OBI Releases Priorities for 2026 Legislative Session
What happened: On Jan. 30, Oregon Business & Industry released its priorities for the 2026 legislative session.
A critical session: The session is an important opportunity for lawmakers to follow through on their commitment to strengthen Oregon’s economic competitiveness and grow the state’s private sector. To make meaningful progress, the Legislature must advance pro-business policies, re-evaluate existing laws and regulations and avoid enacting new programs that add costs, increase complexity and weaken Oregon’s competitive position. Short legislative sessions are intended to focus on budget adjustments and urgent issues, and Oregon’s economic competitiveness is one of the most urgent challenges facing the state.
Opportunities and threats: OBI’s priorities are divided into prosperity opportunities – legislation that modernizes rulemaking and permitting, for example – and threats to prosperity such as new and increased taxes. They reflect OBI’s targeted short-session agenda, not the full scope of OBI’s policy priorities, which are detailed in our Oregon Competitiveness Agenda.
Living document: As the session proceeds and bill language evolves, this document may see changes or additions. Bills are still being introduced, and the current document reflects the scope only of what OBI knows going into the weekend.
Learn more: Go here for more information about OBI’s 2026 priorities.
OBI Poll Shows Frustration with Taxes, Costs, Elected Leaders
Pre-session poll: OBI on Friday released the results of a January voter survey conducted by DHM Research in advance of the 2026 legislative session. OBI commissioned this research to better understand what Oregonians see as the state’s most urgent challenges, with an emphasis on taxes, regulations, affordability and economic competitiveness. The findings indicate that voters are concerned about the direction of the state and are looking for solutions that improve economic competitiveness and reduce cost pressures. Voters are not looking for more taxes or regulations.
Among the survey’s key findings:
- Voters are pessimistic about the direction of the state. Only 26% say the state is heading in the right direction, with positivity remaining stubbornly low since 2021. Most voters say the problems facing the state are getting worse.
- Elected leaders get low ratings for job performance. Sixty four percent disapprove of Gov. Kotek’s performance, 64% disapprove of the Oregon Legislature’s performance, and 55% disapprove of President Trump’s performance.
- Economic outlook is poor and Oregonians are struggling to get by. Seventy three percent rate Oregon’s current economic conditions as poor, up from 60% in 2021, and 68% say conditions are getting worse, up from 62% in 2021. Nearly half struggle to pay for essentials.
- Voters blame high taxes and excessive regulations for Oregon’s sluggish economy. Fifty two percent think Oregon’s economic growth rate is slower than the national average (it is), 42% think it’s about the same, and 4% think it’s faster. Asked to explain the slow growth, 23% mention high taxes and 21% mention excessive regulations. No other reasons are cited as often.
- Voters favor a pro-growth strategy to tackle upcoming state budget deficits. Fifty two percent prefer reducing regulations and creating incentives to spur economic growth, jobs and tax revenue. Twenty seven percent support spending cuts, and only 12% favor raising taxes to fully fund programs. Voters in all parties favor the first approach.
Learn more: Go here to learn more about the poll’s results.
Additional Resources for the 2026 Session
What’s happening: The 2026 legislative session will move quickly, unpredictably and perhaps consequentially. Below are some ways to prepare:
Read OBI’s op-ed: The Portland Business Journal on Jan. 20 published an op-ed in which OBI President and CEO Angela Wilhelms urges legislators to address Oregon’s economic and competitive slide. You can read it here.
Bookmark OBI’s session page: OBI’s 2026 legislative session web page will feature timely updates on key legislation throughout the session. It also contains links to related resources, including the Oregon Competitiveness Agenda, 2025 End of Session Report and updated legislative poster. Go here to visit the page.
Resources for legislative engagement: Visit OBI’s web page with information about how you can engage in legislative advocacy, such as contacting lawmakers or providing testimony on a proposal. Go here to visit the page.
Updated legislative poster: OBI has updated the downloadable poster for the 83rd Oregon Legislative Assembly to reflect changes in the composition of the House and Senate since its original publication in January 2025. Go here for the poster.
OBI Releases its First Quarterly Oregon Jobs Report
What happened: OBI today released the first quarterly Oregon Jobs Report produced by Colorado-based Aspen Tech Labs, which maintains a database of more than 10 million active job postings worldwide from over 300,000 employers. This inaugural report provides high-level hiring activity and advertised compensation across the state for fourth quarter of 2025.
In its work to strengthen Oregon’s economy, OBI provides a range of timely and relevant data. This includes reports produced by the OBI Research and Education Foundation on Oregon’s business tax burden, its regulatory environment, manufacturing sector and educational funding structure. It also includes the Oregon Scorecard, the Oregon Competitiveness Book and, as of today, a quarterly jobs report.
What it shows: The information contained in this quarter’s report provides a useful, if limited, snapshot of statewide hiring activity. It is not intended to capture every piece of potentially relevant data – business closures and contractions, for instance – but what it does capture identifies important trends:
- Oregon’s downward trend in job postings indicates weakening economic strength and job creation.
- As a percentage, Oregon’s year-over-year job postings declined more significantly than the nation as a whole, indicating a persistent lack of competitiveness.
- Oregon’s unemployment rate continues to exceed the national average, also pointing to a weakened economy and lack of competitiveness.
- Health care continues to be an area of strength, accounting for a large portion of job postings and relatively high pay. However, health care is funded largely by other private-sector activity, from employer-covered insurance to government spending supported by tax dollars.
- Large companies produce a large number of jobs, demonstrating their importance to Oregon’s economy.
Read the report: Go here to read the report.
Policy and Rulemaking Updates
2026 ‘short’ session underway: The 2026 legislative session is officially underway. The House and Senate convened this morning, and committees will begin hearing bills today. The session must adjourn on or before March 8. The limited 35-day timeframe is why these even-year sessions are often referred to as short sessions.
Even though its days are numbered, this year’s session promises to bring a flurry of activity. Among the stated priorities for legislative leaders is rebalancing the biennial budget, work that will be rooted in the information released this coming Wednesday, Feb. 4, in the next quarterly economic and revenue forecast. Another stated priority has been a broad statement about protecting Oregon and Oregonians from actions within the federal administration. How this will manifest, particularly for employers, is not entirely clear, though OBI has seen a couple of employment-related bills and will no doubt see more. A third priority is grappling with affordability, which affects individuals and businesses. However, while there are few details about proactive work here, there are several bills that are likely to increase costs for businesses and consumers. OBI will work to fight those.
Unfortunately, little time has been dedicated thus far to economic development, job creation and restoring a healthy, vibrant economy. Sure, some have made overtures and, to their credit, a couple of legislators are spearheading good bills (see below). But now is the time for serious action. Below is a partial list of the bills emerging at the start of session. OBI is engaging on these and many others. If there’s a topic we have not included, don’t hesitate to reach out.
JOBS Act: Along with the several other stakeholders, OBI helped develop SB 1586 (the Jobs, Opportunity, Build-ready Sites (JOBS) Act) with chief sponsor Sen. Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro. There are several elements. The highest profile element would bring 1,700 acres of land in Hillsboro into the UGB for advanced manufacturing and semiconductor development (land from the 2023 CHIPs act). The bill also expands Oregon’s R&D tax credit eligibility to clean tech, life sciences and additional semiconductor and advanced manufacturing companies; and creates an optional local property tax waiver for new machinery and equipment in advanced manufacturing (adapted from OBI’s MCO policy principles). While OBI believes that good policy should not be targeted to specific winners, this bill represents some expansion of good ideas and positive steps forward.
Governor’s economic development bill: HB 4084 has promising foundational pieces as well as elements that need work. OBI welcomes the proposed updates to the state’s enterprise zone program and the governor’s call for $40 million for industrial land site readiness. (In fact, OBI had supported $40 million last session, when the governor asked for and received only $10 million.) The pieces that need work relate to permitting. First, OBI’s suggestion that agencies issue refunds if they do not meet permit deadlines was removed from the original draft due to agency pushback. Second, the drafted “fast track” permitting language creates more process and doesn’t speed anything up. OBI will continue to work with them on this bill.
Climate superfund: Also known as “polluter pays,” SB 1541 is one of the most worrisome environmental bills of the session. Sen. Jeff Golden’s, D-Ashland, bill would impose strict liability on businesses and individuals that extracted or refined fossil fuels resulting in “climate damages” between 1995 to 2024. These financial obligations lack clear limits on total costs or future reassessments, and the bill would increase fuel costs for consumers. Regulatory programs such as the Climate Protection Program apply to current and future emissions, while the climate superfund would add another significant layer of cost by imposing retroactive liability. OBI is part of a broad business coalition opposing the bill. Although no hearing has been scheduled, one could be scheduled as early as Feb. 5.
BOLI funding: SB 1506 attempts to help fund the Bureau of Labor and Industries via an increase the Worker Benefit Fund tax from 1.8 cents per hour worked to 2 cents, evenly split among employers and employees. In 2025, the Legislature increased funding to BOLI to help address the case backlog. That temporary funding will end in 2029, and SB 1506 would create a dedicated funding source. However, Oregon’s Constitution requires revenue raising bills to originate in the House and to be passed by three fifths of both chambers. While OBI doesn’t object to the actual policy, particularly the fact that employees will help fund the program, we have objections to this starting in the Senate.
Rulemaking improvements: HB 4073 is an OBI bill introduced by Rep. Anna Scharf, R-Amity, and Sen. Christine Drazan, R-Canby, to improve rulemaking transparency, information and process. Key components focus on engagement with the affected regulated community, robust financial and cost/benefit impacts and the establishment of an “arbitrary and capricious” standard. That standard is something all but a handful of states have.
Permit denial clarity: HB 4020 is a House Rules Committee bill that requires five state agencies to explain reasons for a permit denial and provide the applicant with a guide on how to contest the denial. It also requires the agencies, including the Department of Environmental Quality, to develop performance measures for evaluating permit processing timeframes and the factors that delay timely issuance of permits. While this might improve permitting transparency, it is unlikely to improve permitting processing in the near term. First, agencies such as DEQ don’t typically deny permits. Rather, it is common for agencies to require specific provisions for approval and the permit applicant either meets the requirements or ceases pursuing the permit. Second, DEQ has permitting performance measures that have not been effective in improving the process. OBI is neutral on the bill. It is scheduled for a public hearing in House Rules on Feb. 3.
Recycling law fix: Oregon’s Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act (RMA), an extended producer responsibility program (EPR) meant to increase the recyclability of plastic packaging, became operative on July 1, 2025. As OBI has noted before, many businesses have struggled to comply with the program’s processes and exorbitant costs. OBI is working to get an important fix to the program: the exclusion of packaging sold by one business to another business at wholesale or for further manufacturing processes. Other states do this; Oregon is an outlier. OBI has been told by the chair of the House Committee on Climate, Energy, and Environment that the fix will be considered as an amendment to HB 4030.
Criminal penalties for wage claims: HB 4089 would impose criminal penalties for wage claims, including up to five years in prison and fines up to $125,000 for employers found to have underpaid employees and independent contractors. The criminal penalties are in addition to any other penalty in other laws. Any wage dispute or underpayment – including meal and rest period issues – could subject an employer to criminal liability.
Prevailing wage fix: Sen. Dick Anderson, R-Lincoln City, introduced SB 1566 to repair Oregon’s aggressively imposed prevailing wage law as applied to housing projects. Prevailing wage was created to apply union wages to projects that are publicly owned and 100% publicly financed, such as large infrastructure. BOLI has persistently expanded the application of this law to encompass even tangential intersections of public and private spending on projects. A recent example is the application of prevailing wage to a privately funded housing development because a city put in a publicly funded road. OBI supports this much-needed bill.
Unsanctioned camping bill: Sen. Mark Meek, D-Gladstone, introduced HB 1514 as a committee bill. This relates to OBI’s efforts to improve or repeal HB 3115 from 2021. The bill will be in Meek’s Commerce and General Government Committee. If it advances out of that committee, it will go to the Senate Housing and Development Committee, where it will face a more skeptical group of Democratic lawmakers.
Oregon Competitiveness Data Updates
Competitiveness Book released: OBI on Jan. 26 released the 2026 Oregon Competitiveness Book, which contains more than 50 pages of rankings and data. Read the announcement on OBI’s website here and download or view the Oregon Competitiveness Book on the Oregon Scorecard home page here (scroll down toward the bottom of the page).
Oregon Scorecard updates: OBI updates the Oregon Scorecard throughout the year as new data and rankings become available. In January, OBI updated data on the state’s business tax burden, which appears on the Business Climate page, and adjusted data on electricity prices. OBI updated information on commercial and industrial electricity prices and added price data for all sectors – all on the Business Climate page. On the Quality of Life page, OBI added data for residential electricity prices. Additional Oregon Scorecard updates will follow the impending release of the Common Sense Institute’s 2026 Free Enterprise Report.
Notable News
Legislative priorities: Oregon lawmakers return to Salem this week for a packed legislative session in which they hope to address a projected budget deficit, strengthen the state’s economy and challenge federal immigration enforcement policies (The Oregonian).
Transportation tax repeal: Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Tina Kotek have less than one month to pass a bill if they want to move a transportation funding referendum from November to May, according to Oregon’s top election officer (Oregon Capital Chronicle).
Power policy: Utilities and regulators have a range of options to meet the Northwest’s power demand, pursue its climate goals and keep the lid on rates. But none are fast, easy or cheap. Just keeping the juice flowing may require painful compromises (The Oregonian).
Recreational liability: Who should take responsibility for the riskiness of recreating at ski areas — or participating in the state’s myriad other outdoor activities— is a question the Legislature is attempting to tackle yet again this year (The Bulletin).
Unions pressure Democrats: Over the last decade, the union-backed political outfit Our Oregon has made a habit of splashing unflattering depictions of Oregon Republicans across social media. These days, it’s the Democrats’ turn (Oregon Public Broadcasting).
Union job initiative: A new coalition of labor organizations is promoting union jobs as the backbone of a massive clean energy buildout in Oregon that addresses climate change and boosts the economy (Portland Business Journal).
School board recall: Lane County residents have filed to begin a recall of the majority of elected board members who oversee Springfield Public Schools. The three petitioners filed their first forms just a few days after a Jan. 12 school board meeting at which the targeted members voted to approve cuts to more than two dozen teaching positions in the middle of the school year (KLCC).
Shorter school year: Strapped Oregon school districts shouldn’t try to cushion the blow of upcoming budget cuts by reducing school days, a new report warns, particularly because the state already has one of the shortest public school years in the nation (The Oregonian).
Federal logging revenue: The federal government is increasing the amount of logging revenue shared with some Oregon counties due to changes in the 2026 Department of the Interior appropriation bill. Oregon counties will now receive 75% of the revenue from timber harvests on federally managed O&C Lands within their borders, compared with the previous 50% split (Jefferson Public Radio).
Powell’s layoffs: Powell’s Books confirmed Jan. 26 it has completed a “final round of layoffs” in a series of workforce reductions over the past year. The company did not release raw numbers but says it has reduced its workforce by about 20% (Willamette Week).
Portland budget: Mayor Keith Wilson implored the Portland City Council on Jan. 26 to direct much of $21 million in unspent funds from the Portland Housing Bureau to the general fund to “preserve public programs and at-risk city staff positions.” Wilson’s request comes after the council indicated an appetite for spending much of the $21 million on rent assistance and the creation of affordable housing (Willamette Week).
Oregon homelessness rises: Homelessness could be on the decline nationally for the first time in eight years, according to data from local homelessness counts gathered by The New York Times and reviewed by an outside expert. If that’s right, then Oregon’s recorded 35% growth in homelessness since 2023 stands in stark contrast to the national trend (The Oregonian).
Oregon international migration: Oregon’s population was roughly flat last year, according to new census data issued last week, adding just 8,300 residents. That’s one of the slowest growth rates in the nation, 0.2%, and far below Oregon’s robust growth rate a decade ago. Deaths have outnumbered births in Oregon since 2020 so the state’s population would be shrinking if not for one group of people still moving in — people from other countries (The Oregonian).
Kicker reduction proposal: Oregon Democrats and progressive groups have long bemoaned the “kicker” — the rebate that sends money back to taxpayers when state revenues come in higher than expected. They’ve also largely resigned themselves to the fact that Oregonians will never vote to end the kicker, a conclusion backed up by years of polling. Now, some Democrats have another suggestion: Ask taxpayers to share the wealth (Oregon Public Broadcasting).
Columbia Distributing acquisition: Pacific Northwest beverage distribution heavyweight Columbia Distributing said Jan. 26 it has reached an agreement to acquire Point Blank Distributing, a Portland-based craft beer specialist. One regional beer news outlet called it a “huge shakeup” in the beer business (Portland Business Journal).
Central Oregon buses: Cascades East Transit will begin charging riders on Feb. 1. It’s been nearly six years since the local transit agency made bus rides free in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (The Bulletin).
Intel contribution match: Intel says it will put $1,000 in employees’ government-backed savings accounts for newborn children, matching the federal contribution to the so-called “Trump Accounts” (The Oregonian).
Oregon graduation rate: Eighty-three percent of the class of 2025 graduated on time from high school last June, the highest rate since the current measurement system was put into place 15 years ago, according to newly released data from the Oregon Department of Education (The Oregonian).
Pumped storage project: U.S. energy regulators has licensed a big energy storage project at the eastern end of the Columbia River Gorge that is opposed by tribal nations and some environmental groups (Portland Business Journal).
Seafood processing suit: Environmental groups are alleging a Pacific Seafood-owned seafood processor in Warrenton is discharging harmful pollutants into the Columbia River. Nonprofits Center for Food Safety, and the Northwest Environmental Defense Center recently filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming BioOregon Protein, also known as Pacific Bio Products-Warrenton — a subsidiary of Pacific Seafood — has, for years, violated pollutant discharge limits set in its U.S. Clean Water Act permit (Oregon Public Broadcasting).
Check Out OBI’s Member Benefits
OBI offers members a range of programs that can save money or help small businesses offer benefits normally available only to much larger companies. Benefit programs include:
- HealthChoice: Helps businesses with fewer than 100 employees offer comprehensive health-care benefits through our partnership with Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon.
- Partners Retirement Plan: Allows multiple employers to offer a 401(k) benefit to employees through a group structure while maintaining individual company design and control over the benefit – such as eligibility, employer match, and vesting.
- CompSAFE: Helps eligible companies enjoy workers’ compensation discounts through SAIF Corporation.
- Fuel Program: Helps members save fuel costs through our partnership with Ed Staub & Sons.
- ODP Business Solutions: Helps OBI members save money on office furniture, supplies and other services.
- LegalPLUS: OBI members receive 15 minutes of free legal consulting per month from Innova Legal Advisors.
Go here to learn about all of OBI’s member benefits.