|
Oregon News
POLITICS
Vice Chair of Oregon Senate Housing Committee Seeks Prevailing Wage Reforms
Willamette Week | By Nigel Jaquiss
When the Oregon Legislature convenes for the 2026 session on Feb. 2, the Senate’s No. 2 leader on housing and development will introduce legislation to make small but significant changes to Oregon’s prevailing wage laws.
Sen. Dick Anderson (R-Lincoln City) says he has seen builders in his coastal district and across the state struggle with recent interpretations of Oregon’s prevailing wage laws. Those rulings have resulted in fewer new units of housing and unnecessary obstacles to the provision of vital services such as child care.
Oregon politician decries doxxing after stranger shows up at her home
The Oregonian | By Douglas Perry
State Rep. Dacia Grayber took to social media this week to insist that constituents stay away from her home — and to remind people that doxxing is illegal — after someone showed up at her residence uninvited to talk about a political issue.
Should Oregon water down a bill to ban officers from wearing masks? Democrats are divided
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Shaanth Nanguneri
Democratic lawmakers have introduced bills to regulate federal agents wearing masks. But in recent forums, Eugene-based House Speaker Julie Fahey and Senate Judiciary Chair Floyd Prozanski, both Democrats, spoke about the challenging legal landscape state lawmakers face when trying to regulate the actions of the federal government.
Fahey controls which bills receive votes on the House floor and Prozanski rules over the committee most likely to consider mask-related bills, so their skepticism could doom efforts.
Prozanski, a long-time municipal prosecutor, told the City Club of Eugene last week that he does not believe states can prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from wearing masks. He pointed to the U.S Constitution’s supremacy clause, which ensures that federal law supersedes conflicting state laws.
Instead, he suggested that Oregon could require law enforcement to identify their agency and badge number or name on top of the mask itself. States could have that power under the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which delegates authority to states for issues over which the federal government does not have direct control, he said.
“This is one of those things that we can have a little more accountability for all officers,” Prozanski said. “I believe that the courts would find that that would be something that under the 10th Amendment, that we have the right as a state to set for public health and safety.”
Oregon nurses union, Democratic lawmakers introduce bill to limit immigration enforcement at hospitals
OPB | By Amelia Templeton
The Oregon Nurses Association and state Democratic lawmakers announced a bill Friday that would require hospitals and some federally funded primary care clinics to designate certain areas as off-limits to federal immigration enforcement agents, unless they have a valid judicial warrant. It’s modeled after a law passed in California last year.
The bill is at present a placeholder or “gut and stuff,” filled with generic text that will be replaced once the legislature’s attorneys have finished reviewing the proposed legislation. Campos said she hopes to have that text from legislative counsel Monday, when SB 1570 is scheduled for its first reading on the Senate floor.
How Oregon is fighting back against sharp rise in federal immigration enforcement
The Oregonian | By Kristine de Leon
Gov. Tina Kotek has signed an executive order directing state agencies to coordinate their response to support immigrant and refugee communities amid a recent increase in federal immigration enforcement.
2026 ELECTION
All but one of Oregon’s top Republican gubernatorial candidates set to speak at Portland forum
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Shaanth Nanguneri
Three of Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek’s top potential Republican challengers are set to gather on Saturday for their first candidate forum together ahead of the May primary, with one notable absence.
The Western Liberty Network said it plans to include two empty chairs to mark two invited candidates who will not attend. One is for Kotek, who is unlikely to take stances on key issues for Oregonians next to Republican contenders for the governor’s race until after the primary.
Another chair will take the place of state Sen. Christine Drazan, R-Canby, who lost to Kotek by less than 67,000 votes in 2022 and spoke at the conference last year. She declined to attend this time around, according to the network.
| 
