Digger magazine

Written to make you a nursery industry expert.

‘Rich’ on paper

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How will yesterday’s votes to approve state corporate and personal tax hikes affect small businesses? Sen. Larry George, R-Sherwood, a hazelnut grower, says it won’t be a good thing. “This tax is about one thing. It’s about taxing entrepreneurs,” he said. “This is an incredibly personal bill to me.” Watch his eight-minute floor speech:

Follow the bouncing bills

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There’s been a lot of activity in Salem this week as Oregon legislators attempt to finish the session. Many of the bills flying hither, thither and yon could affect the nursery industry in a big way, from tax hikes to metal theft to property tax issues affecting hoop houses. If you want to track it […]

Tax hikes approved – for real

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That didn’t take long. The legislative logjam we talked about this morning has been broken. The Oregon Senate this morning approved two bills – one to raise corporate taxes and another to raise income taxes. Both were carried on a party line vote, 18 yes (all Democrats), 11 no (all Republicans) and one Republican not […]

Metal health

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The metal theft bill we talked about yesterday, Senate Bill 570 (HTML|PDF), has been approved by the Oregon House of Representatives by unanimous vote, 60-0. Since the House version differed from the earlier Senate version, it moves back to the Senate for concurrence and then the governor’s signature. Here’s more on the bill from one […]

Tax hikes approved – NOT

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Yesterday we told you about increases in state corporate and personal income taxes, which seemed all but assured. Not so fast. The Oregon Senate yesterday failed to muster the two-thirds majority needed to raise taxes. Sen. Mark Hass (D-Beaverton) broke party ranks with his 17 fellow Senate Democrats by voting against one of the bills, […]

Check your property for these

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If you see one on your property, you’ll want to take immediate action to get rid of it. It’s an extremely invasive weed that poses health hazards for humans.

Presentation on immigration

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The Coalition for a Working Oregon is holding a joint event on immigration reform with the McMinnville Chamber of Commerce at 8:15 a.m. next Wednesday, June 17 at Chemeketa Health & Science Center, 300 N.E. Norton Lane, McMinnville, Ore. Two speakers from the Oregon Association of Nurseries – Executive Committee member Jerry Simnitt and Director of […]

Protecting growers against theft

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With Oregon’s legislative session winding down, it’s reckoning time for proposed bills that would offer nurseries and others in agriculture greater protection against metal theft and other kinds of agricultural theft. The Oregon Association of Nurseries and other groups have been active in promoting a pair of bills: Senate Bill 570 (HTML|PDF) would address metal […]