By Oregon Business & Industry During an April 15 webinar, the OBI policy and political affairs team discussed the 2025 legislative session, which had reached its halfway point. The webinar covered some of the session’s highest profile legislation, OBI’s Oregon Competitiveness Agenda and what Oregon business could expect during the […]

By Oregon Small Business Association Foundation, Forbes’ list of billionaires includes three Oregonians who built their businesses but juggled places on the 2025 list.   Oregon’s richest man, Phil Knight, cofounder and retired chief executive officer of Nike, and his family ranked 49th on the list with a net worth […]

By Abby Fitts Barran Liebman Law, LLP, On April 11, 2025, Oregon’s Labor Commissioner Christina Stephenson announced Oregon’s new minimum wage rates based on a 2.4% Consumer Price Index increase from March 2024 through March 2025. The annual automatic increases to Oregon’s minimum wage are effective each July 1 and […]

By Vera Pool National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice, representing Oregon and Washington As a law enforcement veteran serving our Oregon for fifty-four years and a representative for the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice, I have seen firsthand how well-intentioned policies can backfire. The push to ban […]

By Oregon Attorney General, Press Release, Attorney General Dan Rayfield and a coalition of 20 other states filed an amicus brief supporting an injunction to block erratic and unlawful layoffs and mismanagement at the Social Security Administration by acting administrator Leland Dudek and the Department of Government Efficiency that jeopardize […]

By Oregon Business & Industry What happened: On April 1, the House Committee on Climate, Energy and Environment conducted a public hearing on HB 3940, which would assess a 5-cent surcharge (in effect, a tax) on each beverage container sold in Oregon. The revenue would be used for wildfire mitigation […]

4/9/25 Temporary Injunction Issued Against Oregon Project Labor Agreement Requirement April 9, 2025 By Nicole Elgin and Lex Shvartsmann Barran Liebman LLP Law On March 24, 2025, Marion County Circuit Court Judge Thomas M. Hart issued a temporary injunction against Governor Tina Kotek’s 2024 Executive Order requiring Project Labor Agreements […]

By NFIB, WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 8, 2025) – The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index declined by 3.3 points in March to 97.4, falling just below the 51-year average of 98. The Uncertainty Index decreased eight points from February’s second highest reading to 96. “The implementation of new policy priorities has […]

Wyden Co-Sponsors Resolution Underscoring Crucial Role of Local News Amid Threats to Free Press By U.S. Senator Ron Wyden Press Release, Washington D.C. –U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today announced he is co-sponsoring a resolution designating April 2025 as “Preserving and Protecting Local News Month” to highlight local journalism’s vital […]

By Oregon Business & Industry, April 4, 2025 Oregon needs a well-functioning transportation system to move people and goods. To pay for that system responsibly, policymakers must collect revenue judiciously and ensure that it’s spent efficiently. They also must recognize the context in which they propose to raise and spend […]