Access or Excess?
Legislative leadership believes that time has come and have introduced HB 4002 to limit the number of bills legislators can request be drafted by Legislative Counsel. As in the game of golf, the more strokes you take is not a sign of productivity.
Week Two: When the Calendar Tightened
If the first week of session was defined by the arrival of the math, the second was defined by the arrival of the calendar.
Oregon’s Tax Disconnect Debate and the Tradeoffs Lawmakers Can’t Escape
A roughly $300 million question is forcing Oregon policymakers to confront two uncomfortable truths at the same time: families are feeling acute cost pressure right now, and long-term funding for public services ultimately depends on whether the state remains a place where businesses invest, expand, and hire.
Week One: When the Math Arrived in Salem
The first full week of Oregon’s legislative session made one thing clear early. This would not be a session defined by delay.
The Stress Test of Federalism
The defining characteristic of this session is anticipation, but not like the way we anticipate the state fair coming at the end of summer — more like how the Louisianans anticipate the next Category 5 hurricane. It’s the clash of federalism and states rights.
Death of the Oregon Health Plan?
The foundation of the Oregon Health Plan was the Prioritized List, which ranked covered medical services based on their cost effectiveness coupled with proven medical science efficacy. Now leadership at the Oregon Health Authority has brought forth HB 4003 to eliminate the list from everywhere in statute they can find.
Political Center Podcast: Featuring Sen. James Manning
Sen. James Manning, Oregon Senate President Pro Tem, joins Jesse Peone of The Political Center to discuss his priority legislation for the short session.
Vanessa Nordyke and the Challenger’s Test
Elected to the Salem City Council years before Mayor Julie Hoy took office, Nordyke is part of the governing body that presided over both the city’s fiscal crisis and its subsequent stabilization during the past year. That reality forecloses the outsider posture and presents a more delicate strategic course — arguing for a change in leadership when the city’s trajectory appears to be improving since the incumbent mayor took office.
Discontent Over the Disconnect
Public employee unions are among those demanding legislators disconnect from the tax provisions of the federal legislation when it comes to assessing state income taxes on Oregonians. Doing so will help decrease the deficit now facing legislators as they try and save key programs and services from further reductions.
Julie Hoy and the Power of Incumbency
For Mayor Julie Hoy, the race for Salem mayor comes down to whether the electorate feels her leadership has been a positive or negative influence on the direction of the city in her first term.