New legislation is pouring into the three Northwest statehouse, and quite a few proposals (apart from the financial ones now getting almost all the attention) merit some watching. One interesting measure, based around an effort in Maine, appears headed for action of some kind in Salem: A measure that would give critics of big-box stores a few extra weapons.
You might think anything that could be seen as a business blocker would have a hard time right now, even in Oregon or Washington. But oftimes what helps one business hurts another. Consider the rationale offered by Onward Oregon:
Big box stores can either help or hurt local commerce, but communities should make the final decision. Join with our state's small businesses and pass the Oregon Informed Growth Act to give communities the right to protect their local economies.
The Oregon Informed Growth Act empowers communities to accept or deny a "big box" store based on its impact on the local economy. If you own a small business (or if you know someone who does, please forward this email to them), please sign the petition.
The Oregon Informed Growth Act lets our local governments investigate the impact of big box stores (anything bigger than 1.5 football fields). When the WalMarts of the world apply to move into your town, an independent consultant surveys the economic and environmental impact of the development (at the cost of the developer).
The consultant checks if the big box store hurts local business, jobs, wages or the town's carbon footprint. Then the town can weigh in at a public hearing and local officials make the final decision: will the development help or hurt the community?
Sold as a protect-the-local-economy measure, this might have some real appeal. It appears not to have been formally introduced, yet, in Oregon. But we'll keep watch to see what kind of reaction the petition drive gets.