A11
B USINESS
THE BULLETIN • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 2021
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BRIEFING
Essential-worker
payment bill dies
Oregon Democrats
said Monday they won’t
fund an additional stim-
ulus bill for the state’s
essential workers this
session. They pledged to
revive the idea during the
Legislature’s short ses-
sion in 2022, but it’s not
clear there will be a ready
funding source for the
proposal next year.
Last week, 23 legisla-
tive Democrats signed on
to co-sponsor House Bill
3409, which would have
dedicated $450 million
from Oregon’s share of
federal stimulus money
to pay bonuses and a
back-to-work incentive
to thousands of front-line
workers.
Those workers could
have received up to
$2,000 in stimulus money
if they worked through
the pandemic, or $1,200
if they returned to work
after collecting unem-
ployment during the pan-
demic.
But with lawmakers
racing to finish their reg-
ular legislative session
this week, the Democrats
who control the body say
they will defer the idea
until next year.
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CENTRAL OREGON
Job gains dip below seasonal expectations
BY ZACK DEMARS
The Bulletin
The rate of new jobs created
across the region slowed during
the busy spring hiring season
as it inched toward a post-pan-
demic economy, according to
the Oregon Employment De-
partment’s monthly report.
But Damon Runberg, a state
economist with the department,
said the figures released Tues-
day don’t give the best picture of
Deschutes County’s recovery.
The figures show that Crook
and Jefferson counties have
all but regained the jobs lost
since the pandemic began, with
Crook reporting 1.2% more
jobs in May than February 2020
and Jefferson reporting just
1.1% compared to the same
timeframe.
“Deschutes was tracking al-
most identically to Crook and
Jefferson until April and May,”
Runberg said. That’s when es-
timates for Deschutes County
started getting “questionable.”
The data released Tuesday
shows an unusually grim pic-
ture in Deschutes County: Af-
ter taking seasonal factors into
account, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics estimated the county
lost 870 jobs between April and
May.
While the federal agency
does the estimates for De-
schutes County, Runberg esti-
mates job growth and losses in
rural Oregon counties. He said
that number of job losses isn’t
one he has any faith in.
“We’re in the heat of this re-
covery,” Runberg said. “The
term ‘job loss’ is not something
we should be talking about in
the month of May.”
Runberg said the federal
data has gaps that would have
boosted the county’s monthly
estimate to show more new jobs
in the county.
See Employment / A12
Restaurants | Eastern Oregon
Entrepreneurs ride
wave of optimism
Washington ranch
sold in bankruptcy
Farmland Reserve Inc.,
the real estate company
of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints,
submitted the high bid of
$209 million for the East-
erday ranch properties in
Eastern Washington, top-
ping a company linked to
Bill Gates.
The winning bid,
which must be approved
by a judge, was reported
Monday to the U.S. Bank-
ruptcy Court for Eastern
Washington.
Gates’ company, Dela-
ware-based 100C LLC, bid
$208 million, according to
court records.
Farmland Reserve
plans to acquire Easter-
day properties in Benton
County, Washington.
Cody Easterday, his
wife and mother declared
bankruptcy in February
as he faced charges of
defrauding Tyson Foods
and another company of
$244 million by billing the
companies for nonexis-
tent cattle.
Easterday, 49, pleaded
guilty March 31 to one
count of wire fraud. He
faces up to 20 years in
prison. He is scheduled
to be sentenced Aug. 4 in
the U.S. District Court for
Eastern Washington.
Elizabeth Stuart-Ramirez pours a drink Thursday at the newly opened Daily Fix Nutrition in Hermiston. Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
BY JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
H
ERMISTON — The past year has been
tough on restaurants, but the indus-
try is showing signs of life in Umatilla
County as entrepreneurs take the plunge with
new ventures.
A two-story red brick building on Herm-
iston’s Main Street has been silent since the
Union Club, a coffee-by-day, bar-by-night es-
tablishment, closed partway through 2020.
Owners cited the combination of one owner’s
cancer diagnosis and the COVID-19 shut-
downs as insurmountable.
Now, the building is full of activity once
again ahead of its reopening as a new location
for Pendleton-based OMG! Burgers & Brew.
Rodney Burt, who owns the restaurant with
his wife, Kimberly Burt, said the new location
will look the same as the one in Pendleton, fea-
turing a menu of appetizers, salads, hot dogs,
chicken sandwiches, alcoholic beverages and
“about 20 different types of crazy hamburgers.”
“We’re excited,” he said. “We love the busi-
ness, love the people, love giving back to the
community.”
See Entrepreneurs / A12
U.S. existing home
sales fall again
Sales of previously-oc-
cupied homes fell for the
fourth straight month
in May as soaring prices
and a limited number of
available properties dis-
couraged many would-be
buyers.
Existing home sales
dropped 0.9% last month
from April to a seasonal-
ly-adjusted annual rate
of 5.8 million units, the
National Association of
Realtors said Tuesday. The
string of sales declines
comes after sharp gains
last fall and through the
winter, as many Amer-
icans sought more liv-
ing space during the
pandemic. Sales are up
nearly 45% from last May,
when purchases fell to
their lowest point of the
COVID-19 outbreak.
The drop in sales sug-
gests that the hot hous-
ing market is cooling
a bit. That lowered the
number of homes avail-
able and caused prices
to spike.
— Bulletin wire reports
Some used vehicles now cost
more than original sticker price
High demand and low
supply have driven up
used vehicle prices
Committee guts
prescription-drug
pricing plan
BY HILLARY BORRUD
The Oregonian
BY TOM KRISHER
Associated Press
DETROIT — When it was new,
the window sticker price on a typi-
cal 2019 Toyota Tacoma SR double
cab pickup was just under $29,000.
Two years later, dealers are paying
almost $1,000 more than that to
buy the same vehicle, even though
it’s used.
Then they’re selling it to consum-
ers for more than $33,000.
Welcome to the wacky world of
U.S. car and truck sales, where the
pandemic and a global shortage of
computer chips have pushed prices
to record levels.
In the past year, used vehicle
prices on average have climbed
30%, according to Black Book,
OREGON
David Zalubowski/AP file
A line of used Challengers at a Dodge dealership in Littleton, Colorado, in early
2021. High demand and low supply have driven up used vehicle prices so much
that many now sell for more than their original sticker prices when they were new.
which tracks car and truck data.
That’s created many crazy situations
where high-demand vehicles are
selling for more than they did when
they were new, said Alex Yurch-
enko, the company’s senior vice
president of data science.
See Cars / A12
Oregonians who were hoping the Legisla-
ture might do something to help with their
prescription drug costs this session will have
to wait at least another two years, with one
significant exception.
Legislators did pass a bipartisan law in
May to limit patients’ copays for insulin to
$900 a year.
For other prescription drugs, lawmakers
initially proposed to create a new board with
the power to set upper limits on how much
Oregon buyers would be allowed to pay for
particularly high-priced drugs. The pay-
ment limits would have applied throughout
the health care system, from wholesalers
and pharmacies to physicians, hospitals,
nursing homes and, ultimately, patients.
The aggressive plan would have put Ore-
gon out front in the nation in tackling pre-
scription drug costs at a time multiple states
are considering similar approaches, The Or-
egonian reported earlier this year.
See Prescriptions / A12