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Oregon News
Oregon Sen. Aaron Woods remembered as ‘courageous’ lawmaker who bridged divides - OPB
OPB | By Bryce Dole
The Oregon Senate on Thursday commemorated the late Sen. Aaron Woods, who recently died of complications from cancer.
Members of Woods’s family, who traveled from Illinois and Colorado, sat at his desk on the Senate floor as lawmakers remembered him as a dedicated statesman known for his humor, his love of food and his passion for Oregonians.
Though he died during his first term in office, lawmakers said the 75-year-old Wilsonville Democrat made a significant impact on the chamber, sometimes providing the deciding vote for whether a bill advances. As political polarization grows nationwide, senators said Woods often worked across the aisle, building relationships with his Republican colleagues.
“Aaron was one of the strongest men I knew,” said Sen. David Brock Smith, R-Port Orford. He spoke of Woods’s knowledge of the importance of port jobs in Brock Smith’s district along the southwest Oregon coast, and the ongoing struggles of generational poverty among residents there. “He wanted to know everything there is about you and why you care about what you care about.”
At least one top-tier candidate for that position says he’s not interested. House Majority Leader Ben Bowman, D-Tigard, whose district coincides with a portion of Woods’s, told OPB this week he will remain in the House.
State Rep. Courtney Neron, a Wilsonville Democrat whose district also aligns with Woods’s, was less definitive.
“The news is very fresh in the building, and we are still grieving,” Neron said in a text message. “That said, I know the process will need to move quickly. You can anticipate an announcement from me in the near future.”
As of Thursday morning, the Democratic Party of Oregon listed one candidate vying for the vacant seat, a Wilsonville energy consultant named Dave Backen.
POLITICS
Feds Threaten Oregon Transportation Funding Over DEI and Driver’s License Policies
Willamette Week | By Nigel Jaquiss
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy delivered a strict message today to highway departments around the country: Diversity, equity and inclusion policies will be a basis for denying federal funding to states, as will giving driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants.
Those changes will be a tough swallow for the Oregon Department of Transportation, which is counting on a total of $1.6 billion in federal funding over the 2025–27 budget cycle.
Oregon is also one of several blue states that allows undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses. (Duffy’s letter is silent on whether he expects Oregon and other states to rescind those licenses or stop issuing them.)
ODOT is less dependent on federal money, but as the agency has made clear, it is in desperate financial shape. Kotek, who oversees the agency, pushed back against Duffy’s message.
Oregon House approves bill that would declare public defense crisis
Statesman Journal | By Isabel Funk
The Oregon House approved a bill April 22 that would declare the public defense crisis in the state an emergency and make several changes to the Oregon Public Defense Commission.
The commission aims to improve the state's criminal justice system through policy development, research and other efforts.
House Bill 2614 would allow the commission to continue contracting with nonprofit public defense organizations and private law firms until 2033, increase oversight of the commission and make various other changes.
Hackers stole the driver license info of millions of Oregonians, but judge tosses lawsuit that faulted DMV
Oregon Live | By Aimee Green
An Oregon judge last week threw out a lawsuit that sought to recover damages for as many as 3.5 million Oregonians whose driver license or ID card information was stolen in a massive international data breach in 2023.
Oregonians’ driver license and other personal data was accessed through data collected by Oregon Driver & Motor Vehicle Services, which is a division of the Oregon Department of Transportation.
“Their (the state’s) argument was ‘We weren’t the ones protecting the data. We hired this data provider. There’s the ones that got hacked. It’s unfair to blame us,’” said Paul Barton, a Portland attorney representing the plaintiffs. “And our argument was ‘Well, you’re the ones who hired them. You had some duty of oversight, to make sure they had the proper protections in place.’”
Lawmakers poised to make lottery winners anonymous in Oregon. They’re gambling the decision won’t backfire
Oregon Live | By Ted Sickinger
The Oregon Senate is set to take a final vote as soon as Monday on a bill that would allow all winners of Oregon Lottery games to remain anonymous, eliminating what was once considered a key transparency measure to maintain integrity and public trust in the games.
Lawmakers’ renewed push toward secrecy comes in the aftermath of investigations by The Oregonian/OregonLive last year that found millions of dollars in winnings have flowed to a business in Australia or been rerouted to local opportunists who purchase scores of winning tickets from the true owners at a discount, claiming the full prizes for themselves.
Lawmakers pledged to prohibit the latter issue. But in the process, they tacked on a secrecy provision to the reform bill that would make it all but impossible for the newsroom or the public to learn the names of lottery winners.
In reality, he said, he believes it is part of a coordinated attempt to legitimize the sale of lottery games across state lines and internationally.
Stanford said in a text message that Oregon isn’t Texas, that couriers have operated responsibly in Oregon for a decade without incident, and that the only change being made is that the world won’t know details about lottery winners here unless they consent to the release of their names.
Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read welcomes injunction of Trump election order
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Julia Shumway
As a federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked parts of President Donald Trump’s sweeping election executive order, Oregon’s top elections official joined officials from around the country in North Carolina questioning federal agency leaders over plans to implement Trump’s order.
Despite legal ruling against Trump, Oregon election officials remain worried voters could be shut out
Oregon Live | By Julia Shumway
As a federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked parts of President Donald Trump’s sweeping election executive order, Oregon’s top elections official joined counterparts from around the country in questioning federal agency leaders over plans to implement Trump’s order.
Trump in March ordered the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, a relatively obscure federal agency created after the contested 2000 presidential election, to update the national voter registration form to require prospective voters to prove citizenship and to withhold federal funding from states that accept ballots after Election Day.
The finances of the Portland Diamond Project's baseball plan: 5 takeaways
Oregon Live
A bipartisan coalition of Oregon political leaders has lined up behind a proposal to provide $800 million in funding for a Major League Baseball stadium on Portland’s South Waterfront, the first step in the long process of landing an expansion franchise. Skeptics say the funding plan may not meet its goals and note that Portland faces many other obstacles to landing a team.
State Rep. Tawna Sanchez Seeks to Close Charging Loophole
Willamette Week | By Sophie Peel
The Oregon Legislature’s Joint Committee on Addiction and Community Safety Response heard testimony earlier this month on a bill that would include preschools in the definition of “school” when charging drug crimes committed near schools.
That’s because preschools are not included in the definition of “school” when determining proximity-related drug charges. Sanchez hopes to change that.
Oregon insiders: Who’s who in and around state government
Oregon Capital Insider | By Dick Hughes
Democratic Reps. Hòa Nguyễn, Portland, and Jules Walters, West Linn, chair the Child Care Caucus. The 45 legislative members include five Republicans: Sens. Dick Anderson, Lincoln City, and Suzanne Weber, Tillamook, and Reps. Cyrus Javadi, Tillamook, Kevin Mannix, Salem, and Boomer Wright, Reedsport.
SNAP under fire: Skimming thefts, proposed cuts leave Oregonians struggling to feed families
KOIN | By Elise Haas
Last week, the Department of Justice indicted 19 people for using skimming devices to steal half a million dollars in SNAP benefits from Oregonians – money then spent on baby formula to sell on the black market.
She’s one of hundreds of Oregonians who were victims of SNAP benefit skimming theft. She tried to file for an appeal, but the government said they wouldn’t recoup the missing funds.
Vega Pederson Seeks to Cut 102 Staffers and Ax Four Programs in Proposed Budget
Willamette Week | By Anthony Effinger
Confronted with the largest shortfall in a decade, Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson unveiled a proposed budget today that eliminates 102 positions across the county, makes cuts to homeless services and communicable-disease tracking, and eliminates a program that assigns nurses to first-time mothers.
Other goners: the county’s campaign finance program (new in the current fiscal year), its passport and ID service, and a joint city-county program aimed at phasing out gas-powered leaf blowers by 2028.
In total, Vega Pederson’s operating budget, what the county needs for day-to-day operations, is $3 billion for the year beginning July 1, down $77.3 million, or 3.23% from the year ending June 30. (The county’s total budget is $4 billion. That budget includes capital projects and debt service.)
ECONOMY
Layoffs are coming to major chipmaker Intel, but Oregon impact is unclear
OPB | By Kyra Buckley
Layoffs are looming at Intel as the semiconductor giant looks to shave half a billion dollars in operating expenses.
HOUSING
Oregon stamped with big red ‘F’ for housing affordability, homebuilding: real estate report card
Oregon Live | By Jonathan Bach
Oregon was one of only seven states to earn a failing grade on a new housing report card from Realtor.com.
Oregon ranked 45th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia when scored for housing affordability and homebuilding.
Despite Oregon lawmakers’ efforts to encourage homebuilding to address the state’s housing shortage, the state fell into a homebuilding slump last year. Forecasts show Oregon is unlikely to hit ambitious construction goals established by Gov. Tina Kotek at the start of her term as governor in 2023.
Fast-building states get more babies
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Tim Henderson
The number of births in some Western states that are adding new housing rose last year, reversing losses the year before in many cases, according to new federal statistics released this week.
Melissa Kearney, an economics professor at the University of Maryland who specializes in families and fertility, said there could be a link between homebuilding and more babies.
“It is quite possible that increased access to home ownership, coming from a reduction in the price of houses in places that are building more houses, could meaningfully increase birth rates,” Kearney told Stateline in an e-mail.
Western states with more new housing get more births.
NATURAL RESOURCES & WILDFIRE
Bill blocking utilities from passing wildfire costs to consumers passes the Oregon Senate
KATU | By Vasili Varlamos
The Oregon Senate passed a bill that would prevent electric companies from putting part of the financial burden of wildfire-related damages onto customers if a court finds the company liable for causing the fire.
The bill passed in the Senate by a vote of 22-6. It now moves to the Oregon House of Representatives for further discussion.
Senate Bill 926 targets power companies found to be negligent or complicit in causing a wildfire. Under the bill, these companies would not be able to recoup costs tied to court judgments, legal fees, settlements, or repairs by increasing consumers' electricity rates.
That means no rate hikes to cover lawsuits or damages tied to negligence. This would apply to electric companies serving more than 25,000 customers in Oregon.
"I'm concerned about customer rates," said Sen. Brock Smith. "Most recently, court judgments have stated that there has been severe negligence and people have lost everything. So I didn't want these companies to be able to raise rates to cover their negligence."
KATU asked Brock Smith about the concerns that this policy could increase customer bills.
"That is completely not true because the language in the legislation specifically says that it can't, and they cannot increase the cost to Oregonians," said Brock Smith. "I'm sick and tired of these utilities increasing the cost for Oregonians and my constituents from whatever is occurring, the mandates on renewable energies, and so forth, and then saying that they can't afford to pay these people that have lost their homes due to their gross negligence."
Only lawyers could like Oregon bill creating new avenues to sue over logging
Oregon Capital Chronicle | Commentary by Nick Cady
The House Committee for Agriculture and Natural Resources recently advanced House Bill 3103, which contains new regulatory requirements and avenues to sue the state over logging on state forests.
The bill requires the state forester to set a “sustainable timber harvest level” a minimum of once every ten years but also requires the level be re-established any time there is a change in forest management or any time a fire, landslide or wind event changes the conditions of state forest land.
Given that this will take years, and will likely advance to higher courts, it is incredibly likely some area of state forest will burn in the meantime, prompting the entire process to start over, or another round of litigation to start in parallel.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Who’s responsible for the levee that failed in Harney County’s flood? No one
OPB | By Antonio Sierra
When rain and snowmelt overwhelmed the banks of the Silvies River in Harney County earlier this month, one of authorities’ first actions was repairing a failing levee.
The levee was supposed to help protect the city of Burns from flooding, but after it broke, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had to scramble to dump more rocks on parts of the 2.4-mile embankment standing between the town and the river.
A 2019 report sent to Harney County officials spelled out how the levee needed significant repairs and improvements to meet federal standards. County officials said they didn’t act on repairing the levee because of funding shortfalls and a more existential dilemma — no one is officially responsible for maintaining it.
Guest column: The time to fund wildlife crossings is now
Bend Bulletin | Commentary by Ted Wise
As a former biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, I’ve witnessed the negative impacts of wildlife-vehicle collisions on our communities. Each year, thousands of Oregon motorists experience the trauma of hitting an animal on the road. Between 2020 and 2024 the Oregon Department of Transportation had 26,650 reported wildlife-vehicle accidents, while stating that these numbers are likely conservative estimates. The cost of a wildlife-vehicle collision can be significant, with vehicle damage amounting to thousands of dollars and the financial strain can extend well beyond the cost of vehicle repair. A personal injury sustained in a wildlife vehicle accident can lead to missed work, long-term medical expenses, and may also result in tragic human fatalities. Oregonians need to understand that the impacts of wildlife-vehicle collisions extend beyond just humans.
National News
GOP strategist says disobeying court orders could become a political problem for Trump
OPB | By Michel martin, Ally Shweitzer
The Trump administration is facing legal challenges to two of its signature policy priorities: tariffs and immigration. On Wednesday, a dozen states sued the administration in the U.S. Court of International Trade, calling its tariff policy unlawful and economically disruptive.
Republican strategist Alex Conant — who previously worked on Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign — told Morning Edition that if the president doesn’t follow court rulings, it could lead to serious political problems. “Well, I think if the courts, especially the Supreme Court, rules that the president can’t do something, he really does need to abide by that or face serious political backlash from Republicans, including Republicans in Congress,” Contant said.
National Dems to deliver more than $1M a month to state parties
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Shauneen Miranda
The Democratic National Committee will transfer more than $1 million per month to its state and territorial parties over the next four years in an effort to build state-level infrastructure and operations, the DNC announced Thursday.
The agreement marks the DNC’s largest total investment in Democratic state parties to date and comes as Democrats try to rebound from significant losses in the 2024 election cycle.
Each state party is set to receive a minimum of $17,500 per month, a $5,000 increase from the current baseline, the DNC said in materials provided to States Newsroom ahead of the wider announcement.
Federal judges pause U.S. Education Department enforcement of DEI ban
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Shauneen Miranda
A federal judge in Maryland ordered the Trump administration Thursday to pause enforcement of a new U.S. Education Department ban on diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
Trump can’t deny federal funding to Portland, other sanctuary cities, judge rules
Associated Press
A federal judge in California on Thursday barred the Trump administration from denying or conditioning the use of federal funds to so-called sanctuary jurisdictions, saying that portions of President Donald Trump’s executive orders were unconstitutional.
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