Oregon — Gov. Tina Kotek on Tuesday released a new statewide economic strategy aimed at boosting job creation and accelerating Oregon’s long-term growth, unveiling her Prosperity Roadmap amid mounting concerns from business leaders and renewed criticism from Republican lawmakers.
The plan seeks to raise Oregon’s projected real annual economic growth rate from 1.7% to 2.2% by the end of the decade. According to the Governor’s Office, achieving that target would increase General Fund revenue by an estimated $4 billion during the 2029–31 budget cycle. The Roadmap outlines new statewide coordination structures, regulatory streamlining efforts, and targeted investments intended to strengthen Oregon’s competitiveness.
Key Components of the Roadmap
The strategy proposes creating a Chief Prosperity Officer within the Governor’s Office to oversee economic coordination, establish timelines, and guide agency implementation. A new Governor’s Prosperity Council, representing regions and economic sectors across the state, would advise on workforce and investment priorities.
The Roadmap directs state agencies to identify permits, licenses, and certifications that could be streamlined or accelerated. It also calls for faster timelines on “critical infrastructure” projects, including energy upgrades, broadband expansion, transportation improvements, and water and wastewater systems.
The plan includes proposals to modernize Oregon’s enterprise zones and Strategic Investment Program, with the administration preparing legislation for a new FastTrack Program in 2026. Modeled on the federal FAST-41 process, the program would coordinate review of large-scale development projects.
Business Leaders Declare Economic Emergency
The release of the Roadmap comes less than a month after Oregon Business & Industry (OBI)—the state’s largest business association—issued a formal Economic Emergency Declaration, citing deteriorating conditions across multiple indicators.
In the declaration, OBI noted the September 2025 state economic forecast found that “Oregon’s economy has deteriorated in the first half of 2025, with growth continuing to underperform the national economy.”
OBI highlighted several trends, including:
- Moody’s Analytics classifying Oregon as in a recession or at high risk of recession;
- Year-over-year GDP growth significantly lagging the U.S.;
- Continued manufacturing job losses following a state economist’s 2024 declaration of a “manufacturing recession”;
- An estimated 25,000 jobs lost from July 2024 to July 2025, and 18,300 jobs lost from August 2024 to August 2025;
- What OBI described as “a historic wave of mass layoffs that matches the worst days of the Great Recession”;
- Rising costs, including a regional Consumer Price Index outpacing the national average;
- Oregon’s unemployment rate increasing to 5%;
- A 33% increase in the state’s total effective business tax burden between 2019 and 2023;
- A drop from 7th to 35th in the Tax Foundation’s State Tax Competitiveness Index between 2019 and 2026, including ranking second worst for corporate taxation.
The organization also cited Oregon’s regulatory burden, noting that the state ranks as the seventh most regulated in the nation and that more than 74% of surveyed small businesses say regulations change too fast to keep up.
OBI concluded by calling on state leaders to recognize the severity of current economic conditions, refrain from adopting new taxes or regulatory measures that could affect competitiveness, and prioritize economic and business development.
Republican Response
The Governor’s announcement also drew immediate criticism from Sen. Christine Drazan (R-Canby), Vice-Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce and General Government.
In a statement, Drazan referred to the administration’s plan as a “so-called ‘Prosperity Roadmap’” and cited several previous policy actions—including what she called “the largest tax increase in state history,” “a $4.3 billion transportation tax hike,” and “policies that legalized tent cities”—as contributing to Oregon’s economic struggles.
Drazan said Kotek “should have been the ‘Chief Prosperity Officer’ for Oregon this entire time” and argued that “weak leadership is sinking our state.” She said Oregonians “deserve a governor who will hold the line on taxes, stop the mandates, and actually work with employers instead of driving them out of our state.”
Her statement did not address individual policies in the Roadmap but framed the Governor’s record as the underlying cause of recent economic challenges.
Economic Alarm Bells from Portland
Just days before the Roadmap’s release, a guest-commentary article “Economist explains Portland’s decline” described the city as caught in what economists call an “urban doom loop.” The author argues that Portland is experiencing cascading fiscal and demographic decline — including a shrinking tax base — which, unless reversed, portends deeper troubles for the city and by extension, the state. Oregon Business Report
The piece raises concerns that Portland’s economic struggles — including losses of high-income taxpayers, job losses in high-pay sectors, and collapsing commercial real-estate values — may undermine revenue streams that many regional and state budgets count on.
Advocates of the Roadmap say such structural challenges justify deep, coordinated economic intervention at the state level — even as those same challenges highlight the urgency of stabilizing Portland’s fiscal health.
Next Steps
The Kotek administration plans to bring forward legislative proposals tied to the Roadmap in the 2026 and 2027 sessions, including updates to business incentive programs and potential changes to the tax code. Implementation of new structures such as the Chief Prosperity Officer and the Governor’s Prosperity Council will require legislative approval.
The release of the Roadmap, paired with OBI’s emergency declaration and growing partisan scrutiny, sets the stage for an intensified debate over Oregon’s economic direction heading into the 2026 elections and next legislative cycle.
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She has no idea what she is doing, except ruing the state. We need to be rid of her and get someone at least has an idea of what this all entails.
It sure not me Im not smart enough. But someone does and needs to step up and challenge her. Like Brown she knows how not to be recalled.
Someone please step up!!