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2023 Legislative Session Adjourns
The Oregon Legislative Assembly adjourned on June 25. Over the past six months, while the legislature was in session, the Office of Small Business Assistance tracked over 250 bills affecting small business. The legislature passed 60 of those bills. Based on the types of questions our office receives, and the kinds of small businesses that often turn to us for help, we want to call attention to eight new laws enacted this year:
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Senate Bill (SB) 326: Requires real property owners to clean up sites of illegal cannabis production. Cities and counties may pursue civil action against property owners who don’t clean up waste from illegal cannabis operations, including filing liens against the properties.
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SB 43: Prohibits food vendors from using polystyrene foam containers when selling prepared foods. Also prohibits the sale or distribution of polystyrene foam containers, polystyrene foam packaging peanuts, or foodware containers that have perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances.
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SB 545: Requires the Oregon Health Authority to adopt rules allowing restaurants to let consumers bring their own containers to take out leftovers and to-go orders. The new rules must take effect no later than June 30, 2024.
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SB 569: Requires places of public accommodation that use a closed-captioned enabled television receiver in a public area to turn on the closed captioning.
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SB 643: Expands Oregon’s “cottage food” laws, which allow producers to sell certain types of homemade foods without needing a home kitchen processing and baking license. Specifically, the law expands the types of foods allowed under the state food safety program’s residential exemptions from baked goods and confectionary items to include packaged coffee beans, teas, popcorn, jams, jellies, honey, syrups, fruit butters, nut mixes, repackaged freeze-dried foods, repackaged dried and dehydrated foods, and powdered drink mixes. It also changes the maximum annual gross sales limit from $20,000 to $50,000, adjusted annually for inflation.
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SB 907: Prohibits employers from retaliating or discriminating against employees or prospective employees who, in good faith and with no reasonable alternative, have refused to expose themselves to possible serious injury or death from hazardous condition at their place of employment.
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SB 999: Aligns certain aspects of Paid Leave Oregon and the Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA). Specifically, it aligns the definitions of “family member” and “one year period” for the purposes of tracking the amount of family leave an eligible employee may take within a one-year period. It also clarifies the job restoration rights of eligible employees.
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SB 1047: Raises the contract price threshold under which a contracting agency may apply specified solicitation and procurement methods for public contracts. Increases the small procurement dollar threshold from $10,000 to $25,000 and the intermediate procurement dollar threshold from to $150,000 to $250,000.
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OSBA: New Complaint Form
The Office of Small Business Assistance (OSBA) has developed a new Complaint Form for use in clarifying issues and streamlining the process of assisting businesses with complaints against state agencies. When you contact OSBA with a complaint or concerns about problems encountered with an agency, you may be sent the new form. It asks simple clarifying questions, including: What did the agency do wrong? What do you want the agency to do, and what should our office do to assist you? What were the relevant dates and events, and what documents exist?
Our goal is to clarify issues and expectations, and to gather data needed to investigate what has occurred for clear and timely communications. This new feature will help us find satisfactory solutions for you and agencies as we fulfill our statutory role.
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Unclaimed Property
Does your business know how to report its unclaimed property? Most businesses have unclaimed property, but not all know how to report it. The Oregon State Treasury invites businesses, nonprofits, and government entities to join its Unclaimed Property Program at an upcoming seminar to learn about Oregon’s unclaimed property reporting process and requirements. These single-day sessions, held online and in-person, are free and designed to educate organizations about how to identify and report their unclaimed property. To learn more and sign up for a session, visit the Treasury website today!
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