. Since October 2015, Oregon added 55,400 jobs, which was a gain of 3.1 percent. This growth rate is nearly double the national job growth […]

Bullard Law, Portland law firm In the (fictional) mailbag today The Bullard Edge fields a question from Wendy, the HR Director at Mid-Town Medical Center. Wendy asks about an employee who is demanding an extended medical leave (seven months have been taken already). Although the employee is not cooperating, she […]

University of Oregon Economic Indexes By Tim Duy Oregon Economic Forum University of  Oregon Oregon Statewide Economic Indicators: The Oregon economy continues to grow with further evidence that the pace of activity is moderating as the expansion matures. Highlights of this month’s report include: The Oregon measure of economic activity […]

Bullard Law, Portland law firm By Michael G. McClory “Post-Election Leave” Under OFLA/FMLA? By Michael G. McClory Today’s (fictional) mailbag question comes from Chuck, who is the HR Director at Mid-Town Tires. He asks about an employee who has been out sick since last week’s election. Chuck believes the employee […]