Feb. 12, 2025
What happened: On Feb. 12, OBI Executive Vice President and General Counsel Paloma Sparks testified in support of two key pieces of OBI’s Oregon Competitiveness Agenda. The agenda contains dozens of policy proposals designed to enhance Oregon’s economic competitiveness. Many of these proposals focus on the state’s regulatory environment, including the bills about which Paloma testified before the House Committee on Rules.
Oregon’s regulatory environment: State regulatory agencies develop rules in such volume that businesses have trouble keeping up. The problem is particularly acute for small businesses. Almost 75% of small businesses responding to a 2023 survey said that regulations affecting businesses change so frequently that it’s hard to keep up with what they’re supposed to do. Over a six-month period in 2024, state agencies proposed 500 agency rulemakings. Compounding the volume problem, there is little consistency among agencies in the way rules are developed and adopted.
Why it matters: Businesses that are unable to keep up with Oregon’s rulemaking torrent are unlikely to expand in Oregon, depriving Oregonians of jobs and state and local governments of tax revenue.
What the bills do: HB 2692 would improve the consistency and transparency of agency rulemaking while increasing fairness and encouraging public engagement. HB 3382 would require the creation of a website that would make it easier for legislators, the public and affected businesses to follow rulemakings. Watch Paloma’s testimony on these bills to the right.