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- Portland delayed its vote on a boycott of Texas products until next Wednesday.
- A boycott would stop municipal purchases from Texas until a new abortion law was struck down.
- Portland needs more time to study the impact of a boycott, an official said.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
The Portland City Council postponed its vote on a boycott of goods and services from Texas, saying the city needed an extra week to study the potential impact.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler on Friday announced that the city would vote on the boycott in response to a restrictive abortion law in Texas. A boycott would stop municipal purchases from Texas until the abortion law was struck down.
The vote was scheduled for Wednesday, but the city has postponed it by a week, Heather Hafer, spokesperson for Portland's Office of Management and Finance, said in an email on Tuesday.
Between June 2020 and June 2021, Portland spent more than $34 million on goods and services that originated in the Lone Star State, the city said on Tuesday.
The potential boycott would also stop city employees from travelling to Texas on official business. In the last two years, there were 19 trips by city officials to Texas, Hafer said. The pandemic stopped this travel between March 2020 and June 2021, she said.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said on Sunday on Twitter that Portland was a "dumpster fire" compared to his "thriving" state.
On Monday, he added that the proposed boycott was "a complete joke."
"A city led by depraved officials allows lawlessness, putting their citizens in grave danger. A boycott will hurt them, not us. Texas' economy is stronger than ever. We value babies and police, they don't," he said.
Portland said last week that its legal counsel was studying the proposal.
