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 [...]

SALEM- Continuing with the trend of Republican remonstrances on Oregon’s business climate, House Minority Leader, Rep. Bruce Hanna, R-Roseburg, describes a poll about the current mood of entrepreneurs in Oregon and the importance of small businesses to the state’s economy. YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ybnYFjbKGo

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 [...]

SALEM- Talk of jobs in Oregon continues to dominate speeches on the House floor, as seen in Tuesday’s speeches by Rep. Sal Esquivel (R-Medford), Rep. Bill Garrard (R-Kalamath Falls), and Rep. Jules Bailey (D-Portland). YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfAM7XM0i20

SALEM- House Minority Leader, Rep. Bruce Hanna (R-Roseburg) reported on Thursday that Oregon had the largest number of new jobless claims out of any state in the Union. YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k78TMam1lmk

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- House Majority Leader Rep. Mary Nolan, D-Portland, spoke to the House floor on Wednesday, promoting the achievements in Oregon’s business climate. YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcUcirFWlMg

SALEM- Rep. Michael Schaufler, D-Happy Valley, talks about the need for jobs in Oregon at Wednesday’s House Committee on Business and Labor hearing. Later that afternoon, Schaufler apologized to the body for making this speech while in committee, calling it out of order. YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCzOHnTd7ok

Update- This six week extension of benefits was passed on the House floor Thursday morning and passed through the Senate on Friday morning. BY SARAH ROSS SALEM- The House Committee on Business and Labor approved an extension of unemployment benefits Wednesday, passing the bill along to a later vote on the House floor. According to [...]

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 [...]