By Oregon Employment Department, One of the most visible and devastating impacts of the state’s stay-at-home order to protect us from the human health crisis presented by COVID-19 has been mass layoffs. More than 30 million initial claims for unemployment insurance were filed across the nation in the first six […]

Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici Release, Congresswoman Katherine Clark (MA-5), Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, Congressmembers Jahana Hayes (CT-5), Jimmy Panetta (CA-20), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-1), Danny Davis (IL-7), and Tom Malinowski (NJ-7) called for a $100 billion investment to aid in the relief, recovery and revitalization of the child care […]

By Oregon Small Business Association, Small businesses should be alarmed at the $240 million business and income tax by the METRO regional government (Measure 26-201) on the May ballot. COVID-19 caused the worst economic shock since the Great Depression. It will take months or years to recover family wage jobs […]

Wall Street Journal Editorial: May 6 Even during a pandemic, California Democrats have unions to look after. See Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s lawsuit Tuesday against Uber and Lyft for allegedly misclassifying drivers as independent contractors. The state’s blunderbuss law AB5 that Democrats passed last year sought to force businesses to […]

By Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis, I have a round-up of the latest economic data and our office’s thinking on the outlook. First, let’s talk about near-term sources of economic growth. I think most people have a good intuition on this, but our office is working to articulate […]

Oregon NFIB, From Anthony Smith, NFIB Oregon state director, on the release of the latest survey of NFIB small-business-owning members showing the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) popular among small businesses, with 77% of owners reporting they have successfully submitted an application and 61% saying they’ve received the funds. “It’s welcome […]

Article originally featured in the Oregon Transformation Newsletter On April 7, Mike Fahey, CEO of Columbia Helicopters from 1999 to 2014, passed away after a short but brave battle with cancer at the age of 76. A native Oregonian, and graduate of Lake Oswego High School and Portland State University, […]

Wall Street Journal Editorial: The economy is on life support, but that isn’t stopping the Seattle City Council from trying to soak employers with a new tax on hiring. The wizards seem not to have heard that when you tax something you get less of it. The proposal is a […]

By National Federation of Independent Business The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small business advocacy organization, issued a “Legislative Plan for Small Business Survival,” that included ten prescriptive recommendations to help ensure more small businesses survive the coronavirus crisis and more quickly return to normal business […]

US Senator Ron Wyden, Press Release, Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, along with 20 of their colleagues, are pushing Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Small Business Administrator Jovita Carranza to develop strong supervisory mechanisms to identify instances of unjust enrichment and ensure that the just-passed Paycheck Protection […]