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Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA founder, dead at 31 after Utah campus shooting
Fox News
Charlie Kirk is a conservative media personality and co-founder of Turning Point USA. Kirk was visiting Utah Valley University on Wednesday when he was shot. President Donald Trump confirmed the death of Kirk on Wednesday in a Truth Social post.
Oregon News
POLITICS
Editorial: A rollercoaster ride for Oregon’s transportation bill
The Oregonian Editorial Board
Provided everything goes according to plan, Democrats will soon be able to claim victory on a $4.3 billion proposal to fund state and local transportation needs and prevent hundreds of layoffs. House Bill 3991, developed by Gov. Tina Kotek, squeaked out of the Oregon House last week with the 36 votes needed to approve the tax increases. It now awaits a vote in the Oregon Senate later this month.
The only problem? Almost nothing with the transportation proposal has gone according to plan. Not in the regular session, when the original blockbuster bill buckled under the weight of its $15 billion price tag. Not at adjournment when the session ended before a substitute barebones bill could make it to a vote.
And not in the Labor Day weekend special session where chaos replaced the highly-choreographed, pre-negotiated production that typically governs special sessions. On the session’s first day, House Speaker Julie Fahey scrambled nearly all day to line up enough legislators to meet quorum requirements. Then, a few days later, Senate President Rob Wagner announced he was postponing any Senate action until Sept. 17 as one legislator – whose “yes” vote is crucial to passage – recovers from health issues. The transportation bill’s rollercoaster ride continues, while the budgets of the Oregon Department of Transportation and local government transportation agencies across the state hang in the balance.
While the special session has not concluded, there are a few takeaways worth noting.
Kotek may have drawn too hard a line in negotiations, leaving no room for error. Democrats own supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature and can, theoretically, pass a tax increase without a single Republican vote. But the transportation bill asks a lot of taxpayers, increasing the gas tax by six cents to 46-cents-per-gallon; doubling car registration fees; hiking title costs 181%; and requiring electric-vehicle and hybrid-vehicle drivers to enroll in a program to charge by the mile. The bill also doubles the 0.1% payroll tax for two years and earmarks that revenue for public transit. As a result, Democrat Annessa Hartman of Gladstone voted against the package in the House. To get the requisite 36 votes, Democrats needed Rep. Hoa Nguyen of Portland, who is receiving treatment for cancer, to come to Salem and for Republican Cyrus Javadi of Tillamook to vote yes. Javadi re-registered as a Democrat just days later.
The bill faces similarly tight math in the Senate, and Democrats are counting on Sen. Chris Gorsek of Gresham, who is recovering from post-surgery complications, to be able to vote on Sept. 17. That puts extraordinary pressure on people facing serious health issues. While the bill had some concessions, Kotek was unwilling to yield on other key issues, such as canceling an executive order benefiting unions that will make road projects more expensive. Such a consequential bill needed to be truly bipartisan.
Fahey failed at one of her responsibilities as speaker – ensuring quorum. All along, Democratic leaders were confident they would have enough members present in each chamber to meet quorum requirements for doing legislative business. In the House, that means ensuring that 40 of the 60 members attend. Democrats control 36 seats and House Republican Leader Christine Drazan had told the governor weeks ago that her caucus would provide four Republicans, as Dick Hughes reported in his July 24 Capital Chatter column.
But at least three Democrats were absent for part or all of the special session raising the question of why Fahey was not better prepared. A spokeswoman for Fahey, who decides whether to disallow a requested absence, did not respond to an email asking why the speaker allowed so many Republicans and Democrats to be excused during the session.
No work plus a stalled session still equals per diems for legislators: Due to constitutional requirements, the House could not adjourn after its vote with the Senate remaining in session until Sept. 17. So, House members will continue to draw their $178 per diem for each day that there’s a floor session until final adjournment. That will be four days’ worth, starting after their Sept. 1 vote. The deal’s sweeter for Senate members, who receive their $178 per diem per calendar day, including weekends and holidays, according to the legislative administration office, until Sept. 17.
Oregonians should follow the money: Although Kotek rejected calls to specify in the bill that all new revenue dedicated to the State Highway Fund would go to maintenance and operations, she did write a letter to ODOT Director Kris Strickler directing him to prioritize those needs. Such wording is not binding, however, and ongoing major highway projects still lack a funding source. It’s something to keep an eye on. Assuming, of course, that the bill passes according to plan.
Oregon Democratic lawmaker who broke with party on transportation plan will not seek reelection
The Oregonian | By Carlos Fuentes
Rep. Annessa Hartman, a Gladstone Democrat who was the only member of her caucus to vote against a tax-raising transportation package last week, announced Tuesday she will not seek reelection.
Instead, Hartman said in a press release, she will run for a seat on the Clackamas County Commission next year. She said stepping back into local politics — she served on the Gladstone City Council for two years before winning election to the House in 2022 — would allow her to spend more time with her two daughters and leave behind the partisanship of the Legislature.
Hartman said her journey in the Legislature has been rewarding but has also “come with immense heartbreak.” She said she witnessed firsthand “how often party power overshadows people, how votes are dictated by allegiance rather than conscience, and how voices are silenced for daring to dissent.”
“I have given this work my whole heart, my whole self, but I cannot sustainably continue in a system that demands I betray either my values or my family,” she said in a letter accompanying the press release. “I cannot be the mother my children deserve, work another full-time job to pay the bills and continue in a role that consumes every ounce of me.”
Hartman has kept a relatively low profile in Salem, pushing policies to protect survivors of sexual violence and expand victim services, among other issues. She won reelection last November with about 56% of the vote.
In recent weeks, however, she generated controversy in Salem and her district by being the only House Democrat to vote against a transportation package that would raise taxes to bolster funding for road maintenance and public transit. She said her constituents did not trust the Oregon Department of Transportation to manage additional revenue and said raising taxes on working class families was unjustifiable.
Democrats narrowly passed the package despite Hartman’s opposition, as one Republican crossed the aisle to provide the 36th vote required to raise taxes. Last week, that Republican, Rep. Cyrus Javadi, said he had switched to the Democratic party.
“This was an incredibly difficult decision,” Hartman said in the press release of her choice to oppose the package. “But last week made it clear to me that party politics and bureaucracy get in the way of true people-centered solutions. I want to serve where collaboration matters, more than party lines, and that’s right here at home.”
Hartman will run for Seat 4 on the Clackamas County commission, which former Commissioner Melissa Fireside resigned from earlier this year amid a cloud of controversy, including a felony theft indictment. Former Damascus Mayor Diana Helm was appointed to fill the seat. Next year’s winner of the seat will serve through December 2028.
Lawmakers will be paid at least $180K for special session, mostly for days they won’t work
The Oregonian | By Sami Edge
Senate Majority Leader Kayse Jama said in a statement that legislative lawyers told him per diem pay is mandatory for senators while the session is underway. He encouraged fellow Senate Democrats to donate their payments for Sept. 4 through Sept. 16, when they’re not conducting official business, to a cause of their choice. Oregon Public Broadcasting reported last week that several Democrat senators intend to do so, but that Senate Republican Leader Daniel Bonham did not issue that same guidance to the Republican caucus.
One of the State’s Leading Economic Observers Says Oregon’s Growth Is Over
Willamette Week / Oregon Journalism Project
John Tapogna identified five major challenges the state faces: a housing shortage; lousy K–12 schools; wildfires; overreliance on income taxes; and ambivalence about growth.
Kotek’s New OHSU Board Nominees Include Former State Sen. Betsy Johnson
Willamette Week | By Andrew Schwartz
Board members would oversee the major medical institution during a time of “tremendous change.”
Tigard mayor resigns following investigation
The Oregonian | By Austin De Dios
Tigard Mayor Heidi Lueb resigned Tuesday night shortly before the City Council was scheduled to “consider the dismissal or disciplining of a public officer” during a confidential executive session.
CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY
Multnomah County Jail has agreement with feds to hold immigration detainees
KATU | By Christina Giardinelli
Intergovernmental agreements between the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) and the United States Marshals Service (USMS) reveal that the county has, since 2011 and potentially longer, agreed to hold immigrations detainees in its jail in Downtown Portland.
ICE protests are nothing like 2020. So why is Trump floating a Portland crackdown?
The Oregonian | By Fedor Zarkhin, Zaeem Shaikh
President Donald Trump said last Friday he may send troops to Portland to quell protests that had “ruined” the city.
“It’s like living in hell,” he said.
The president’s cataclysmic assessment stemmed from a television news report, he said, seemingly alluding to ongoing protests outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in South Portland. The demonstrations have continued since at least June 6.
Trump’s criticism quickly drew condemnation from local officials who don’t want federal agents further antagonizing protesters, as they did in 2020.
ECONOMY
Oregon ski resort sued for $4.6M, as industry says deluge of suits is putting it at risk
The Oregonian | By Aimee Green
Lawyers for a 4-year-old girl who suffered a concussion and several broken bones when another skier crashed into her filed a $4.6 million lawsuit last week against Hoodoo Ski Area near Sisters.
The litigation is the latest in a string of lawsuits filed against Oregon ski resorts, adding to an intensifying climate of worry for the businesses. The resorts say such suits have jeopardized their ability to remain insured, a necessity for continuing operations.
EDUCATION
Trump administration axes federal grant for Oregon’s deaf and blind students
The Oregonian | By Julia Silverman
The Trump administration has yanked a years-long grant for a program that serves about 110 of Oregon’s most medically vulnerable children, citing an unrelated plan by the program’s fiscal agent, Portland Public Schools, to open a Center for Black Student Excellence.
The Aug. 27 notification that the five year, $650,000 grant for the Oregon DeafBlind Project would be immediately discontinued, after just two years, was a shock, said Lisa McConachie, the initiative’s director.
HEALTH CARE
Oregon doctors hesitate to prescribe latest COVID-19 vaccines in vacuum of state, federal guidance
The Oregonian | By Kristine de Leon
The latest COVID-19 vaccines are only available to Oregonians with a prescription for the time being, but the state’s doctors are hesitant to order the inoculations.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the updated COVID-19 shots for seniors and younger Americans with certain health conditions — excluding healthy children and young adults — but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee has not yet issued recommendations on who should receive them.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Oregon fights back after losing $86M in solar funding
The Oregonian | By Gosia Wozniacka
Oregon isn’t giving up on $86.6 million in solar project funding canceled by the Trump administration that was supposed to pay for substantial electric bill discounts for low-income people and other disadvantaged residents throughout the state.
The Oregon Department of Energy has filed a challenge with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which terminated the grant for the Solar for All program though it had already been awarded under a legally binding agreement.
More than half of Northwest in severe, extreme drought, Oregon in historic dry period
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Alex Baumhardt
Between April and July, Oregon experienced its fourth driest period since record keeping began in 1895, according to the state’s climatologist.
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