Dirk VanderHart
Reporter | Oregon State Capitol CorrespondentDirk VanderHart is JPR's Salem correspondent reporting from the Oregon State Capitol. His reporting is funded through a collaboration between public radio stations around the Northwest called the Northwest News Network. Before barging onto the radio in 2018, he spent more than a decade as a newspaper reporter—much of that time reporting on city government for the Portland Mercury. He’s also had stints covering chicanery in Southwest Missouri, the wilds of Ohio in Ohio, and all things Texas on Capitol Hill.
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The opinion issued Friday ended a dispute between lawmakers and Secretary of State Shemia Fagan over how to handle a delay in census data brought on by COVID-19. -
The change comes as Oregon tries to hold off a fourth-wave of the virus.
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If is passes the House, Oregon would become the latest state to criminalize using a noose to intimidate others.
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Gov. Kate Brown has told the Oregon Health Authority to give legislators their own drive-thru clinic next week, when vaccines open up to thousands of frontline workers.
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The Democrat-controlled Legislature likes the plan. The Democratic secretary of state does not.
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House Speaker Tina Kotek canceled two planned floor sessions Monday. Partisan disputes have already led to a backlog of bills in the chamber.
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In a framework released Wednesday, legislative budget writers say they can fully fund the state's big priorities with money to spare.
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Democrats in the Oregon Legislature have proposed a suite of bills that would create consequences for walkouts. But Republicans would need to be present for them to pass.
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Secretary of State Shemia Fagan opposes a plan that would grant the Legislature more time to re-draw political maps.
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What's typically a sleepy budget technicality this year contains some notable compromises — and potential controversy.
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Republicans are finding new ways to register their displeasure with the year-long closure of the statehouse, sometimes with disruptive results.
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The suit filed on Wednesday names Secretary of State Shemia Fagan as a defendant. Fagan says there are no hard feelings.
