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Audit: Oregon broadband office not prepared for federal infrastructure grants
Oregon’s broadband office doesn’t have the staff or plans it needs to take advantage of up to $1 billion in federal money to expand internet access, according to an audit released Wednesday. The report from the Audits Division of the Secretary of State’s Office found that the state has work to do to effectively allocate […]
Oregon state Rep. David Brock Smith appointed to Senate seat
County commissioners in southern Oregon have tapped state Rep. David Brock Smith, R-Port Orford, to represent the area in the state Senate for the next two years. Brock Smith will finish the term of Dallas Heard, a senator and former head of the Oregon Republican Party who resigned Jan. 1. Heard said he needed to […]
Oregon Gov. Kotek declares homelessness state of emergency, signs housing executive orders
Gov. Tina Kotek on Tuesday declared that much of Oregon is in a state of emergency because of homelessness and created a new state council with the aim of building thousands more homes a year. Kotek signed three executive orders in a temporary ceremonial office in Salem on Tuesday afternoon, just 24 hours after she […]
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek takes office with a promise to ‘make things better’
As she took office as governor Monday, Tina Kotek promised to wake up every day with a mission: to take on Oregon’s biggest challenges and make things better.
A new leadership era starts in the Legislature
Monday marked the start of a new era in the Oregon statehouse, as lawmakers elected a new Senate president and witnessed the inauguration of Gov. Tina Kotek. In about five hours, lawmakers set the framework for the 2023 session with new leaders for both chambers to set the course for Oregon for years to come. […]
Live Feed: Oregon Gov.-elect Tina Kotek, state legislators will be sworn in
House lawmakers will be on the floor at 9 a.m. and the Senate at 9:30 a.m. to swear in new members, adopt rules and elect their leaders. House Speaker Dan Rayfield, D-Corvallis, is expected to win re-election to the House’s top job, while Democrats in the Senate majority tapped Sen. Rob Wagner, D-Portland, as their […]
Speaker stalemate leaves Oregon’s new congresswomen in limbo
During the stalemate over the U.S. House’s speaker selection, the 435 members of Congress, including Oregon’s three newly elected congresswomen, have been in a state of limbo. Oregon’s new U.S. representatives, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Val Hoyle and Andrea Salinas, had yet to be sworn in by Friday evening, along with other new members of the chamber. […]
Oregon Treasurer will begin sending checks to people with unclaimed funds
Keep an eye on your mailbox, Oregon – the state Treasury is planning to send checks of up to $10,000 to people with unclaimed paychecks, security deposits, tax refunds or other unclaimed property. Treasurer Tobias Read announced this week that the agency will proactively return approximately $10 million in unclaimed funds to current and former […]
Oregon teen’s activism could lead to lower voting age
A 15-year-old’s political activism could result in Oregon legislators considering lowering the state voting age to 16. Devon Lawson-McCourt, a sophomore at McKenzie River Community School in Blue River, has volunteered for political campaigns since fifth grade but is still several years away from being allowed to vote. Lawson-McCourt recently secured a promise from Rep. […]
Lawsuit lingers as Salinas prepares to be sworn into Congress
As Andrea Salinas prepares to take office as one of Oregon’s first two Latina congresswomen, a lawsuit filed by the Republican she defeated in November is still working its way through Oregon courts.
Rob Wagner prepares to take reins as first new Oregon Senate president in decades
Rob Wagner first walked into the Oregon Capitol in 1997 as an intern for a first-term Democratic state senator from Portland. In January, as his first political boss, Gov. Kate Brown, leaves office, Wagner is set to take on a new role as Senate president. It’s been a winding road to the Senate’s top job […]
Housing will be Oregon Legislature’s top focus in 2023, Democratic leader says
Housing will remain a top focus when the Oregon Legislature returns to work in January, a top Democratic lawmaker tells the Capital Chronicle. Rep. Julie Fahey, D-Eugene and the House majority leader, recently met with White House officials and more than dozen lawmakers from other states to discuss a housing crisis that exists across the […]