February 4, 2021 3:20 a.m.

Oregon Senate Republicans say that repealing tax relief will hurt working Oregonians.

A release from the office of the OSR said on Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Finance and Revenue had a public hearing on an amendment to Senate Bill 137, which would repeal certain tax relief provisions from the state tax code.

The release said because the Oregon and federal tax code are connected, the amendment would repeal important measures passed in the federal CARES Act meant to ease the burden of lock-downs that the GOP believes, “devastated working families and small businesses”.

Senate Republican Leader Fred Girod said “The CARES Act and federal relief was designed to help working families and businesses make ends meet, not be siphoned off to state government”. Girod said the proposal would raise taxes on businesses during a time “…when they need our help the most”. He said small businesses have sacrificed a lot in the name of public health. Girod said doing away with this assistance would create even more uncertainty for working Oregonians.

The release said Oregon lost 25,500 jobs in December, raising unemployment to 6.4 percent. That was a 7 percent increase from November’s number. The release said the leisure and hospitality sectors lost 28,600 jobs in December alone. The United States has recovered 56 percent of the jobs lost during the pandemic, while Oregon has only recovered 37 percent of its jobs lost during the pandemic.