Archives

December 24, 2018 - AG forces local car dealer to issue 4000 refunds

By Oregon Attorney General’s Office, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum today announced a $120,000 settlement with car dealership Courtesy Ford, and warned other car dealers that violating the state’s advertising rules could result in stiff penalties. The settlement includes $55,000 in restitution to Oregonians who unknowingly purchased a “Data Dots” theft […]


December 20, 2018 - Congress, fix tax cut error before going home

National Retail Federation Press Release, The National Retail Federation and more than 250 retail, restaurant and other companies from across the country are urging Congress to fix a mistake in last year’s tax reform law as part of end-of-year legislation, saying the error has put millions of dollars in job-creating […]


December 20, 2018 - Should we rethink single family housing?

By Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis As policymakers, builders, and the market work to solve the housing supply issues, a key question everybody asks is what type of housing do we need? Aren’t millennials always going to be renters? [No] Should we grow up, or out? Our office’s […]


December 19, 2018 - WA paid family leave starts. Oregon next?

Employers Prepare: Washington Paid Family & Medical Leave Premiums Start January 1st! By Nicole Elgin & Kyle Abraham By Barran Liebman LLP Oregon law firm On January 1, 2019, Washington will become the fifth state in the country with Paid Family and Medical Leave. This new program will allow employees […]


December 18, 2018 - Rep. Schrader: Bill closes $1B drug rebate loophole

US Representative Kurt Schrader, Oregon US Congress, Legislation introduced by Congressman Kurt Schrader (OR-05) and Congressman Peter Welch (VT-At Large) to close a loophole in the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program that is reported to have cost the Medicaid program as much as $1 billion passed in the House this week […]


December 17, 2018 - Ind-Contractor Misclassification fine cost $3.5M

By Barran Liebman LLP Oregon law firm A recent judgment by the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon requires the owner of a courier service, Gerald Brazie, Jr., and three of his Portland-based companies (Senvoy LLC, Driver Resources LLC, and ZoAn Management Inc.) to pay their drivers $3,087,100 […]


December 14, 2018 - Oregon construction, manufacturing, payroll all up

Timothy A. Duy Director, Oregon Economic Forum Department of Economics, University of Oregon Below is the University of Oregon State of Oregon Economic Indicators for October 2018. The release date is December 6, 2018. Special thanks to our sponsor, KeyBank The Oregon Measure of Economic Activity rose to 0.83 in […]


December 13, 2018 - Portland Airbnb: 75% in violation

By Oregon Small Business Association, More than 75 percent of the people renting homes in Portland through Airbnb, Vacasa and other online sites are doing so in violation of city regulations. Portland city auditors discovered that four of every five short-term rentals operate illegally, but the city hasn’t enforced the […]


December 12, 2018 - Feds close fake document business

By Oregon Small Business Association Federal officials shut down an Oregon man’s website that sold fake documents identity thieves could use to defraud innocent victims. Steven Simmons, who operated www.noveltyexcuses under the company name of Integrated Flight Solutions of Beaverton, agreed to permanently shut down his business as part of […]


December 11, 2018 - Wyden: Texting and free speech

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden  called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to classify text messaging as a telecommunications service. During its open meeting on Dec. 12, the FCC will vote on a proposed declaratory ruling classifying text messaging as an information service, which would permit telephone […]