Current News

The Oregon Republican senators who've walked out on #HB2020 and a cap-and-trade vote say they're representing their constituents. Taken together, their campaigns have been funded by one primary constituent: Corporate America. pic.twitter.com/i29Ul714bB— Rob Davis (@robwdavis) June 24, 2019

Here's what you need to know as lawmakers prepare to wrap things up in Salem

Oregon's high-spending session, which ended Saturday evening, was made possible by an unexpectedly robust rebound in Oregon’s economy and an infusion of billions of dollars in federal recovery funds. Sweeping police accountability reforms passed thanks to lawmakers’ heightened awareness of racial inequities and desire to address them, but leaders from communities of color cited several major proposals legislators failed to pass.

This year the legislative session needed to adapt to the coronavirus pandemic, which meant closing the Capitol to the public.

Pharmaceutical companies spent nearly $2 million on lobbying during Oregon’s legislative session this year, as the drug industry worked to block lawmakers’ proposal to create a board empowered to set price limits for the costliest medicines. It would have put Oregon at the forefront nationally in addressing prescription drug costs.

Two Republican political consultants filed campaign finance complaints against a liberal political action committee running radio ads.

Most every other state in the country requires only a simple majority of lawmakers be present in order to conduct legislative business, write Reps. David Gomberg and Khanh Pham. It's time that Oregon lower its quorum requirement as well and prevent legislative walkouts for good.

Here are the highlights of lawmakers work over the contentious five-month session.

The Oregon Legislature ended the 2023 legislative session with a few hours to spare late Sunday afternoon.

Several key environmental bills to help protect communities against the effect of climate change have passed the Oregon Legislature.

In November 2024, voters will decide whether to use ranked choice voting in races after January 1, 2028 for president, seats in Congress, governor, Oregon secretary of state and some others.

Oregon is the only U.S. state without some form of impeachment powers in its state constitution.

Oregon's constitution has no impeachment process for statewide elected officials. That could change next year.

The veg in question is already famously linked to another state.

Election reform advocates have proposed at the Oregon Legislature competing overhauls to how the state conducts its elections.

If you vote in Oregon, you’re probably accustomed to a relatively convenient, accessible voting process, giving Oregon one of the highest voter participation rates of any state in the country.  Such an achievement didn’t happen overnight. It’s been long in the making. But there is more work to be done. This session the Legislature is […]

In a political landscape dominated by two major parties, many people often overlook the choice to vote for a third party. However, third-party voting offers a valuable opportunity to challenge the status quo and bring fresh perspectives.

Open primaries allow voters to choose any party's primary, while closed primaries restrict participation to registered party members. Open primaries have higher turnout but face concerns of strategic voting, while closed primaries preserve party ideology.

City governments are not just where Americans feel the most impact of government on their daily lives – they’re the last line of defense against hyper-partisanship. A recent piece in The New York Times revealed a sign of increasing tensions to come: Swing state legislatures this session have passed increasingly partisan agendas without mandates. Local governments, generally non-partisan, are where we can reverse this trend and govern by consensus.

Newly released records show Gov. Kate Brown’s state staff shifted into overdrive to lay out her policy positions — and accomplishments — on education and other central campaign issues as the governor was running for re-election last year.

The state representative may have run afoul of Oregon ethics laws by lobbying for a controversial coal export project with a state agency whose budget he votes on.

Former Oregon House Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson, a Portland Democrat, announced on Monday she would suspend her campaign for secretary of state in light of a forthcoming story about her use of campaign funds.

Jennifer Williamson was considered a top candidate to be Oregon's next secretary of state. She is dropping out because of a forthcoming news story on her campaign expenditures. 

Williamson served in the legislature from 2012 to 2019, when she resigned to run for secretary of state.

Internal emails show a tax-funded agency created to educate people about forestry has acted as a public-relations agency and lobbying arm for Oregon's timber industry, in some cases skirting legal constraints that forbid it from doing so.

Oregon law currently bars legislators and other public officials from accepting more than $50 per year from any entity that wants to influence a government decision. Lawmakers are considering eliminating that limit.

Oregon state auditors released a report Wednesday that recommended several opportunities for legislators and other officials to strengthen the state's ethics laws and increase the independence of the state's ethics commission.

A state commission on government ethics could be strengthened and more independent, state auditors said in a report Wednesday.