Skip to main content
STEINER SUGGESTS PARING PRIVATE EQUITY: Oregon State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner urged lawmakers this week to pass a bill requiring the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund to sell off shares in oil companies and other emitters of climate-changing gases. That includes holdings in private equity funds, the opaque pools of money managed by companies like KKR & Co. and Warburg Pincus LLC that raise capital from wealthy people and pension funds to buy companies whole and try to juice their performance. Steiner also committed to cutting back on OPERF’s private equity holdings, which have exceeded its own targets. She says the funds “lack transparency” and “preclude” the treasury from determining where its private equity money gets invested. As of November, OPERF had a whopping $26.6 billion invested in private equity, or 27.7% of its portfolio, well above its target of 20%. That compares with $15.6 billion in public equities, or 16.3%, for which OPERF’s target is 27.5%. Being overweight in private equity has hurt the fund’s performance. Public equities, which include shares in companies like Nvidia Corp. and Boeing Co. returned 20.6% from January through November of last year, OPERF filings show, compared with 5.2% for its private funds. Private equity often outperforms the mutual funds that little people can buy, making them attractive to pension managers. Similarly, the exclusive TSA PreCheck line at the airport is usually faster than the regular one. But sometimes it’s not.
NUKES ON THE BALLOT? A new ballot initiative filed Jan. 27 would repeal previously approved obstacles to the development of commercial nuclear power plants in Oregon. Initiative Petition 18, filed by chief petitioner Ian Loney of Neskowin, would appear on the ballot in 2028 and strike down two current requirements: that there be a federally licensed, permanent disposal facility for radioactive waste before any new plant can open, and that the development of any nuclear plant be approved by a statewide vote. Loney says existing federal safety regulations are sufficient. The filing coincides with renewed national interest in nuclear power and Oregon’s push to reduce carbon emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. The state’s current strategy includes the development of wind and solar generation, both of which are intermittent resources. Some advocates believe nuclear plants, which operate continuously, could be complementary. Loney makes that point in the language he submitted as part of his initiative. He’ll have to overcome historically strong opposition to nukes here. Oregon’s only commercial nuclear facility, Portland General Electric’s Trojan plant, operated in Columbia County from 1976 to 1993 under unrelenting scrutiny. Loney must now gather 1,000 sponsorship signatures before he can begin to gather signatures to qualify for the ballot.
TRUMP ORDERS COULD HIT PORTLAND’S BOTTOM LINE: In a Jan. 28 email to city leaders, the city of Portland’s Office of Government Relations warned that Trump’s recent slew of executive orders, including an aggressive crackdown on undocumented immigrants and a ceasing of federal grant funding, could have broad impacts on the city. But what those impacts will be, exactly, is still “very unclear,” wrote Jack Arriaga, the city’s federal relations manager. The City Attorney’s Office, Arriaga wrote, is working to figure out how the executive orders will affect the city’s federal funding streams. It’s also working to evaluate what the potential consequences are for cities and city officials that don’t cooperate with Trump’s immigration enforcement commands. “The implications for the city of these executive orders are still very unclear,” Arriaga warned, “and any potential legal or political strategies to respond will take time to fully develop.”
LAWSUIT ALLEGES BAD TRIP TO EUGENE: In what may be the first consumer protection lawsuit filed against a psychedelic mushroom retreat company, a woman has sued Eugene’s Mandala Journey Work LLC for promising a peaceful four-day experience at a “tranquil” home with strolls in the forest, but instead delivering a cramped Airbnb with short walks in a city park. Lynne Silva sued Mandala for unlawful trade practices in U.S. District Court in Eugene this week, claiming she paid $3,000 for a retreat that didn’t meet expectations set by its sales pitch.“Defendant advertised that its retreat would include outdoor activities in the forests surrounding Eugene and accommodations in a spacious, supportive, and tranquil home featuring three separate living areas for breakout sessions and quiet self-reflection and an enclosed backyard for privacy,” Silva says in her complaint. Instead, Silva says she found herself in an Airbnb so small that one other retreat participant had to sleep in a common room, making it off-limits after bedtime. Worse yet, Mandala failed to reserve the Airbnb for the third night, she alleges, so participants had to rush through a “morning sound ceremony” in order to check out on time and move to another location. Instead of forest strolls, participants found themselves wandering a city park, Silva says. Michael Fuller, Silva’s attorney, says her case is likely the first of its kind in the country. Oregon was the first state to legalize psilocybin, followed by Colorado. Mandala Journey Work owner Katie Markley didn’t return emails or a phone message seeking comment.