Legislators are pushing what bills remain as they head into the last week of the 2022 regular session. (Ron Cooper/Oregon Capital Chronicle) SALEM – The five-week session of the Oregon Legislature kicked off with lawmakers filing more than 200 bills. Those have been whittled down by House and Senate committees.[Read More…]

Farmworkers in Malheur County would for the first time be legally entitled to overtime pay under legislation advancing at the Legislature. (The Enterprise/FILE) SALEM – Tens of thousands of farmworkers in Oregon have moved one step closer to getting overtime pay. A legislative committee voted along party lines late Thursday[Read More…]

State Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend, leader of the Senate Republicans, speaks during a recent session. (Ron Cooper/Oregon Capital Chronicle) With two weeks left in the legislative session in Oregon, lawmakers are finalizing their plans for spending hundreds of millions of dollars in unexpected revenue. The Democratic leadership has identified seven[Read More…]

A change in Oregon law to require overtime pay for farmworkers passed out of a legislative committee on Tuesday, Feb. 14. (The Enterprise/file) A controversial plan to require overtime pay that would affect the 86,000 farmworkers in Oregon advanced on Tuesday along partisan lines. All seven Democrats on the House[Read More…]

Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario is hiring. (The Enterprise/File) In the town of Umatilla, Two Rivers Correctional Institution needs to hire a food service coordinator. Pay: up to $61,000 a year. In Ontario, Snake River Correctional Institution is recruiting for a nurse practitioner for the state’s largest prison. Pay:[Read More…]

The Oregon Capitol rotunda in January 2022 (Ron Cooper/Oregon Capital Chronicle) Higher wages for workers and more income for businesses is driving up state tax collections, creating the prospect for even more state government spending and then credits in two years for those paying income taxes, state economists announced Wednesday.[Read More…]

The Oregon Farm Bureau and other agricultural interests are fighting a legislative proposal to require overtime pay for farm workers. (The Enterprise/Rachel Parsons) A fight is brewing in the Oregon Legislature over a proposal to give farmworkers overtime pay after 40 hours a week. Democratic supporters say the change is[Read More…]

Anti-tax activist Bill Sizemore entered the race for Oregon governor on Monday, marking his third attempt at Oregon’s top job. Sizemore, 70, was the Republican Party nominee for governor in 1998 and announced a campaign in 2009 before he was indicted on tax evasion charges. He told the Oregon Capital[Read More…]

A luxury sales tax being proposed by Rep. Brad Witt, D-Clatskanie, could fund a new program offering monthly stipends for low-income pregnant women and youth leaving the foster care system. House Bill 4079 would create a 3% sales tax on snowmobiles, handbags, jewelry and firearms, among other items, over a[Read More…]

Gov. Kate Brown delivers her State of the State address from her office on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022. Gov. Kate Brown’s final State of the State address on Thursday served largely as a victory lap, while she challenged legislators to approve her plans to spend $700 million on job training,[Read More…]