SB 483, by Senator Taylor is another attack on business owners. The bill creates a presumption that a person engaged in retaliation or discrimination against employee if person takes certain action against employee or prospective employee within 60 days after employee or prospective employee has engaged in certain protected activities -- such as filing a complaint.

Recent bills focus on jobs, not employers, not owners. The report out by State Economist Gail Krumenauer told us it must be favorable. That there was an increase in jobs. But under the surface the big producers of Gross Domestic Product in Oregon, privately owned, showed no recovery.

It seems that State Democrats want us to focus on already adequately protected employees instead of other things like the basic health of the economy? The Bureau of Labor and Industry only shows a business is closed permanently after four quarters of no reporting. The Secretary of State statistics don’t show a loss until the license is not renewed. We are sitting in a time spot where a lot of the loss of private business ownership is concealed.

The one report out was one reported by Small Business Association on Portland. They reported 19.4 percent of business district business is closed, in the first quarter of 2021. A 14.7 percent rate for the city overall. Jacob Pavlik, of Colliers Real Estate Research, reported 900,476 feet of unoccupied space for first quarter in the City of Portland.

Oregon Live.com said there were 13,000 businesses closed spring of 2020. This is the largest tally in 30 years and twice as much as any single quarter.


--Liz Turner

Post Date: 2021-06-03 22:05:56

Last Update: 2021-06-03 23:24:15