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Oregon News
Oregon Motor Voter program updated after 1K+ people mistakenly registered to vote
KOIN 6 | By Michaela Bourgeois
The Oregon Secretary of State’s Office adopted new administrative rules on Monday for the state’s Motor Voter program after a discovery in 2024 revealed more than 1,600 people were mistakenly registered to vote in Oregon.
The new rules include notifying individuals at the DMV that their information is being sent to the Secretary of State’s Office for voter registration purposes, updating the timing of transferring voter data to the Secretary of State’s Office, monthly audits of the Motor Voter program and updates to Oregon Driver & Motor Vehicle Services staff training.
According to state leaders, these changes will help keep Oregon’s election system secure.
POLITICS
As cuts loom, Oregon’s budget picture improves
OPB | By Dirk VanderHart
Republicans, meanwhile, argued rescinding federal tax breaks would suppress the state’s economy and prove unpopular with Oregonians. Democrats are proposing severing tax changes that benefit businesses that make big equipment purchases, investors in private companies, and people who pay interest on car loans.
“Raising costs on businesses and middle-income Oregonians right now is indefensible, and voters have already rejected this approach in overwhelming fashion,” Senate Republican Leader Bruce Starr, R-Dundee, said in a statement. “With additional resources on the table, Democrats are deliberately choosing to suppress economic growth and shrink our tax base.”
Oregon lawmakers will have $253M more to work with than expected
Statesman Journal | By Dianne Lugo
Lawmakers consider cuts, disconnecting from federal tax changes
Despite the positive forecast, the updated projection did not immediately change plans at the Capitol, Democrats said.
“Today’s revenue forecast is good news, but Oregon is still facing a budget crisis," said Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego.
On Feb. 3, the two Democrats chairing the House and Senate finance and revenue committees unveiled their proposal to partially disconnect Oregon from the federal tax changes to claw back an estimated $342 million in revenue and expand and create tax credits to generate a net $291 million.
Oregon Senate Republicans called the proposal a "tax gimmick" and said it would raise costs on businesses and middle-income Oregonians and further destabilize Oregon’s economy.
“Raising costs on businesses and middle-income Oregonians right now is indefensible, and voters have already rejected this approach in overwhelming fashion,” said Senate Republican Leader Bruce Starr, R-Dundee. “With additional resources on the table, Democrats are deliberately choosing to suppress economic growth and shrink our tax base."
Corporate profits, consumer spending reverse Oregon’s deficit but budget challenges remain
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Alex Baumhardt
Republican leaders used the forecast to poke holes in Democrats’ plan to cut ties with three of the 115 provisions of the Republican tax and spending cut law to keep nearly $300 million in tax revenue in the state.
“Raising costs on businesses and middle-income Oregonians right now is indefensible, and voters have already rejected this approach in overwhelming fashion,” Senate Republican Leader Bruce Starr, R-Dundee, said in a statement. “With additional resources on the table, Democrats are deliberately choosing to suppress economic growth and shrink our tax base.”
Improved corporate profits mean Oregon’s budgetary squeeze isn’t as tight as feared
The Oregonian | By Betsy Hammond
The Legislature’s Senate and House Revenue Committee chairs on Monday announced plans to cancel three state tax cuts brought about by President Donald Trump’s sprawling 2025 tax and budget cutting bill. If the revenue chairs succeed with their plan in this short session, despite stiff Republican opposition, that would net the state an additional $291 million.
Trail Blazers’ future in Portland less clear than ever as arena efforts meet resistance
The Oregonian | By Bill Oram
Forget making a deal for Giannis Antetokounmpo or finding a taker for Jerami Grant’s contract by Thursday’s trade deadline.
The Portland Trail Blazers are in a much more urgent race against time.
The NBA franchise is attempting the high-wire act of bringing together state lawmakers, the city of Portland and Multnomah County to secure $600 million in public funding that would pay to modernize the Moda Center and, in theory, secure the NBA team’s future in Portland for at least another generation.
Anything else would be widely seen as an invitation for incoming owner Tom Dundon to start exploring options to move the Blazers out of Portland.
However, sources told The Oregonian/OregonLive the proposal has encountered some resistance at the local level, which has delayed efforts to move forward in Salem. Any bill would need to pass the Legislature by March 8, the end of the 35-day short session.
Self-driving Waymo cars could soon hit Portland’s streets under proposed Oregon bill
The Oregonian | By Carlos Fuentes
Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis, a Republican from Albany and a chief sponsor of the bill, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that she understands the concerns about job losses but said welcoming the new technology into Oregon could lead to more jobs down the road.
“The bigger picture for Oregon is that autonomous vehicles have economic development and tourism upsides,” she said, adding that the bill would attract businesses to the state “instead of watching that investment go to places with more welcoming regulatory environments.”
Oregon lawmakers poised to revive bill restricting National Guard deployment. How will it work?
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Shaanth Nanguneri
The potential scenarios the legislation could lead to involve armed conflict between different troops or court challenges, according to legislative counsel.
BIPOC lawmakers take aim at federal immigration agents in Oregon
Statesman Journal | By Dianne Lugo
The Oregon Legislature's Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Caucus is taking aim at federal immigration authorities, setting an agenda for the 2026 legislative session that includes a bill that would prohibit state health care facilities from allowing federal agents into areas that aren't open to the public unless they have a court order.
Lawmakers Mull Dialing Back Funding for Medical Residencies
Willamette Week | By Andrew Schwartz
The education programs give medical school graduates hands-on experience before they get their license. The idea to trim state support is not widely beloved.
Feds seek talks to transition primate research center in Oregon into sanctuary
OPB | By Amelia Templeton
Oregon Health & Science University’s board and president have announced that the National Institutes of Health has approached them to discuss turning the nation’s largest primate research center into a sanctuary.
U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter to travel to Texas to visit detained Oregon child and family
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Mia Maldonado
U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter will travel to Texas to visit the family detained by federal immigration agents in January in Portland while seeking health care for their 7-year-old daughter.
ECONOMY
People from other countries account for most of Oregon’s growth
KPTV | By Mike Rogoway
Oregon’s population was roughly flat last year, according to new census data issued last week, adding just 8,300 residents. That’s one of the slowest growth rates in the nation, 0.2%, and far below Oregon’s robust growth rate a decade ago.
Deaths have outnumbered births in Oregon since 2020 so the state’s population would be shrinking if not for one group of people still moving in — people from other countries.
CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY
A Drug Market Moves Into a Home Forward Apartment Building
Willamette Week | By Sophie Peel
Reporting by WW over the past two months shows how the housing agency failed to keep a nearby drug market from setting up shop in the hallways outside Gary Opel’s apartment door.
Federal judge orders DHS to stop indiscriminate use of tear gas, crowd control munitions outside Portland ICE facility
KGW | By Jamie Parfitt, Alma McCarty
Judge Michael Simon [U.S. Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici’s husband] granted a temporary restraining order to protesters suing the Trump administration, saying that the "nation is now at a crossroads."
HOMELESSNESS
Multnomah County homelessness services budget drops 26%, down $87 million next year
KATU | By Shelby Slaughter
Multnomah County's Homeless Services Department is losing a quarter of its budget.
Officials say they will be working with $87 million less than the prior fiscal year.
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