Economy
Oregon Revenue Department launches refund tracker for 2022 taxes
The Oregon Department of Revenue has begun sending tax refunds and launched a website for Oregon taxpayers to track their refunds. State and federal taxes must be filed by April 18. Nearly 682,000 Oregon taxpayers submitted their 2022 taxes by March 3, and almost 496,000 people have already received refunds, according to the revenue department. […]
Smaller Oregon companies looking for semiconductor funding
CORVALLIS— In a small laboratory on HP’s Corvallis campus, a group of Oregon State University graduates are producing a chemical that will make semiconductor chips smaller, lighter and more efficient to produce. The company, Inpria, was born out of an Oregon State University professor’s research group about 15 years ago. Now, it has 60 employees, […]
Oregon’s kicker offers chance to address pressing problems
The state’s most recent revenue forecast should be celebrated by anyone concerned about homelessness in our state or the sad fact that our state’s drug and alcohol addiction rates are among the highest in the country. Instead of state revenues falling below biennial or two-year economic projections, personal income revenues have skyrocketed 17.9% or $4 […]
Child poverty dropped to a record low last year. A new report shows how to keep it that way
The expanded child tax credit that families received in 2021 helped reduce child poverty across the country, but particularly in the South where families lack a sufficient safety net, according to a paper released last week. The report by the Hamilton Project, the Brookings Institution’s economic policy initiative, comes as some Democrats appear ready to attempt […]
USDA projects farm income will fall in 2023 after two robust years
WASHINGTON — After two strong years of growth, U.S. farm income is forecast to drop substantially in 2023 as commodity prices fall and expenses rise, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service. And with food prices projected to rise into 2023, the nation’s producers will not be reaping the financial benefits. The economic […]
Any new Oregon R&D tax credit should cut out corporations splurging on stock buybacks
Imagine you have a wealthy cousin who comes asking for money. He brags about how much he spends on lavish parties, yet he begs for cash to fix up his house. “You gotta be kidding me,” you’d probably say. That’s also what the Oregon Legislature’s response should be to the big corporations that are coming […]
Kotek presses Oregon Legislature to approve $155 million for homelessness
Gov. Tina Kotek on Tuesday repeated calls for the Oregon Legislature to quickly approve $155 million for homelessness, calling Oregon’s housing crisis “one of the most daunting emergencies we have ever faced.” “Business as usual is simply not enough,” Kotek told the House Committee on Housing and Homelessness. “We must work together across all levels […]
Biden student debt relief plan met with skepticism from U.S. Supreme Court conservatives
WASHINGTON — The majority conservative wing of the U.S. Supreme Court appeared skeptical Tuesday that the Biden administration had the authority to implement a federal student debt relief program that was estimated to potentially aid millions of borrowers. The conservative justices, who hold a 6-3 majority on the court, questioned whether the Department of Education […]
Hillsboro, hub of Oregon semiconductor industry, seeks more manufacturing land
Hillsboro city leaders can picture a new semiconductor facility on the hundreds of acres of land now planted with grass seed on the northwestern outskirts of their city. On one side of an invisible line drawn by the Legislature nearly a decade ago, almost 460 acres are ready for development. On the other side, hundreds […]
Kotek names new chair to help steer liquor control commission away from scandal
Gov. Tina Kotek has chosen the new chairman of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, which is under investigation for corruption. Marvin Révoal, who has served on the board for nine years, assumed the role Friday. He is currently vice president of business development for Wilson Heirgood Associates insurance and previously worked 30 years at […]
Why Northwest officials are only now deciding how to regulate crypto mining
More than a dozen cryptocurrency mining operations call Grant County, Washington, home. In a county of just over 100,000 residents, sitting directly below the Grand Coulee Dam, 13 crypto mining operations — think warehouses stacked with networked computers continuously working on complex math equations to earn bitcoin — might seem like a lot. But the […]
State economists conclude Oregon just enjoyed a blockbuster decade
Good news is hard to accept at times, as when economists tell us that Oregon has just enjoyed one of its best decades ever – growing jobs, boosting wages, narrowing income inequality and diminishing poverty at rates not seen in most of our lifetimes. Wait, what? Yes, that’s what the data shows for Oregon’s economy […]