FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Anthony K. Smith, Oregon State Director, [email protected]
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, [email protected]
SALEM, Ore., March 2, 2016—Comment from Anthony K. Smith, Oregon state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, on Gov. Kate Brown’s signing today of Senate Bill 1532 A, raising the state’s minimum-wage rates in phases and by regions.
“Governor Brown’s signing of Senate Bill 1532 was expected, but what was also expected was her strong opposition to the remaining campaign still gathering signatures for the November ballot that would spike the minimum wage to $15 per hour. We didn’t hear that today.
“It’s bad enough that this unfortunate law will prompt small-business owners to halt hiring, start cutting back hours for workers, start eliminating overtime, or even make layoffs, but her silence on the ballot initiative only adds to the anxiety Oregon’s entrepreneurs are already experiencing.
“Oregon’s small businesses need to know where their governor stands. We urge Governor Brown to publicly, loudly and repeatedly oppose any and all efforts to further increase the minimum wage.”
NOTE TO EDITORS: Later today, a 694-word editorial on the great deception played on Oregon voters over the minimum wage will be posted on the NFIB/Oregon web page and sent to media in the state through our regular distribution channel. Feel free to use it as content for your publications and websites or as background material for any related stories you might be working on. You can also email Senior Media Manager Tony Malandra, [email protected], if you’d like the Word version sent to you.
NFIB, America’s largest and leading small-business association has 350,000 dues-paying members nationwide, including nearly 7,000 in Oregon. Follow NFIB Oregon on Twitter at NFIB_OR and on the Oregon page of the NFIB website, www.nfib.com/oregon.
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For more than 70 years, the National Federation of Independent Business has been the Voice of Small Business, taking the message from Main Street to the halls of Congress and all 50 state legislatures. NFIB annually surveys its members on state and federal issues vital to their survival as America’s economic engine and biggest creator of jobs. NFIB’s educational mission is to remind policymakers that small businesses are not smaller versions of bigger businesses; they have very different challenges and priorities.
National Federation of Independent Business/Oregon
3340 Commercial St. S.E. Suite 210
Salem, OR 97302
503-364-4450
Twitter NFIB_OR
