Author
Brown, Democrats outline big spending plans as GOP calls for limited action in short session
Oregonians would be better trained for jobs, have help buying a home and have wider access to child care under legislative priorities outlined Tuesday by Gov. Kate Brown and top leaders in the Oregon Legislature. Brown’s priorities, which would add up to hundreds of millions of dollars in spending, are likely to garner Democratic support […]
Two House Democrats urge Oregon Supreme Court to keep Kristof out of governor’s race
Two Democratic state representatives Monday urged the Oregon Supreme Court to reject Nick Kristof’s assertion that he’s qualified to run for governor. Reps. Andrea Valderrama, D-Portland, and Wlnsvey Campos, D-Aloha, joined four other women of color in arguing that Kristof’s presence on the ballot would reverse progress the state has made toward racial and gender […]
Rep. Christine Drazan will resign from Oregon House to run for governor
Canby Republican Christine Drazan announced Friday that she will resign from the state House, becoming the latest candidate for governor to leave the Legislature to campaign. Drazan’s last day will be Monday, Jan. 31, the day before the Legislature begins its 35-day February session. Resigning frees her to campaign and raise money, as House rules […]
State attorneys urge Oregon Supreme Court to keep Kristof off ballot
Nick Kristof’s actions over the past two decades establish that he was a resident of New York until December 2020 and isn’t qualified to run for governor in Oregon this year, according to a legal filing to the Oregon Supreme Court on Thursday by Secretary of State Shemia Fagan. Fagan said Kristof hadn’t made the […]
Oregon Capitol beefs up security, expects to spend $500K on security guards
The Oregon Legislature is stepping up security at the Capitol, to the tune of more than half a million dollars per year. Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, and House Speaker Tina Kotek, a Portland Democrat set to resign on Friday, announced last week that everyone entering the Capitol must pass through a metal detector and […]
Brown appoints appeals court Judge Roger DeHoog to Oregon Supreme Court
Gov. Kate Brown on Wednesday picked appeals court Judge Roger DeHoog as her sixth appointment to the Oregon Supreme Court, and the only one from outside the Willamette Valley. DeHoog will replace Brown appointee Lynn Nakamoto, who retired at the end of 2021. He joins fellow Brown appointees Rebecca Duncan, Meagan Flynn, Chris Garrett and […]
Kristof defends residency to Oregon Supreme Court
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nick Kristof asserted Friday he paid Oregon income taxes as a full-year resident beginning in 2020, answering a question raised about whether he is qualified to run. He made the disclosure in a lengthy court filing urging the Oregon Supreme Court to restore him to the ballot. The 54-page legal brief filed […]
Northwest Oregon gets two new state senators
A former legislative aide and a current state representative will join the Oregon Senate ahead of the February legislative session. In two separate meetings Friday, county commissioners picked Rachel Armitage, a Democrat from Warren, and state Rep. Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro, to fill the vacancies left by the resignations of Sens. Betsy Johnson and Chuck Riley […]
Audit: Oregon State Police should change how it determines staffing needs
Oregon State Police should use workload, not the state’s population, to decide how many troopers it needs, state auditors said in a report released Friday. The 33-page report from the Secretary of State’s Audits Division notes that OSP staffing declined for decades beginning in 1980, when a voter-approved tax measure shifted the department’s funding source […]
DeFazio endorses Hoyle, new candidate files in Oregon’s 4th Congressional District
Retiring U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio declared Oregon Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle his preferred successor on Thursday, as other candidates entered or bowed out of races for Oregon’s open congressional seats. Hoyle, a Democrat, represented the Eugene area in the state House for eight years before she was elected labor commissioner in 2018. She announced her […]
Oregon housing agency director appointed HUD regional administrator
The head of the Oregon agency managing the state’s troubled rent relief program will take a new job with the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department, President Joe Biden announced Thursday. Biden appointed Margaret Salazar, executive director of the Oregon Housing and Community Services Department, as the federal department’s regional administrator for Oregon, Alaska, Idaho […]
Brown pitches $200 million workforce spending plan to Legislature
Gov. Kate Brown started pitching her $200 million workforce package to legislators this week, sending staff to committee meetings to sell the idea of using higher-than-expected revenue for grants and subsidies to get more people working. Her team faced skepticism about the need and who would benefit. Lawmakers will get an updated look at state […]