SALEM — Educators, students and advocates celebrated as Gov. Kate Brown signed a sweeping new law that could channel about $1 billion per year into Oregon public schools — money critics suggest could end up a casualty of spiraling retirement costs. Proponents say they built in safeguards to avoid just[Read More…]
Tag: OREGON LEGISLATURE
BEHIND THE SCENES: Tough choices, closed door deals result in Oregon Senate’s big vote
SALEM — Four Oregon senators leading the charge to inject new lifeblood into the state’s troubled education system said in their combined 88 years in the Legislature, the passage of the Student Success Act was the pinnacle of their career. But passing the bill took some backroom horse trading with[Read More…]
Done deal – Malheur County schools and others to get millions in new money
SALEM — A massive proposal to inject more money into Oregon’s struggling public school system is headed to the governor’s desk, where it is expected to be signed into law. The Oregon Senate approved House Bill 3427 on an 18-11 vote Monday, May 13, delivering Democrats a signature victory —[Read More…]
Public records rule change slipping ‘through the cracks’
SALEM — A legislative proposal to enforce Oregon’s public records law passed unanimously in the House in late April. But this week, the bill’s sponsor and supporters had to scramble to keep it alive before the Senate takes it up. House Bill 2353 would give district attorneys the power to[Read More…]
Wanted: Republican senators. Call Oregon Senate if found
Usually 30 senators fill the chamber floor, but on Tuesday only 18 did. The 12 Republicans were absent in protest. (Claire Withycombe/Oregon Capital Bureau) There aren’t many Republicans in the Oregon Senate, but on Tuesday, there weren’t any at all. The minority caucus was spread around the state, some in[Read More…]
Bentz, other Republicans braced to stall vote on Oregon tax increase
State Sen. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario ONTARIO – State Sen. Cliff Bentz was in Ontario Tuesday and his absence from the Capitol could stop the Oregon Senate from moving ahead with a controversial business tax. The Senate needs at least one Republican in the chamber for there to be a quorum[Read More…]
Contentious Oregon vaccine bill passes House, heads to Senate
More than 100 people gathered in the Capitol rotunda Monday morning before a House floor hearing to vote on a bill that would get rid of exemptions to vaccinations. The group, as it had in the past, sang patriotic songs. (Aubrey Wieber/Salem Reporter) Oregon would end nonmedical exemptions to vaccinations[Read More…]
Oregon House backs new business tax, school spending on partisan vote
Lawmakers talk with each other and fiddle with their phones and computers during the long hearing, stretching past 5 p.m. (Claire Withycombe/EO Media Group) The Student Success Act, a tax bill to pay for ambitious education reforms, passed the Oregon House Wednesday. Hours of debate and deliberation ended when the[Read More…]
Findley presses measure to open up marginal farm land in Malheur County for housing
SALEM — It’s getting harder to find a place to live in Oregon, and state lawmakers are making a bipartisan effort to address what some call a housing crisis. New housing construction isn’t keeping pace with population growth in Oregon, according to state economists. The Up for Growth National Coalition[Read More…]
Juvenile offenders would catch a break under Measure 11 reform
Senators Floyd Prozanski and Jackie Winters embrace after Senate Bill 1008 passes. The two carried the bill on the Senate floor. (Aubrey Wieber/Salem Reporter) Juveniles charged with certain violent crimes could get a second chance under a reform to Measure 11 passed by the Senate Tuesday on the slimmest of[Read More…]