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.
Group working to get measures on Oregon ballot to prevent lawmaker walkouts KATU Staff
A group is working to get measures on the 2022 ballot that will punish lawmakers who walk out during legislative sessions and use the tactic to shut down the process.
Republicans have walked out of legislative sessions in recent years to deny the state constitutionally mandated quorum that’s required to pass bills and conduct legislative business. Notably, Republicans walked out over the controversial cap-and-trade bill during the 2019 session and again in 2020.
On Thursday, the group
No More Costly Walkouts Coalition said it was filing eight more measures for the November 2022 ballot, bringing its total to 10.
by Tim Gruver, The Center Square | May 03, 2021 08:00 AM Print this article
A weekend gathering billed as a Second Amendment rally in Salem led to far-right groups tied to the Jan. 6 Capitol invasion taking control of a public park.
The Saturday event, promoted online as May Day 2A Rally, saw 100 to 200 attendees at Salem s Riverfront Park in a show of support for their Second Amendment rights. The Proud Boys, a western chauvinist group who have violently clashed with members of the anti-fascist movement, provided security and co-sponsored the event.
Some carried semi-automatic pistols or rifles and closed the public park to media, though they had no authority to do so. The armed attendees threatened reporters, forcing them to leave the immediate area and report from a distance.
by Tim Gruver, The Center Square | April 30, 2021 09:00 AM Print this article
Oregon Senate Republicans want the state reopened and appear willing to disrupt the legislative process to do it.
On Wednesday, the Senate GOP Caucus signaled its intent to take on the same parliamentary procedures as House Republicans earlier in the session by demanding bills be read aloud in full before a vote. As this session has shown, the Constitutional requirement that legislation be read in its entirety is an important tool to encourage bipartisan collaboration, the Senate Republican Caucus announced in a statement.
In response, Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, resorted to reading bills aloud Wednesday. The effort is part of larger concerns among Democratic lawmakers regarding public safety since four COVID cases twice shut down the House this session.