SALEM- Rep. Matt Wingard, R-Wilsonville, broke ranks with the House GOP’s series of speeches on job and business loss due to the tax measures last month by bringing up a topic that hasn’t taken center stage this session, climate change and the climatgate scandal. YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gelTt5EmQ1g

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

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

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 [...]

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 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 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 [...]

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 [...]