By NFIB, Small businesses continued to struggle to increase their workforce in February, with 22% of owners reporting that labor quality was their top business problem, according to NFIB’s monthly jobs report. Eleven percent of owners cited labor costs as their top business problem, unchanged from January. Reports of labor […]

By US Senator Ron Wyden Press Release, In an effort to combat a sharp rise in oil prices amid Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today urged President Biden to stabilize gas prices and help working families by releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). […]

By Oregon Small Business Association, The Oregon Senate voted to ban last-minute mandatory overtime for bakery and tortilla plant workers in a 24-2 bipartisan vote anda 36 to 21 party-line vote in the House. Senate Bill 1513 affects 294 employers in Oregon and their 5,629 workers, many of whom say […]

Be Careful When Disciplining Employees for Complaining About Work on Social Media! By Natalie Pattison Barran Law Private sector employers take note: an employee’s social media post complaining about work may be entitled to protections under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). This is true regardless of whether the private […]

By NFIB, The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small business advocacy organization, issued the following statement on behalf of Courtney Titus Brooks, Senior Manager of Federal Government Relations, in response to the introduction of the Employee Retention Tax Credit Reinstatement Act in the U.S. Senate: “The […]

February 22, 2022 By Heather J. Van Meter Bullard Law The easing of COVID restrictions around the country amid discussion of “living with COVID” will require employers to be more vigilant in many ways while simultaneously attempting to return to normal or a new normal. Some employers need workers back […]

By Portland Business Alliance, Portland Business Alliance releases its annual State of the Economy report This annual update on the state of our region’s economy, led by the Alliance in partnership with ECONorthwest and presented by Bank of America, marks yet again an unprecedented moment. For more information, please contact: […]

By Josh Lehner Oregon Office Economic Analysis, Demand for housing is very strong. Vacancy rates are falling, home sales are rising, and while new construction activity is increasing some, in the big picture it is relatively steady here in Oregon. The lack of a sustained supply response in housing in […]

By Oregon Taxpayers Association Foundation Anyone pumping a vehicle with gas knows the prices have soared—hitting a 10-year record—and they’re much higher on the West Coast than anywhere else in the nation. In Portland, where the price of a gallon of gas hit $3.98, motorists soon may see the city’s […]

By NFIB NFIB filed an amicus brief at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in the case The Atlanta Opera, Inc. In this extremely consequential case, the NLRB will reconsider its current standard for determining independent contractor status of workers and weigh whether to return to a more-stringent Obama-era standard. […]