BY SARAH ROSS SALEM- An amendment to guarantee health care to all Oregonians narrowly failed in a House floor vote Friday morning. The amendment proposed by Rep. Mitch Greenlick, D-Portland, would have put forth a constitutional amendment to be voted on by the Senate and then brought to the ballot for a statewide vote from [...]

BY SARAH ROSS SALEM- A bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in vehicles under 10,000 pounds moved from the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Thursday, following the release of a fiscal report finding the bill would cost between $2.1 and $2.3 million to implement. The bill, introduced by Senate President Peter Courtney, would create [...]

BY SARAH ROSS SALEM- The House Committee on Consumer Protection and Government Accountability heard testimony Wednesday on a bill to establish a task force for instituting Core Functions of Government for the state. The concept of establishing Core Functions of Government was used in Washington State to create state budgets using a system of government [...]

BY SARAH ROSS SALEM- A constitutional amendment allowing law enforcement to establish sobriety checkpoints was given a public hearing Monday morning in the Senate Judiciary Committee. While the bill, proposed by Sen. Rod Monroe, D-Portland, was given this public hearing, it has not been scheduled to receive a work session and thus is not likely [...]

Update- Bill passed the House Floor on Monday morning and will now move to the Senate. BY SARAH ROSS SALEM- The House Committee on Environment and Water approved a bill Thursday which will ban offshore drilling in Oregon for a period of 10 years. The original bill brought to the committee constituted a lifetime ban [...]

SALEM- The Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources held a public hearing Tuesday on a plastic bag pan proposed by Sen. Mark Hass, D-Beaverton. Multiple testimonies were given but the bill was not brought to a vote. Developing…

BY SARAH ROSS SALEM- The first day of the Oregon Legislature’s special session turned out to be a long day with, as one lobbyist put it, “a whole lot of nothing” besides mingling in the halls of the capitol. Between the lobbyists and the politicians, the only thing that remained clear for the session is [...]

BY SARAH ROSS WASHINGTON- President Obama’s State of the Union address to Congress on Wednesday night drew mixed responses from Oregon’s Congressional delegation. The speech, which focused primarily on job creation and deficit reduction, included plans for the money reimbursed from last year’s TARP bailout to go to community banks for small business loans. It [...]

BY SARAH ROSS SALEM- Representative Chuck Riley, D-Hillsboro, will try to increase state control of natural gas development when the special legislative session opens in February. Riley tagged his bill, HB 3616, the Domestic Resource Protection Act. It sets criteria for developers for state permits. The state Department of Energy director would determine if there [...]

BY SARAH ROSS WASHINGTON- Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to allow corporate contributions to election campaigns, Oregon’s Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D) issued a statement decrying the decision. “Today’s Supreme Court decision is an unfortunate escalation in the campaign spending arms race,” said Blumenauer, Congressman for the Portland area. “Opening the corporate spigot directly into [...]