Transparency bill passes Oregon Senate

Media Contacts
Brian Rae

David Rosenfeld

Statement of David Rosenfeld, OSPIRG Executive Director and Business-Owner John Stadter on the Passage of HB 2825 in the Oregon Senate

OSPIRG

Salem, OR – Today, the Oregon Senate voted unanimously in support of House Bill 2825, which will improve the transparency of Oregon’s economic development tax incentives. These programs, which include the BETC, Enterprise Zones and the Strategic Investment Program, account for about $600 million in spending through the tax code over the next biennium. This bill, sponsored by State Representatives Barnhart (D-Eugene) and Thatcher (R-Keizer), requires the Department of Administrative Services to post on the state transparency website (www.oregon.gov/transparency) information about who receives economic development tax incentives, how much they received, and what the business did to receive the incentive. The legislation had already passed the Oregon House unanimously, and now goes to the Governor’s desk for his signature.

The following is a statement from David Rosenfeld, Executive Director of the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG):

“I am very pleased to see the overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate for improving the transparency and accountability of Oregon’s economic development tax incentives. This proposal will prevent fraud and waste of our public resources and ensure that Oregonians get the greatest return on our investment possible with these job-creation programs. We thank Representative Thatcher and Representative Barnhart for their leadership on this issue. We look forward to the Governor’s signature on this important legislation.”

The following is a statement by businessman John Stadter, President and Managing Partner, First Call Resolution, Roseburg, OR:

“As both a business owner that uses economic development incentives and a citizen of Oregon, I think transparency is a good thing and see no reason to shy away from it.  The easier it is for the public to see how well economic development programs work, the better we can understand how much bang for our buck we get from them.”