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For our final session together, REAL Oregon Class 8 gathered in Umatilla and Morrow counties for a glimpse at farming east of the Cascades, including industrial-scale operations that must strike a balance between feeding the world and maintaining sustainability at home.

HB 3054 seeks to place tighter price controls on communities of manufactured homes by reducing the maximum rent increase to 6% per year. Regular efforts to ratchet up price control in Oregon have led to the destabilization of rent stabilization.

If the goal of REAL Oregon is to grow leaders in agriculture and natural resources, then it only makes sense a tour of the Capitol would be next on the agenda for our February session in Salem. Whether it is farming and ranching in Klamath Falls, logging in Roseburg, or commercial fishing in Newport, the issues affecting each industry eventually make their way here, where decisions have a lasting impact on producers and rural communities.

Anyone who knows me knows I love seafood. That’s one of the many reasons I love living in Oregon — getting to enjoy fish, crab, shrimp, and oysters harvested right here along the coast. So, when I saw that REAL Oregon would be visiting Local Ocean for lunch during our January session in Newport, I was ecstatic.

Talking to Carter was like talking to your best friend. There was no sense of superiority or privilege. We would talk about our own fishing adventures.

Pac/West Lobby Group is proud to announce its pro bono representation of two significant organizations, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Shangri-La, as they prepare for the 2025 legislative session.

In his presentation to the House and Senate interim revenue committees, new state economist Carl Riccadonna said he expects the state general fund will bring in $947 million more in 2023-25 than previously figured. Taxpayers will also receive a $1.79 billion “kicker” in 2026, up from $1 billion.

As the preliminary election results continue to trickle in this morning, we are seeing few noteworthy shifts in Oregon’s political landscape. But what is clear is that Oregon voters have bucked the national trend favoring Republicans. 

State Rep. Ben Bowman, D-Tigard, finds himself squarely in the center of the ring as the House Majority Leader. Just like he always dreamed. Well, almost anyway.

Determined not to have their top players pilfered by other schools, states are busy passing laws to enhance the “Name, Image, Likeness” playing field for their state’s schools, while also insulating them from being sanctioned for their efforts by the governing body of college sports, the NCAA.

With 300 bills to work and five weeks to do the work, the short session is a frenzy of activity where legislators are warned that evenings are considered working hours. The first work session posting deadline was Feb. 12, and any bill that isn’t heard by Feb. 19 is dead. The next deadlines come in quick succession the following weeks and the entire session will wrap no later than March 10.

Lynn Peterson has consistently performed, moving from transportation planner to county commissioner to state transportation director to Metro President. She has made the right play call over the years, demonstrated by her electoral success on the political field. Now, she is playing in a new league, and it may not be the best fit. Peterson is in a competitive three-way battle in the May Democratic Primary for the 5th Congressional District against seasoned veterans Janelle Bynum and Jamie McLeod-Skinner.

In a forest of legislators, the majority of whom hadn’t yet been planted in their seats three years ago, Rep. Paul Holvey (D-Eugene) stands like an obelisk of petrified wood. Serving nearly two decades in the House of Representatives, he is eclipsed only by Rep. Greg Smith (R-Heppner) in seniority in the chamber. This week, Holvey faces a recall election, composed and orchestrated by one of his long-time allies: the United Food & Commercial Workers union.

Mike may have been a quiet leader but his integrity and loyalty never wavered. He pushed management, often unsuccessfully, for maintaining a high standard of journalism quality. Through the highs and lows, he remained true to his impeccable standards and to his friends.

The 2023 Eastern Oregon Economic Summit brought together about 280 business leaders, farmers, manufacturers, candidates, legislators, and state and local elected officials in Union County on August 3-4 to learn about the opportunities and challenges facing the expansive and diverse region.

The City Council voted this week to impose a payroll tax on all employees and independent contractors “for work performed within the Salem city limits.” The ordinance particularly calls out employees of the “State of Oregon” and “any political subdivision of the state.”

It was a turbulent flight that ended with a rough landing, but the 2023 Oregon Legislative Session safely set down on Sunday as both chambers adjourned on the last possible day.

There were rumblings of movement on the ongoing Senate Republican Caucus walkout last week, but still no clear path to a finish line of the 2023 Legislative Session before sine die. While Democrats in the Senate continue to look for ways to coerce or demand Republicans’ return to the floor, their colleagues in the House have nearly completed their work and may call their own sine die before June 25.

The political stalemate in the Oregon Senate is showing no signs of breaking in time for a normal conclusion to the 2023 Legislative Session. If anything, leadership is moving further away from resolution by the day.

The sprint toward the finish line begins this week in the Oregon Legislature, but nobody is quite sure where the finish line will be.

Now an 11-year veteran of the Oregon Senate, Sen. Elizabeth Steiner keeps her own firm grip on the legislative process as co-chair of the powerful Ways & Means Committee. And she gets plenty of hands extended from all the new friends her position attracts.

Democrats and Republicans alike continue to counter each other’s tactics to grind the legislative process down to a crawl. From a robotic voice to read bills to the Flesch Kincaid Reading Test to calculating how many days they can stay away from Senate proceedings to deny a quorum, the ultimate game plan of either party is unknown. Crystal clear, however, is that the sand in the hourglass on this constitutionally restricted session is sifting quickly.