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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 4th, 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.
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