By Oregon US Attorney Office Release, Miguel Merecias-Lopez, 24, of Woodburn, Oregon, pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to produce false identification documents and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. According to court documents, from a time unknown until September 21, 2017, Merecias-Lopez and other co-conspirators were part […]

By Oregon Taxpayer Foundation Capitol Update Series The Oregon Legislature looks poised to approve a bill co-sponsored by Rep. Jack Zika enabling construction of 485 new housing units—half of those for people with below-average incomes—on land outside of Redmond. Zika, R-Redmond, is optimistic for passage of House Bill 2336, which […]

Timothy A. Duy Director, Oregon Economic Forum Department of Economics, University of Oregon The Oregon Measure of Economic Activity jumped to 1.51 in January from an upwardly revised December reading of 0.41. Highlights of this month’s report include:

Oregon US Representative Peter DeFazio Press Release, U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR), U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI), and U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) will introduce legislation to create a new progressive tax on financial transactions that would generate billions in revenue, while addressing economic inequality and reducing high risk […]

US Chamber Release, Marjorie Chorlins, executive director of the U.S. Chamber’s U.S.-UK Business Council, issued the following statement in response to the UK Parliament vote today to delay Brexit:

By Oregon Small Business Association Attorneys representing four women who alleged gender discrimination by Nike Inc., the sportswear giant based in Portland, won the first round in an attempt to broaden their litigation into a class-action lawsuit. Federal Magistrate Judge Jolie Russo rejected Nike’s motion to dismiss class and collective […]

By J. Chris Duckworth Bullard Law, Oregon law firm The United States Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed a new rule that would raise the salary threshold required to qualify for overtime exemptions to $35,308 per year, up from the current threshold of $23,660 per year that was set in […]

Tax Foundation by Garrett Watson, Nicole Kaeding This week, Oregon’s Legislative Revenue Office (LRO) provided economic projections to the Joint Committee on Student Success Subcommittee on Revenue to assess the impact of a proposed gross receipts tax on Oregon’s economy. The committee is interested in raising about $1 billion in […]

New and Emerging Jobs in Oregon: The Latest Trends By Oregon Employment Department The Oregon Employment Department’s occupational employment projections through the year 2027 include the latest trends in new and emerging jobs in Oregon. Projections provide the expected growth rate and annual openings for 724 different occupations from 2017 […]

By NFIB, Job creation among small businesses broke the 45-year record in February with a net addition of 0.52 workers per firm, according to NFIB’s monthly jobs report, released today. The previous record was in May 1998 at 0.51 workers per firm. The percent of owners citing labor costs as […]