Commentary
Hard to read summaries, supposedly behind Senate walkout, could easily be fixed
Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend, and leader of the Oregon Senate Republicans who in effect have staged another quorum-denying walkout, has acknowledged the obvious: The walkout was about the content of a group of bills, about policy choices, not a technical issue of whether their summaries met legal requirements. Before moving on from what clearly was […]
Time to remember the sacrifices of our military service members
For a lot of Americans, Oregonians included, Memorial Day means time off from work and the effective start of summer season, featuring enjoyable activities in communities large and small from the Rose Festival City Fair to the Prineville Memorial Day Parade. Most of us in recent years have become separated from the reason for, and […]
Rep. Kevin Mannix’s positions do not represent crime victims of color
As Black advocates who live and work in the Salem-Keizer area, we fight for racial justice in our local and state public safety and criminal justice systems. As a sexual assault survivor and a family member of a crime victim, we are also activists for policies to help crime victims heal. For us, there is […]
Oregon Legislature considers health care plan for low-income residents
Today, more than 96% of Oregonians have health insurance coverage, thanks to the innovations of state government and community-based leaders. However, this upward trajectory is threatened by a change to Medicaid that could eliminate coverage for 300,000 Oregonians in the short term and more in the long term. Over the next 14 months, the state […]
Takeover of Newberg School Board appears to thwart other conservative candidates in election
The political signage telling you everything you needed to know about the McMinnville School District election this season came in the form of multiple yard and field signs, clearly expensive and featuring soft pastel designs with attractive candidate portraits – all visibly from the same sources. And the signs were only the most obvious part […]
More book banning cases emerge in Oregon this year
If you read about school or public library book banning in some places – Idaho or Texas, for example – it might come as a jolt but not a surprise. This kind of thing doesn’t happen in Oregon, right? Except that it does, even in a state not usually identified as central to the conservative […]
Secession is not the solution for rural Oregon
From the Cascade Mountain range to the Wallowas, opposition to the status quo is spreading. Oregonians from 11 eastern counties have voted over the last three years to move toward secession from Oregon, and on May 16, voters in Wallowa County will have their turn. The counties that have voted to leave Oregon are largely […]
A majority of states have the right to compel lawmakers to turn up for work
Oregon voters sent a clear message when an overwhelming majority passed Measure 113 in 2022 to dissuade lawmakers from staging walkouts over divisive legislation: Regardless of party affiliation, legislators should go to work and do their jobs — just like the rest of us. And those who choose not to should face consequences — just […]
The AR-15 is ‘America’s Rifle.’ Ban it.
How many dead children does it take to finally move to restrict access to high-powered weapons of war? Lawmakers in Texas provided us with an answer this week, as a bipartisan panel of state lawmakers voted to advance a bill raising the minimum age to purchase assault weapons, the New York Times reported. “It was […]
What was Fagan thinking?
There’s something called the “any damn fool” rule in politics. It’s an unwritten rule because, well, any damn fool should know better, no matter what the law says or how the rules can be interpreted to justify one’s actions. Secretary of State Shemia Fagan learned this rule the hard way, when she took on a […]
‘Opportunity Zone’ tax breaks harm Oregonians, pamper wealthy investors
A staircase shaped like a waterfall. A lobby sculptured like a forest. These are some of the finishing touches on the soon-to-open Ritz-Carlton in downtown Portland, where $7 million only gets you a standard condo. The self-proclaimed “first ultra-luxury structure in the Pacific Northwest” pampers the rich in more ways than one, because the Ritz-Carlton […]
Judicial elections are low profile, but they can have a wide impact
Our courts tend to be afterthoughts in our politics and elections, barely considered compared to the higher-profile elected legislators. Many voters in Oregon pick up their ballots and voter guides at election time, marching through their votes for offices like president, governor, senator and representative, but pause when they hit judges and justices up for […]