Sen. Starr: Kotek $311M biz tax while promising to help

 Governor Kotek Signs Bill Raising Business Taxes by $311 Million While Promising to Improve Oregon’s Business Climate
By Oregon State Senator Bruce Starr,

SALEM, Ore. – Governor Tina Kotek signed a bill into law yesterday that increases business taxes by $311 million while simultaneously promoting a new prosperity council and hiring a “chief prosperity officer” to improve Oregon’s struggling business climate.

Senate Republican Leader Bruce Starr (R-Dundee) said the Governor’s actions do not match her rhetoric on economic competitiveness.

“The Governor has admitted herself that Oregon’s prosperity is not a given and that we have to act with intention to be more competitive. We need to make it easier to invest here, easier to build here, and easier to create family-wage jobs here.

Yet as other states compete for jobs and opportunity, Governor Kotek is choosing to add cost and complexity instead. That is no way to rebuild affordability or restore confidence in our economy.”

Business leaders on the Governor’s own prosperity council have also raised concerns that Senate Bill 1507 undermine the very mission they were asked to support.

Oregon’s Business Climate by the Numbers

• Oregon business bankruptcies jumped 25% in 2025, reaching their highest point since 2013.
• Oregon’s business tax burden increased 33% between 2019 and 2023.
• CNBC dropped Oregon 17 places in its “Top States for Business” ranking in just two years.