Economy

A snow plow works on clearing Oregon 11 between Pendleton to Washington state

Winter road maintenance will continue with $19 million promise from Kotek, Oregon Legislature

BY: - December 4, 2023

Oregon’s top elected officials pledged to spend millions of dollars on winter road maintenance after dire warnings from the state Department of Transportation that highways would go unplowed because of a budget shortfall.  Gov. Tina Kotek, Senate President Rob Wagner and House Speaker Dan Rayfield announced Monday that the state would commit $19 million to […]

Oregon Sens. Sollman, Thatcher to revive veteran income tax break proposal

BY: - December 4, 2023

A bipartisan pair of Oregon state senators will try again to give retired veterans an income tax break after running out of time in the most recent legislative session. Sens. Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro, and Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer, said Wednesday they plan to revive a bill they introduced this spring to allow veterans aged 62 or […]

Oregon Legislature Capitol building under construction

Oregon economists revise revenue forecast, state will have extra $217 million to spend

BY: - November 22, 2023

Oregon lawmakers will have less money to spend next year than they anticipated after a promising revenue forecast released last week. 

Retailers, worried that shoppers are cutting back their holiday spending this year, are hiring fewer seasonal workers. Shown is the Flatirons Crossing mall on Nov. 26, 2021 in Broomfield, Colorado.

Retailers pare back their seasonal hiring to prepare for ho-hum holidays

BY: - November 21, 2023

Black Friday shoppers may notice longer lines and fewer retail associates in some of their favorite stores than in past holiday seasons as retailers scale back seasonal hiring over concerns about consumer spending. JCPenney is hiring 12,000 fewer workers than last year. Macy’s 3,000 fewer. Meanwhile a Walmart executive said the retail giant has been […]

A cannabis store in New Jersey.

Democrats urge feds to update banking ‘red flags’ on legal marijuana businesses

BY: - November 17, 2023

The federal government unfairly penalizes state-legal marijuana businesses whose owners have been convicted of marijuana-related crimes, restricting them from loans and other banking tools, a group of U.S. Senate and House Democrats wrote to the Treasury Department asking for a change in policy. The group of 20 lawmakers, who mostly represent states where recreational marijuana is legal, […]

About 100 tenant advocates to call on the Federal Housing Finance Agency to bolster tenant protections and rent regulations on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023.

‘Out of control’: Advocates rally in D.C. calling for action on housing crisis

BY: - November 15, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Washington state Democrat, joined about 100 tenant advocates at a press event outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to demand action on the housing crisis. Jayapal, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, called on the Federal Housing Finance Agency to bolster tenant protections and rent regulations. The People’s […]

COMMENTARY
A local marijuana dispensary in Portland.

Oregon’s largest private-sector union forges own path

BY: - November 15, 2023

Is Oregon’s largest private-sector union going its own way politically? It’s too early to say conclusively, but as it’s said in journalism, three instances make a trend, and a string of instances this year suggest the organization is already there.  The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 represents more than 30,000 workers, the core […]

An engineer examines a computer chip.

Oregon’s semiconductor industry seeks more funding from the Legislature 

BY: - November 7, 2023

Oregon’s semiconductor industry and educators want state lawmakers to allocate more money to help the industry become a larger part of the state’s economy. Last session, lawmakers approved $500 million in grants, loans and tax credits to grow the industry. That’s on top of $52 billion the federal government plans to spend nationwide, and Oregon […]

semiconductor Inpria

White House names Oregon as tech hub for semiconductors, mass timber

BY: - October 23, 2023

Oregon could receive tens of millions of dollars from the federal government for semiconductors and mass timber after the Biden administration announced Monday that the state will be home to two of 31 technology hubs. 

Oregon Chinook salmon

Struggling salmon fishermen getting federal help, but it may be too late

BY: - October 23, 2023

The federal government will dole out disaster relief to commercial Chinook salmon fishermen who have weathered a string of poor seasons on the Oregon Coast. But some fishermen say the help won’t be enough to rescue the fast-shrinking industry. Earlier this month, two years after a request by Oregon’s governor, the U.S. Department of Commerce […]

With Oregon tolls in limbo, Chavez-DeRemer pushes Buttigieg to block tolling proposal

BY: - October 17, 2023

While Oregonians are safe from paying tolls for the next two years because of a state executive order, one member of the state’s congressional delegation is pushing federal Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to block proposed tolls on two interstate highways in Oregon. U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a Republican, sent Buttigieg a letter urging the U.S. […]

Pacific NW wins $1 billion from feds for ‘Clean Hydrogen Hub.’ Now what?

BY: - October 13, 2023

Oregon and Washington scored big Friday in a fiercely contested national competition to grab a share of $7 billion to kickstart the production and use of “green” hydrogen, viewed as an important fuel source for cutting pollution from heavy industry. President Joe Biden and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced that the Pacific Northwest bid was […]