Gov. Kotek, lawmakers call for streamlined permit, land use rules amid concern for Oregon business

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek called upon Oregon’s business community on Monday to support her plan to create more jobs and streamline the permitting process, as the state battles lagging economic growth and a reputation for crushing businesses with taxes and regulation.

The governor made her remarks at the annual Oregon Leadership Summit in the Oregon Convention Center’s Portland ballroom on Monday. The economic policy forum was established in 2002 when the state was grappling with a recession and high unemployment. 

Last week, Kotek formally announced her plans to run for reelection in 2026, when she will have to defend her record against what many business leaders perceive as an unfriendly statewide market filled with regulations, fees and taxes that make it impossible to survive in the state. On Monday, she touted her previously-unveiled “prosperity roadmap” which has come with a goal of reforming permit systems, increasing global trade and providing corporate tax incentives. 

While some Oregon lawmakers echoed her priorities at Monday’s summit, the governor’s roughly 20-minute speech in front of hundreds of industry leaders was largely a defense of her record. She argued that she has planted the seeds for improvement in Oregon’s business, education and housing sectors, framing some of the state’s challenges as a result of the Trump administration’s priorities. 

“Oregon now has to focus on the seamless, continuous execution of these policies and investments. We are in the process of continuous performance improvement across our state,” Kotek said. “We’re making real progress on these core issues, each of them vital to Oregon’s ability and wellbeing, and because of that, we have laid the foundation that we need to have to respond to today’s economic headwinds:”

Kotek also called upon attendees to help enact her prosperity roadmap, setting an end-of-year deadline to name a chief prosperity officer and council of leaders who would be able to make policy recommendations. She said she is planning to introduce legislation in the 2026 session which would create a fast-tracked program to provide permits for “large projects that can create jobs and grow our economy.” She also said she plans to seek one-time funding from the Oregon Legislature dedicated to land ready for industrial development. 

“The takeaway that we should all focus on is: there’s an opportunity here,” Kotek said. “There’s an openness, and I think a bipartisan openness, to try new things.”

This year’s summit was themed “At a Crossroads,” as the Beaver State battles rising unemployment, declining population growth, economic uncertainty from President Donald Trump’s tariff policies and test scores for students in English, math and science that have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. In an 11-page report released ahead of the conference, analysts for the forum described Oregon as “a state built on growth and innovation now confronting the limits of both.”

“What you want to do is ensure that we are competitive, that we look to innovations, but the approach has got to be inclusive,” U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who helped launch the summit in 2002, told the Capital Chronicle. “You’ve got to make sure that people who are affected are having a chance to get new jobs and new opportunities and have the fruits of innovation.”

Oregon lawmakers seek permitting, land use readjustments 

The one area of consensus between lawmakers on the left and right on Monday appeared to be easing the regulatory burden facing businesses, with legislators offering suggestions for changes to Oregon law in the 2026 session. House Speaker Julie Fahey, D-Eugene, said Monday that she was “open” to conversations about easing land use regulations to help spur development across the state. For more than 50 years, the state’s land use system has regulated residential, industrial and commercial development to protect Oregon’s natural resources and unique environment, including through limiting where and how cities can grow. 

“It is worth looking at, ‘How can we introduce some additional flexibility to the system while still keeping what works?’” she said. “The land use system prevents sprawl. It helps preserve our valuable farm and forest, one of the big economic drivers in the Willamette Valley, and it protects Oregon’s natural beauty.”

House Majority Leader Ben Bowman, D-Tigard, said he was bringing forward two ideas in the short legislative session set for February 2026 that are “not going to change the world overnight.” One proposal would set clear requirements regardless of rules changing after a company has applied for a permit, and another would ensure “timeline clarity” given that some permit applications can stretch on for years. 

“This is not super sexy. This is about procurement. This is about hiring. This is about permitting timelines. This is about the rulemaking process,” he said. “We need to streamline all of that, not so that we’re saying yes to everybody, but so that we can actually achieve our own stated goals as a government.”

Although Bowman and Fahey did not elaborate further on any details, their ideas could receive some bipartisan support. Senate Minority Leader Bruce Starr, R-Dundee, said he did not disagree with Bowman, adding that he was hopeful that lawmakers could leave the summit with a unified goal in streamlining land use rules.

SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

“It’s too expensive. It’s too kind of cumbersome, the ability for virtually anybody to, with a stroke of a pen and appeal, to stop a process,” he said. “We got to figure out how we could move forward on this together.”

At the same time, it’s unclear the extent to which lawmakers have found consensus on the issue. Starr cited Austin, Texas as a positive example of an area streamlining its housing regulations, while Fahey criticized the state of Texas for allowing “eternal sprawl.”

House Minority Leader Lucetta Elmer, R-McMinnville also spoke on Monday alongside Bowman, Starr and Senate Majority Leader Kayse Jama, D-Portland. 

Elmer called for the state to “be more competitive in our taxes,” and referred to the signatures gathered by opponents of the $4.3 billion transportation package Oregon Democrats passed during a special legislative session in September. Critics have reported receiving nearly double the 78,116 signatures necessary to place the measure on the November 2026 ballot, with the goal of undoing the increased taxes and vehicular fees the package mandates. 

But she was also hopeful lawmakers could find consensus.

“Senator Starr and I have lots of great solutions. Bowman has said he wants to work with me, so, I mean, today’s a good day,” Elmer said. “We can turn it around. This is a gorgeous place. We can be the pioneering state once again.”

Although she did not speak on stage at the event, Kotek’s top political rival and state Sen. Christine Drazan, R-Canby, attended with several of her Republican colleagues. When announcing that she would be running for governor in 2026, she said in late October that small businesses such as welders, builders, farmers and shop owners “are being buried under taxes and regulations and red tape every single day,” while calling for expedited building permits and lower taxes and fees.