|
Oregon News
POLITICS
Reynolds' evasions trigger District 17 challenge
NW Examiner | By Allan Classen
Autumn Sharp went to Couch Park Friday morning to talk to some friends and promptly became a candidate for the Oregon Senator District 17 seat held by Lisa Reynolds. The friends who talked her into challenging Reynolds were with Friends of Couch Park, which had worked for regulation of drug paraphernalia handouts of the kind that had occurred regularly in the neighborhood.
Reynolds had originally supported the measure, Senate Bill 1573, but she stunned the Couch Park group and another local organization, Stadiumhood Neighbors, by killing the bill in the committee she chaired. Reynolds blamed neighbors for being unwilling to compromise, but leaders of the groups said she never gave them a chance to consider the changes, changes they would have accepted had been able to.
Reynolds wasn’t eager to explain herself to her West Portland constituents. She went out of her way to evade KPTV’s Pete Ferryman, who attempted to get the senator tell her side on air.
“It didn’t feel like Senator Reynolds worked with us,” Friends of Couch Park Chair Kara Colley told KPTV. “It mostly felt like we were ignored for a year and a half.”
Northwest District Association President Todd Zarnitz sent Reynolds a letter requesting a meeting regarding “a deep sense of frustration within the neighborhood regarding how this bill was handled. The community feels that you unilaterally prevented the bill from advancing out of committee without consulting your constituents or providing an adequate explanation.
“This discrepancy between public statements and the community’s experience has caused significant confusion and broken trust.”
Reynolds’ promise to work with the neighbors in the next legislative session, did not quell the resentment. The Democratic incumbent’s lack of a challenger in the May primary troubled Friends of Couch Park. Would anyone step forward, if only to highlight her handling of this issue?
Sharp soon broke the silence with a yes, and others quickly ponied up her $85 filing fee. Before the day ended, she had registered the necessary papers.
Asked why she was running, she told the NW Examiner, “To put fear in the heart of someone who needs to do the job in the right way.”
‘I know I won’t win, but lying makes me really mad, and if I lied to the public and then hid in my office, I’d get fired,” she wrote that evening. “I want to at least make her cake walk a little less cakey this spring.”
The bill itself is not that controversial. It does not ban needle handouts; merely prohibits them in proximity of schools. But partisanship is at play. Gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan co-sponsored the bill, which every Republican senator voted in favor of (and every Democrat opposed) bringing it out of committee. The question is, which party will get the credit if and when it’s eventually adopted.
Oregon Lawmakers Cut a Bipartisan Deal to Subsidize Moda Center
Willamette Week | By Aaron Mesh
Still, the outcome involved some dealmaking.
Although the Blazers deployed a team of lobbyists, the legislation that provided state funding for the Moda Center renovation, Senate Bill 1501, faced early skepticism from members of both parties. To help secure some Republican votes, Democrats found cash for a cherished GOP cause—county fairs.
Historically, 1% of Oregon Lottery proceeds go to county fairs, but that sum is capped at $1.53 million a year. A bill that would have removed that cap died in 2025. Now, though, a March 3 amendment to another bill, Senate Bill 1601—sponsored by Sen. Kate Lieber (D-Portland), co-chair of the budget writing Joint Ways and Means Committee and a leading supporter of the Blazers bill—has removed the cap. The change will add about $6.5 million a year in new funding for fairs starting Jan. 1, 2027.
In a session where many agencies faced reduced budgets, that money was a win for Republicans—and helped secure GOP votes for the Blazers.
Asked about that dealmaking, a spokesman for Senate President Rob Wagner (D-Lake Oswego) said Democrats worked to boost all parts of the state. “The Oregon Legislature works to bridge the urban-rural divide through strategic investment every single legislative session by making sure that priorities across the state are addressed,” Wagner spokesman Connor Radnovich tells WW. “The Senate president is proud of the balanced approach the Legislature took this session around investments, particularly funding water and sewer infrastructure improvements in rural areas.”
Republican leaders could not be immediately reached for comment. But in a Joint Ways and Means Committee hearing on March 3, state Rep. Mark Owens (R-Crane) brought up Moda Center funding and, in the same breath, praised colleagues for lifting the county fairs’ funding cap.
“Yesterday, we had a long conversation about where some of the metro area go to see concerts, gather, and economic development,” Owens said. He then immediately switched topics. “Specifically, the County Fair Account law: This is huge. This is huge to the 36 county fairs that are out there. Taking away that $1.53 million cap will allow them to start catching up on some of the deferred maintenance. It’s a home run for the counties. So I just wanted to thank you guys for that acknowledgement to where rural Oregon goes to gather, too.”
Even as most of them voted in favor of Moda Center funding, Republicans marveled at a process that committed the public dollars before starting a lease negotiation with Dundon.
“The process of this bill seems a little bit backwards,” said state Rep. E. Werner Reschke (R-Klamath Falls), who then voted yes. “It reminds me of the young man who was excited for his senior prom. So he went out and bought roses and he got a limousine. He bought a tuxedo, he got a reservation at a restaurant, and then he asked the girl, would she go out with him. Maybe asking first and getting that secured first would be better than spending all the time and effort up front.”
Oregon lawmakers end 2026 legislative session by highlighting bipartisan victories
KATU | By Victor Park
After an intense few weeks of debate, Oregon lawmakers wrapped up the short legislative session Friday by highlighting bipartisan victories.
‘The Evergreen’: We go behind the scenes of Oregon’s short legislative session
OPB | By Julie Sabatier, Lauren Dake
The short session that just wrapped up brought everyone back together under one roof to work on a range of policies — from transportation funding to foster care — in just 35 days.
Oregon tourism leader warns new lodging tax increase could be a slippery slope
KGW | By Tim Gordon, Alex Jensen
The CEO of Oregon's top hospitality trade group says a tax increase for wildlife conservation sets a risky precedent for the struggling tourism industry.
Safe Routes to School Stands to Lose $17 Million
Willamette Week | By Joanna Hou
The most delicate political dance in Salem pirouettes around the $289 million gap in the Oregon Department of Transportation’s 2025–27 budget.
After Republican backlash swamped a transportation tax, Oregon lawmakers are proposing cuts to certain parts of ODOT’s budgets to patch the hole. And at least one of the proposals has active transportation advocates sounding alarms: Safe Routes to School faces a $17 million cut.
The scramble to backfill ODOT’s budget is playing out against a backdrop of a populist rebellion against a gas tax increase the legislature passed last summer. A Republican repeal effort over the holidays swiftly gathered enough signatures to refer the tax hike to the ballot—leaving Democratic leaders with the choice of highway division layoffs or programmatic cuts.
On Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Committee chose the cuts. As BikePortland first reported, state Sen. Kate Lieber (D-Beaverton) told constituents at a subcommittee hearing that they should direct their anger to campaigning.
"I’m glad you’re mad,” Lieber said. “You should be mad. You absolutely should be mad…You should go out there and you should work to defeat this ballot measure.”
It was an odd rallying cry, given that Democrats are so certain the tax repeal will succeed that they have spent much of the short session trying to move the measure to the May ballot, so it doesn’t damage their election prospects in November.
What passed during 2026 Oregon legislative session? Takeaways
Statesman Journal | By Dianne Lugo, Tracy Loew, Zach Urness
Republicans also celebrated gutting a controversial gun bill, delaying a vote on the contentious bill to move the gas tax referendum vote past a deadline from the Secretary of State, and leading an effort to purchase Abiqua Falls.
After walkouts, budget woes and tensions over Trump, Oregon lawmakers wrap for 2026 session
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Shaanth Nanguneri, Mia Maldonado, Julia Shumway, Alex Baumhardt
The 2026 short session that began in early February ended on Friday in a flurry of final votes that will impact Oregonians in every corner of the state.
A look at the biggest changes to Oregon’s budget lawmakers made today
The Oregonian | By Betsy Hammond
Oregon lawmakers were forced to rebalance the state’s $39 billion two-year budget after President Donald Trump’s sprawling tax- and budget-cutting bill punched a nearly $900 million hole in it.
They accomplished that on the final day of the five-week session Friday in part by finding or moving large tranches of money to patch holes and even add employees and services.
Oregon Senate unanimously passes stripped-down bill modifying Measure 114
KGW | By Jamie Parfitt
In a statement, Senate Republicans claimed victory for the bill that HB 4145 became, saying they "successfully removed the bill’s harmful gun control regulations."
“The original HB 4145 attempted to dramatically expand restrictions beyond what voters approved in the original Measure 114. By successfully replacing it with the A9 amendment, our dedicated group of Oregon gun owners helped stop governmental overreach," said Derek LeBlanc, a firearms instructor and gun rights advocate quoted by Senate Republicans in their statement.
Oregon gun control measure 114 delayed after lawmakers approve stripped-down bill
The Oregonian | By Maxine Bernstein
Senate Republicans praised the gutted bill, pleased that the proposed gun permit fee increases and extended processing time for the granting of permits were eliminated.
“I never bought the line that the original House Bill 4145 was about advancing the will of the people because Supermajority Democrats have repeatedly proven that they do not respect their voices,” said Sen. Christine Drazan, R-Canby, who is running for governor. “For years, this Legislature has chipped away at the right to bear arms for law-abiding citizens. This legislation is a win in an ongoing battle to defend the constitutional rights of Oregonians.”
Editorial: Legislators keep the gravy train rolling
The Oregonian Editorial Board
Legislators tried to dress up their support for House Bill 4018, which changes and delays provisions of a 2024 campaign finance reform law, as a way to ensure effective implementation and build public trust.
They claimed the supposed “technical fixes” built into the bill — which campaign finance experts said create huge loopholes — simply clarify the original intent of the bill that was passed. And they noted that the bill retains the Jan. 1, 2027 date for new limits on campaign contributions to go in effect as a sign of how they’re keeping faith with the public.
But the real message behind legislators’ passing of HB 4018 is this: Keep the money coming.
A ballot measure that largely copies another state may be the only path for meaningful campaign finance reform in this state, which remains one of only five in the nation allowing unlimited donations. Until then, the gravy train keeps rolling.
Oregon's new bill protecting tenant privacy 'goes so far to protect victims,' advocates say
KGW | By Jake Holter
Clackamas Women's Services says the “tenant confidentiality” bill would help protect women trying to escape their abusers.
Bill bolstering Oregon seed law passes Legislature unanimously
Capital Press | By Mateusz Perkowski
Oregon lawmakers have unanimously approved a bill that bolsters regulatory enforcement of timely seed payments while acknowledging it’s not a “silver bullet” for the problems facing growers.
‘Lack of honesty, transparency’: Oregon Freedom Coalition director talks legislative session results, concerns
KOIN 6 | By Todd Unger
With Oregon Democrats pushing through a bill to move a transportation bill referendum from November to May, some Republicans are now taking the issue to court.
Nick Stark is the Executive Director of the Oregon Freedom Coalition, which helped get the referendum on the ballot.
Salem Airbnbs could get more expensive as city eyes expanding tourism fee
Salem Reporter | By Joe Siess
Dozens of Salem residents who rent out their homes or spare bedrooms on a short-term basis want the city to reconsider a plan to charge them an extra 2% fee to fund tourism marketing.
HOUSING
Report finds Portland’s short-term rental rules more punitive than comparable cities
KATU | By Jennifer Singh
A Portland Ombudsman investigation has found the city’s enforcement of accessory short-term rentals rules is significantly more punitive and complex compared to other U.S. cities, citing “several concerns.”
This 12-mile corridor reveals the price of Portland’s housing crisis
The Oregonian | By Jonathan Bach, Mark Friesen
Experts say housing affordability is directly tied to the city’s economy, social stability and long-term growth. Job growth tends to be strongest in what ECOnorthwest economist Mike Wilkerson terms a “Goldilocks zone” of affordability.
Either way you look at it, renting or buying, one conclusion is inescapable: Housing in Portland is expensive. Too expensive for many of the people who live and work here.
Editorial: Portland permit enforcers need to dial back the aggression
The Oregonian Editorial Board
The good news: City regulators are beefing up enforcement after years of lackluster oversight allowed mass violations of city requirements, as investigations by The Oregonian/OregonLive have found. Despite longstanding city rules for short-term rental operators to get a permit, live in the unit for most of the year and meet other requirements, hundreds or even thousands of units were flouting such provisions, the stories found. In a city with a housing shortage, the obligation to closely track, oversee and analyze short-term rentals’ impact on housing availability should be non-negotiable.
The bad news? The aggressiveness of the city’s enforcement actions apparently went from 1 to 11 — on a 10-point scale.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Oregon pushes new homes to install heat pumps over ACs
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Alison F. Takemura
Oregon has made heat pumps the default appliance for cooling new homes.
Last month, the state Building Code Division’s Residential and Manufactured Structures Board voted 7–1 to adopt energy-efficiency standards that encourage builders equipping new homes with air conditioning to use dual-purpose heat pumps instead of conventional central ACs.
Trump administration wants to Make Oregon Logged Again, revving up decades‑old battles over big timber
The Oregonian | By Gosia Wozniacka
In western Oregon, public forests that once fueled rural prosperity — and later came under strict habitat protections that sharply reduced logging and local revenues — are again at the center of a political and economic storm.
The Trump administration is proposing to quadruple logging on federal lands in 18 Oregon counties, raising timber harvests to levels not seen since before spotted owl protections reshaped forest management in the 1990s.
The plan has stirred a mix of hope and dread across the state.
In cash-hungry rural counties hollowed out by decades of dwindling timber receipts – places where mills and libraries shuttered and sheriff’s patrols thinned to almost nothing – the proposal looks like a long‑awaited lifeline that could stabilize county budgets and create new jobs.
“It would be a godsend,” said John Sweet, a commissioner in Coos County, once one of the West Coast’s largest timber exporters that saw the loss of hundreds of mill and logging jobs and a decades-long economic stagnation.
National News
Proposed bill would penalize employers, remove truck drivers who can’t speak English well enough to understand road signs
CNN
A Tennessee lawmaker is proposing a bill that would take commercial truck drivers off the road if they cannot speak English well enough to understand road signs.
'He’s praying in a foreign language': Southwest passenger describes diverted flight
KATU
Passengers on a Southwest Airlines flight from Nashville to Fort Lauderdale experienced tense moments Friday night after a man’s behavior prompted the crew to divert the plane to Atlanta, where a tactical team then boarded and removed him.
“(The man) has a timer going off on his phone every 10 minutes and he’s praying in a foreign language,” the passenger said. “He’s sweating. He keeps asking the flight attendant where his bag is- multiple times.”
Uber launches women-only option in the US
Associated Press
Uber launched a feature Monday to allow both women riders and drivers across the U.S. to be matched with other women for trips, expanding a pilot program aimed at addressing concerns about the safety of its riding-hailing platform.
| 
