Senate Bill 766 was passed by the Oregon House Thursday. The bill leads up to the designation of about 15 regionally significant industrial areas, allowing for streamline permitting and reviews of proposed development in those areas. The bill assures that industrial projects with the greatest jobs potential are able to get fast and definite determinations for requires state and local land use approvals. The bill now goes to the Governor for his approval.
Thursday, the Oregon House voted to continue offering land to small businesses for business development. SB 494 eliminated the sun setting of the access to business Capitol Act of 2010, which reduced restrictions on the Oregon Business Development Fund and the Entrepreneurial Development Loan Funds. The Oregon House news release states that legislators felt that now that the economy is rebounding; it makes sense to continue that successful program to keep the recovery going. Under the program; loans have been made available to small businesses across the state, and that more than 300 jobs have been created or saved through the program since 2010.
