May 13 2021
Veteran Portland Democrat starts term on Nov. 1, when she will vacate the Senate District 18 seat.
Sen. Ginny Burdick was confirmed for one of Oregon s two seats on the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
The Oregon Senate voted 23-6 on Thursday, May 13, to confirm Gov. Kate Brown s nomination of the Democrat from Portland. Burdick starts on the four-state council on Nov. 1, when she will have to resign her Senate seat after 25 years.
Commissioners in Multnomah and Washington counties, where Senate District 18 falls, will choose a replacement nominated by Democrats. The appointee will serve until the 2022 general election, when voters will elect someone to complete the remaining two years in the term. The district, which straddles southwest Portland and Tigard, is likely to be redrawn during legislative redistricting.
Sen. Dallas Heard, R-Roseburg, talks to his fellow senators. Oregon state senators gather in the Senate chambers on Feb. 11, 2020 in Salem, Oregon.
Two Republicans in the Oregon Senate have introduced legislation that explicitly targets two of their colleagues roles in the state Republican Party. It s just the latest sign of a rift among Senate Republicans this year.
Signs of tension among Oregon Senate Republicans have been building for months, with members of the 11-person caucus disagreeing over strategies for fighting controversial bills and how best to object to a closed Capitol.
Such intraparty differences are a feature of politics, but they rarely get their own legislation. That changed Wednesday, as a pair of Republican Senators, Sens. Lynn Findley and Bill Hansell, introduced a bill explicitly targeting two of their colleagues.
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A bill that sets firearm storage requirements, outlaws guns in the Oregon Capitol building and allows schools to ban guns is headed to the governor s desk for her signature.
The Senate approved Senate Bill 554 Wednesday.
Proponents called SB 554 a meaningful step toward reducing gun violence.
Additionally, they said, the storage
regulations would impact the minority of gun-owning Oregonians who do not already secure their guns.
“Passing a safe storage policy for firearms and improving safety in our public buildings and our state Capitol is overdue, Sen. Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, said in a statement.
Opponents said the bill infringes upon the rights of Oregonians to defend themselves with firearms and would only harm law-abiding citizens.
May 05 2021
Final bill combines requirements for locks and safe storage with a ban on firearms in some public places.
.Gov. Kate Brown is the final stop for the Oregon Legislature s major gun legislation of 2021.
The Senate voted Wednesday, May 5, to accept the House version of a bill that combines requirements for locks and safe storage of firearms with a narrowed ban on concealed-handgun license holders bringing firearms into some public places.
The vote was 17-7. Sen. Betsy Johnson of Scappoose was the lone Democrat to join six Republicans in opposition to the revised Senate Bill 554. Five Republicans and one independent were recorded as excused or absent.