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.
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.
What Organizational Days Revealed, and What They Didn’t
Over three days at the Capitol in mid-January, 42 of the Legislature’s 55 committees and subcommittees met to preview legislative concepts, receive agency briefings, and frame the issues lawmakers hope will advance during the 35-day February session, which begins Feb. 2. These meetings are less about neutral updates than they are about signaling which topics committee leaders choose to elevate and begin building momentum around.
Peter Wong Honored with Naming of New Capitol Press Room
Peter Wong, who began his Oregon journalism career in 1979 at the Roseburg News-Review and later gravitated to cover state politics in Salem, was honored for his more than four decades as the public’s watchful eye, with the announcement that the new press room at the Capitol is being named in his honor.
When It Comes to the Republican Primary for Governor, the Ds Have It
Christine Drazan, the Republican nominee in 2022, has been considered the front-runner for a cage-match rematch with incumbent Governor Tina Kotek, but a couple of other D’s may soon be added to the card — specifically, Diehl and Dudley.
Salem Mayoral Debate Highlights Shared Opposition to New Business and Transit Taxes
The Salem Area Chamber of Commerce mayoral forum offered voters an unusually clear look at where the city’s two mayoral candidates agree — particularly on issues affecting employers, fiscal policy, and the city’s near-term economic direction.
Up, Up and Away
Bridging the political divide in Oregon has become increasingly challenging in recent years. The task isn’t going to get any easier when the cost of the I-5 bridge balloons into the ozone.