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Oregonian Sworn in as 30th U.S. Labor Secretary

Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a former U.S. representative from Oregon’s 5th Congressional District and former mayor of Happy Valley, was sworn in March 11 as the 30th U.S. secretary of labor. Chavez-DeRemer’s swearing in follows a bipartisan 67-32 vote in the U.S. Senate. The Department of Labor enforces laws and regulations relating to a number of topics affecting wage earners and their employers, such as wage and hour law, workplace safety, benefits, workers’ compensation, and more.

“Secretary Chavez-DeRemer will be an excellent leader for the U.S. Department of Labor,” said Angela Wilhelms, president and CEO of OBI. “As a small business owner, and as a former mayor and legislator, Secretary Chavez-DeRemer has a terrific perspective of how to help create conditions where employees can thrive through a healthy and robust economy. We wish her the best of luck in her new role.”

Key March 31 Recycling Registration Deadline Approaching

What’s happening?: On March 31, producers, manufacturers and importers of packaging, printing and writing paper and food servicewear must register and report to the Circular Action Alliance. The requirement is part of the Recycling Modernization Act (RMA).

What’s the RMA?: The RMA is a recycling law created by the Oregon Legislature in 2021 through the passage of SB 582. In simplest terms, the law pushes the responsibility for recycling upstream to companies that produce packaging, paper products and food servicewear. Producers must join (and pay fees to) a nonprofit producer responsibility organization (PRO). The PRO, in turn, will fund various recycling improvements and ensure that recyclable material finds its way to appropriate end markets.

Oregon’s PRO: The Circular Action Alliance is Oregon’s only approved PRO. In February 2025, the CAA announced that DEQ had approved its 250-page program plan, which can be found here.

Lengthy implementation: It has taken the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality years to develop rules for the RMA, in part because the scheme is largely untested. Oregon became the third state to adopt a so-called extended producer responsibility law, following California and Maine. But Oregon’s program is scheduled to be the first in operation.

Implementation date: Implementation is scheduled for July 1, 2025.

How to register: Producers must register with a PRO by March 31. The CAA provides guidance for Oregon producers here. Following registration, the CAA will share next steps, including details on fees and data collection when they become available.

Learn more: Both the CAA and DEQ have made additional information about the program available, including:

OBI Testifies against Unworkable Emissions Bill

What happened: On March 11, OBI Senior Policy Director Sharla Moffett testified before the House Committee on Climate, Energy and Environment in opposition to HB 3477, which would reset Oregon’s greenhouse gas reduction goals.

Bill details: HB 3477 would establish a goal to reduce emissions 95% below 1990 levels by 2050. Oregon’s current goal, set in 2020 by former Gov. Kate Brown’s executive order 20-04, calls for a reduction of 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.

Problems with the bill: The carbon intensity of Oregon’s economy is already very low – only 43rd nationally, according to the federal Energy Information Administration. Given Oregon’s modest climate footprint, policies that reduce emissions further will have a minimal impact on global emissions and climate change. On the other hand, an ambitious resetting of the state’s greenhouse gas goals would reopen dozens of state agency rulemakings and create further uncertainty for businesses.

Why it matters: Oregon’s private sector creates nearly two million jobs and generates the tax revenue upon which state and local governments rely. However, Oregon is a very heavily regulated state already, and its business climate has been eroding for years. According to CNBC’s America’s Top States for Business rankings, Oregon is the third least business-friendly state in the nation. Adopting HB 3477 would further erode Oregon’s business climate for minimal environmental benefit, incentivizing businesses to invest in other states. The result: fewer jobs and less tax revenue.

Learn more: Go here to watch Sharla’s testimony. Read OBI’s Oregon Competitiveness Agenda for dozens of policy proposals that would improve the state’s business climate.

OBI Foundation Releases 2025 Oregon Competitiveness Book

What happened: On March 10, the Oregon Business and Industry Research and Education Foundation released the 2025 update to the Oregon Competitiveness Book, a collection of more than 50 indicators of economic competitiveness, from per-capita personal income to state gross domestic product. For each indicator, the Oregon Competitiveness Book ranks Oregon among the 50 states.

Competitiveness website: As a companion to the Oregon Competitiveness Book, OBI has created a web page that provides context and analysis. The page sorts Oregon Competitiveness Book data into 11 categories, including business climate, taxation, wages and income, population and workforce, GDP and exports, and more. For each category, the web page provides trend information, where available, as well as additional data from Oregon Competitiveness Book source material and elsewhere. Visitors to the web page can read and download a copy of the Oregon Competitiveness Book.

Oregon’s competitiveness: Oregon does have strengths, including quality of life and a tech sector that supports many high-wage jobs. By most measures, however, Oregon continues to wrestle with the competitive challenges described by the inaugural Oregon Competitiveness Book, released in 2024. State and local taxes are among the nation’s highest for individuals and businesses, for example, and Oregon’s regulatory environment is ranked among the country’s most stifling.

Why it matters: Economic competitiveness matters because businesses provide hundreds of thousands of jobs and generate the tax revenue Oregon’s state and local governments need to sustain critical public services. Unless Oregon becomes more competitive, business investment will continue to flow to more welcoming states, and talented people, innovation and tax revenue will follow.

Report Quantifies Effects of Proposed Tax on Tire Sales

What happened: On March 11, the Common Sense Institute Oregon released an analysis of House Bill 3362, which would impose a 4% excise tax on new tires to generate revenue for public transit, tire-related pollution and infrastructure to prevent animal-car collisions.

Tax effects: The tax would generate about $46 million in revenue and reduce personal income by $9 million in 2026. It also would slow job creation by almost 400 by 2060.

Hardest hit Oregonians: The tire tax would be regressive, hitting lower-income Oregonians harder than higher-income Oregonians. It also would be borne disproportionately by rural Oregonians, where people tend to drive further and enjoy few public-transit options.

Redundancy: Half of the revenue generated by the tax would support public transportation, including public rail transit. Oregon already has a dedicated tax for public transportation, however. Since 2018, the state has levied a .1% payroll tax for transit. That tax generated $127 million in fiscal year 2023, according to the Legislative Revenue Office.

Learn more: Read CSI Oregon’s tire tax report here.

Register for April 28 Oregon Trade Summit

On April 28, join OBI for the Oregon Trade Summit, an event focused on trade, tariffs and their effects on Oregon’s economy. The Oregon Trade Summit will include:

  • An in-depth look at Oregon’s trade economy, including partnerships in North America, Europe and Asia.
  • An update from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce about the federal policy landscape.
  • A multi-industry panel discussing opportunities and challenges facing businesses across Oregon.

The summit will take place at the Salem Convention Center. Doors will open at 1 p.m., and the program will run from 2-4:30 p.m. A networking reception will follow.

Go here to register.

Legislative and Rulemaking Updates

Education Accountability: Two companion bills have been introduced, one in the House (HB 2009) and one in the Senate (SB 141), focused on education accountability — no doubt attempts to help bring Oregon out of the bottom of national rankings in K-12 education outcomes. The bills as introduced were placeholders (all too common a practice) but now have amendments. Both received hearings last week. They focus on statewide expectations, monitoring capability and intervention authority for outcomes. OBI has not weighed in on these proposals yet, but we will engage in the discussion. Oregon has devoted significant spending to K-12 education in recent years, but promised results haven’t materialized. Businesses rely on a high-performing education system to prepare employees and to help recruit business investment and potential workers. Further, as you know, businesses pay into the system not only through business and personal income taxes, but also through the corporate activity tax and even through the redirection of the corporate kicker, which goes to education. We are enthusiastic about leadership’s focus on outcomes. You can read more in this OPB story.

Federal Tax Connection: On March 13, the House Committee on Revenue advanced HB 2092, which as amended would freeze Oregon’s connection to federal tax law to Dec. 31, 2024, and prevent Oregon’s tax policy from automatically adjusting to any federal policy changes or interpretations made after that date for the 2025 tax year. The bill as amended by the committee would resume Oregon’s automatic connection for the 2026 tax year and thereafter. The bill alone does not affect Oregon revenue collections. However, it could make filing taxes in Oregon very complicated for 2025 if we end up with significant deviations from federal tax code. In its 2025 State Tax Competitiveness Index, which ranks Oregon 30th for tax competitiveness, the Tax Foundation noted that Oregon imposes an already complex personal income tax system and offsets the lack of a sales tax by imposing an overly complicated corporate tax system. By foregoing an automatic connection to federal tax law, and thus requiring Oregon taxpayers to keep separate books to determine their state tax liability, HB 2092 would make Oregon’s tax system even more complicated, increase government spending needed for its administration and further erode the state’s tax competitiveness.

Ballot Initiative Reform: The House Committee on Rules recently held public hearings on two legislative referrals that would modify the minimum signature requirements for qualifying a ballot initiative. Under the Oregon Constitution, statutory initiatives require valid signatures equal to at least 6% of the votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election, while constitutional amendments require 8%. HJR 3 would introduce a geographic requirement, mandating that these signature thresholds be met on a county-by-county basis. Additionally, HJR 3 seeks to prohibit non-Oregon residents from making contributions for or against ballot measures, a provision that is clearly unconstitutional and a policy sentiment that OBI has consistently opposed in other debates. HJR 11 would also impose a geographic requirement but based on congressional districts rather than counties. It further proposes modest increases to the signature requirements, raising the threshold for statutory initiatives from 6% to 8% and for constitutional amendments from 8% to 10%. OBI supports modernizing Oregon’s initiative system provided that any changes do not unreasonably limit voters’ ability to propose, amend or repeal state laws through direct access to the ballot. In line with that principle, Preston Mann testified in opposition to HJR 3 and in support of HJR 11. For more details on last week’s hearing, read OPB’s coverage.

Contractor Liability Bill: SB 426 would make contractors as well as residential and commercial property owners liable for wage theft committed by subcontractors. Wage theft is illegal already, and the Bureau of Labor and Industries investigates and remediates infractions. The bill would hold innocent partners liable for the actions of others, which is unacceptable and would further tarnish Oregon’s reputation as a place to do business. The Senate Committee on Judiciary has a vote scheduled for March 19.

Oregon Permitting Bill: Rep. Ed Diehl has introduced a bill, HB 3918, modeled on an executive order in Washington state relating to a full review of permitting (timelines, processes, updates, efficiencies, etc.). You may recall that OBI sent this EO to Gov. Kotek after its release in Washington. We then circulated it among legislators, and it got quite a bit of interest. As of today, it has bipartisan co-sponsorship and has been referred to the House Committee on Emergency Management, General Government and Veterans. Permitting reform is an OBI priority, and we will begin working immediately with the committee chair to schedule the bill.

Rest Break Fix: Another bill from OBI’s Oregon Competitiveness Agenda will be heard March 18. SB 1044 would protect employers from costly penalties incurred when employees voluntarily cut meal periods short. BOLI and Oregon courts have imposed strict liability on employers whenever employees fail to take their full, 30-minute breaks. This is particularly problematic because courts and BOLI can impose penalties equivalent to 30 days of full-time wages. This is a longstanding problem OBI has been working to resolve.

Labor Standards Boards: Legislators heard last week about the Agricultural Workforce Labor Standards Board proposal, HB 2548. They will hear this week about the Home and Community-Based Services Workforce Standards Board proposal, HB 3838. This bill would empower an unelected board to set hours, working conditions and wages for residential care facilities, long-term care, support services for people with disabilities, and various types of in-home care. The House Committee on Labor and Workplace Standards will hold a public hearing on HB 3838, and the Senate Committee on Labor and Business will hold an informational hearing on the identical concept, SB 1138. This would undermine the authority currently vested in state agencies and drive up the cost of care without proper consideration of the ability of providers, individuals or the state to absorb related costs. Paloma sparks will testify in opposition.

PFAS Legislation: HB 3512 received a hearing March 13 in the House Committee on Climate, Energy and Environment. The bill would ban the manufacture and sale of products with “intentionally added” perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Although many of the covered products in the bill do not contain intentionally added PFAS, the definitions would include many substances closely related to PFAS that do not have human exposure pathways or risks. PFAS are so ubiquitous that the bill as written would discourage the use of recycled materials in products, since there is no threshold for trace amounts of PFAS already present in recycled feedstocks. The implementation date of Jan. 1, 2027 also poses major challenges since businesses will need to address PFAS issues in the global supply chain. OBI testified on the bill and submitted a detailed letter on behalf of a business coalition.

Organized Retal Theft: On March 11, the Senate Committee on Judiciary unanimously voted to advance SB 960, which would provide additional funding for Oregon’s organized retail theft grant program and expand the ways in which funding could be used. SB 960 now heads to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, which will weigh the bill’s request for $10 million in general fund revenue for the 2025-27 biennium. The bill should have strong support given the program’s demonstrated effectiveness. OBI and other industry stakeholders have begun working to ensure that this bill is one of the first considered by the Joint Committee on Ways and Means later this session.

Industrial Lands Bill: HB 2411, the industrial land readiness bill OBI has written about before, is scheduled for a March 17 vote in the House Committee on Economic Development, Small Business and Trade, where we expect unanimous support. The bill’s next stop would be the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, as there is a recommended $40 million appropriation tied to it. This is a positive step for industrial land development. As a reminder, Gov. Kotek introduced a similar bill, albeit with less funding. OBI hopes the concept’s bipartisan popularity will carry it through the rest of the process.

Industrial Symbiosis Bill: On March 12, OBI was able to support a good bill, HB 3246, which would promote so-called industrial symbiosis through voluntary pilot projects around Oregon. OBI members Boardman Foods and Pacific Seafoods testified along with OBI. The private sector has long engaged in industrial symbiosis, which refers to practices that reduce waste, share resources and boost efficiency while generating economic activity. The bill would highlight this work by creating official pilot projects that ultimately would lead to promotion and incentivization by Business Oregon.

Additional Permitting Authority: On March 13, the House Committee on Climate, Energy and Environment heard HB 3107, which would clarify existing “receipts authority” to expedite DEQ permits. Receipts authority enables DEQ to hire third-party consultants to act on its behalf in processing permits for which applicants bear the cost. Thus, permit applicants pay both fees to DEQ and the cost of hiring consultants. DEQ, meanwhile, retains full permit-approval authority. OBI testified in support of the bill but noted that the underlying problems in DEQ’s permitting program must be addressed in order to ensure efficient and timely processing for all applicants. OBI expects relatively few permit applicants to use this process. Doing so is expensive and involves a separate and lengthy procurement process for third-party consultants.

Seafood Processor Standards: On March 20, the House Committee on Climate, Energy and Environment will hear HB 3814, which would exempt seafood processors from certain water quality standards established by DEQ. Seafood companies have long struggled to meet water quality standards due to the high volume of water they use in processing and the exorbitantly high cost of technology to address pollutants unique to this sector. OBI will testify in support of the bill.

Notable News

Radius Recycling Sold: Portland-based Radius Recycling — a 119-year-old company known as Schnitzer Steel Industries until 2023 — agreed to be acquired by a Toyota Group company at a valuation of $1.34 billion including debt, it announced March 13 (Portland Business Journal).

Intel CEO: Intel’s three-month search for a new CEO ended March 12 with the chipmaker choosing a former board member, Lip-Bu Tan, to run the company (The Oregonian).

Clean Truck Rules: Oregon environmental regulators could once again delay implementation of medium-to-heavy duty clean truck rules — giving the commercial trucking industry more time for the technology and infrastructure to develop across the state (Oregon Public Broadcasting).

Oregon Climate Focus: Gov. Tina Kotek said March 13 that her administration will continue to prioritize policies targeting climate warming, following an announcement by the head of the Environmental Protection Agency that it will repeal dozens of pollution limits and the legal basis for regulating greenhouse gases (The Oregonian).

Bend Target Industries: Tourism and healthcare are two key industries that the city of Bend’s economic development advisory board has identified as fitting the city’s business strategy (The Bulletin).

Business Startup Costs: According to Simplify, Oregon is the 12th most expensive state for those looking to kick off that dream business. This is due to high-income tax rates, wages, real estate, and electricity bills. Oregon is also the state with the sixth-highest number of regulations in the country (KOIN).

School Funding Debate: Gov. Tina Kotek wanted her sprawling new proposal to hold Oregon’s public schools more accountable for student outcomes to tamp down the heated debate over the right level of funding for K-12 schools. Instead, it may only fan the flames (The Oregonian).

Portland Permitting: Portland is preparing to dramatically reduce the number of jobs in the agency that approves new construction permits, even after Mayor Keith Wilson and Gov. Tina Kotek last week placed fresh emphasis on permitting’s role in spurring desperately needed apartment development (The Oregonian).

Clean Energy Fund: Amid a staggering budget gap, Portland leaders are again eyeing the city’s one-of-a-kind clean energy fund – still awash with cash – to help (The Oregonian).

NW Natural Increase: Residential customers with Oregon’s largest natural gas utility could see a nearly 7% increase on their bills later this year. NW Natural, which serves more than 2.5 million people in Oregon and Southwest Washington, is proposing a residential rate increase of 6.8% starting on Nov. 1 (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.
  • 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.