House committee advances multiple economic development bills; liquor-store agent buyout moved to stakeholder work group

The House Committee on Economic Development, Small Business and Trade on Monday advanced a slate of committee bills on economic development and appropriations and recorded a stakeholder agreement to form a rulemaking work group on liquor-store agent buyouts.

The committee adopted amendments and issued do-pass recommendations for House Bills 2415 (ports grants), 2417 (signature research centers), 2418 (small business innovation research grants), 2277 (Oregon CHIPS Fund adjustments), 2322 (targeted industries funding), and 3837 (poverty reduction planning grants). Committee leaders also read into the record a letter from the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission and the Associated Liquor Stores of Oregon saying a work group will draft rule changes so a pending bill on agent buyouts is “not necessary at this time.”

Committee Chair Wynne opened the meeting by noting that stakeholders — including the OLCC and liquor-store owners — reached agreement over the weekend and submitted a letter dated April 6 outlining a timetable for rulemaking. The letter, read into the record, said the work group will draft a plan for agent-store evaluation by Sept. 1, 2025; OLCC will adopt administrative rules by Nov. 1, 2025; and the rules would be effective for agent buyouts on Jan. 1, 2026. The letter cited OAR 845-015-0190 as the existing resignation-buyout rule that the group intends to replace.

Why it matters: The committee moved funding and policy changes that affect ports, research centers, small-business grant programs and state CHIPS allocations. Several bills appropriate or authorize millions of dollars from the general fund or from the Oregon CHIPS Fund; one item (HB 3837) drew substantive debate about the merits of grant funding versus regulatory relief and included a recorded dissent.

Key actions and amounts - HB 2415 (ports): Dash-1 amendment removes a $50,000 statutory cap on certain Oregon Infrastructure Finance Authority grants to ports and directs Business Oregon to set, by rule, a maximum grant amount (not to exceed 75% of total cost). Committee gave HB 2415 a do-pass…