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A raw nerve

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Gosia Wozniacka in The Sunday Oregonian: They are angry. Angry at their government. Angry with the news media. Mostly, angry at illegal immigrants and the problems they believe are caused by people who live in Oregon without proper documentation. Some are even angry at what they perceive to be too-high levels of legal immigration. Their […]

Headed to the governor

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Senate Bill 570 (HTML|PDF) received final approval from the Legislature today and is headed for Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s desk. The bill would address metal thefts by requiring scrap dealers to keep more thorough records, produce them when demanded by law enforcement, and pay sellers by check mailed to their street address, rather than cash.

Legal language

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The new version of House Bill 2904 that deals with threatened hoop house taxation is now posted on the Web (HTML|PDF). It’s a multipurpose bill dealing with exclusive farm use designations and other matters; the pertinent language for hoop house owners specifically is contained way down at the bottom: A real property building, structure or […]

Hoop house relief

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A whole lot of nurseries may soon be breathing a sigh of relief. Earlier this week we talked about the possibility that hoop houses – the unheated, frame-and-plastic enclosures growers use to protect plants and ready them for market – could be assessed on property tax statements as if they were permanent structures. It’s a change […]

Knocked for a hoop

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This spring, the Oregon Department of Revenue (ODR) proposed a rule change that would tax hoop houses as if they were permanent structures – a move that could greatly add to the tax bills of growers who own dozens if not hundreds of the poly-film enclosures. OAN Director of Government Relations Jeff Stone testified before […]

‘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:

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 […]