Category State

Rep. Karin Power, D-Milwaukie, and Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, leaders of the cap and trade proposal, speak at a rally outside the Capitol. (Aubrey Wieber/Salem Reporter) Oregon’s carbon cap and trade proposal passed out of its legislative committee on a party-line vote Friday, setting it…

Raisa Piatkoff of the Russian Old Believer community stands at a rally Wednesday in front of the Capitol to support the death of a mandatory vaccine bill. The community’s involvement is one example of the diversity in the opposition to the bill. (Aubrey Wieber/Salem Reporter)…

SALEM — Oregon’s pipes, roads, bridges and other structures for moving around the state and to get power and water need significant work, civil engineers said Wednesday. Much of Oregon’s infrastructure is deteriorating with age, and the state must do more to prepare for a…

SALEM — Oregonians are in line for a big personal income tax credit, in the form of Oregon’s unique “kicker” rebate, when they file their taxes in 2020. That’s because the state has collected far more money over the past two years than was expected,…

SALEM — Thousands of Oregon public workers could see smaller retirement pots if lawmakers pass a slate of changes to the state’s retirement plan. About 176,000 people now working for state and local government, ranging from teachers to firefighters to wildlife biologists, are part of…

SALEM — Four Oregon senators leading the charge to inject new lifeblood into the state’s troubled education system said in their combined 88 years in the Legislature, the passage of the Student Success Act was the pinnacle of their career. But passing the bill took…

SALEM — Senate Republicans appear to have won significant concessions as Democrats have agreed to abandon their central gun control proposal and drop a controversial bill modifying vaccination exemptions for school children, according to multiple sources. In a deal intended to bring Republicans back to…

Republican desks remain empty as the caucus has mounted a walkout to protest the Democrats’ agenda. (Claire Withycombe/Oregon Capital Bureau) Tensions are mounting and so is a backlog of legislation as the Oregon Senate stands idle while its Republican members remain in hiding. The coordinated…

Usually 30 senators fill the chamber floor, but on Tuesday only 18 did. The 12 Republicans were absent in protest. (Claire Withycombe/Oregon Capital Bureau) There aren’t many Republicans in the Oregon Senate, but on Tuesday, there weren’t any at all. The minority caucus was spread…