The outbreak of COVID-19 has created unprecedented challenges for our state’s economy. Oregon’s manufacturing sector is clearly no exception. With more than 400,000 Oregonians out of work and employers facing a flurry of complicated executive orders and guidance from state and federal regulators, OMC has been working around the clock to provide manufacturers with information about keeping workers healthy and preventing the spread of the virus in the workplace, assisted HR professionals in navigating orders issued by the state and federal government, and has pressed Oregon lawmakers to support Coronavirus response measures that would provide immediate relief for the manufacturing industry.

There is no doubt that manufacturers and allied industries will continue to face challenges due to this outbreak in the short term and in the years ahead. OMC is here to help. We’ve been fighting for our members and this industry since the virus first arrived and we will continue doing so until long after its gone and through the economic recovery phase of this crisis.

Learn more about how OMC is fighting for manufacturers amid COVID-19 crisis on our Latest News page. If you and your business need assistance through this crisis, please reach out to our Executive Director Shaun Jillions at [email protected].

In March of 2020, Oregon Governor Kate Brown adopted Executive Order 20-04 directing state agencies to take actions to reduce and regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The implementation of this order poses significant concerns for Oregon manufacturers, as no single sector of Oregon’s economy would be harmed more by this program. OMC has convened a coalition of more than a dozen allied industries who share concerns regarding the impacts of this program. Through this coalition, we expect to be extremely active throughout the rulemaking process in advocating for the protection of manufacturers and other impacted sectors. In August, OMC filed a lawsuit challenging Governor Brown's executive order, arguing the Governor exceeded her authority in seeking to rewrite state laws without a vote of the Legislature.

OMC previously led the coalition in opposition to the cap-and-trade bills that were under consideration by Oregon lawmakers. We believe these proposals would have seriously harmed Oregon manufacturers by significantly increasing the cost of operating through the emissions cap and dramatic increases in the cost of natural gas and motor vehicle fuel. Thanks in part to OMC’s efforts, cap-and-trade proposals were defeated in consecutive legislative sessions.

For more information about the carbon coalition or OMC’s legal efforts regarding Governor Brown’s executive order, please send an email to our Executive Director Shaun Jillions: [email protected]

Oregon manufacturers continue to support an employer’s right to maintain a drug-free work environment. Following Oregon’s legalization of cannabis in 2014, lawmakers have repeatedly sought to prohibit employers from testing employees for cannabis consumption. While Oregon manufacturers support the individual liberty rights of Oregonians, a modern cannabis impairment test does not exist in a form that is readily available to Oregon employers. As such, it’s impossible for employers to administer onsite cannabis impairment tests in the same way they might for alcohol consumption.

Unless and until such an impairment test becomes available, the risks of cannabis-induced impairment in high-hazard work environments like manufacturing remain too great to allow exemptions from drug-free workplace laws.

Manufacturers face some of the highest workers compensation costs of any industry. SAIF helps keep Oregon manufacturers competitive in regional and global markets despite the costly obstacles we face in other areas of our state’s regulatory environment. During the 2019 legislative session, OMC strongly opposed attempts to “raid” SAIF’s reserves to pay down Oregon’s unfunded pension liability. We are committed to protecting SAIF and the integrity of its assets and reserves so that Oregon employers and employees may continue to be serviced by a workers’ compensation program that has become a model for the country.

Finding qualified employees has become increasingly difficult for Oregon manufacturers. While voters approved measures to increase career and technical education for high school students, there is a continual struggle to get the legislature to fully fund those programs. In addition, Oregon’s investment in post-secondary career education has seen a gradual decline over the last few decades in relation to the costs associated with these programs. Key investments are critical to ensuring Oregon’s workforce is ready for the present, as well as the future.

A thriving manufacturing sector is vital to the long-term prosperity of Oregon's economy and its citizens. Manufacturing businesses in Oregon serve as an economic catalyst, generating high wage jobs throughout the state and bringing new dollars into the state's economy that support service industries and public services.

The last few legislative sessions have seen a significant number of new mandates placed on employers in Oregon, and most of not all of the new requirements have had unintended consequences. From paid sick leave, to pay equity and overtime, to the newly adopted paid family leave law. For example, House Bill 3458 (2017) requires most employers in the manufacturing sector to pay employees the greater of daily or weekly overtime if an employee works more than 10 hours in a single day and more than 40 hours total in the course of a single workweek. This was an improvement over a Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) opinion that double overtime was due if both thresholds were exceeded. The law also sets a firm 55-hour weekly limit for most manufacturing-sector employees. The hard cap on hours has caused significant harm to employees who previously wanted to work more than 55 hours and are no longer allowed to do so by the state. OMC supports efforts to reform this law in future legislative sessions. 

While the mandates were well intentioned in theory, the cumulative impact has caused harm to the very employees they were designed to protect. Each mandate comes at a significant cost to Oregon employers, and additional mandates are currently being considered by lawmakers. OMC will continue to be at the forefront of conversations surrounding new mandates throughout the 2020 and in the 2021 legislative session.

Oregon Manufacturers and Commerce was the most vocal opponent of a 2019 law that established a Commercial Activity Tax in our state. OMC opposed the proposal due the disproportionate burden this tax structure places on the manufacturing industry and over concerns that deductions for labor and input costs would be reduced over time. Despite our objections, Oregon lawmakers adopted the tax, which took effect in January of 2020. OMC has remained active as the Department of Revenue has adopted compliance rules related to the CAT, consistently urging policymakers to provide taxpayers with greater clarity and flexibility under the program. OMC has also urged Governor Brown and state lawmakers to temporarily suspend the tax or adopt alternative CAT-relief measures in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak and its subsequent impacts on our economy.

As the state looks to shore up significant declines in revenues due to the coronavirus, OMC intends to remain very active in potential attempts to increase taxes even further. State revenues are expected to decline by $2.7 billion in the current two-year budget cycle and $4.3 billion in the next. This decline, combined with the overall decline in general fund revenues, will be particularly painful for state leaders. It is highly likely lawmakers will look for opportunities to shore up this decrease by making adjustments to the Corporate Activity Tax. Potential changes include reducing or eliminating the 35% cost of inputs/labor deduction, lowering the $1 million sales threshold that triggers the tax or increasing the .57% tax rate. OMC will strenuously oppose any such proposals and will be extremely active in educating legislators on the perils of further tax increases during this extremely vulnerable time for our economy. We will remain in frequent communication with OMC members as these policy debates begin to play out.

Oregon manufacturers have long partnered with the state to dramatically reduce air contaminants from facilities.  We believe that Oregon can simultaneously have clean air and a healthy economy through fair and reasonable air regulations.  Due to substantial investments in pollution control technology, Oregon industrial sources now account for less than 15 percent of air pollutants. This is made evident by the fact that, today, 80 percent of air pollution comes from everyday activities like driving and heating with wood stoves.

As adopted, this complex set of regulations will impact nearly every Oregon manufacturer, costing Oregon manufacturers hundreds of millions of dollars. OMC will continue to fight for its members that are committed to continued investment in world-class pollution control devices that protect our greatest assets – our employees and our communities - and is committed to assisting our members as they navigate these new rules.