Congressman Kurt Schrader Congressman Kurt Schrader re-introduced his Hold Congress Accountable Act (H.R.1794), which would reduce the salary of Members of Congress in the event of a government shutdown for as long as the shutdown continues. He first introduced a version of this bill in 2013 immediately following the start […]

The Oregon Prosperity Project Call it Newton’s Law of Political Physics: For every action created by a regulation there is an equal and opposite reaction. Few proposed bills illustrate this principle as clearly as SB 828 and HB 2193, which would change the rules for scheduling workers. The bills require […]

Steve Duy Oregon Economics Indicator The February 2017 State of Oregon Economic Indexes was released today.  Full report is available here.  We thank KeyBank for their generous support of this project. Oregon’s economy continues to make gains in 2017. Highlights of this month’s report include:

by Ralph Cole, CFA Executive Vice President of Research Week in Review April 7, 2017 — Equity markets were relatively flat on the week as economic data was weighed against global events. Interest rates continued their slow trend downward with the 10-year U.S. Treasury finishing the week at a 2.32 […]

By Oregon Small Business Association, A typical monthly mortgage payment consists of two parts: a repayment on a part of the principle borrowed, and an additional amount based on the interest rate the mortgager charges for the loan. These two items (“principal and interest” or P&I) are added together into […]

By NFIB, Small business optimism remained at one of its highest readings in 43 years, as small business awaits a new healthcare law, tax reform, and regulatory relief from Washington, according to the February National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Small Business Optimism Index, released today. “It is clear from […]

Barran Liebman Oregon Law Firm On March 21, 2017, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that Oregon’s whistleblower statute protects private employees from retaliation for internal reports of possible violations of law.  This is the first case to hold that internal verbal complaints by an employee are a protected […]

By Oregon Employment Department, Benton County had Oregon’s lowest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in February at 2.9 percent. Grant County (7.2%) registered the highest rate for the month. Fourteen of Oregon’s counties had unemployment rates at or below the statewide rate of 4.0 percent and 22 counties were below the […]

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden Oregon, Press Release Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., along with senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee Representative Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore.,  introduced three pieces of legislation to preserve the integrity of state marijuana laws and provide a path for responsible federal […]

by Deidra Krys-Rusoff Senior Vice President Ferguson Wellman, A leading Oregon financial firm The Week in Review March 31, 2017 — Most markets, international stocks and the U.S. Dollar ended the week near where they started. Stocks are quietly ending a strong first quarter, with this week leaving the S&P […]