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Oregon News
Spring Break coincides with skyrocketing gas prices in Oregon and nationally
OPB / KLCC | By Rachael McDonald
Oregonians may be rethinking their spring break travel given the high cost of gas.
POLITICS
Oregon voters have rejected most laws that reach ballot through referendums
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Mia Maldonado
May’s vote on a controversial 2025 transportation law will mark the 67th time in state history that Oregonians opposed a law strongly enough to petition for its placement on the ballot.
A majority of voters approved just more than one-third of those laws, including measures that gave sheriffs control of county prisons and closed the Willamette River to commercial fishing south of Lake Oswego.
A “yes” vote on the measure would raise most vehicle title and registration fees, increase the gas tax from 40 cents to 46 cents and double the payroll tax used for public transit from 0.1% to 0.2% of a worker’s paycheck until 2028.
This process, known as a referendum, has roots in distrust in the political class, according to Rep. Ed Diehl, a Scio Republican who helped lead the state’s most recent referendum alongside Sen. Bruce Starr, R-Dundee, and Taxpayer Association of Oregon founder Jason Williams. In late 2025, the petitioners submitted to the Oregon Secretary of State’s office more than 200,000 signatures — more than double the 78,000 signatures they needed — to secure a spot on the ballot.
Oregon Gov. Kotek convenes leaders to tackle transportation funding
Statesman Journal | By Anastasia Mason
A group of transportation experts will work on solutions to fund the state's transportation system in 2027 and beyond, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek announced March 19.
The Rebuilding Our Transportation Vision Workgroup is tasked with reviewing current and projected transportation spending and needs and creating an outline for potential legislation ahead of the 2027 legislative session.
"Oregonians want and deserve a safe, accessible, and reliable transportation system,” Kotek said in a statement. “Despite political division, we all need to come back to the table to identify our basic transportation needs in a way that will sufficiently and sustainably provide a system that meets the current and future goals of our state.”
Lawmakers plan to tackle transportation funding once again in 2027.
Oregon Senate President and Trail Blazers’ executive defend public financing deal to help renovate Moda Center
OPB | By Sheraz Sadiq
Oregon Senate President Rob Wagner and Dewayne Hankins, President of Business Operations for the Blazers, joined OPB’s “Think Out Loud” to discuss the Blazers’ future in Portland and why they support using public funds to help pay for the estimated $600 million to renovate the Moda Center.
Oregon voters overwhelmingly approved limiting money in politics. Then politicians had their say
ProPublica | By Rob Davis
When lawmakers eventually set caps in 2024, individual donations were restricted to $3,300 per election, well short of caps in the $1,000 to $2,000 range that good-government groups had sought previously.
Lawmakers left other avenues for donors to give their time and money. They allowed corporate donations, which many states ban, to continue. They made it so the limits wouldn’t take effect until 2027, after the current race for governor is over.
And now, lawmakers have voted to ratchet the spigot open further — and perhaps, campaign reform advocates say, all the way.
On March 5, Oregon’s Democratic-controlled Legislature approved a bill that supporters described as containing little more than technical fixes to what they’d written two years ago.
Tensions rise at Portland Community College board meeting as strike continues
OPB | By Tiffany Camhi
Pressure is building on PCC leaders to come to an agreement on livable wages for faculty and staff.
Federal judge in Oregon rules US government overreached with transgender health care declaration
Associated Press
A federal judge said the government overreached by issuing a declaration that called treatments like puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries unsafe and ineffective for young people experiencing gender dysphoria, according to a ruling Thursday in Oregon.
Oregon joins lawsuit to block Tegna, Nexstar merger
OPB | By Lauren Dake
Attorney General Dan Rayfield warns merge of KOIN-TV and KGW-TV’s parent companies would damage local news across the state and nation.
Former employees sue Josephine County, claiming commissioners retaliated after ethics complaint
OPB / Jefferson Public Radio | By Justin Higginbottom
Two former Josephine County employees have alleged whistleblower retaliation in the latest lawsuit against the county.
Lincoln County Commission halts in-person meetings due to safety concerns
OPB / KLCC | By Brian Bahouth
Disruptions have plagued the coastal county commission’s meetings as its remaining two members try to fill a vacant seat after the death of the board chair.
HEALTH CARE
Providence May Sell Off Health Insurance Business, Among Oregon’s Largest
Willamette Week | By Andrew Schwartz
Notably, the insurer also says it won’t bid on an upcoming contract with Oregon Public Employees’ Benefit Board—which experienced major issues early this year after Providence hired a subcontractor to administer benefits.
PUBLIC SAFETY
His family came to pick him up from Oregon prison. ICE was waiting too
The Oregonian | By Isabel Funk, Beth Slovic
Jonathan Gamez’s family was waiting outside the Columbia River Correctional Institution in February when he walked out the prison gates as a free man. He had just served a little over a year on a domestic violence conviction.
But no one in the Gamez family knew U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were waiting, too.
Gamez’s arrest is a rare example in Oregon of ICE officers targeting someone with a criminal record. Last year, Oregon saw 1,655 immigration arrests, and in 76% of those cases, the subjects had no pending criminal charges or convictions, according to research from the University of Washington Center for Human Rights.
Picking someone up outside of jail or state prison remains even rarer in Oregon, since local correctional institutions aren’t permitted to cooperate with federal immigration authorities under the state’s sanctuary laws. Since last July, the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition has heard about only 13 ICE arrests outside Oregon jails and prisons, according to coordinator Alyssa Walker Keller.
Amber Campbell, a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Corrections, said the department is not telling ICE when people will be released. The day a person leaves prison is public information freely available on a state website, but the time a person is released varies and is not publicly disclosed, Campbell said.
“ICE arrested Jonathan Gamez, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, after he was RELEASED by sanctuary politicians from the Columbia River Correctional Institution,” the unnamed spokesperson said. “Under President (Donald) Trump and (former DHS) Secretary (Kristi) Noem, if you break the law, you will face the consequences. Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S.”
HOMELESSNESS
Meeting with Trump homelessness advisor leaves Multnomah County bracing for impact
KGW | By Blair Best
Multnomah County officials say 1,200 people in permanent supportive housing could lose it as the Trump administration shifts funding to temporary programs.
Apartment owners sue Portland, Salvation Army, claiming homeless shelter lowered property values
The Oregonian | By Lillian Mongeau Hughes
The owners of an apartment building in the Pearl District are suing the city of Portland and The Salvation Army, alleging the city-funded shelter next door has “substantially diminished” the building’s market value.
Lender Forecloses on Troubled Family Shelter in Gresham
Willamette Week | By Anthony Effinger
East County Housing LLC got $6.8 million in state money to buy the building through a program run by the Oregon Community Foundation.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Amid Trump logging push, will Oregon enter new timber era?
Statesman Journal | By Zach Urness
Today, Oregon still produces the most softwood lumber in the United States. But the state’s timber harvest has hovered near historic lows, at least seven mills have closed since 2024 and logging on federal lands has been limited.
President Donald Trump's administration wants to change that.
PacifiCorp to offload some rural Oregon service as wildfire costs mount
The Oregonian | By Gosia Wozniacka
PacifiCorp plans to sell some of its power lines and distribution assets in rural Oregon to electric cooperatives to shore up finances amid growing liabilities from 2020 wildfires.
Power line proposal brings environmental worries in Washington County
KOIN 6 | By Ariel Salk
For more than 30 years, the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge has been a protected space for a variety of wildlife. Environmentalists worry about plans to add power lines across from the refuge near the Onion Flat, which would cause harm to the wildlife.
'It's just wrong': Sherwood community pushes back on battery facility near wildlife refuge
KATU | By Victor Park
People in Sherwood are worried a battery storage facility and new power lines set to be built next to a wildlife refuge could hurt animals.
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