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Oregon News
POLITICS
Closed-door negotiations create hard feelings as the Oregon Capitol awaits a transportation bill
OPB | By Dirk Vanderhart
House Republicans have bristled in recent weeks after learning that two of their members went rogue. State Reps. Kevin Mannix, R-Salem, and Jeff Helfrich, R-Hood River, quietly agreed to work with Democrats on a deal that could prove crucial to the chances of the transportation bill.
Under that arrangement, Mannix and Helfrich aren’t discussing any aspects of a possible deal with their party — and initially didn’t even acknowledge to colleagues the meetings were occurring.
The development is unusual in Salem, where party leaders typically have insight into sensitive negotiations their members are involved in. State Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis, R-Albany, the go-to House Republican on transportation matters, isn’t included in the talks. House Minority Leader Christine Drazan, R-Canby, said she’s not in the loop.
That has created bruised feelings. According to three GOP sources, there was brief talk of excluding Helfrich and Mannix from party caucus meetings altogether. That ultimately went nowhere.
It also hasn’t helped party relations in the House, where Drazan is now accusing Speaker Julie Fahey, D-Eugene, of hypocrisy and desperation.
On the Senate side of the building, state Sen. Bruce Starr has been one of the lawmakers hashing out a bill. The Dundee Republican is a vice chair of the Joint Transportation Committee and his party’s leading voice on the issue in the Senate.
Democrats may also need Republican votes in the House.
Democrats will likely ensure the seat is filled before a House vote on the transportation bill. Even so, bringing at least two Republicans on board may be necessary.
Capital Chatter: Prudence over partisanship
Oregon Capital Insider | By Dick Hughes
State economists on Wednesday released their quarterly economic and revenue forecast that will form the basis for Oregon’s 2025-27 budget. Legislative budget writers have nearly $2 billion more to spend than two years ago. But not as much as the economists predicted in February. That reality led politicians and interest groups to bellow partisan condemnations. Oregon Democrats went after national Republicans, who control Congress and the White House. Oregon Republicans went after Oregon Democrats, who control the Legislature and governor’s office.
Senate Republican Leader Daniel Bonham, The Dalles: “It’s no surprise that Democrats who’ve spent years passing policies that weaken our economy are quick to blame anyone but themselves. Instead of addressing their own failures, they deflect to D.C. while pushing policies that drive jobs and investment out.”
Democrats long have controlled Portland and Multnomah County politics, along with the Legislature and governorship. Whether for good or not so good, they are largely responsible for current statewide and metro-area policies.
So, yes, Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress are acting in ways that could severely harm many Oregon households and businesses. Oregon’s Democratic leaders also have pushed various economic, tax and other policies that proved less-than-helpful for individual families, businesses and communities. Neither political party possesses all the answers. No one-size-fits-all ideology is the solution.
DEQ Pauses Enforcement of Controversial Advanced Clean Trucks Rule
Willamette Week | By Nigel Jaquiss
DEQ’s Advanced Clean Trucks policy, under development since 2021, was intended to shift Oregon’s fleet from trucks with internal combustion engines to electric-powered vehicles that would improve air quality and help the state meet its carbon reduction goals.
The policy DEQ adopted requires truck manufacturers to build electric trucks in a ratio to conventional diesel-powered vehicles that would increase every year.
But as the Oregon Journalism Project has reported, trucking companies have found that, for large trucks that carry the majority of road freight, electric trucks are too expensive and lack the range to be competitive.
Gov. Tina Kotek, who has supported the rule, placed blame on the Trump administration in a statement today.
“Our state has received historic awards from the federal government to make clean energy solutions more affordable, our air cleaner, and our economy greener. Oregon is not seeing these obligated funds come through,” Kotek said. “As our federal counterparts continue to fail to deliver on commitments made, our state will be nimble, acting responsibly to both protect our environment and a stable economy.”
Portland homeless service provider accuses Mayor Wilson of treating her program as a ‘pawn’
OPB | By Alex Zielinski
Just over a year ago, then-mayoral candidate Keith Wilson held a ribbon-cutting ceremony outside a former church in Southeast Portland that had been converted into a day center for homeless residents. The center, run by small nonprofit PDX Saints Love, was pitched by Wilson as a “critical bridge” between homelessness and permanent housing, offering employment assistance, showers, warm meals, connections to health programs, housing referrals, and community events.
For candidate Wilson, PDX Saints Love was a model for how he hoped to address the city’s homelessness crisis if elected.
Now, four months into Wilson’s mayoral term, the day center — which an estimated 1,800 people currently rely on — is set to close. Kristle Delihanty, director of PDX Saints Love, said without city funding she has no other choice.
Oregon explores paying to reunite children with Trump deportees
Oregon Live | By Yesenia Amaro
Oregon is exploring how to help children who may become separated from their parents by the Trump administration, including one recommendation to pay to reunite some kids with deported parents.
That’s among a dozen recommendations sent by the Oregon Department of Human Services to the office of Gov. Tina Kotek. It’s unclear if the state will move forward.
Oregon insiders: Who’s who in and around state government
Oregon Capital Insider | By Dick Hughes
Sen. Anthony Broadman, D-Bend, and Rep. Vikki Breese-Iverson, R-Prineville, chair the Central Oregon Caucus, which was formed this year. Priority issues include economic development, housing and community services, wildfire and natural resources, and transportation. Senate members include Diane Linthicum, R-Klamath Falls; Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte; and Todd Nash, R-Enterprise.
First-ever Central Oregon Caucus launches with bipartisan push for regional priorities
Madras Pioneer
The first-ever bipartisan, bicameral Central Oregon Caucus has released its 2025 legislative agenda, signaling a new era of regional cooperation in Salem.
The caucus includes legislators representing Jefferson, Crook, and Deschutes counties, along with neighboring districts in Klamath, Harney, Morrow, and Wallowa counties. The group’s formation marks the first time Central Oregon lawmakers have organized a formal, bipartisan coalition focused on shared legislative goals.
Oregon bill would speed up process to rename locations with offensive titles
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Mia Maldonado
Oregon lawmakers aim to speed up the process for renaming dozens of creeks, lakes, mountains and other sites that still hold offensive names.
The Oregon Senate will soon take up House Bill 3532, which would have the Oregon Geographic Names Board — a group advised by the Oregon Historical Society — make a list of places with offensive geographic names within three years of the bill’s passage and determine new names in consultation with local governments and tribes.
EDUCATION
State Did Not Ask Education Researchers to Analyze How School Districts Currently Spend Funds
Willamette Week | By Joanna Hou
A state-commissioned report that recommended Oregon spend billions more to improve its student outcomes did not explore how schools and districts have spent their investments thus far.
The American Institutes for Research report’s solution to dismal student outcomes provided a counternarrative to an earlier presentation this legislative session by the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University, which mapped increased spending since 2013 against worsening outcomes for Oregon students. As school funding advocates have pushed for more money for the state’s public schools, legislators—and the governor—have weighed funding against accountability. School funding advocates rallied around the AIR report as additional proof that Oregon schools are chronically underfunded. But when the AIR researchers presented their findings to the House and Senate Committee on Education in late February, legislators were skeptical that more money alone would help fix the state’s education crisis. Several asked whether the state and districts could spend their existing dollars more effectively.
It turns out the state never asked AIR researchers to delve into how Oregon dollars were spent.
Portland schools’ chief operating officer, who oversaw school rebuilds as costs spiraled, has resigned
Oregon Live | By Julia Silverman
Dan Jung, chief operating officer of Portland Public Schools, has resigned his post and will leave the district in mid-June.
Jung’s departure, confirmed by a spokesperson for the district, comes as the district’s voters are set to decide the fate of a $1.83 billion school construction bond, by far the largest in Oregon history.
Over 15 years at Portland Public Schools — a long tenure for a top administrator at a district that’s seen a fair amount of churn — Jung has risen from operations director to senior director of the Office of School Modernization to his current role.
CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY
Oregon’s public defense backlog persists even as ranks of public defenders grow
Oregon Live | By Noelle Crombie
Six years ago, Oregon had one public defender for every 177 cases. Today, that figure has plunged to 93 cases for every lawyer and yet the number of unrepresented people accused of crimes continues to mount, a top Oregon Judicial Department official said Thursday.
Compared with 2019, the state has seen 23% fewer criminal cases and 46% more public defenders, Nancy Cozine, Oregon’s court administrator, told lawmakers.
Cozine said the state has seen sharp increases in unrepresented defendants accused of both felonies and misdemeanors in the past year.
The analysis comes as the state continues to struggle to address its longstanding and significant backlog of defendants who lack court-appointed lawyers.
Two years ago, the Legislature infused the public defense system with nearly $90 million to secure more lawyers, an effort that significantly expanded the workforce. In the past six years, the state added hundreds more lawyers either on contracts or on an hourly basis, according to the judicial department.
An analysis done by Washington County District Attorney’s Office examined the number of cases filed per prosecutor and found they range from 99 cases per Multnomah County deputy district attorney to 189 in Washington County.
Cash-stuffed envelopes: How unqualified truck drivers hit PNW roads in alleged bribery scheme
Oregon Live | By Ted Sickinger
Regulators believe the money came from Skyline CDL School, an upstart truck-driving academy with branches in Washington and Oregon, they wrote in investigative reports. They believe it was paid to an independent state tester as part of an alleged bribery scheme to ensure the company’s students would fraudulently receive passing grades, the documents say.
Investigators last year identified scores of unqualified drivers who received their commercial licenses in Washington after Skyline steered students from its branches in Vancouver and Auburn hours away to the contract tester in Arlington, north of Seattle, the reports say. Some of the individuals licensed never tested at all, according to state records, and 80% of drivers who were later forced to retest failed their exams.
ECONOMY
Portland residents to see largest water, sewer rate hike in more than a decade
Oregon Live | By Shane Dixon Kavanaugh
Portlanders are poised to see their water and sewage costs rise about 6.34% this summer, marking the largest annual rate hike in more than a decade.
That means the average Portland household would pay more than $1,900 annually, an amount that is currently projected to surpass $2,400 by 2030, according to city estimates.
The last time Portland residents saw a utility rate increase top 6.3% was 2011, when city officials issued an 8.17% hike, data reviewed by The Oregonian/OregonLive shows.
A variety of factors are behind the creeping costs, city officials say: aging water and sewer systems that require maintenance; environmental compliance; and large new infrastructure projects, including the Bull Run water filtration plant whose price tag is now projected to top $2 billion — a four-fold increase from the $500 million first approved by City Council in 2017.
The Portland Trail Blazers are up for sale. Here’s what to know
OPB | By Kyra Buckley
Nike co-founder and Oregon sports superfan Phil Knight reportedly offered to buy the Blazers in 2022 for $2 billion, but the Allen estate wasn’t interested at the time. Now, Knight has confirmed he’ll pass on the opportunity to bid.
Beyond Knight, Berger said there probably isn’t an Oregonian wealthy enough who is interested in buying the team. Even Allen hailed from Seattle, although he was a frequent Oregon visitor.
The Trail Blazers said in the announcement about the sale that the process is expected to continue into the 2025-26 NBA season.
HEALTH CARE
Record number of Oregon kindergartners lack vaccinations due to nonmedical exemptions
Oregon Live | By Eddy Binford-Ross
Nearly 10% of Oregon kindergartners aren’t fully vaccinated because they have nonmedical exemptions from the state’s vaccine requirements, the Oregon Health Authority announced Thursday.
This record figure is nearly a percentage point higher than last school year, when Oregon was among the five states with the highest nonmedical exemption rates. Where Oregon falls nationally this year has not been announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This is the third school consecutive year that Oregon has seen falling vaccination rates among the youngest children, with 13.7% of Oregon kindergarten students not fully vaccinated for medical or nonmedical reasons, according to health officials.
How proposed Medicaid cuts could impact health care in Oregon
OPB | Amelia Templeton
Oregon could be penalized for a program that uses state dollars to provide health care for immigrants.
A budget reconciliation bill under consideration by the U.S. Congress this week would require some 670,000 adult Oregonians to prove they are working or volunteering 80 hours a month in order to keep their health coverage. The requirement would apply to nearly half of the 1.4 million Oregonians enrolled in the Oregon Health Plan, the state’s version of Medicaid.
If the bill becomes law, Oregon would also be at risk of losing more than $1 billion in the 2027-2029 biennium and more than $7 billion dollars over a 10-year period due to a provision that penalizes states that provide health insurance to undocumented immigrants.
NATURAL RESOURCS & WILDFIRE
Oregon leaders agree the Lower Umatilla Basin’s nitrates are a crisis. But the funds aren’t there
OPB | Alejandro Figueroa, Antonio Sierra
For years, Oregon state agencies, local governments and committees have hashed and rehashed plans to clean up a decades-long nitrates pollution problem in northern Morrow and Umatilla counties. While nitrate levels continue to rise, there’s one constant: These groups say they need more resources and money to get the job done.
For decades, waste carrying nitrates from large livestock farms, food processing facilities and irrigated farms has seeped through the Lower Umatilla Basin’s soil and into the groundwater below.
Overexposure to nitrates has been linked to illnesses like cancer and thyroid disease and is especially harmful to infants. This is a major concern for domestic well owners in rural areas, since private wells aren’t subject to federal environmental protections.
Gov. Tina Kotek is backing a bill that would revamp how the state responds to groundwater pollution, but a spokesperson for the governor’s office said the bill would not apply to the Lower Umatilla Basin.
Many state officials and speakers at Tuesday‘s hearing said the state needs to put more resources toward nitrate reduction in the Lower Umatilla Basin and beyond if Oregon wants to achieve its goals. But they tended to shy away from specifics.
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