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Oregon News
POLITICS
Editorial: A $1.9 million budget shift that Portland can’t afford
The Oregonian Editorial Board
The city’s police force, with 85 vacancies, has struggled to provide the 911 response, traffic enforcement and targeted initiatives that cut crime and bolster people’s confidence in the city. Half of the $1.9 million was intended for recruiting, hiring and training people to fill those vacancies.
And Portland’s revitalization – necessary for generating the revenue needed for parks, roads, fire and so many other public services – depends on re-establishing the safety and stability that encourage businesses, residents and visitors to bet on Portland. With the benefit of additional information from police, city councilors should vote to restore the money for the upcoming budget year.
Entrepreneurs don’t open businesses in locations where their shops are targeted for break-ins or vandalism. People don’t work or visit downtown if corners are taken over by drug dealing. Commuters don’t ride public transit if they fear being victimized. But all of these, in varying levels of frequency and severity, are part of Portland’s reality.
It’s not just the amount of crime, which, to be clear, declined in 2024 from the year before. It’s also the random nature of crime that can deeply shake people’s sense of security. Knowing that the odds of something bad happening have decreased doesn’t provide much comfort to residents if a police officer cannot respond quickly if something does. And the experience of those living on the eastern and western edges of the city – where police response times can be 25-30 minutes – is dramatically different from that of people living near the central core. Portland needs a police force large enough to respond to needs citywide, not just to those that are geographically convenient.
Doubling Parks Levy Would Be a Difficult Sell to Voters, Memo Says
Willamette Week | By Sophie Peel
In a new memo to city officials, the Portland Parks Foundation says public opinion research it commissioned shows weak support among Portlanders for a doubling of the existing Parks Levy, which Portland Parks & Recreation officials say they need in order to avoid massive cuts to the parks system.
Oregon Senate President gives update as legislative session nears finish line
KOIN | By Ken Boddie
Oregon lawmakers have a lot to decide before the 83rd legislative session ends on June 29.
From homeless funding to potential Medicaid cuts to talk of changing Oregon’s kicker and more.
Oregon Senate President Rob Wagner (D-Lake Oswego) brought an update on this week’s Eye on Northwest Politics, detailing how the legislature intends to navigate a shrinking general fund, trade uncertainty, school districts needing help and other issues.
Oregon Sen. Lisa Reynolds mulls conflict of interest declaration after ethics report
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Shaanth Nanguneri
Oregon’s statewide ethics watchdog on Thursday referred a Portland-area lawmaker to the Legislature for clarity over whether a bill she authored that could benefit her medical practice raises a substantial conflict of interest.
In the letter, Myers said that Reynolds, D-Portland, “would be met with a conflict of interest” unless she is able to receive a class exception.
Reynolds told the Capital Chronicle she hasn’t decided whether she will seek further advice. She said that she will consult with her staff and tends “to err on the side of caution.”
Capital Chatter: Sine die draws nigh
Oregon Capital Insider | By Dick Hughes
The Legislature could always return for a special session(s), which seems increasingly likely in 2025 amid the state, national and global economic upheaval. Not to mention uncertainty about what will happen with transportation funding.
Sine die declarations are an exercise in expediency, slashing the public notice requirements for committee meetings. In the Oregon Legislature, committees are where the actual work occurs. Well, the work that isn’t done behind closed doors.
Yet this also is a time of heightened partisanship. House Democrats on Thursday thwarted a Republican attempt to force a vote on repealing the state’s controversial wildfire hazard map. The Senate had unanimously passed the repeal, Senate Bill 83, on April 22. The measure now sits idly in the House Rules Committee. Republicans contend Democrats are stalling action to pressure them into diverting much of next year’s income tax “kicker” into wildfire protection and response. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Capitol on Thursday, the Senate held an intense debate that featured Central Oregon senators on opposing sides of a wide-ranging gun control measure. After rejecting the Republican alternative, Democrats passed Senate Bill 243 on a 17-12 party-line vote. Sen. Anthony Broadman, D-Bend, led off the Democratic speakers. Sen. Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte, countered that Republicans would have supported at least one part of the bill but, “Bipartisan[ship] did not occur in the Capitol of the state of Oregon.”
Gov. Tina Kotek presses Oregon Department of Transportation to improve its performance
Oregon Live | By Carlos Fuentes
Gov. Tina Kotek has directed the Oregon Department of Transportation to slash convoluted bureaucratic processes that have delayed work at nearly every level of the state agency.
She wants a plan by August that lays out specific timelines to get that done, she wrote.
The governor’s directive came in response to a recent outside review that determined the transportation agency suffers from numerous inefficiencies and flawed communication that have slowed its work, reduced transparency and caused some megaprojects under its purview to skyrocket in cost.
Lawmakers of both parties have said that any transportation funding package that passes this year must include greater accountability measures to properly monitor the state transportation agency. Kotek has mostly stayed out of the negotiations, though she has met with key lawmakers to discuss their progress.
Aimee Kotek Wilson announced as chair for Behavioral Health Talent Council
Statesman Journal | By Anastasia Mason
Gov. Tina Kotek appointed her wife, Aimee Kotek Wilson, to lead a new council tasked with addressing behavioral health workforce shortages.
Kotek announced the Behavioral Health Talent Council on May 27, saying it will build upon recommendations from a report on Oregon's behavioral health workforce. The report found multiple factors contributing to a "critical shortage" of workers in many counties. Only four of the state's 36 counties had one or more mental health providers per 1,000 residents.
The governor abandoned plans in May 2024 to create an Office of the First Spouse following a flurry of resignations among her staffers and the release of public records showing staff concerns over Kotek Wilson's role in her administration.
OYA hires new superintendent for MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility
Statesman Journal | By Isabel Funk
The Oregon Youth Authority hired a new superintendent for MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn, the agency announced May 30.
Troy Britting, who has served as interim superintendent, was hired as the new superintendent after a national recruitment process, the agency said.
OYA has seen significant turmoil in recent months, including the firing of its director, revelations that thousands of abuse complaints were not completed and lawsuits over allegations of youth sex abuse. OYA has been named in nine lawsuits since the beginning of 2024 alleging sexual abuse of youths by staff members at agency facilities. Seven of the lawsuits allege abuse at MacLaren.
Republicans irked by proposal to limit bills to 25 per lawmaker: ‘Complete affront’ to us and ‘rural Oregonians’
Oregon Live | By Aimee Green
A bill that would attempt to avoid a repeat of the record logjam of bills filed this session has encountered forceful opposition from some Republicans, who say it will give Democrats, as the party in power, the upper hand and further squelch minority voices.
Republicans pointed out that while the bill appeared equitable on the surface, it would give a formidable advantage to the Democrats in Oregon government, who have controlled both the House and the Senate for the past dozen years and held most statewide elected offices during that time. Doing the math, Republicans say, that works out to be more than 2,500 bills that Democrats could file in a session and just 900 for Republicans.
Sen. David Brock Smith, a Republican from Port Orford who has filed the second most bills of all lawmakers this session, described House Bill 2006 as “an attack on the Republican party.” If bill limits pass, it’d allow him less than one-seventh of the 184 bills he was listed as a primary chief sponsor of this session.
“It is a complete affront on the minority party and, frankly, rural Oregonians that we represent,” Brock Smith said.
Brock Smith told members of the House Rules Committee that he knows Democrats will never give most of his bills a public hearing or a work session, but he files them anyway.
“Because I want Oregonians to know what would happen if Republicans had the gavel, what kind of policies and procedures we might want to move forward,” Brock Smith said.
GOP fails in attempt to get wildfire map to the floor of the House
Elkhorn Media Group | By Terry Murry
Oregon State House of Representative Republicans failed in an attempt to force a vote on Senate Bill 83 on the floor of the House. The vote to take the bill that would overturn the controversial Statewide Wildfire Hazard Map out of the House Rules Committee failed by a 29 to 22 vote. Eight of the votes in favor of bringing the bill to the floor were Democrats. A total of 31 votes in favor of the move were required.
Oregon farm labor standards board proposal scrapped for now
Capital Press | By Mateusz Perkowski
Oregon lawmakers will not move forward this year with a proposed agricultural labor standards board that would set wages and workplace conditions for farmworkers.
Accreditation Group Seeks More Information on How OHSU Handles Complaints and Grievances
Willamette Week | By Anthony Effinger
An organization that accredits Oregon Health & Science University asked for more information about how OHSU handles unsolicited complaints and grievances about discrimination and sexual misconduct, according to a letter obtained by WW.
The request comes after two costly investigations undertaken by OHSU in the past five years. Both were prompted by complaints that leaders of the academic medical center had been slow to respond to complaints of sexual harassment.
Bill to boost seafood in schools touted for benefits
Newport News Times | By Angela Nebel
A legislative bill poised to introduce more Oregon seafood into public schools across the state is being applauded by child nutrition advocates, seafood processors and champions of coastal economies.
House Bill 3568, known informally as Seafood to Schools, was introduced in February and, as of June 2nd, awaits action by the Joint Ways and Means Committee.
Readers Respond to Empty Towers and Police Coffers
Willamette Week
Lately, a lot of Portlanders have wondered whether more people would come to work in Big Pink if more flesh-and-blood police officers were working a beat in Old Town. The debate kicked up a notch last week when The Wall Street Journal highlighted the mostly empty tower going on the market (Murmurs, WW, May 21). Mayor Keith Wilson objected to the Journal’s coverage, but used the story as leverage for preserving his police budget increase. That didn’t work: The City Council voted to move $1.9 million from police to parks maintenance.
Clackamas County Commissioners Choose Diana Helm to Fill Seat Vacated by Melissa Fireside
Willamette Week | By Senya Scott
Diana Helm, former mayor of Damascus, was selected last week to fill Position 4 on the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners after the former commissioner, Melissa Fireside, was indicted on charges of identity theft and forgery and later resigned.
Frustrated with perceived disrespect, Umatilla mayor sues his own city
OPB | By Antonio Sierra
A conflict between Umatilla’s mayor, city manager and city council that spilled into public view late last year has dramatically escalated, with Mayor Caden Sipe now suing the very city he was elected to represent.
Girls' track and field athletes don't stand on podium next to trans athlete at Oregon state championship
Fox12 News
A pair of girls' track and field athletes did not stand on the medal podium alongside a transgender athlete for high jump at the Oregon state championship on Saturday night.
A judge hangs in the balance in Salem
Elkhorn Media Group | By Terry Murry
There has been no action yet on Senate Bill 95, which would add a sixth judge to the Sixth Circuit Court overseeing Umatilla and Morrow counties, as well as new judges to a few other court districts. The bill received a “do pass” recommendation but no vote from the Senate and was sent to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means.
Morrow County District Attorney Justin Nelson says it is vital that a judge be added to the district which covers two growing counties.
CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY
Police respond to stabbings at Salem homeless shelter, 11 people injured
Oregon Live | By Sami Edge
Salem police say 11 people were taken to the hospital Sunday night following reports of “multiple stabbing victims” at a men’s homeless shelter.
Police arrest Portland pair, seize guns, drugs and cash in cocaine bust
Oregon Live | By Sami Edge
Officers searched the apartment on May 14 and found nearly 200 grams of cocaine, $9,000 in cash and three handguns. A second search of a storage unit netted six more guns and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition, police said in a news release.
4 Oregon cities named on Trump administration list of jurisdictions defying ICE
KGW | By Anthony Macuk, Tim Gordon
The Trump administration has published a list of "sanctuary jurisdictions" that it accuses of defying federal immigration law by obstructing deportation efforts carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The list posted on the Department of Homeland Security's website includes Portland, Beaverton, Eugene and Hood River, along with 15 Oregon counties and the state itself.
‘Before he locks us up’: Oregon couple will return to Mexico to avoid Trump’s deportation threat
Oregon Live | By Yesenia Amaro
Chivo, 63, and Estrella, 60, are undocumented immigrants, and Chivo has a criminal record. They consider Trump’s return to power, and the unsettling fear of being deported and losing all of their possessions, too big of a risk. So the couple have made the decision to leave Oregon, representing the small segment of undocumented immigrants who are heeding Trump’s warnings and effectively deporting themselves to Mexico. An estimated 120,000 undocumented immigrants live in Oregon and, advocates say, similar considerations are being made in households across the state, if not the nation.
ECONOMY
Poverty stats understate Oregon financial hardship by factor of 3, report says
Oregon Live | By Mike Rogoway
Oregon poverty rates are near historic lows, with fewer than 1 in 9 residents living below the federal poverty line.
But critics have long complained that the government’s classification formula is far too narrow. To qualify as impoverished, a single person anywhere in the U.S. can earn no more than $15,480 annually — a figure that, while low anywhere, goes further in lower-cost states than it might in Oregon.
By the ALICE metric, 42% of Oregon households didn’t make enough to cover the necessities in 2023, the most recent data available. That’s triple the number that are below the federal poverty line.
EDUCATION
Special education is costly and complicated. A Salem-Keizer middle schooler shows how it can pay off
OPB | By Natalie Pate
But to support students like DJ, school districts need three of the hottest commodities in education: people, time and expertise — all of which cost money. Tens of thousands of dollars per student per year.
One of the biggest challenges facing schools all over the country is how to pay for those high costs. A record number of students nationally receive special education services, yet resources and qualified staff are in short supply. Without enough money, kids’ needs may not get identified, and even if they do, they might not get the kinds of support they need.
NATURAL RESOURCES & WILDFIRE
Northwest wildfire outlook is grim, even as hiring has ramped up
OPB | By April Ehrlich
With above-average temperatures and severe drought expected this summer, Oregon and Washington are likely in for a bad fire season. That was the upshot of a wildfire outlook presented to U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, during a Friday briefing in Portland. But there was a glimmer of hope: Federal firefighting managers said their workforce is about where it needs to be for the fire season ahead.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Oregon governor requests federal funding to support aftermath of spring floods
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Mia Maldonado
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek on Friday asked President Donald Trump to declare a disaster, the first step to obtaining federal funding to help Coos, Curry, Douglas and Harney counties recover from the aftermath of intense spring flooding and landslides.
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