SALEM — Current and future public employees wouldn’t have as generous a retirement under initiative petitions being pushed by business interests in yet another effort to reform the state’s notoriously complex and expensive retirement system. The effort has attracted two big names in Oregon politics — former Gov. Ted Kulongoski[Read More…]
Tag: OREGON GOVERNMENT
Oregon should overhaul handling of insanity defendants, state official says
PORTLAND — The state of Oregon needs to overhaul the way it handles people found guilty except for insanity and better track what happens to them once they are released from state jurisdiction, the head of the agency that supervises such defendants said. In an interview, Alison Bort, executive director[Read More…]
Oregon’s largest prison shifting away from using ‘the hole’
The state’s largest prison began a new policy on segregated housing a year ago and since then inmate-to-inmate assaults are down. (The Enterprise/Pat Caldwell). ONTARIO – A year ago, the cell on the upper tier of Snake River Correctional Institution’s privileged housing unit was stark. The cell was once part[Read More…]
Legislators push to get guns locked up but some worry safety would be compromised
A few days after Liam Mankins was born in September 2016, his father posted a photo on Facebook of his son wearing oversized sunglasses. “Future’s so bright gotta wear sunglasses,” a friend commented. “Yes, yes, it is,” Liam’s father replied. “He’s going to … make something of himself.” Then, two[Read More…]
Oregon agencies may find more watchdogs keeping an eye on them
SALEM — A dozen large state agencies could find themselves with watchdogs tethered within their ranks, guarding against wasteful spending and questionable government practices. They’ve been without internal auditors for more than a decade ago, ignoring a mandate that they have such positions. That lack of oversight was highlighted in[Read More…]
Change in Oregon’s DNA law could free wrongly convicted defendants, legislators told
SALEM — After 18 years in prison, Gerard Richardson walked free in 2013. He had been found wrongfully convicted of murder. Richardson was serving time in New Jersey, but experts say if an Oregon court found him guilty, he would still be imprisoned. That’s because Richardson’s freedom followed testing of[Read More…]
Oregon education reforms could cost $3 billion, legislators told
Meme Branch talks about her high school experience with state Sen. Rob Wagner during a Joint Legislation Committee on School Success town hall earlir this year. (Pamplin Media Group/Jonathan House) SALEM — In an effort to put more Oregon students on track to graduate, the Legislature’s Joint Committee on School[Read More…]
Auditors hope opioid findings will light fire under Oregon legislators
SALEM — Oregon is collecting valuable information about opioid prescribers and their patients but state law hamstrings using the system to confront drug abuse, state auditors said Tuesday. Oregon, like all other states, collects information on prescriptions for controlled substances like Oxycodone and Percocet. But Oregon’s program has little teeth,[Read More…]
Oregon labor commissioner rushes employers to digest new pay rules
Workers across Oregon could receive pay raises under the state’s unique pay equity law that goes into force Jan. 1, but state officials have been late directing employers how to obey. Oregon lawmakers in May 2017 passed one of the most comprehensive pay equity laws in the nation, expanding protections[Read More…]
Oregon officials confident election systems are secure
SALEM — State and county officials say they have buttressed the state’s voting systems against intruders. “I am confident that Oregon’s voting system is as safe as it can be from malicious outside entities,” Steve Trout, state elections director, said in a prepared statement. “That being said, we continue to[Read More…]
