Public Policy

• Transportation
• Recent news
• Business growth & development
• Recent news
• Regional economic development
  • Regional Business Plan
• PNITA
  • Mission to China
• Policital activity
• Endorsements
• Political Action Committee
• Advocacy Toolkit
• Legislative
  contact info
• Reports & Studies

State Issues & Updates

On September 19, Alliance announced its endorsement of Ballot Measure 50, the Healthy Kids Initiative. Measure 50 will provide health coverage to 100,000 uninsured Oregon children and double the budget of the effective Tobacco Education and Prevention Program (TPEP). In addition to being supported by the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association, Measure 50 is supported by a long list of nurses, doctors, child and health advocates.

"Each year, the rising cost of healthcare is one of the top concerns for Portland Business Alliance members, which is one of the reasons why the Alliance is supporting Ballot Measure 50," said Sam Brooks, Chair of the Alliance. "Ballot Measure 50 will address the impacts of tobacco-related healthcare costs through education and prevention as well as costs from uninsured Oregonians, and most importantly, this measure will help Oregon children, our future generation of workers, get access to the healthcare they need."

The Portland Business Alliance actively participated in the 2007 legislative session, advocating for policies, spending priorities, and reforms that promoted a competitive environment for Portland metropolitan area businesses. We were guided by the principles and priorities of set out in the Regional Business Plan, and its focus on proposals impacting education and workforce development, transportation infrastructure, land-use practices and job development. We also participated in legislative debates on state revenue and spending policies because of their inherent impact on job development and retention. We sought to partner with other organizations with similar principles, including other business associations and advocacy organizations.

Working with the Governor, Democratic and Republican legislative leaders and other interest groups, we had some significant victories, such as establishing the state's first general fund rainy day account; and some defeats, such as the Legislature's failure to act on a transportation funding package. Following are some of the key issues we followed this session.

Rainy Day Fund

The Alliance played an active role in supporting the creation of the state's first general fund rainy day account. Along with other business organizations, we supported a one-time suspension of the corporate kicker to capitalize the rainy day fund. We also successfully advocated for strict rules on when these funds can be accessed so they don't become a "piggy bank" for pet legislative projects. We worked to limit the amount of the fund that can be spent in any biennium and to require that a portion of the ending fund balance be dedicated to the fund. Creation of the fund is one of the most important steps to ensure that our schools and other important services don't face drastic cuts during future economic downturns.

Corporate Minimum

The Alliance joined a wide coalition of business associations in successfully opposing efforts to impose a corporate minimum tax that amounted to a gross receipts tax on Oregon businesses. The Alliance remained open to discussions regarding the corporate minimum tax reform, in the context of broader tax reform. We expressed our belief that any additional revenues raised through a minimum tax increase should be dedicated to education and workforce development programs with a goal of addressing the looming workforce shortages in critical industry sectors and supporting quality employment for citizens. By the end of the session, however, the legislature had not enacted corporate minimum tax reform.

Other Tax Issues

• Capital gains. The Legislature never seriously considered reductions in the state's 9 percent maximum capital gains tax, which adversely impacts the state by providing incentive for capital to leave Oregon. A number of hearings were held regarding the so-called Schrader, Deckert, Westlund proposal for comprehensive tax reform to institute a sales tax, roll back income and property tax and reduce the capital gains tax, but the legislation never moved from committee. This discussion will continue during the 2007-2009 interim and the Alliance will continue to be at the table.
• Construction excise tax for schools. The Alliance opposed a bill that would allow local school districts to impose a construction tax of up to $0.50 per square foot of new space for commercial and industrial construction. This bill was introduced as an alternative to a residential only Systems Development Charge. While the Alliance was able to get some clarifying changes to the bill to exempt tenant improvements, the bill had too much legislative support to overcome. It now falls to the individual school boards to determine whether they will impose this tax.

Education

The Alliance worked with partner organizations to advocate for policies that contribute to a strong education system in Oregon, from pre-school through post-graduate offerings, and which call for efficient and productive management of publicly owned educational institutions. In addition to new programs and resources, the Alliance urged legislators to find efficiencies and cost control measures as an important part of ensuring a strong and healthy education system.

Pre-K through 12 Programs

The Legislature approved a $6.245 billion budget for K-12 education, a significant increase from past years. Included in the legislation was $39 million to fund an Alliance priority, pre-kindergarten Head Start, enough to allow 75 percent of eligible Oregon children to participate. A new program, the "School Improvement Fund" received $260 million and can be used by districts to reduce class sizes, implement all-day kindergarten, increase vocational training for high school students or make up for past budget shortfalls. For the first time these funds come with some strings attached and districts will need to compete for a portion of these funds and show measurable gains on reading and math scores.

Other K-12 Education Issues

• A teacher-mentoring program was approved and signed into law.
• Pooled health insurance purchasing was approved. The Governor believes this program will help control increases in health care costs through economies of scale and increased bargaining power.
• Efforts to target state spending to reducing the size of K-1 classrooms were not successful. Research shows reducing class size for this age group has the largest return on investment.
• Hotly debated but ultimately not approved was legislation requiring school districts to undergo state financial audits. This program was made voluntary and it remains to be seen whether districts will feel the political pressure from their local constituents to submit to state audits.
• Efforts to improve high school quality by incorporating academic requirements of the Education Act for the 21st Century into diploma requirements was not approved.
• Reforms of the way school districts are reimbursed for transportation expenses to find efficiencies were not approved.
• The Governor's recommended budget allocation for a new statewide data system to better track student achievement was not approved.
• No requirement was approved to move teacher health care costs toward the national average or to require and monitor district's use of best practices.

Higher Ed & Workforce Development

A top priority for the Alliance was ensuring adequate funding for the state's college and university system, including community colleges. While K-12 was the big winner in the early part of the session, higher education funding levels looked grim until the May revenue forecast showed an additional $187 million would be collected over the biennium. Eventually a budget of $1.4 billion was approved for operation of Oregon's public colleges and universities. Included were funds for responding to enrollment growth, increases in faculty salaries and funding for agricultural extension services. The legislature added $26 million for an Alliance priority, the Engineering Technology and Investment Council to focus on increasing the number of engineering graduates.

Higher education's capital maintenance and construction budget received a $275 million allocation to address significant deferred maintenance of community college and university buildings and facilities and to provide some new construction.

Other Higher Education and Workforce Issues

• The "Shared Responsibility" model, an Alliance legislative priority, was approved along with more than $70 million to help reduce the debt load for lower income college students.

Click here for more information on education issues.

Civil Rights

The legislature passed two measures, supported by the Alliance, expanding the civil rights of Oregonians in same sex relationships. The Governor's Task Force on Equality drafted the measures after seven months of meetings and testimony from more than 100 representatives of the business community. One measure extended the civil rights protections to same-sex couples that currently apply to religious affiliation, gender, race and national origin. The second measure allows for civil unions, a framework for the legal recognition and protections enjoyed by other Oregonians.

Transportation

The Alliance joined a statewide coalition of business organizations to advocate for increased strategic investments in the state's transportation infrastructure. The Alliance, along with the Oregon Business Council, Oregon Department of Transportation, Port of Portland, and Westside Economic Alliance, sponsored the Cost of Highway Limitations and Traffic Delay to Oregon's Economy that demonstrated the need to invest in additional transportation infrastructure or risk the loss of 16,000 jobs and $1.7 billion in economic activity annually by 2025. Although the coalition worked feverishly until the final hours of the session to secure an additional funding source for transportation projects, there weren't sufficient votes to overcome the super majority requirement for tax measures.

Other Transportation Issues

• Connect Oregon II will build on the success of Connect Oregon I with an additional $100 million allocated to multi-modal transportation projects across the state.
• TriMet will receive $250 million in lottery-backed bonds to provide match for federal funds to construct the Milwaukie segment of light rail. Additional matching funds are necessary before this project can move forward.

Land-Use

Through its members and partners, the Alliance is fully engaged in the statewide Big Look review of land-use policies and the regional New Look review, being conducted by Metro. Ensuring an adequate supply of industrial land to support job development, with the necessary infrastructure investments, is a priority for the Alliance. Three issues dominated the land use debate during the 2007 legislative session; a rewrite of Ballot Measure 37, a two-year extension of the deadline for Metro to implement changes to the Urban Growth Boundary, and a bill that will require Metro to designate a fifty-year inventory of urban reserves and rural reserves outside the UGB.

The Ballot Measure 37 rewrite will appear on the November 2007 ballot. The two-year extension of the deadline for Metro to address the UGB was approved in a measure the Alliance supported. The Alliance believes this will provide sufficient time to pursue a process that can withstand court challenge. The Alliance also supported the urban/rural reserves legislation and will now participate in the rule making process. This legislation offers the opportunity to more rationally allocate UGB expansions where market forces, rather than abstract planning objectives, dictate.

Economic Development

Strategic state investment in key job creation opportunities is a top Alliance legislative priority. In the 2007 legislative session, the Alliance supported the allocation of $26 million for the Engineering Technology and Investment Council (ETIC) to focus on increasing the number of engineering graduates. This was a major priority for Oregon InC. and the Manufacturing 21 coalition and represents a major step forward for Oregon's emerging technology sector. The Alliance was also supportive of the Oregon Investment Council's push to start the Oregon Growth Account and the University Venture Funds to help stimulate innovation and investment.

Health Care

The Governor's Healthy Kids initiative will appear on the November 2007 ballot. The cornerstone of the measure is an 84.5-cent increase in the tobacco tax. In one of the quirks of Oregon law, because the Legislature couldn't muster the super majority to pass this as a statutory measure, it will appear on the ballot as a constitutional amendment. However, the legislature did pass a bill that creates a "Healthy Oregon Fund," which will attempt to provide greater access to healthcare for Oregonians who do not currently have health insurance.

Public Safety

The legislature also discussed legislation dealing with exclusionary zones, such as anti-drug and anti-prostitution zones, and their ability to be implemented in the state. This legislation could have affected the successful programs in Portland that have been vital in keeping our streets safe and clean. The Alliance worked successfully to defeat this bill in committee.

Sustainable Business

Sustainability issues received a lot of attention in the 2007 legislative session. Almost all of the major pieces of legislation that were presented passed, including some that address incentives for sustainable businesses and practices.

• Biofuels Tax Credit. Legislation that provides tax credits and other incentives for businesses and individuals who produce or use biofuels passed.
• Renewable Portfolio Standard. The legislature also passed a bill that requires the state's largest utilities to meet a 25% renewable energy goal by 2025. The utilities can gather their renewable energy from wind, solar,wave, geothermal, biomass, and new hydro.

Click here to learn more about sustainability legislation that was addressed in the 2007 session.

Business Regulation

A number of bills were considered during the session that would have increased regulation and expense for businesses in Oregon. The Alliance worked in coalition with other business organizations to stave off the most draconian of these measures and reduce the impact of others.

• Gift Cards: Legislation proposing to have the state capture the value of gift cards after three years of inactivity was defeated. The Alliance worked actively to successfully derail this legislation.
• Enterprise Zones: Legislation extending the expiration of enterprise zones to 2013 was approved. The legislation also eliminated the requirement for LEEDs certification for construction in the zones.
• Overtime: A bill opposed by the Alliance to require businesses to pay overtime to workers who work more than eight hours in any given day was defeated.
• Family and Medical Leave: Legislation extending FMLA to employees taking time off to care for grandparents and grandchildren was approved.
• Family and Medical Leave II: A bill opposed by the Alliance that would have imposed a payroll tax to fund a state program to institute paid FMLA was defeated:
• Family and Medical Leave III: Legislation allowing employees to use accrued sick leave while on FEMAFMLA leave was approved
• Product Liability: A bill to extend the timer during which manufacturers would be responsible for product liability (the statute of repose) was defeated.

In May Oregon's colleges and universities received good news. With the state's new revenue projection including an extra $152 million to spend in its next two-year budget, higher education is at the top of the list for more funds.

"The Ways and Means Committee has made great progress funding higher education operations," said Bernie Bottomly, Alliance Vice President of Government Relations and Economic Development. "The budget is not yet finalized and, before the end of the session, we hope the co-chairs will find additional resources to address the capital construction and deferred maintenance needs and plus up funding for special programs and engineering."

Higher education was a key part of the Alliance's legislative agenda this session, with many local businesses finding workforce issues a growing problem. More resources for higher education is important for economic development and means more skilled workers will be available for Oregon companies

According to The Oregonian, the state's budget writers plan to allocate approximately 75 percent of the revised revenue forecast to community colleges and Oregon's seven public universities.

At its April meeting, the Alliance Board of Directors voted to endorse two bills presented at the Oregon Legislature this week.

The Board endorsed House Bill 2007, which extends inheritance, property, medical and other benefits of marriage to same-sex couples. The Board also endorsed Senate Bill 2, which would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing, workplaces, and other public places such as theaters and restaurants.

Both bills were approved by a House committee on April 11, and are being considered by the Senate.

Today Governor Ted Kulongoski signed into law bills that will create Oregon's first Rainy Day Fund

"This is a great success for the Alliance and the Oregon business community," said Sandra McDonough, Alliance President and CEO. "The Alliance partnered with an unprecedented coalition of business organizations from across the state that worked together to pass the two bills creating the Rainy Day Fund. Most importantly, business leaders agreed to a one-time suspension of the corporate kicker to initially capitalize the fund, recognizing that creating a reserve fund was necessary to ensure the long-term financial stability of the state." Governor Kulongoski and legislative leaders praised the business community for coming together on this effort.

The Alliance joined with Associated Oregon Industries, the American Electronics Association/Oregon, the Oregon Business Association, the Oregon Business Council, the Smart Growth Coalition and other business groups to advocate for a bipartisan legislative plan to create a Rainy Day Fund. The plan, approved by the Legislature and signed into law by the Governor, embodies the principles the business groups sought.

"The Legislature has struggled for more than a decade to find a way to establish a Rainy Day Fund to help the state weather tough economic times," said Judy Peppler, Alliance Chair and a participant in the negotiations. "With the help of Oregon businesses, we have successfully created and capitalized that fund, which will help provide stability in education, public safety, health care and other essential services in a future economic downturn."

The two bills create the state's first general reserve Rainy Day Fund with strict rules dictating when and how the state legislature may access the funds. It requires a 1 percent contribution from the state general fund and provides additional seed money through a one-time suspension of the corporate kicker for the 2007 tax year while preserving the kicker for companies with Oregon sales under $5 million.

Legislative leaders set aside discussions about raising the corporate minimum tax pending further policy review. An earlier corporate minimum tax proposal raised significant concern among businesses and was opposed by the Alliance and other business organizations. The Alliance maintains that any proposal to raise the corporate minimum should be reviewed as part of a broader discussion about state tax policy reform.