Raising the CAT exemption, reinstating hiring and retention bonuses among priorities
A new Oregon State Legislature of veteran lawmakers and newcomers convenes for business in January 2025. In addition to any new proposals that surface, the following are expected to make return engagements that NFIB Oregon will be pushing for passage or defeat once again.
Raising the CAT Exemption to $5 Million
Last year’s Senate Bill 1542 would have raised the current $1 million exemption for the Corporate Activity Tax (CAT) to $5 million. The $1 million threshold was originally sold as a small business exemption, but due to the pyramiding effects of this gross receipts tax, even the smallest of small businesses have seen substantial increases in costs. This has only been made worse by labor shortages, supply chain issues, inflation, and an increase in the overall tax burden on Oregon businesses in recent years. Raising the exemption and filing threshold would exempt more than 70% of the businesses that currently pay the CAT, nearly all of which are small businesses. In a recent NFIB survey, more than 80% of respondents supported this change in policy.
Passing an Equal Pay Law Fix for Hiring & Retention Bonuses
NFIB Oregon will again support a bill that would add language to the state’s Equal Pay Law, giving Oregon employers the flexibility they need to utilize incentives to recruit and retain their workers by allowing for a pay differential so long as:
- it does not discriminate based on a specified protected class
- is consistent with a business necessity
- and fulfills the underlying purpose of that business necessity.
Such a measure would make hiring and retention bonuses legal again in the state. Oregon remains the only state in the county with an Equal Pay Law that prohibits employers from paying their employees more money for these specific purposes.
Defeating Contractor Wage Claim Liability
Another attempt to hold general construction contractors liable for the unpaid wages of their subcontractors is expected to surface again in 2025. And, once again, NFIB Oregon will oppose this dangerous precedent to set, regardless of the specific industry being targeted, because it would have fundamentally hold the wrong party responsible for breaking the law. Law-abiding businesses would be sued under this new private-right-of-action proposal for the illegal actions of other businesses.
