Page 4, Portland Observer, October 1, 1986
Small-Business Owners Seek Special Session for Liability
Small business owners asked Gov Vic Aliyeh to call a special legislative
session to deal with the liability insurance crisis
At a state capitol news conference. Jim Bernau, state director of the
National Federation of Independent Business 'Oregon. said his group had
asked for the special session be called after July 1, when the governor s
Task Force on Liability is due to make its final report
"W e can't wait another year to solve the crisis." said Bernau "Thou
sands of Oregon businesses have been hit by skyrocketing premiums and.
in some cases, complete cancellation of their liability insurance NF IB Ore
gon has |ust completed a survey that shows that tens of thousands of jobs
will be lost this year because many business owners have had to postpone
expansion plans or curtail their existing operations
"Several years ago. when the state faced the need to quickly pass unitary
tax reform to remain competitive with neighboring states, the governor
called a special session, which passed appropriate legislation We face a
similar situation today.
' Neighboring states, including Washington, have taken positive action
on the liability crisis If we wait too long, the problem will grow and Oregon
businesses will be at a severe disadvantage," he said
Bernau said Oregon small business owners had developed a list of 10
recommendations on tort reform and insurance regulation for the legisla
ture The list came out of a series of business owner workshop» held in
cities around the state as part of the White House Conference on Small
Business held May 9 in Portland
The tort reform proposals include a cap on general damages, abolishing
joint and several liability ( deep pockets' award system), limiting attorneys
contingency fees, limiting of punitive damages and streamlining of court
discovery process to reduce trial delays
The proposed insurance regulation reforms include creation of an
assigned risk pool for liability coverage, an increase in notice periods for
cancellation or major premium increase, prior approval of insurance com
pany rate increases (currently they go into effect upon filing) and increased
assistance from the insurance commissioner in finding coverage for bust
nesses that have had policies cancelled
Bernau also released a just completed survey of NFIB members that
showed that all categories of industries have experienced a significant
number of cancellation and major increases in premiums The survey found
that insurance coverage problems have caused many business owners to
postpone expansion or cutrail operations, resulting in the projected loss ot
34.800 jobs
More than 1.300 small business owners around the state participated in
the survey Results by industry category showed
A griculture, forestry and fishing 16% of the businesses surveyed
had policies cancelled, premium increases overall averaged 36%;
Construction: 16% had policies cancelled, premium increases overall
averaged 74%.
Finance, insurance and real estate 6% had policies cancelled, pre
mium increases overall averaged 83%
Retail 16% had policies cancelled, overall premium increases averaged
140%
Services 15% had policies cancelled, overall premium increases
averaged 116%.
Transportation: 22% had policies cancelled, overall premium increases
averaged 112%.
W holesale trade 10% had policies cancelled, overall premium aver
aged 59%
Volunteer For the Animals
Friends of Animals, Inc., the
twenty nine year old national am
mal protection organization, needs
volunteers to work on behalf of the
animals
If you truly care about animals,
and can give some of your time,*
talent, and energy. Friends of Ani­
mals invites you to |Oin the hun­
dreds of volunteers across the coun
try who work within their own com
munities as FoA Volunteers
Volunteers are needed to work for
Friends of Animals' National Low
Cost Breeding Control Program
publicize it. fundraise, and issue
low cost spay/alter
certificates
Other areas of volunteer work in
qlude protecting wildlife and pro
testing irrelevant and inhumane am
mal experiments
If you would like to donate your
time and energy for the animals,
please write to Friends of Animals,
Volunteer Dept., One Pine Street.
Neptune, New Jersey 07753. FoA
will send you the brochure, "Volun
teer," and a volunteer registration
form
PCC Schedules Class
Spanish For Children
SAFEWAY
WAREHOUSE
INVENTORY
CLEARANCE
Fresh “Natural”
H en Turkeys
Manor House. "N a tu ra l",
no additives, plump, tender
broad-breasted young hen
turkeys 10 To 15-Lb
88
In
A Spanish course designed for
children ages four and five years is
being offered this fall by Portland
Community College.
Instructor Sonja Ortega will focus
the class on building Spanish voca
bulary by seeing, saying and doing
The preschoolers will learn colors,
numbers and names in Spanish
They will also learn songs and
games, to gain understanding of
Spanish culture and traditions.
Ortega is a former elementary
school teacher from Cuba who has
taught Spanish for several years.
The class will meet from 9 30 to
10 30 a m. on Mondays for eight
weeks, starting October 6. at the
Peninsula Park Community Center.
6400 N Albina Ave. Tuition is $11.
Further information is available
from Cascade Community Services.
240 5303
Be Sure To Look
In Your
MAGAZINE
M axwell H o u se
3-P ound C offee
for your Safeway
Shopping Guide for
a complete list of
specials on sale this
week at Safeway!
Rich, full-flavored .
‘ Good to the Iasi
d ro p ". Regular or
Automatic.
Equipment for
Disaster Victims
At its meeting on September 25,
the East Portland Rotary Club pre
sented a check for $475 toward
emergency medical equipment for
Red Cross Disaster Services
Red
Cross will use the equipment for
temporary loan to disabled disaster
victims in the Portland area whose
own equipment is lost or damaged
as the result of a fire or other disa
40
ster.
Having this equipment will enable
Red Cross to respond immediately
to disastor victims who would other
wise be left without mobility under
these circumstances
Red Cross
Disaster Rolief services are provided
on a 24 hour a day basis and basic
needs of victims are attended to
immediately Replacement of medi
cal equipment usually takes longer
The Red Cross will purchase a
wheelchair, canes, crutches and
walkers with the money presented
by East Portland Rotary club presi
dent. Karl Koch.
Fancy Num ber 1
B an an as
$
Delicious over cereal,
in a lunch box or served
with our rich & creamy
Lucerne Ice Cream!
Prices Effective 7-Full Days from 7 AM..
Oct. 1 • Oct. 7 at Safeway Stores in the
Immediate Area of Originating Publication.
Toy b Joyinakers Need
Building
The Portland Fire Bureau Toy b
Joymakers are in need of a building
to run their program for this year
This 72 year old tradition provides
toys for approximately 16.000 needy
children in the Portland area each
year at Christmas time
Anyone
with a building or information on
same of approximately 10,000 Sq
Ft., heated with some parking,
please contact Don Mayer at 248
0203. This building needs to be in
the North or Northeast area of Port
land
*.» ».
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SAFEW AY
COPYRIGHT 1978. SAFEWAY STORES. INC.
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