Although Oregon’s 2021 legislative session turned out to be relatively quiet from a tax perspective, we did experience some changes to Oregon’s Corporate Activity Tax (“CAT”). Those changes were primarily in the form of SB 164. The enactment of SB 164 ushers in the following CAT changes. Fiscal Year Filings ...
On February 10, 2022, a bipartisan group of U.S. legislators passed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, which amends the Federal Arbitration Act to add a new provision that makes pre-dispute agreements requiring arbitration of “sexual harassment” and “sexual assault” claims unenforceable at the claimant’s option ...
The United States Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturned Roe v. Wade’s constitutional right to abortion has had sweeping implications that affect employers, along with the general public ...
Although the deadline for “incurring” CARES Act funds has passed, Alaska Native Corporations can still use CARES Act funds to pay for administrative and compliance related expenditures in 2022, including staff time spent administrating programs and CARES Act expenses incurred by December 31, 2022. According to U.S ...
On September 9, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14042, Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors, which directs federal agencies to include in certain federal contracts a clause requiring the contractor to comply with all guidance published by the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force. Included in those guidelines is a mandate that all federal contractor employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 unless the employee is legally entitled to an accommodation ...
COVID-19 has brought about new economic uncertainty that is disrupting supply chains, from farmers and ranchers to cooperatives, from processors to grocery stores, and all of the way down to consumers. Even solvent purchasers of agricultural products may begin to request extensions of payment terms from agricultural producers, impacting growers’ cash flow and balance sheets ...
In the past week, there were several important updates made to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) by the Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) ...
On October 28, 2022, the Department of Defense’s amendments to FAR 52.212-3 and FAR 52.219-1 became effective. These changes amended the Federal Acquisition Regulations to be in line with prior changes by the SBA to its mentor-protégé program, and recognize that a mentor-protégé joint venture qualifies for a socioeconomic program (8(a), HUBZone, WOSB, etc.) if one of the parties to the joint venture meets the associated requirements of the socioeconomic program ...
Summary: On October 28, 2022, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement by prohibiting the award of any DoD contract to entities that require their employees to sign internal confidentiality agreements or statements that would restrict their employees from lawfully reporting waste, fraud, or abuse related to the performance of a DoD contract to a designated investigative or law enforcement representative who is authorized
There have been significant delays in registering entities at SAM.gov, and that has been adversely impacting the ability of some federal contractors to respond to certain procurements/solicitations because FAR 4.1102(a) requires offerors to be registered in SAM.gov at the time of an offer or a proposal submission. On September 8, 2022, the Department of Defense (DOD) acknowledged the issue with SAM.gov and issued a class deviation permitting contracting officers to include FAR 52 ...
On July 21, 2022, the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) adopted the Climate-Friendly and Equitable Communities (CFEC) rules. DLCD then filed the permanent CFEC rules with the Oregon Secretary of State on August 17, which are now in effect. To note, the rules are still up for appeal; on a petition for judicial review, the Court of Appeals could declare a rule invalid ...
On Tuesday, November 30th, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky issued a preliminary injunction halting the government's enforcement of the federal contractor vaccine mandate on federal contractors and subcontractors in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. A copy of the decision is attached ...
On Tuesday, November 30th, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky issued a preliminary injunction halting the government's enforcement of the federal contractor vaccine mandate on federal contractors and subcontractors in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. A copy of the decision is attached ...
On Thursday, January 13, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay pausing implementation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), finding that the challengers to the ETS are likely to prevail. Justices John Roberts, Amy Coney Barrett, and Brett Kavanaugh issued the decision to stay the OSHA ETS. Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas concurred with their own separate opinion ...
The Department of Defense (DoD) and the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council (CAAC) have both issued new Class Deviations from the FARs that implement Executive Order 14042, Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors (i.e., the federal contractor vaccine mandate) ...
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act assigned the U.S. Department of Treasury Office of Inspector General (OIG) responsibility for compliance monitoring and oversight of the receipt, disbursement, and use of payments from the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF Payments). OIG has also been given the authority to recoup CRF Payments in the event OIG determines that a recipient did not comply with Treasury regulations governing the use of CRF Payments ...
Fee-to-trust, sometimes also called land-into-trust, is the process by which tribes can have land taken into trust by the federal government. Congress authorized the Department of the Interior (DOI) to take land into trust for tribes in 1934 under the Indian Reorganization Act, 25 U.S.C. 5108 ...
With inflation in the United States ballooning 8.2% since April of 2022, government contractors with firm fixed price (FFP) contracts are looking for relief. Unfortunately, the Department of Defense (DoD) recently issued a memorandum indicating that requests for equitable adjustments will not mitigate inflation’s impact to existing FFP contracts. On May 25, 2022, DoD issued a memorandum providing “Guidance on Inflation and Economic Price Adjustments ...
CRF Payments to ANCs and Their Shareholders Are Not Taxable On January 21, 2022, the Department of the Treasury held a consultation with Alaska Native Corporations on the federal income tax consequences of Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) distributions made to Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) and to Alaska Native Corporation shareholders ...
As a business owner, you know how much goes into creating strategies and plans for long-term success. Creating a well-executed succession plan that identifies and develops future company leaders that may include transferring ownership to them, ensures that the business you have built continues to grow. Here are some things to consider when developing a succession plan ...
Many organizations may be parties to contracts where the counterparty is seeking to cancel its obligations because of COVID-19. This situation is arising in relation to various commercial relationships, including supply agreements, events planning contracts, and numerous other types of agreements ...
In December of 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) released their much-anticipated draft proposed rule to re-write the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) (“2018 Rule”). The definition of WOTUS establishes the scope of agency jurisdiction over waters and wetlands under the Clean Water Act (CWA) ...
The past two years have seen significant growth in the number of mergers and acquisitions nationwide with many business owners choosing to liquefy their assets and move on. At the same time, employers have had to cope with numerous challenges that have made the otherwise routine task of employee onboarding and I-9 preparation more difficult. Some employers (unlawfully) stopped preparing I-9s for new hires altogether ...
The dust has now settled on the new stimulus bill signed by President Trump on December 27, 2020. The changes to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) were buried in over 5,000 pages of text and provide a choice for employers to continue paid leave benefits for their employees as follows: Congress extended the tax credits for employers that provide both paid sick leave and paid family leave through March 31, 2021 ...
I've spent half my career helping business and real estate owners solve their problems - or at least that is what I thought I was doing as a commercial litigator. I've grown increasingly convinced, though, that most commercial cases do not belong in court. Courts are public, slow, and generally not equipped to deal with business, real estate, or land use questions. Courts don't care about fluctuations in market prices, construction seasons, or building cycles ...
