Legislative Update: April 12, 2021
Here’s latest update from our Oregon State Chamber of Commerce (OSCC) legislative counsel, outlining what’s happening (OSCC Political Observations), activity on major issues, and what’s coming up. Any opinions expressed or implied are those of OSCC and do not necessarily reflect those of the Springfield Chamber or its representatives.
What’s Happening (OSCC Political Observations)
We are now at the halfway point of the 2021 session.
Partisan tensions eased this week slightly as lawmakers collaborated to pass a number of bills related to police accountability, wildfire recovery and mitigating unemployment insurance tax increases (OSCC priority bill HB 3389).
They will undoubtedly begin increasing again this week as we reach the first meaningful deadline of the session on Tuesday, April 13th.
This is a hard deadline which requires that bills be advanced out of their policy committee of origin in order to continue being eligible for consideration. It should provide us with a much clearer picture of which bills lawmakers intend to prioritize over the final months of this year’s session.
OSCC will follow up on Wednesday – after the end of Tuesday’s deadline – with a detailed accounting of which business bills are still alive (both good and bad), which bills are dead, and which bills have been negotiated and no longer pose a threat to our local business communities.
