Important Victory for Economic Liberty in Oregon

Damon W. Root | June 26, 2009

The Cato Institute's Ilya Shapiro notes some very good news from Oregon:

[Y]esterday Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski signed HB 2817-a bill that eliminates the cartelization of the moving business in the Beaver state.

The old law required the Oregon Department of Transportation to notify existing moving companies of businesses that wanted to enter into their market. What's more, those companies were given a veto over the would-be market entrants thereby locking out all competition to maintain artificially high prices—all with the government's help.

The owner of a new moving company, Adam Sweet, enlisted the help of Pacific Legal Foundation lawyer and Cato adjunct scholar Tim Sandefur to litigate against the old law. That lawsuit, once it cleared challenges for dismissal, prompted several pieces of legislation that culminated into the bill that the governor signed yesterday.