Lauren Dake

A coalition of powerful business and political leaders are moving ahead with plans to “fix” Measure 110, the voter-approved drug decriminalization effort.

Members of one of Oregon’s largest labor unions successfully gathered enough signatures to force a recall vote of one of the state’s most labor-friendly lawmakers — Rep. Paul Holvey, a Democrat from Eugene.

The Oregon state agency charged with monitoring discrimination in workplaces across the state was itself a hostile work environment for the Black woman who was hired to head the civil rights division of the Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries. A Multnomah County Circuit Court jury awarded Carol Johnson $1.7 million dollars on Monday, supporting her claim she faced a hostile workplace and race discrimination.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has approved spending billions of dollars to help ease the deepening housing crisis in the state. She also promised Thursday to provide more certainty for renters and cut red tape for developers.

Oregon has spent more than $25 million housing 462 kids in foster care in hotels after the state promised to stop the practice as part of a legal settlement in 2018.

Oregon state lawmakers returned to Salem on Tuesday and worked at frenzied speed to make their way through a pile of policy and budget bills that had piled up during the six-week legislative walkout. One of the big-ticket items on the list: A $1 billion commitment to fund Oregon’s share of the mega-project to replace the Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River connecting Portland and Vancouver.

Hundreds of bills are set to perish if the impasse continues; measures to create more affordable housing, to help at-risk students, bills aimed at combating climate change and measures addressing the public-defender crisis.

On Thursday, Senate Democrats did not say how they plan to bill their colleagues, what would happen if Republicans don’t pay nor where the money would go.

Oregon Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp worked hard to get Republicans elected. Why is he leading them down a path that could end their careers?

State election officials are fining the Democratic Party of Oregon a late filing fee of $15,000 after the party changed the donor of a hefty campaign check. The fine concludes the investigation into the state Democratic party, but officials are still looking into other issues surrounding the large campaign check.

The leaders of both parties met for the first time behind closed doors early Wednesday morning. They managed to agree on one thing: releasing a bland statement with a promise to say nothing more.

Oregon’s current law limits rent hikes to 7% plus inflation. In some recent cases, that’s resulted in 14% increases.