Second Look: Supreme Court to Revisit Constitutionality of Mandatory Public Sector Union Fees By Lindsey M. Tran Ballard Law On September 28th, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will once again consider the issue of whether unions can force non-member public employees to pay union “agency fees” or “fair […]

Paper Cuts: Oregon’s Declining Paper Industry Oregon Workforce and Economic Information  Paper manufacturing began in Oregon with the Pioneer Paper Manufacturing Company in 1866, but the mill closed in less than a year. The Clackamas Paper Manufacturing Company opened in 1868 and was followed by Willamette Pulp and Paper in […]

Too Late To Fix Pers By Fooling Oregonians By Scott Shepard Cascade Policy Institute Governor Kate Brown’s task force, assigned to find ways to cut Oregon’s yawning unfunded PERS pension liability, is approaching its November 1 reporting deadline. Governor Brown is relatively new at her job, so perhaps she can […]

P White House and Congressional Leaders Reveal Sweeping Tax Reform Plan National Federation of Independent Businesses The administration’s proposal would cut taxes and repeal the death tax, marking a good starting point on reform. The White House and Congressional leaders on Wednesday unveiled a new framework for tax reform, releasing […]

Oregon Metro GDP, 2016 By Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis Hot on the heels of metro level household income data, we now get the annual metro GDP figures as well. In stepping back and looking at the bigger picture, the metro GDP growth looks like one would expect. […]

By Mark Hester, Oregon Business and Industry The Senate Workforce Committee devoted more than two hours of its Legislative Days meeting to testimony on Paid Family Leave (PFL), which remains a priority for Democratic leadership. Though PFL legislation, as currently proposed, would require a tax and therefore a 60% supermajority […]

By Oregon Small Business Association Foundation NFL sponsor, Nike Inc., released a statement Monday in response to Trump’s Friday comments directed at the NFL. Nike took the lead among three NFL sponsors, including Ford and Hyundai, in issuing a definitive statement fully siding with players’ rights to protest: “Nike supports […]

Building Permits in Oregon by Felicia Bechtoldt Oregon Workforce and Economic Information Oregon’s population continues to grow, led by migration to the state. Housing availability for both buyers and renters has become a concern in many local areas.

NFIB Tells Senate Finance that Tax Reform Must Start with Small Business By Jack Mozloom National Federation of Independent Business Small businesses need rate parity, lower taxes, simplified code, says National Federation of Independent Business The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) told the Senate Finance Committee today that no […]

by Mark Hester Oregon Business & Industry The Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) Unfunded Actuarial Liability (UAL) Task Force described each of its first two meetings as “brainstorming,” but it’s already clear that most of the proposals discussed so far would create a storm of controversy. Perhaps, that is unavoidable […]