Significant Share of Small Business Owners in Oregon and Portland Are Immigrants

This release comes from the Oregon Center for Public Policy. The Oregon Center for Public Policy (OCPP) does in-depth research and analysis on budget, tax, and economic issues. Our goal is to improve decision making and generate more opportunities for all Oregonians. Visit http://www.ocpp.org/ for more information

June 14, 2012

Significant Share of Small Business Owners in Oregon and Portland Are ImmigrantsAbout one out of every 11 small business owners in Oregon in 2010 was born outside the U.S., according to a national report released today by the Fiscal Policy Institute, a public policy research organization based in New York.
The entrepreneurial rate was even higher in the Portland metro area, where about one of every eight small business owners was an immigrant.
"Immigrants own a significant share of small businesses, an important engine of economic growth," said Chuck Sheketoff, executive director of the Oregon Center for Public Policy, who examined the report. "The report shows that our state and nation benefit greatly from the entrepreneurial activity that immigrants bring."
The study estimated that in the entire U.S., immigrant-owned small businesses -- those with fewer than 100 workers -- employed 4.7 million people and generated $776 billion in receipts in 2007, the most recent year for which data are available.

In metro areas and nationwide, on average immigrants were 10 percent more likely than U.S.-born workers to own a small business in 2010. On average the ratio of immigrant small business owners to U.S.-born small business owners is 1.1 to 1.
In both Oregon and the Portland metro area, however, foreign-born workers were less likely than U.S. born-workers to be small business owners. The ratio was 0.7 to 1 for Oregon and 0.8 to 1 for the Portland metro area.
Still, among those who owned a small business in Oregon in 2010, 9.2 percent of them -- about one out of eleven -- had been born abroad. For the Portland metro area, that share was 13 percent, or one out of eight.

In all, about 6,800 small business owners in Oregon in 2010 were immigrants, according to the study.
Immigrants with undocumented status, however, face particular obstacles to starting a business, to the detriment of the state and nation, according to Francisco Lopez, executive director of CAUSA, Oregon's immigrant rights coalition.

"Starting a business often requires access to capital, credit, insurance and other elements that are difficult to obtain for undocumented immigrants," Lopez said. "One of the many benefits of creating a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants would be the removal of obstacles that those with entrepreneurial aspirations face."

Besides estimating the number of immigrant-owned small businesses and share of small business owners who are foreign-born, the Fiscal Policy Institute's report also provided a detailed profile of immigrant business owners at the national level. It examined, for example, the types of businesses immigrants own, the top countries of birth for immigrant business owners and the education level of immigrant business owners.

The Oregon Center for Public Policy is a non-partisan research institute that does in-depth research and analysis on budget, tax and economic issues. The Center's goal is to improve decision making and generate more opportunities for all Oregonians.

Read the full report here: http://www.ocpp.org/media/uploads/documents/2012/immigrant-small-business-owners-FPI-20120614.pdf

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Undocumented Workers Are Taxpayers, Too

Today, Oregon Center for Public Policy released a report, Undocumented Workers are Taxpayers, Too (PDF). OCPP does in-depth research and analysis on budget, tax, and economic issues. Their goal is to improve decision making and generate more opportunities for all Oregonians.

Undocumented Workers Are Taxpayers, Too

It's essential that Oregonians recognize the important contribution undocumented workers make to our state's economy. Undocumented immigrants perform vital work in certain industries. Together they earn roughly $2.3 billion to $4.5 billion a year, much of it undoubtedly spent on goods and services purchased from Oregon businesses. And beside labor and purchasing power, undocumented immigrants contribute to Oregon's economy in the form of taxes.

This issue brief updates OCPP's estimates of tax contributions by undocumented Oregon workers. Specifically, OCPP estimates (1) how much undocumented workers pay in state and local income, property and excise taxes; and (2) how much they pay in federal Social Security and Medicare taxes. In addition, we estimate the taxes paid by employers in the name of undocumented workers. These include the employer's share of Social Security and Medicare taxes and the amount employers pay in state Unemployment Insurance taxes in the name of undocumented workers.

Dowload a copy of this issue brief:
Undocumented Workers are Taxpayers, Too (PDF)

Estimated annual tax contributions of undocumented workers in Oregon
Estimated number of undocumented immigrants in Oregon	110,000 – 220,000
Estimated total annual income of undocumented workers	$2.3 billion to $4.5 billion
Total of estimated taxes paid by undocumented workers:	$154 million to $309 million
State and local income, excise and property taxes	$68 million to $136 million
Social Security taxes	$70 million to $140 million
Medicare taxes	$16 million to $33 million
Total of estimated taxes paid by Oregon employers in the name of undocumented workers:	$121 million to $243 million
State Unemployment Insurance taxes	$35 million to $70 million
Social Security taxes	$70 million to $140 million
Medicare taxes	$16 million to $33 million

continue reading>> http://www.ocpp.org/2012/01/25/iss20120120undocumented-workers-are-taxpayers-too/
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Related materials:
Read the 2007 version of Undocumented Workers are Taxpayers, Too, also available in Spanish (PDF)

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Study finds immigration and economic growth go “hand in hand”

Today, the Oregon Center for Public Policy (OCPP) reported on a new study from the New York based, Fiscal Policy Institute. The findings: Immigration and economic growth go hand in hand.

For their report, Immigrants and the Economy: Contribution of Immigrant Workers to the Country's 25 Largest Metropolitan Areas, the Fiscal Policy Institute examined the economic impact of all foreign-born workers, including undocumented immigrants, in the nation’s 25 largest metropolitan areas.

OCPP said in a press release today that the Fiscal Policy Institute shared additional data about the Portland Metropolitan Area, not included in their report.

According to the data, immigrants in the Portland MetroArea constitute about 12 percent of the population and generate about 12 percent of the economic output. This one to one ratio is said to be consistent throughout the 25 metropolitan areas studied.

The results of the study provides further evidence of why passage of Comprehensive Immigration Reform is so critical for the economic recovery of the United States. In an interview with OCPP, Francisco Lopez, Executive Director of CAUSA, adds that, “A path to citizenship for undocumented workers would allow them to contribute even more to Portland and Oregon’s economy,” Lopez said. “It would make undocumented immigrants less vulnerable to exploitation, lifting the bar for all workers, and provide the security needed to start a business. Everyone would win.”

To read the press release from the Oregon Center for Public Policy, please link here. There you can find links to the full report from the Fiscal Policy Institute.

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Poll Shows Majority of Oregonians support Tax Increase

Looks like bad news for the opponents of Tax Measures passed by the Oregon State Legislature this year.

According to the Oregon Center for Public Policy (OCPP), "By more than a two-to-one margin Oregonians favor the legislature's recently enacted tax increases on corporations and the wealthy"

OCPP says that a poll showed that "if the election were held today, 62 percent of likely voters would vote "yes" to uphold the legislature's actions, compared to 26 percent voting "no," with 11 percent being unsure how they would vote."

For more details, read OCPP's news release New Poll Shows Most Oregonians Back Legislature’s Tax Measures. The poll results can be found by linking here, or visiting Oregon Center for Public Policy's website at www.ocpp.org.

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Child Tax Credit Fix Would Help 155,000 Oregon Children

Yesterday, The Oregon Center for Public Policy delivered a letter to Senator Gordon Smith and Senator Ron Wyden urging them to support improvements to the federal Child Tax Credit. CAUSA joined with 12 other organizations signing on to the letter. A copy of it can be found by linking here.

Child Tax Credit Fix Would Help 155,000 Oregon Children

Contacts:
Charles Sheketoff, Executive Director (503) 873-1201
Janet Bauer, Policy Analyst (503) 873-1201
Juan Carlos Ordóñez, Communications Director (503) 873-1201

Improvements to the federal Child Tax Credit would help the families of about 155,000Oregon children, according to advocates who today called on U.S. Senators Gordon Smith and Ron Wyden to back the proposed changes.

The Child Tax Credit — which provides up to $1,000 to qualifying households — is leaving behind low-income families whose wages fail to keep pace with inflation, because the credit’s income eligibility threshold is tied to the rate of inflation, according to Janet Bauer, policy analyst with the Oregon Center for Public Policy.

“Precisely those families who need the Child Tax Credit the most are becoming ineligible or receiving shrinking tax benefits under current law,” said Bauer, citing the impact of stagnant wages and rising inflation. “Oregon children are looking to Senators Wyden and Smith to help fix the problem.”

To expand Child Tax Credit eligibility for low-income families, the U.S. House of Representatives recently adopted legislation that would lower the income threshold from the current level of $12,050 to $8,500.

The House bill would help the families of approximately 35,000 Oregon children who would otherwise be ineligible for the tax credit and would provide an increased tax benefit to the families of an additional 120,000 children in Oregon, said Bauer.

Today, a coalition of 13 organizations in Oregon that advocate on behalf of low-income workers and children sent a letter to Senators Gordon Smith and Ron Wyden seeking their support of legislation in the Senate that helps as many families as the House-approved bill.

The letter notes that both Oregon senators voted recently for legislation that would have improved eligibility for the Child Tax Credit as part of broader tax legislation.

That legislation, however, failed to clear a filibuster by Republican senators, according to Bauer.

“Our senators have shown their commitment to improving the Child Tax Credit for hard-working families,” Bauer said. “We now need them to lead the Senate in adopting legislation as strong as the House version.”

The debate over the Child Tax Credit comes at a time when the Senate faces two other important pieces of tax legislation: an adjustment to the Alternative Minimum Tax to shield middle- and upper-middle-income earners from paying higher taxes and an extension of tax credits for business research and development.

“As the Senate considers help for middle- and upper-middle-income Americans and businesses,” said Bauer, “it should make sure not to leave behind struggling families with children.”

The organizations signing the letter to Senators Smith and Wyden are: CAUSA, Children First for Oregon, Community Action Partnership of Oregon, Disability Rights Oregon, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, Oregon Center for Christian Values, Oregon Center for Public Policy, Oregon Developmental Disabilities Coalition, Oregon Hunger Relief Task Force, Oregon Opportunity Network, Oregon Rural Health Coalition, Partnership to End Poverty and Rural Organizing Project.

The Oregon Center for Public Policy is a non-partisan research institute that does in-depth research and analysis on budget, tax and economic issues. The Center’s goal is to improve decision making and generate more opportunities for all Oregonians.

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