Economy and business

Oregonians are absorbing higher costs at the pump, at the grocery store and at home. Small businesses carry those costs twice, once as households and once as employers, and they are the firms least able to absorb a new tax or a new compliance requirement.

Oregon's standing in national tax and business-climate rankings has fallen, and the caucus's own argument is that it fell because other states reformed while Oregon stood still rather than because Oregon moved backwards. The specific ranking figures used in campaign material are being confirmed against the Tax Foundation and CNBC source tables before they appear here.

Rep. Elmer's argument runs through employers rather than around them. Successful businesses generate the revenue that keeps communities safe and infrastructure working, and they provide the jobs that let people stay in the places they grew up. She came to this from running small businesses in McMinnville rather than from a think tank.

Lowering the cost of doing business means forgoing revenue the state has already committed to schools, health care and transportation. Anyone arguing for a lighter burden on employers owes an answer on what gets funded differently, or less. Rankings also measure structure rather than outcomes, and a state can improve its rank without a single additional job appearing.