|
Dear OSCC Members & Colleagues –
The 2025 session is now at fever pitch – and this week is the crescendo. Why? Because all 3,400 bills are alive and in play for just one more week, and all 3,400 bills have advocates trying to move their bills forward before the first major deadline on Friday evening. It gets frenetic.
By Friday evening, all policy bills must be posted for a committee vote between March 24th and April 9th if they are to be considered “alive” for the session. All bills not posted for committee vote are considered dead. In our experience, about 1/3rd of all bills will die by the end of the week. This brings some welcome relief to our workload and allows us to start focusing on the most viable opportunities and threats.
Please be aware of two bills this week that are of particular concern to Chambers of Commerce and local business communities:
MAJOR BILLS THIS WEEK:
-
HOUSE BILL 3556 would divert the use of Transient Lodging Tax revenues from local tourism promotion to also pay for ‘tourism impact services.’ We have heard from many Chambers of Commerce that this would really hurt local chambers, many of whom administer local tourism programs.
This bill is not yet scheduled for a hearing, but we are anticipating that it will be scheduled for Thursday, March 20th in the House Committee on Emergency Management, General Government, and Veterans.
As we discussed on our weekly Friday call, OSCC will be issuing an ACTION ALERT on this bill to activate chambers in advance of this anticipated hearing when it gets formally scheduled. Please be ready!
-
SENATE BILL 426. OSCC has watched this bill – which would hold property owners and general contractors liable for any unpaid wages at the subcontractor level – and has seen that it has gotten entirely too much momentum. We confess to being surprised that a bill which directly punishes the wrong parties for wage theft would gain any traction, but it has.
OSCC will be joining the coalition to OPPOSE SB 426.
We are expecting SB 426 to get a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee this week.
Status Report of 2025 Key OSCC Bills – GOOD BILLS:
We wanted to take the opportunity this week to recap the bills of major significance to our local business communities that OSCC is currently engaging in:
-
Liability Waivers. (House Bill 3140). HB 3140 restores the validity of liability waivers for Oregon companies that engage in outdoor sporting, recreation, health and fitness. OSCC testified in SUPPORT. We are unsure the prospects of this bill.
-
CAT Tax Exemptions for Medicaid Service Providers. (Senate Bill 125) OSCC testified in SUPPORT of this bill, which addresses the fact that Medicaid medical service providers are reimbursed at ‘below cost’ rates, have no ability to recoup CAT tax payments due to contracted Medicaid rates, yet are still subject to the CAT tax.
-
Increasing the Estate Tax Exemption (HB 2301; SB 124) There are several bills in the 2025 session designed to give family businesses some tax relief upon the death of an owner. OSCC SUPPORTS these bills as Oregon currently has the most punitive ‘death tax’ law in the entire United States, taxing estates at a rate of 10% starting after the first $1 million in value.
Recap of Key OSCC Bills – BAD BILLS:
-
Workplace Marijuana Accommodation. (Senate Bill 176 ) OSCC is very concerned about SB 176, which would force Oregon employers to accommodate medical marijuana use among its workers in Sections 34-35 of the bill. OSCC testified in OPPOSITION to this bill. As of now, we don’t believe this bill will advance.
-
Decriminalized Theft. (HB 2640) OSCC was prepared to testify in OPPOSITION to HB 2640, but the bill was pulled from the committee agenda at the last minute. We don’t expect to see this bill again in 2025.
-
Unemployment Benefits for Striking Workers. (Senate Bill 916) This bill has dominated the early labor policy landscape in 2025 with several public hearings. OSCC is OPPOSED to this bill. The bill has since been slightly amended to provide that striking workers must wait one week to start collecting benefits.
SB 916 is awaiting a vote on the Senate floor.
-
‘Bad Faith’ Insurance Lawsuits. (SB 174) SB 174 received its first public hearing last week in the Senate Judiciary Committee. OSCC is OPPOSING SB 174 – as it will undoubtedly drive up insurance premiums for commercial property and casualty policies.
-
Age Discrimination Lawsuits. (HB 3187) OSCC is OPPOSING this legislation that would expand the scope of Oregon’s age discrimination laws to create new claims for older workers by allowing salary, experience, and retirement status to serve as “proxies” for age discrimination.
-
Job Posting Requirements. (HB 2746) OSCC is OPPOSING this legislation to dictate what information an employer must include in a job posting. Proponents want to use the bill to compel employers to disclose precise salary and benefit information in job postings.
-
Farm Workforce Standards Board. (HB 2548) OSCC is very concerned about an emerging trend that would establish new industry regulatory boards that would determine employment and wage law for specific industries. This is a grave threat to Oregon employers as the “Standards Board” concept can be applied to any industry. OSCC is OPPOSING this legislation.
| 
