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Oregon Attorney General investigating Fox News for possible lawsuit
Oregon’s attorney general is investigating the parent company of Fox News with the intent of suing over possible losses to state employee retirement funds because the channel broadcast false claims about the 2020 election. The investigation, which Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced Monday, is tied to an April settlement of nearly $800 million in a […]
Unofficial GOP-run oversight committee packed by Oregonians telling Republicans to end walkout
A handful of Senate Republicans, in the fifth week of their walkout and facing the looming threat of hundreds of dollars in fines, found their way back to a cramped hearing room in the state Capitol on Thursday evening. They joined a few House Republicans for a meeting of an unofficial legislative committee, intent on […]
Supporters of Oregon ‘right to rest’ bill vow to keep fighting
Supporters of a scuttled bill to allow homeless people to camp in any public spaces vowed to keep trying during a small rally outside the Oregon Capitol on Thursday. Rep. Farrah Chaichi, D-Beaverton, and her legislative assistant were among 14 people who showed up to the protest over House Bill 3501, a measure to decriminalize […]
Kotek quits negotiations as Oregon Senate GOP walkout hits fourth week
Updated at 2:55 p.m. with comments from Senate President Rob Wagner and Minority Leader Tim Knopp Gov. Tina Kotek is done negotiating with Senate Republicans as their quorum-denying walkout stalls the chamber for a fourth week, she told the Capital Chronicle on Wednesday. Kotek has spent the past week meeting with legislative Republicans and Democrats, […]
Shelters for Klamath tribal elders, homeless rural residents funded by Oregon’s Project Turnkey
A shelter for tribal elders in southern Oregon, a safe resting space for domestic violence survivors on the southwest coast and Malheur County’s first year-round shelter are among the latest projects funded under a state program that pays to turn vacant buildings into homeless shelters. Oregon has spent nearly $125 million since 2020 to turn […]
Efforts for ranked-choice voting, STAR voting gaining progress in Oregon
Efforts to change Oregon’s voting system are on the move in the state Legislature and among citizen groups trying to write laws at the ballot box. The House last week voted mostly along party lines to approve House Bill 2004, Speaker Dan Rayfield’s proposal to establish ranked-choice voting in statewide elections beginning in 2028. The […]
Republicans file campaign finance complaints against PAC targeting GOP senators for walking out
At least two Republican political consultants have filed campaign finance complaints against a liberal political action committee running radio ads asking Oregonians to tell their Republican senators to return to work. A political action committee formed last fall by the president of the public employee union that represents state employees, paid nearly $17,000 for radio […]
State employee union warns of staffing ‘crisis’ as contract nears end
Low wages compared to local governments and mandatory overtime caused by staffing shortages are pushing more state employees out of their jobs and making it harder to hire new ones, according to a report released Wednesday by the union that represents state workers. Service Employees International Union 503 represents more than 22,000 state employees – […]
Russia bans Oregon Gov. Kotek, Attorney General Rosenblum, U.S. Rep. Hoyle
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle are among 500 Americans newly banned from traveling to Russia. Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released its list late last week, saying it came in response to “anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the Joe Biden administration.” The ministry didn’t explain why it named […]
Democratic lawmakers agree on historic school funding but bill stalled by Senate Republican walkout
Democratic leaders in the Legislature have agreed to spend a record amount on schools over the next two years after last week’s economic forecast showed lawmakers will have more money to spend. House Speaker Dan Rayfield, D-Corvallis and Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, announced late Monday a $10.2 billion investment in the State School […]
Attorney General Rosenblum recuses herself from investigation into Oregon Democratic Party’s cryptocurrency donor
Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, a Democrat, has recused herself from a criminal investigation into the cryptocurrency executive who gave the Democratic Party of Oregon $500,000 under a false name. Rosenblum’s communications director, Roy Kaufmann, told the Capital Chronicle in an email that Deputy Attorney General Lisa Udland will oversee the department’s investigation into Nishad Singh, […]
Oregon food workers union targets Rep. Paul Holvey for recall
This article was updated at 9:45 a.m. May 23 with comments from Rep. Paul Holvey. Oregon’s largest private sector union is targeting one of the Legislature’s top-ranking Democrats for recall. United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 has long had a close relationship with Democratic politicians, spending tens of thousands on recent legislative campaigns and […]