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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Amid rumblings that she could face a challenge to her role, House Minority Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson, R-Prineville, announced on Thursday she will step down as caucus leader when GOP representatives meet to elect new leadership next week. -
After 12 years, the role of Oregon’s top lawyer will be up for grabs in 2024.
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Gov. Tina Kotek put an end to a policy of paying state employees for traveling back to Oregon. It hasn't dissuaded people from working from elsewhere.
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Legislative aides in Oregon were the first partisan workers of their kind to form a union. It took more than two years to negotiate a contract.
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Oregonians can expect roughly 45% of the state personal income taxes they paid last year to be returned to them — about $980 for the median taxpayer.
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GOP senators and state attorneys disagree on what Measure 113 does, but they agree the matter needs to be answered soon.
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The senators say Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade cannot bar them from seeking another term because of a constitutional loophole
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One week after the University of Oregon announced it’s departure to the Big Ten, people are still grappling with the news and its unclear impacts on the state.
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Lawmakers have been waiting for weeks to learn how new Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade will enforce a new law enacted by voters last year.
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Lawmakers approved major new spending on an ongoing Capitol renovation this year without once mentioning the cost escalations.
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Gov. Tina Kotek has previously denied the claim that she fired former OLCC Director Steve Marks earlier this year at the behest of a controversial cannabis entrepreneur.
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A bill to allow Oregonians to pump their own gas is not on Gov. Kotek's veto list. Money to study legalizing sex work is.
