FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Anthony Smith, NFIB Oregon State Director, anthony.smith@nfib.org
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, anthony.malandra@nfib.org

SALEM, Ore., July 14, 2026—Oregon’s leading small business association today joined two other business groups in jointly filing a lawsuit over a matter that should never had advanced this far had state lawmakers paid heed to warnings.

The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of House Bill 4027, which the Legislature passed this year (18 to 12 in the Senate and 33 to 11 in the House), and Gov. Tina Kotek signed into law. According to the lawsuit, among other things, “Oregon H.B. 4027 (the ‘Labor Tax Bill’) amends ORS 656.506 … to pay for new Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (‘BOLI’) positions that will be paid out of the newly created BOLI Expense Fund.”

Hold on. Not so fast.

“During the 2026 legislative session, NFIB, our partners in the business community, and some legislators themselves repeatedly stressed that the state constitution mandates any revenue-raising measure to pass by a three-fifths majority,” said Anthony Smith, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business in Oregon. “Each time, this concern was ignored. Regardless of the particular bill at issue, the Legislature cannot circumvent a constitutional requirement put in place by the people of Oregon.”

More details on the case can be found here. NFIB is joined in the lawsuit by the Oregon Business & Industry association and by the Portland Metro Chamber. This lawsuit makes the fourth legal case NFIB Oregon is involved in this year. The three others can be read here.

Keep up with the latest Oregon small business news at www.nfib.com or on X at @NFIB_OR

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For over 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven association. Since its founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.

National Federation of Independent Business
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