By Oregon Business & Industry, Gas-Powered Car Ban: The Oregon Environmental Quality Commission on Dec. 19 approved a rule banning the sale of gasoline-powered cars, SUVs and light-duty trucks by 2035. According to The Oregonian, the Advanced Clean Cars II rule echoes a California rule requiring manufacturers to sell an […]

By Oregon Small Business Association Foundation Home sales in Portland are dropping as mortgage rates soared to 7 percent, the highest rate on a 30-year fixed loan since 2022, according to the Portland Business Journal. Home sales in the metro area dropped 38 percent in October from the same month […]

By Oregon Attorney General Press Release, In a monumental year for public health-related legal settlements, including last week’s nearly $700 million settlement with Monsanto over PCB contamination in Oregon, the Oregon Department of Justice has recently signed onto eight multi-state agreements with companies that either distributed, produced or sold opioids, […]

By Oregon Small Business Association Foundation, Business owners should prepare themselves to better protect the private information of consumers and employees under new laws taking effect in 2023 in California and other states. California voters this year passed the California Privacy Rights Act, a ballot initiative that takes effect Jan. […]

By National Retail Federation The National Retail Federation issued the following statement from Senior Vice President of Government Relations David French following the inclusion of the “Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces (INFORM) for Consumers Act” in year-end congressional omnibus legislation. “On behalf of the retail industry, we […]

Wyden Calls for Transparency on Government Hacking of Americans’ Devices — Wyden Requests FBI Policies, Legal Justifications for Use of Malware Made by NSO and Other Foreign Hacking Tools, Statistics on How Many Devices and People Are Hacked Annually By US Senator Ron Wyden, Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ron […]

By Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association With the new year around the corner, hospitality employers should be aware requirements coming into play in 2023. Oregon’s new Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance program (PFMLI) goes into effect January 1, 2023. A new Paid Leave notice for all Oregon employers goes into […]

Happy Valley Man Sentenced for Illegally Trafficking Counterfeit Gun Parts for Use as Airsoft Accessories By US Attorney, Oregon District Press Release, PORTLAND, Ore.—On December 13, 2022, a Happy Valley, Oregon man was sentenced to federal probation for illegally trafficking counterfeit gun accessories, including suppressors, scopes, grips and sights, from […]

Oregon Supreme Court Rules State Wage Law Same as Federal Wage Law for Compensation of Employees’ On-Site Security Screening Time December 15, 2022 By Heather J. Van Meter Bullard Law, On December 15, the Oregon Supreme Court held that state wage law is the same as federal wage law for […]

By NFIB, Inflation remains the top business problem for small business owners, with 32% of owners reporting it as their single most important problem in operating their business, five points lower than July’s highest reading since the fourth quarter of 1979. The Small Business Optimism Index rose 0.6 points in […]