Oregon Republican targets Nike in 'corporate transparency' bill [View all]

In an unusual move, the ranking Republican on the Oregon Senate Finance and Revenue committee plans to introduce legislation requiring large companies to disclose how much they pay in taxes.

Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas, said he has asked legislative lawyers to replicate the “corporate transparency” initiative that public employee unions had planned to take to voters in November, until they struck an agreement with Gov. Kate Brown and Nike to keep it off the ballot.

In addition to tax information, Initiative Petition 25 would have required large companies such as Nike to share other closely held business information in state filings or pay a fine. State-level tax information is not available in corporate filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

After striking that deal, the unions, Nike and a handful of other businesses worked together to defeat conservative ballot initiatives, re-elect Brown and raise billions of dollars in business taxes in 2019. That could make it challenging for Boquist to line up support for his bill. Sen. Mark Hass, a Beaverton Democrat who is chair of the Senate Finance and Revenue committee, said that among the committee’s priorities going into 2019 he was “not sure that hits the top 100.”

Read more: https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2018/12/oregon-republican-targets-nike-in-corporate-transparency-bill.html