Since Nov. 7, Brian Stout, R-Columbia City, has been subject to a five-year order of protection from a former campaign volunteer who reported that he had sexually assaulted her and threatened her life. A Columbia County judge will continue hearing arguments over whether the order should remain in place later this spring.
Salem
Housing will be Oregon Legislature’s top focus in 2023, Democratic leader says
Rep. Julie Fahey, D-Eugene and the House majority leader, recently met with White House officials and more than dozen lawmakers from other states to discuss a housing crisis that exists across the nation but is felt most acutely on the West Coast.
Local legislators expected to be sworn in next week
As Oregon gears up for a legislative session in two weeks, several local legislators will be sworn in January 9. Find out who’s representing your interests in Salem.
Oregon still collecting more tax revenue than economists anticipated
Oregon tax collections continue to surge, with Oregonians paying $1.2 billion more in income taxes this spring than last year. The increasing state revenues aren’t due to higher taxes. Instead, according to Oregon’s quarterly economic forecast, many people cashed in assets in late 2021, causing a short-term income boost. Most of[Read More…]
ODOT begins study process after passage of Highway 6 bill
With the ink barely dry on Governor Kate Brown’s signature on a bill requiring the Oregon Department of Transportation to study Highway 6 and make repair recommendations to the legislature no later than September 15, 2023, ODOT is already at work on their newly mandated task. “ODOT has issued a[Read More…]
Oregon’s short legislative session comes to a close
The Oregon Legislature’s 2022 short session came and went (did you blink?) and in this era of rapid inflation and soaring costs for food and gasoline lawmakers passed $2.7 billion in new spending with the lion’s share allocated to child care, education, homelessness, housing, job training, and mental health. The[Read More…]
Oregon Legislature passes bill mandating overtime pay for farmworkers
Oregon is headed towards becoming the eighth state to mandate overtime pay for farmworkers. The pay bill passed its final legislative hurdle on Thursday and heads to Gov. Kate Brown, who appears ready to sign the new requirement into law. That means an estimated 86,000 farmworkers next year will get[Read More…]
Proposal to pay farmworkers overtime overcomes first hurdle in Legislature
A controversial plan to require overtime pay that would affect the 86,000 farmworkers in Oregon advanced on Tuesday along partisan lines. All seven Democrats on the House Committee on Business and Labor voted for House Bill 4002, which would require owners to pay farmworkers time and a half for hours over[Read More…]
Will change come to deadly Highway 6?
Is change on the way for Oregon’s deadly Highway 6? One community leader pushing to raise awareness of the traffic fatalities on the rural highway stretching from Banks through Gales Creek to Tillamook says that a local elected official is finally pushing for change. Jesse Borough, founder of public awareness[Read More…]
Farmworkers plead for overtime pay as ag industry warns of harmful impacts
Emotional and passionate testimony stretched into the night Tuesday during a legislative hearing on a proposal to require overtime pay for Oregon’s farmworkers. Legislation put forward by two Democratic lawmakers would pay farmworkers time and a half after working 40 hours a week and would include tax credits for companies[Read More…]