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Oregon News
TRANSPORTATION
Transportation tax and fee hikes remain controversial ahead of Oregon Democrats’ planned vote to enact them in coming days
The Oregonian | By Carlos Fuentes
Local officials, state workers, union leaders and truckers from across Oregon pushed lawmakers on Monday to better support the state’s roads by raising taxes and fees, while numerous individuals urged legislators to abandon a proposal that would do just that.
Budget crisis looms for Oregon because of Congressional action
Oregon Capital Chronicle | Opinion by Daniel Hauser, deputy director of the Oregon Center for Public Policy, and Juan Carlos Ordóñez, communications director of the Oregon Center for Public Policy.
Like a hurricane visible on radar well before it strikes land, a budget crisis is coming to Oregon. This fiscal storm, triggered by a reckless Congress, threatens to wreak havoc on funding for Oregon schools and other vital services.
To prepare our state to weather the storm, the governor should convene a special session of the legislature, separate from the already-scheduled special session addressing transportation funding. The focus of this new session would be to ensure Oregon does not replicate wasteful tax cuts recently enacted by Congress, which will deprive our state of precious resources at a time of extreme risk. Oregon lawmakers need to act now, before it’s too late.
Oregon’s budget has a $370M problem, economists say: ‘It’s now in the red’
The Oregonian | By Sami Edge
In response to a question from Sen. Bruce Starr, a Republican from Dundee, Riccadonna said excluding tips and overtime from taxes tends to benefit working class and lower-middle-income households.
“Putting more tax dollars in Oregonians’ pocket, imagine that – it’s going to mean less money in government’s pocket,” Starr said Wednesday.
“The damage is here,” Gov. Tina Kotek said in a statement Wednesday. She blamed Trump and congressional Republicans for creating economic uncertainty, undermining the state’s budget and cutting billions in federal funds from Oregon’s Medicaid and food stamp programs over the next several years.
“All of us need to be nimble and look for ways to make our state dollars go further when delivering for Oregonians,” she said. “I believe in the resilience of our state and our ability to work together to take care of each other.”
Republicans in turn fired at Democrats. Senate Republican Leader Daniel Bonham of The Dalles said Oregon Democrats have no plan to fix Oregon’s job declines and criticized Democrats for their plan to raise billions in taxes over the coming decade to cover road maintenance.
“Our challenges are not D.C.-grown – they’re Oregon-grown,” Bonham said. “We are losing ground because of decisions made right here at home.”
POLITICS
Federal tax cuts could blow a $373 million hole in Oregon’s new budget, economists say
OPB | By Dirk VanderHart
Facing major uncertainty over federal policies, Oregon lawmakers set aside nearly $500 million when they passed a budget in June.
It was money meant to offer stability amid economic turbulence. Now it might be as good as gone, after congressional Republicans passed a massive tax cut and spending bill last month.
President Donald Trump’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill is expected to slash money flowing into the state’s general fund by more than $888 million during the current two-year budget, state economists told lawmakers Wednesday morning.
The hit, roughly 2% of the state’s $37.3 billion general fund budget, is anticipated because Oregon automatically adopts changes within the federal tax code when deciding what taxpayers owe the state. That means cuts within the federal bill are trickling down to state coffers.
Without legislative action — likely during the one-month session early next year — Oregon’s $473 million cushion could become a $373 million hole in the freshly passed budget.
“At the end of the session we thought that the ending balance was positive and a fairly decent cushion,” Michael Kennedy, a senior state economist, told reporters. “It’s now in the red.”
The news, hardly unexpected, was the central takeaway to emerge from the state’s latest quarterly revenue forecast. And it presents state policy makers with a stark choice.
Lawmakers could opt to cut state spending. Or they could move to disconnect from the new pieces of the federal tax code. That would close the budget hole, but it would effectively raise Oregonians’ tax bills at the same time Democrats are already pushing a multibillion-dollar tax increase to pay for roads.
The state’s two political parties immediately offered diverging views of the news. Majority Democrats decried Trump administration policies they said will make it harder to fund vital services.
Gov. Tina Kotek, the architect of the current push to raise transportation taxes, said in a statement that “more Oregon families are experiencing tougher financial situations — not by chance, but because of the economic uncertainty coming straight from the Trump Administration."
Republicans cheered a tax cut on state residents, and warned Democratic policies were stalling the economy.
“The truth is, our challenges are not D.C.-grown – they’re Oregon-grown," Senate Minority Leader Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles, said in a statement. “We are losing ground because of decisions made right here at home.”
Oregon economy slows, will take $888 million revenue hit in next two years from Trump budget
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Alex Baumhardt
Senate Minority Leader Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles, disagreed with the economists findings that federal policies are the cause of Oregon’s bleak revenue forecast.
“Instead of focusing on Oregon’s problems, today’s forecast spent more time on tariffs and Washington politics,” he said in a statement. “But the truth is, our challenges are not D.C.-grown – they’re Oregon-grown. We are losing ground because of decisions made right here at home. Failed housing policy, hostile business regulations, struggling schools, and rising crime have all driven families and employers away. Tina Kotek and the Democrat supermajority have done this, one policy decision at a time.”
Economic uncertainty changes Oregon's revenue forecast again
Statesman Journal | By Dianne Lugo
Oregon state economists said on Aug. 27 that they predict revenue for the two-year budget cycle that began July 1 will be down more than $888 million from projections they made in May, and the state's surplus will end up being short some $373 million.
Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' yanks $888 million from Oregon budget, according to new revenue forecast
KGW | By Anthony Macuk
President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" is projected to take a significant bite out of Oregon's budget, according to the latest quarterly revenue forecast from the state Department of Administrative Services (DAS), which projects an $888.2 million decrease in General Fund revenue for the 2025-27 biennium stemming from the passage of HR 1, the formal title of the Trump bill.
Top official from Oregon tells Trump she welcomes federal crackdown: ‘I hope you will come to Portland’
The Oregonian | By Zane Sparling
A top Trump administration official who previously represented Oregon in Congress is ready to roll out the red carpet for federal law enforcement in her political home state.
U.S. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer made the remarks during a televised cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump.
“Thank you for what you are doing with your agents on ICE, and thank you for the prosecution, and I hope you will come to Portland, Oregon and crack down,” Chavez-DeRemer said.
$50k that could have gone to Oregon schools spent on failed homeless camp cleanup
KATU | By Christina Giardinelli
The agency responsible for managing Oregon state lands to produce revenue for schools is spending tens of thousands on a failed attempt to clear out longstanding homeless camps along the Sandy River Delta.
ECONOMY
Kroger to lay off 1K workers, including Fred Meyer employees
KOIN 6 | By Aimee Plante
Kroger is laying off nearly 1,000 corporate workers, including some local Fred Meyer employees.
In a statement, the company said the layoffs will not impact stores, distribution centers or manufacturing facilities, but are instead part of simplifying the organization.
CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY
Stabbing outside Portland library ignites dual controversies over security, police response
The Oregonian | By Zaeem Shaikh
A 44-year-old man was stabbed three times outside Central Library in downtown Portland on Monday, and events surrounding the daylight assault have angered two sets of critics for two very different sets of reasons.
Oregon's sex offender database limits information. Is it too much or not enough?
KATU | By Wright Gazaway, Alison Dorf
It took a national database to confirm the tip was true. To Gelbrich and Mendoza's surprise, the parent in question did not show up on Oregon’s database, despite a conviction for possessing child pornography.
Turns out, the parent is one of more than 30,000 registered sex offenders who doesn’t fit the criteria to show up on the Oregon State Police Public Registry.
In fact, out of the state’s roughly 34,000 registered offenders, fewer than 2,000, are on the public database, or just 5%. State law only permits Oregon State Police to publish Level Three registrants – the group with the highest risk of committing a new sex crime.
HOUSING
Native American housing advocates urge Congress to renew affordable housing law
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Mia Maldonado
Tribal housing leaders said reauthorizing housing law that expired in 2013 would cut red tape and help address urgent housing needs on tribal lands.
NATURAL RESOURCES & WILDFIRE
‘The Office’ actor evacuates Oregon cabin amid wildfire, declares ‘Let’s do something’ about climate change
The Oregonian | By Fedor Zarkhin
Actor Rainn Wilson said on social media Monday that he and his wife were forced to evacuate their Oregon mountain cabin due to a wildfire — their fourth evacuation in six years.
In the video, posted to Facebook and Instagram, Wilson expressed his frustration with the wildfire threatening their cabin before pivoting to a quick science lesson.
“For God’s sake, for the planet’s sake, let’s do something for our great-great-grandchildren and simply limit CO2 and other heat-trapping gasses and plant trees and create clean air,” he said in the video. “Is that too much to ask? I love you all.”
National News
DNC panel rejects Israel-Gaza resolutions; chair instead calls for task force
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Michelle Griffith
A Democratic National Committee panel did not advance any resolution on Israel’s war in Gaza during its meeting in Minneapolis on Tuesday, reflecting the party’s deep divisions over how forcefully to confront one of the U.S.’s closest allies.
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