Dear OSCC Members & Colleagues –

One week left to go in the 2026 legislative session. Here’s where we stand on the three pillar issues of the 2026 session thus far:

1. Budget/Taxes: SB 1507 is the key linchpin bill that leadership is counting on to balance the 2025-27 budget – a $300 million tax increase that disconnects from some important tax incentives that were contained in the big federal tax cut bill of 2025 – HR 1. The bill has now passed over the objections of the business community and is on Governor Kotek’s desk, where OSCC and others have formally requested a veto.

On the budget side, pay attention to House Bill 5204, which is the final budget reconciliation bill.  What you’ll notice is that due to a positive February revenue forecast and the passage of SB 1507, budget writers did not need to make significant cuts to state government. In total, only about $128 million in General Fund reductions were made. In total, HB 5204 actually added a net $193 million in spending to the state budget. 

2. Gas Tax Referendum Date: SB 1599. Senate Democrats found their votes to pass this bill last week, and the House is scheduled to debate it and vote on it today. However, Secretary of State Tobias Read informed legislators he would need this bill passed by February 25^th in order to accommodate official deadlines to facilitate putting the gas tax referral on the May ballot. Now all eyes are on Secretary Read as to whether he holds firm on his deadlines or moves the goalposts again in favor of his political party.

In a separate bill – Senate Bill 1601 – budget writers reapportion over $200 million from various ODOT special appropriations to fund highway maintenance and operations for the next fiscal year.

3. Moda Center Renovations: SB 1501.  The bill to help keep the Portland Trailblazers in Portland commits $360 million of state bonding authority to update the Moda Center and give the State an ownership stake in the arena. It appears that the votes for this bill will likely materialize through time honored tradition of end-of-session budget “horse trading” that can be seen with the projects funded in HB 5204 and also Senate Bill 5701 as well as the significant increase in future funding for county fairgrounds in Senate Bill 1601. 

URGENT UPDATE: Lodging Tax Issues IMMINENT

OSCC will be focused this week on the two TLT bills now being considered in the Senate:

HB 4134: Statewide TLT tax increase. HB 4134 passed the House with the 36 votes it needed last week.

After OSCC testified against the bill on Thursday evening, the Senate Finance and Revenue committee passed the bill out on Friday afternoon.

HB 4134 increases the state TLT tax from 1.5% to 2.75%. OSCC is opposing this bill and encourages all chamber members to contact your Senator to oppose this tax increase that will hurt the tourism sector and make travelling more expensive for Oregonians. 

HB 4148: Transient Lodging Tax diversion to Local Government. The new version of the bill would allow local governments to increase their share of local TLT revenues to pay for more general government purposes and away from tourism promotion. The new version of the bill is now a 50/50 split between tourism promotion and general government operations.

However, the new version of the bill contains a “poison pill” that OSCC continues to oppose. It creates a “resiliency grant” program – funded out of the 50% dedicated to tourism promotion – that permits local governments to give cash grants to food service and lodging businesses.

OSCC’s position is this: Our small businesses need customers that comes from promotion, not grant programs or handouts paid for by their own tax dollars.

OSCC testified against this bill this morning. MORE CHAMBER TESTIMONY IS NEEDED!

Please submit comment to the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee TODAY. OSCC has issued an ACTION ALERT on this

bill. Immediate help is needed! 

SB 1517 / SB 1593: Recreational Liability Waivers. OSCC continues to push for SB 1593, as does the Oregonian newspaper and the vast majority of the legislature.

OSCC has issued an ACTION ALERT in SUPPORT of SB 1593 and in OPPOSITION to SB 1517. 

The House Rules Committee took testimony this morning, the vast majority of which was in opposition to SB 1517.

Again, CHAMBER VOICES ARE NEEDED to Oppose SB 1517. This testimony from the Health & Fitness Alliance is the best, concise summary available to use. 

These are the issues we can impact TODAY. Please take a minute to show the engagement from our local chambers and business communities.

The Governor’s Prosperity Council invites you to participate in a statewide community engagement initiative designed to shape our collective economic future.

Through this effort, the Council is creating opportunities for Oregonians from every corner of the state to share their insights, experiences, and ideas. Your feedback will directly inform and drive the work of the Council.

There are two ways to participate:

1. Online Survey: Taking 15 minutes or less and focused on gathering concrete ideas tied to the Council’s focus areas, this is idea of individuals who want to contribute their perspectives. Please share this survey with your members.

2. Facilitated Meeting Guide: An online guide designed to help you facilitate a listening session with your network and community. This option is perfect for deeper engagement and multiple perspectives.

Both survey responses and feedback from facilitated meetings should be submitted by March 20, 2026.

The Council’s work centers on the state’s role in the following areas, and your feedback should correlate with one or more of these areas:

·     Business Climate: Explore and recommend strategies for regulatory streamlining and potential changes in tax policy that would stimulate GDP growth, and long-term tax revenue

·     Workforce: Explore and recommend opportunities to modernize Oregon’s workforce development systems to improve the effectiveness and relevance of training programs for our workforce and employers in growing sectors.

·     Tools for Growth: Ranging from incentives to land use, explore and recommend updates to economic development tools that reflect and support today’s business ecosystem.

Engagement results will be synthesized for the Council and inform recommendations. We hope you will participate and encourage you to share your insights.

Dear OSCC Members & Colleagues –

Right now, the three defining issues of 2026 appear to be:

1. The legislature’s apparent agreement to raise revenue by about $300 million by disconnecting with parts of the federal tax cut bill with SB 1507. Combined with the improved revenue forecast on February 4^th, the state appears to be on track to add about $600 million to its coffers for the 2025-27 biennium. OSCC continues to oppose SB 1507 as it disconnects businesses from federal bonus depreciation tax incentives for investments in machinery and equipment. The Senate is poised to vote on this measure as soon as Tuesday.

2. SB 1599 is an exercise in pure political power. With almost total opposition from the general public, Democratic leadership will still muscle through this legislation to alter election deadlines and procedures to move the gas tax referral from November up to May. Whether this bill will serve as a grassroots rally cry and have implications for upcoming elections is the next big question.

3. SB 1501.  The bill to help keep the Portland Trailblazers in Portland took center court for the first time this past week. It commits $360 million of state bonding authority to update the Moda Center and give the State an ownership stake in the arena. Supporters are launching a full court press to pass the bill. While most legislators want to help, the timing is tough. For one, it comes on the heels of a similar successful bonding bill in 2025 that purported to help bring Major League Baseball to Portland. It also comes at the exact time that legislators are telling their constituents that the state is in a dire financial position. The bill will undoubtedly evoke strong feelings from downstate legislators who’ve seen their districts suffer from lack of attention to local economic issues.

STATUS UPDATE: Lodging Taxes

HB 4134: Statewide TLT tax increase. Increases the state TLT tax from 1.5% to 2.75%. OSCC is opposing this bill and encourages all chamber members to continue to engage in opposition to this tax increase that will hurt the tourism sector and make travelling more expensive for Oregonians. We are anticipating this bill to come to a vote in the House Revenue Committee this afternoon.

HB 4148: Transient Lodging Tax diversion. OSCC sees this as perhaps the biggest threat to local chambers in 2026. The TLT diversion bills would allow local governments to increase their share of local TLT revenues to pay for more general government purposes and away from tourism promotion. The current legal share for local governments is 30%, which would be moved up to 60% in HB 4148. This bill is still pending in the House Revenue Committee. It received a public hearing this past week. OSCC testified in opposition.

STATUS UPDATE: Recreational Liability Waivers

SB 1593: This bill is still alive in the Senate Rules Committee. OSCC has already issued an Action Alert on this issue. Oregon is the only state in the western US that gives recreational, outdoor and fitness businesses no ability to enforce liability waivers for ordinary negligence. This is a key issue for our outdoor industries and fitness and recreation businesses. SB 1593 appears to be in a holding pattern for end-of-session negotiation. 

STATUS UPDATE: JOBS Act

SB 1586: OSCC and many of our chambers are listed supporters of this bill, which we believe right now is probably the best “pro-business” bill of the 2026 session alongside SB 1593.

SB 1586 advances several pro-growth concepts, including (1) expanding local government ability to exempt advanced manufacturing equipment and machinery from property taxation; (2) expanding the R&D Tax Credit to advanced manufacturing; (3) opening up industrial land in Washington County for advanced manufacturing; and (4) establishing expedited timelines for permitting.

This bill gets its first hearing in the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee this morning.

STATUS UPDATE: Good bills now Dead

Prevailing Wage Exemptions on Housing Developments (SB 1566): This is a bill that OSCC supported as did several chambers. The bill did receive one substantive public hearing this past week, but failed to advance at the deadline.

We will be holding our weekly legislative update calls on Fridays at 9:30am. You can add these calls to your calendar using this link.

Dear OSCC Members & Colleagues –

Thank you all very much for the outstanding participation in our Friday call. The discussion with newly-appointed Chief Prosperity Officer Tim Knopp was informative. We all now have a good point of contact in the Governor’s office.

The two biggest news items of the Session’s first week: (1) the official state revenue forecast yielded an additional $286 million of general fund revenue, relieving some pressure on the state budget; and (2) Democratic leadership must not have believed they had enough bills circulating in the session to carry out their political objectives and introduced over 20 brand new bills on Day 4, nearly all of them “placeholder” bills that will be available to receive amendments crafted behind closed doors. Nearly all of the new bills were assigned to the Rules Committee in order to bypass the legislature’s self-imposed tight timelines for bill consideration. 

Among the new bills introduced was Senate Bill 1599, which is intended to change the election date of the transportation tax referral from the November General Election to the May Primary Election. This bill is designed by Democratic leadership to move quickly despite popular opposition. It will receive its first public hearing this afternoon in the Joint Special Committee on Referendum Petition 2026-302.

LAST WEEK:

Last week saw OSCC oppose the following bills which received initial public hearings:

SB 1507: Federal Tax Disconnect. OSCC testified against this bill that would disconnect businesses from federal bonus depreciation tax incentives for investments in machinery and equipment. OSCC issued an Action Alert.

HB 4098: Adding Insurance in the Unlawful Trade Practices Act. OSCC is part of the coalition opposing this bill. OSCC encourages member chambers to engage in opposition to this bill.

HB 4134: Statewide TLT tax increase. Increases the state TLT tax from 1.5% to 2.75%. OSCC opposes this bill and encourages members to continue to engage in opposition to this tax increase that will hurt the tourism sector and make travelling more expensive for Oregonians.

THIS WEEK

The intensity will ratchet up this week with more bills of consequence to OSCC and local business communities throughout Oregon.

·     Recreational Liability Waivers (SB 1593): OSCC has already issued an Action Alert on this issue. Oregon is the only state in the western US that gives recreational, outdoor and fitness businesses no ability to enforce liability waivers for ordinary negligence. This is a key issue for our outdoor industries and fitness and recreation businesses. SB 1593 has a public hearing this morning in the Senate Committee on Commerce.

·     Federal Tax Disconnect (SB 1507). We believe this $300 million tax increase, predominately on business, will be voted out of the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee this morning.

·     SALT Cap (SB 1510): We have heard from many members the importance of extending Oregon’s now expired “SALT cap workaround” to allow Oregon pass-through businesses to lower their federal tax burden. We believe this will likely be amended into SB 1510, which will have its first public hearing in the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee on Wednesday.

·     Prevailing Wage Exemptions on Housing Developments (SB 1566): This is a bill that OSCC supports and encourages OSCC members to testify on this afternoon in the Senate Labor and Business Committee. OSCC is aware of several critical housing developments that are being stalled or cancelled due to prevailing wage requirements on the construction.

·     Transient Lodging Tax diversion (HB 4148): OSCC sees this as perhaps our biggest threat in 2026. The TLT diversion bills would allow local governments to increase their share of local TLT tax revenues to pay for more general government purposes and away from tourism marketing. The current legal share for local governments is 30%, which would be moved up to 60% in HB 4148.

OSCC members are encouraged to both sign up to OPPOSE this bill and submit testimony for today at 3pm in the House Revenue Committee.

FINAL NOTE: Please be on the lookout for consistent ACTION ALERTS this week. There are multiple critical hearings and votes happening every day – sometimes multiple times each day. We will not be able to cover everything, but will do our best for the major issues.

For instance, TODAY we know there will be: (1) a committee vote on the federal tax disconnect; (2) a hearing on liability waivers; (3) a hearing on prevailing wage exemptions for housing developments; (4) a hearing on the TLT revenue diversion.

TOMORROW we know there will be (1) a committee vote on HB 4098 to include insurance in the Unlawful Trade Practices Act; and (2) a committee vote on the Climate Superfund cost recover bill – SB 1541 – that is designed to capture revenue from GHG emitters in the fuels sector and would translate into fuel price spikes.

And just remember…it will be over in less than 4 weeks!

We will be holding our weekly legislative update calls on Fridays at 9:30am. You can add these calls to your calendar using this link.