BY SARAH ROSS SALEM- In a Tuesday morning vote, the Senate shot down a bill to ban the chemical bisphenol A in baby bottles and sippy cups. The bill, carried on the floor by Sen. Jackie Dingfelder, D-Portland, lacked just a single vote to pass in the legislature’s smaller body. Failing on a 15-15 margin, [...]

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- 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 [...]

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 SALEM- Monday will ring in Salem’s test case for annual sessions, bringing state legislators to the state capital for the body’s Special Session. And what is on the agenda for the month-long meeting? Everything from a constitutional amendment declaring health care a right for all Oregonians, to the House Speaker’s repeal of [...]

BY SARAH ROSS SALEM- Senate Republicans are calling for an override of Governor Ted Kulongoski’s veto of Senate Bill 897. This bill, introduced last March, passed almost unanimously in both the Senate and the House and was subsequently vetoed by Gov. Kulongoski in August. It covers a range of Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) protections, [...]

BY SARAH ROSS SALEM- From a recent press release,  Senate President Peter Courtney (D- Salem) announced his appointments of Senators Chip Shields (D- Portland) and Jeff Kruse (R-Roseburg) to the Legislature’s Joint Ways and Means Committee for the 2010 Interim Session. The appointments of “a Portland Democrat and a Roseburg Republican”, as Courtney stated, “…will [...]