In the late 1970s, small bands of Oregon legislators used bipartisan tactics to accomplish their goals in the Capitol.
Salem-Keizer’s transit district, known commonly as Cherriots, is eyeing significant tax increases to achieve more ridership. Currently, Cherriots receives about $16 million per year through local property taxes and another $13 million per year from a statewide tax on workers’ wages, for $29 million in revenue from those sources.
The opening of the 1977 Oregon Legislative Session mirrored all the political elements of today. Democrats held the Governor’s mansion with Bob Straub; Democrats controlled the House and had an overwhelming 24-6 super-super majority in the Senate. In the House, Portland metro liberals controlled the leadership, the agenda, and most of the committees.
After a rough-and-tumble start and mechanical breakdowns once on the road, the Oregon Legislature’s Emergency Session motorcade has screeched to a halt due to a road closure and forced into a long and uncertain detour.
Gov. Tina Kotek has called this Emergency Session of the Oregon Legislature to pass a funding bill for the fiscally challenged Oregon Department of Transportation. Efforts to solve ODOT’s financial woes missed the closing bell of the 2025 regular session, so Kotek has ordered legislators to summer school to finish their homework.
The Social Security Act, arguably the most important piece of domestic legislation of the past century, celebrates its 90th birthday on Thursday. While cutting the cake, it is a good occasion to crack open a decade-old mystery — what happened to that historic pen that President Franklin Roosevelt used to sign the bill into law?
TRIP. Never has a piece of legislation been more aptly named. The Transportation Reinvestment Package tripped all over itself during the 2025 Legislative Session before crashing to the pavement with a thud in the final week at the Capitol.
They say timing is everything, and for advocates of a robust transportation funding bill, timing could not be worse.
Curb cuts and ramps were part of a legal settlement finalized by the state stemming from a lawsuit brought by disability rights advocates in 2016. The original cost for delivery was estimated at $400 million over the 12-year life of the project but has quadrupled to that $1.65 billion as of today.
Almost a third of a century later, the State Capitol is still in Floyd Prozanski’s orbit. Occasional thoughts of stepping aside are always outweighed by the gravitational pull that keeps Oregon’s “iron man” lawmaker crafting public policy.
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