Guest Contributor

by Angela Martin, Director of Economic Fairness Oregon

Last week marked a big victory for Oregon consumers. The Oregon Legislature’s passage of SB 1552 shows that big banks can be drowned out by big voices. Thanks to a massive effort by everyday Oregonians to contact their legislators and demand action on foreclosure reform, the financial lobbyists were silenced, and meaningful policy prevailed.

Whether you’re facing foreclosure, your house is underwater or you’re a renter considering the plunge into homeownership – this legislation will protect you once it’s enacted. The bill that passed takes elements of two different concepts we worked on this session and combines them into one.

The amended version of SB 1552 will end the destructive dual track system in which a homeowner negotiating a modification with a bank is simultaneously on the path to foreclosure. It also requires that lenders sit down with homeowners and a neutral third party to discuss foreclosure-avoidance options.

This is a guest post by our friends at Economic Fairness Oregon, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring a more secure economic future for all Oregonians.

While Oregon’s families are making sacrifices and elected officials across the state are struggling to balance budgets in the wake of the Wall Street meltdown, the country’s largest banks are costing Oregon millions each year. 

Economic Fairness Oregon, along with SEIU, have compiled the disastrous results of letting Wall Street run rampant in a new report, “Bad Math: Oregon’s Sour Banking Deals.” The report will be released in three parts, the first of which is available now at http://www.faireconomyoregon.org.  A different segment of the report will be highlighted each week for the next three weeks.

 What's the most harmful thing at this NE Portland dry-cleaner's business? Spoiler Alert: It's not dry cleaning chemicals.

BY MICKIE McCLURE, Owner of Tip Top Cleaners in Portland

I own a dry-cleaning shop in Northeast Portland. It’s a family run business, where I work alongside my husband and daughter. When we bought the place nearly a decade ago, it still used traditional dry cleaning methods that are harmful to our health and the environment. We knew that wasn’t how we wanted to make a living, so we replaced all of the old cleaning components and completely transitioned to a Green Earth system.

Just as the cleaning business has evolved, so has the way people pay for our services. Nearly all of my customers pay with a debit or credit card. Due to the excessive burden imposed by card processing fees, what my customers view as an everyday convenience is actually a major hit to our family’s business.