COMMENTARY | Oregon business lobbyists scapegoat public workers while ignoring corporate responsibility for budget cuts The Oregon Legislature is planning a pay cut for public employees, as a big part of a package to restructure the deficits caused by the ...
10 May 2019 - Mary King
A boost in funding is sought to hire more caseworkers and stabilize existing foster families Marissa Johnson’s former foster child had no place to go. When the youth’s behavior became potentially dangerous to herself and her foster family, the Oregon Depa ...
3 May 2019 - Libby Dowsett
With Oregon’s abysmal track record for responding to records requests, legislative action is crucial From the moment a politician put pen to paper, there has been a reporter asking for a copy of the document. Transparency in government is a hallmark of d ...
5 Apr 2019 - SR editorial board
Expansion proposed of Child Welfare’s Independent Living Program and other transition services Whitney Rodgers has spent nearly half her life moving from placement to placement in the foster care system, but it wasn’t until she turned 17 that she began to ...
8 Mar 2019 - Libby Dowsett
Legislation would establish an ombudsman to work with foster parents Many families believe the first step toward solving Oregon’s foster home shortage is giving current foster parents a spot at the decision-making table. “We weren’t treated like part of t ...
8 Mar 2019 - Libby Dowsett
State tax policy should support real housing needs What does it say about Oregon’s priorities when in the midst of a low-income housing shortage, we, as taxpayers, subsidize people who buy second homes? That is what we do, and have done for decades, by al ...
8 Mar 2019 - SR editorial board
COMMENTARY | Oregon’s new law is nothing compared to efforts in some U.S. cities The new Democratic super-majority in the Oregon Legislature raised hopes for real progress on urgent issues, including affordable housing, climate change, an abysmal lack of ...
1 Mar 2019 - Mary King
Oregon lawmakers push for guidelines on disclosing possible health risks from electromagnetic radiation in schools It’s everywhere. The electrosmog of radiofrequencies, electromagnetic radiation and all the Wi-Fi glory that keeps our world humming along. ...
8 Feb 2019 - Joanne Zuhl
State Legislature considers finding resources to solve cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls Deborah Shipman didn’t sugarcoat her intentions. “We want to keep you from being one of the statistics,” she said emphatically to the Native Am ...
1 Feb 2019 - Emily Green
Limits on no-cause evictions and rent increases are a necessary first step, but there’s more to be done The Oregon Legislature is already moving on renter protections. That’s a good sign. On Feb. 4, the Senate Housing Committee, chaired by Sen. Shemia Fag ...
1 Feb 2019 - SR editorial board