OBI, Partners File Legal Challenge to Revenue-Raising Bill
What happened: On July 14, OBI, the National Federation of Independent Business, Inc. and the Portland Metro Chamber filed a suit in Oregon Tax Court challenging the constitutionality of HB 4027, a revenue-raising bill passed by the state Legislature in 2026 and signed by the governor.
What the bill does: HB 4027 raises new revenue from employers and employees via authority granted to the director of the Department Consumer and Business Services. The new revenue is directed to the BOLI Expenses fund, a new fund supporting agency operations and new positions. DCBS sets the tax and may raise it in the future.
Reason for the challenge: The underlying substance of the bill is not at issue. What is, rather, is its passage in violation of the Oregon Constitution. Revenue-raising measures like HB 4027 must reach a three-fifths threshold in both chambers. HB 4027 did not meet this standard in the House of Representatives. Because the Legislature passed the bill without meeting the constitutionally determined threshold, the bill is improper. This carries significant implications for future revenue-raising measures.
Learn more: Read OBI’s full statement about the legal challenge here, and read the complaint itself here.
Oregon Drops to 42nd in CNBC ‘Top States’ Rankings
Three-place drop: Oregon dropped to 42nd in the latest CNBC America’s Top States for Business rankings, released July 9. That’s three places lower than the state ranked in 2025, which at the time was Oregon’s lowest ranking in the history of the index. Oregon has fallen 25 places since 2017, when it was ranked 17th.
Category rankings: In addition to assigning overall rankings, CNBC ranks states in 10 areas: infrastructure, economy, workforce, quality of life, cost of doing business, technology & innovation, business friendliness, access to capital, education and cost of living. Oregon ranked among the nation’s top 20 states in only two categories, infrastructure (17th) and technology & innovation (18th) while ranking among the bottom 10 in three: cost of doing business (43rd), business friendliness (43rd) and cost of living (45th).
Prosperity Roadmap goals: Gov. Kotek included improvement in multiple CNBC rankings in Oregon’s Prosperity Roadmap, an economic growth agenda released in December 2025.
Learn more: Read OBI’s full statement in response to this year’s rankings here. Read about top-ranked Ohio here. Read OBI’s Oregon Competitiveness Agenda here and its recommendations to the Governor’s Prosperity Council here. And check out OBI’s online data dashboard, the Oregon Scorecard, here.
Job-Posting Report Shows Impact of Data Center Construction
Quarterly report: On July 17, OBI released the Oregon Jobs Report covering the second quarter of 2026. The report, which reflects state job postings from April to June, is produced by Colorado-based Aspen Tech Labs, which maintains a database of more than 10 million active job postings worldwide from over 350,000 employers. Key findings:
- Year-over-year job postings in Oregon declined slightly, dropping 0.5% from June 2025 to June 2026. National numbers remain stronger, with job postings increasing by 3.7% year over year.
- Oregon job postings in the second quarter increased by 5.3% over the first quarter of 2026. Nationally, job postings increased by 1% over the same period.
- Oregon’s hiring market during the second quarter of 2026 was shaped by concentration rather than broad expansion. Thanks to Amazon’s data center buildout, for example,
- Hermiston-Pendleton has become one of the state’s fastest-growing hiring markets. In fact, the combined IT postings in Boardman and Hermiston exceeded those in the Portland area.
Notable quote: “Taken together, Q2 2026 points to a job market increasingly shaped by anchor employers and infrastructure investment. Where those investments land, hiring follows. Where they don’t, the underlying softness in professional and healthcare roles continues to quietly accumulate.”
Learn more: Go here to read the full report.
Webinar: Pending I-5 Southbound Closure in Portland
Beginning Sept. 11, all southbound I-5 lanes will close in Portland between Broadway/Weidler and I-84. The closure, which will allow for the replacement of the road surface, will last for five weeks and create potentially significant travel disruptions. ODOT expects congestion to extend into Washington and for southbound travel to take two or three times as long.
To learn more about this project and planned detours, join representatives from the Oregon Department of Transportation for a webinar at 11 a.m. on Thursday, July 30. Time will be available for questions.
Go here to register.
Join Us for the 2026 Manufacturing and Innovation Roadshow
OBI’s Manufacturing and Innovation Roadshow will return for a fifth year this fall with a one-day tour of four Portland metro area businesses. The Roadshow will take place on Friday, Oct. 2 – recognized nationally as Manufacturing Day – and visit (in this order):
Looptworks (Gresham)
Leatherman (Portland)
QB Fabrication & Welding (Clackamas)
Miles Fiberglass & Composites (Clackamas)
The Manufacturing and Innovation Roadshow gives participants, including policymakers and business leaders, a chance to tour some of Oregon’s most innovative companies and talk to the people who run them. To learn more about this year’s participating manufacturers and to register, go to the Manufacturing and Innovation Roadshow web page here.
Oregon Business Matters Talks with PGE President & CEO Maria Pope
In the latest episode, Portland General Electric President and CEO Maria Pope talks with Oregon Business Matters about the generation and distribution of electricity in Oregon, about PGE’s role in serving the state’s most economically significant region, about the company’s commitment to renewable energy, about data center energy consumption and more. Listen to our conversation with Maria here.
In case you missed it, check out our recent interview with Deborah Flagan, vice president of community engagement and giving with Redmond-based Hayden Homes, the largest private homebuilder in the Pacific Northwest. To listen to this interview and many others, visit the Oregon Business Matters website.
The Oregon Business Matters podcast can be found on major podcast platforms, including Apple, Spotify and YouTube.
NIC Industries’ Brian Hall among ‘America’s Retail Champions’
NIC Industries’ CEO Brian Hall is one of 41 small business retailers honored by the National Retail Federation in 2026 as “America’s Retail Champions.” According to the NRF, the program recognizes” small retail business owners who go above and beyond to support their customers, serve their communities and make their voices heard on issues that matter most to our industry.”
White City-based NIC Industries manufactures industry-leading coatings that are sold in scores of countries around the world. It is one of the 20 largest paint manufacturers in the country, and its leading consumer product, Cerakote, can be found in retailers across the country. In 2025, NIC Industries received the Oregon Visionary Award, OBI’s highest honor.
Go here to listen to Brian Hall’s 2025 interview on OBI’s Oregon Business Matters podcast. OBI is the Oregon affiliate of the NRF.
Pooled 401(k) Plan Offers Administrative Savings, OBI Discount
OBI has joined with The Partners Group to offer OBI members discounted participation in TPG’s innovative 401(k) retirement option: The Partners Retirement Plan.
The Partners Retirement Plan is a pooled employer plan (PEP), which allows employers to offer a 401(k) benefit to employees while maintaining individual company design and control over the benefit. The PEP allows employers to outsource many administrative and fiduciary responsibilities that come with sponsoring retirement plans, including managing the actual plan audit and Form 5500 filing process. This results in real savings for many employers.
Members of OBI can realize even greater savings because TPG offers special pricing to OBI members.
Visit OBI’s PEP page here to learn more about the plan.
Register for Ballard Spahr Employer Best Practices Seminar
Go here to register for Ballard Spahr‘s annual Best Practices for Best Employers labor and employment seminar in Portland on Sept. 23 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Marriott Downtown Waterfront. The price is $265, but OBI members can receive a discount using code OBI50.
The annual seminar, now in its 44th year, will help bring employers up to speed on developments that affect their businesses. Interactive sessions include topics such as legal updates, AI, employment class action trends, executive coaching, complex leave and accommodation scenarios, immigration and more.
Policy and Rulemaking Updates
Cleaner Air Oregon rulemaking: The advisory committee process for the Department of Environmental Quality’s latest Cleaner Air Oregon (CAO) rulemaking wrapped up in late June. The rulemaking involves changes to toxicity reference values for more than 300 chemicals, and it could produce regulatory changes of immense scope, complexity and impact. Last week, OBI submitted extensive comments noting that the current proposal would increase the difficulty and cost of compliance for what already is the most complex and costly air toxics regulatory program in the country. While DEQ responded positively to some components of earlier technical memoranda that OBI submitted, OBI continues to harbor concerns: Some elements of the proposal are not grounded in best available science, more time is needed for sufficient scientific review, certain implementation strategies would result in significant regulatory uncertainty and cost to businesses that have already completed the CAO process, and the fiscal impact analysis is flawed. Just last month, the Oregon Prosperity Council recommendations called for the rulemaking to be paused “to allow for more rigorous scientific review.” In its comment letter, OBI urged DEQ to heed the council’s recommended pause. In the event the agency moves forward with the rulemaking, OBI’s comments detail changes that should be incorporated into the proposed rule, which is likely to be issued sometime this fall.
Childcare focus groups: Onward Eugene, in partnership with the Oregon Department of Early Learning and Care, is hosting virtual focus groups to gather employer feedback on childcare policy and strategies to strengthen employer engagement statewide. Employers, HR professionals and business leaders are encouraged to participate. Sessions will be held July 22 and July 29. For questions, contact Holly Mar-Conte at hollym@onwardeugene.org. Register here.
Corporate medicine workgroup: Rep. Ben Bowman, D-Tigard, convened stakeholders earlier this month to discuss updates to Oregon’s corporate practice of medicine (CPOM) law. At the meeting, participants discussed potential changes to Oregon’s Health Care Market Oversight program and raised concerns about the program’s costs, timelines and administrative burden. Proposed changes included additional requirements and follow-up reviews for emergency transactions, and clarifying how the program interacts with Oregon’s CPOM law. OBI submitted comments on the Oregon Health Authority’s rulemaking this spring, which can be found here.
Notable News
Semiconductor award: Oregon’s all-important semiconductor industry got a vote of confidence on July 14. Frontiers of Advanced Semiconductor Technology, a public-private consortium administered at Oregon State University, won a National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engine Award that’s expected to deliver $160 million over the next 10 years (Portland Business Journal).
Moda Center funding: The city of Portland has released a draft proposal for a term sheet intended to keep the Trail Blazers in Portland for at least 20 more years. Portland City Council faces a deadline next month to take action on the Moda Center, the home to the Trail Blazers, Portland Fire and numerous concerts every year (OPB).
Moda Center ‘reset’: Just as Portland leaders appeared ready to push the ball up the court on Moda Center negotiations with the Trail Blazers, two Multnomah County leaders called for a time out on their portion of proposed public funding for the estimated $600 million arena renovation (The Oregonian).
Oregon business closures: Oregon businesses are shutting down faster than new ones are opening, according to the latest federal and state data. That’s a marked departure from historical trends and another signal of how the regional economy has faltered in the years after the pandemic (The Oregonian).
Oregon’s healthcare reliance: The healthcare sector is carrying the broader Oregon economy — a worrisome dynamic, economist John Tapogna said in a July 14 presentation for the Oregon Health Forum (Portland Business Journal).
CPP contractor: Last month, Gov. Tina Kotek’s Prosperity Council recommended scrapping the state’s controversial Climate Protection Program—commonly called the CPP— a recommendation the governor provisionally endorsed. But the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is nonetheless moving full speed ahead with the implementation of the program. That means CALSTART will serve as a conduit for the money that flows from polluters to community groups around the state affected by climate change (Oregon Journalism Project).
Portland office vacancies: Downtown Portland recorded another quarter of declining office vacancies, a sign the area may be reversing the exodus of tenants since the pandemic. Data from real estate firm CBRE’s latest office market report showed the direct vacancy rate for the central business district was 36.5% in the second quarter of the year, down 0.3% from the 36.8% reported in the previous quarter. It’s still the submarket with the highest vacancy (Portland Business Journal).
Intel Ireland investment: Intel will invest 5 billion euros, or $5.7 billion, at its chipmaking facility in Ireland, the company announced July 13 (Portland Business Journal).
Site-readiness program: Business Oregon has launched a loan program to help ready sites for industrial development as part of a state push to attract investment. The 2026 Industrial Site Loan Fund is a $25 million deferred loan program for municipalities and private businesses to fund site readiness for development and construction across the state, according to a news release from Business Oregon (Portland Business Journal).
Ranked choice voting: A new proposal in Deschutes County seeks to change how voters elect county commissioners, potentially introducing ranked-choice voting to future races. The initiative is currently in the signature-gathering stage and aims to decide elections on a single ballot (KTVZ).
Mine lawsuit: Three Oregon families have filed lawsuits seeking $78 million from Knife River Corp., claiming that the mining giant’s sand and gravel operations in central Oregon have dangerously contaminated their groundwater (The Oregonian).
Salem data center: A California-based tech company is proposing to build a data center in southeast Salem’s Mill Creek Corporate Center. Verrus announced the Oakline at Mill Creek project on July 13 (Salem Statesman Journal).
HR 1 in Oregon: A year ago, Congressional Republicans passed their tax and spending cut bill, widely known as “The One Big Beautiful Bill.” The bill — President Donald Trump’s signature legislation in his second term — is shrinking the nation’s social safety net while implementing tax refunds that Republicans hope will bring relief to Americans’ pocketbooks. The bill, called H.R.1, could affect Oregon more than many states (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.
- 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.