Category State
Youth come out to support cap and trade on Earth Day
Gov. Kate Brown riles up the crowd in support of the cap and trade bill. (Aubrey Wieber/Salem Reporter) SALEM – About two dozen kids came to the Capitol on Monday to celebrate Earth Day and lobby lawmakers to pass a major environmental legislation pending at…
Boarded in the ER: Oregon’s mental health crisis
NOTE: Published in a cooperative arrangement with The Lund Report. On a typical day, doctors rush through Kaiser’s emergency department toward sounding alarms, and ambulances whisk in people suffering heart attacks, strokes or severe pain. Medical technicians and nurses attend to patients as worried families…
Kate Brown promises substantial change to child welfare system
Gov. Kate Brown is taking another whack at reforming Oregon’s beleaguered foster care system. Brown announced Thursday, April 18, that she was creating a special board to oversee child welfare issues and ensure that reforms are enacted. The move came two days after advocates filed…
Senate passes Measure 11 reform on slimmest of margins
Senators Floyd Prozanski and Jackie Winters embrace after Senate Bill 1008 passes. The two carried the bill on the Senate floor. (Aubrey Wieber/Salem Reporter) Juveniles charged with certain violent crimes could get a second chance under a reform to Measure 11 passed by the Senate…
Portland school board member no longer helping Secretary of State
Secretary of State Bev Clarno gives a speech at her swearing in April 3. Behind her, (middle) Nike lobbyist Julia Brim-Edwards looks on. Brim-Edwards orchestrated the press event as part of her volunteer position with the office. (Claire Withycombe/Oregon Capital Bureau) Portland Public Schools board…
Lawmakers detail gas tax credit to offset cap and trade’s impact at the pump
Oregonians pushing cap and trade rally outside of the Capitol. (Aubrey Wieber/Salem Reporter) For months, the conversation around Oregon’s proposed carbon program has revolved around how it will impact industrial polluters. On Monday, a public hearing focused on mitigating anticipated gas price increases to soften…
Rights group takes Oregon officials to court to force foster care improvements
SALEM — A new class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses the state of inadequately protecting Oregon’s foster children. Ten foster children, representing the roughly 8,000 children in the state’s care, want a federal court to fix longstanding issues at the Oregon Department of Human Services. The…
Billion-dollar business tax proposed for Oregon but small firms exempted
UPDATE: This story has been updated with additional details on the tax and comment from a key business group. SALEM — Oregonians could pay less on their state income taxes but pay more for some goods and services, under a legislative proposal to raise money…
Nicotine taxing bills face opposition from vaping and tobacco retailers
Of the handful of nicotine-related tax initiatives, Gov. Kate Brown’s proposed $2 a pack tax increase has gotten the most attention. However, a proposed vaping tax ended up being the hot-button issue when the proposals got public hearings this week. Sixty-five people showed up Wednesday…