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 [...]

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 PORTLAND- With the passage of tax Measures 66 and 67 on Tuesday, a concern for business migration and job loss has begun brewing. One study headed by Oregon Politico’s parent organization, Cascade Policy Institute, found that with the passage of both measures, 8,000 additional taxpayers per year are expected to migrate out-of-state [...]

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- 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 SALEM- The state’s unemployment situation remains bleak with 11 percent of Oregon workers out of jobs, the state reported this week. The report showed some gains in the private sector and the manufacturing sector but listed a total of 209,576 Oregonians unemployed in December, up from 173,121 unemployed in December 2008. Gov.Ted [...]

BY SARAH ROSS SALEM- Since the enforcement of Oregon smoking ban took place in January, business in the state’s previously smoker-friendly locations has dropped. There is no question that the smoking ban has taken a toll on the state’s businesses but to the degree that the ban or the recession is responsible is still uncertain. [...]

BY SARAH ROSS SALEM- During Friday’s State of the Courts address at the Mission Mill Museum in Salem, Chief Justice Paul De Muniz addressed the extreme budgetary crisis his court system has endured and will continue to endure in the coming year. De Muniz pointed out that even though the judicial branch comprises less than [...]

These maps from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show the rise in Oregon’s unemployment rates since 2007. BY SARAH ROSS

By SARAH ROSS SALEM- Governor Ted Kulongoski announced on Thursday that he and Attorney General John Kroger intend to oppose the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s authorization of the Jordan Cove Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility and pipeline near Coos Bay. The facility would deliver up to 1 billion cubic feet of gas to consumers throughout [...]