The JOBS Act could make big small changes for Oregon’s economy

Construction was underway near Hillsboro’s urban growth boundary on February 27, 2023. The City of Hillsboro is seeking state approval to allow the semiconductor industry to build outside the urban growth boundary. (Photo by Jordan Gale/Oregon Capital Chronicle)

Senate Bill 1586 it’s proof that even in today’s highly partisan political climate, legislators from both major parties will sometimes support each other’s good policies. At a time when Oregon’s economy is struggling and good job opportunities are becoming scarcer, this bill would help provide the support and land businesses in targeted sectors need to grow in Oregon.

It makes so much sense that 36 lawmakers — 40 percent of the Legislature — have signed on as sponsors, including Democrats like Sen. Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro, and Republicans like Sen. Bruce Starr, R-Dundee. He deserves the support of his 54 colleagues.

Known as the Jobs, Opportunity, Build-ready Sites Act (JOBS) Act, SB 1586 would make a small number of important changes to tax and land use policy. It would expand eligibility for state R&D tax credits to businesses in clean technology and life sciences, as well as those in advanced manufacturing and semiconductor manufacturing. It would create a local property tax exemption for new advanced manufacturing machinery and equipment. And it would bring land within Hillsboro’s urban growth boundary for advanced manufacturing and semiconductor development. This land was identified by Oregon CHIPs Act approved by the Legislature in 2023.

Policies affecting taxes and land use can be controversial, especially in Oregon. But it’s worth keeping a few things in mind.

First, research and development tax credits and property tax credits for equipment are tools used by states across the country to encourage innovation and job creation. Such targeted incentives tend to be particularly significant in states with otherwise challenging fiscal environments. And few states offer fiscal environments less welcoming to innovation and job creation than Oregon. In it 2026 State Fiscal Competitiveness IndexThe nonpartisan Tax Foundation ranks Oregon’s corporate tax structure as the second worst in the nation.

Second, Oregon’s chronic lack of shovel-ready industrial land makes it difficult for businesses to expand even in sectors like advanced manufacturing and semiconductor manufacturing where the state excels. Instead of leveraging its strengths to provide good-paying jobs—and generate tax revenue—Oregon pushes successful businesses to invest elsewhere.

In 2025, Business Oregon—the state’s economic development agency—launched a report highlighting Oregon’s vulnerability to business recruitment efforts mounted by other states. Of the Oregon companies surveyed, 24 percent said they were recruited by other states. And of those, 68 percent said they either moved or expanded outside of Oregon. A Business Oregon economist later called this a “insane success rate”.

Among the Oregon challenges cited by participating businesses were tax policy, the state’s regulatory climate, and the cost and availability of land. Not coincidentally, the two most common types of incentives offered by business recruiting entities were tax incentives and land. By addressing these two challenges, SB 1586 will keep more Oregon businesses in Oregon.

More importantly, the bill will help maintain the jobs created by such businesses. Manufacturing jobs — the sector SB 1586 focuses on — are among the state’s most lucrative and equitable. Conformable OBI Production Report 2024each manufacturing job adds nearly 60 percent more to the state’s gross domestic product than jobs in other industries. This productivity supports higher wages, and the average income for manufacturing jobs exceeds the average for other industries by 17%. As explained in OBI Production Report 2021manufacturing jobs pay more than jobs in other industries, regardless of race, gender, and education level.

Unfortunately, Oregon’s manufacturing sector has struggled in recent years. Between June 2023 and June 2024—the period covered by the 2024 production report—Oregon ranked just 45th nationally in increasing production. And for every year from 2020 to 2024manufacturing employment in Oregon has grown more slowly — or fallen more dramatically — than the national average.

Largely for political reasons, Oregon now sits at the bottom of a deep economic and competitive hole. Its economy grew more slowly than the national average every year from 2021 to 2024. Employment growth trailed the nation from 2019. This weakness was captured by ranking after ranking, from the Fiscal Foundation’s Competitiveness Index to CNBC’s Top US States for Businesswhich now ranks Oregon 39thth. The state ranked 17thth as recently as 2017.

SB 1586 alone will not lift the state from the competitive and economic depths, but it represents several rungs on the ladder to the surface. It deserves to pass, and Oregonians deserve the jobs it will create.