Democratic and Republican lawmakers took to the Oregon House of Representatives floor on Tuesday to speak fondly about Rep. Hòa Nguyễn, D-Portland. She announced in March she had stage 4 cancer and has been absent from the State Capitol. Several family members were present for Tuesday’s tributes. 

House Speaker Julie Fahey, D-Eugene, has appointed replacements for Nguyễn’s committee assignments, including Reps. Zach Hudson, Ways and Means Education Subcommittee; D-Troutdale; Travis Nelson, D-Portland, Early Childhood and Human Services; and Sarah Finger McDonald, D-Corvallis, Education.

Former Rep. Courtney Neron was sworn in Friday as the new senator for District 13. She announced she has added her maiden name (“Misslin”) to her last name and now goes by Sen. Courtney Neron Misslin, D-Wilsonville.

Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, appointed Neron Misslin to the Ways and Means Transportation and Economic Development Subcommittee, replacing himself. Wagner also appointed her to the Senate Early Childhood and Behavioral Health Committee, replacing Sen. Chris Gorsek, D-Troutdale. Speaker Fahey appointed Rep. Hudson to take Neron Misslin’s place as chair of the House Education Committee.

To meet legislative deadlines for introducing the transportation package legislation, Wagner and Fahey on Wednesday created a new Joint Committee on Transportation Reinvestment. Its members are the same as the regular transportation committee, with Sen. Gorsek and Rep. Susan McLain, D-Forest Grove, continuing as co-chairs.

Fahey was elected to the board of the national Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. She told journalists Monday that Oregon remained her priority, and she wouldn’t conduct DLCC business until this year’s legislative session concluded.

Sen. Anthony Broadman, D-Bend, and Rep. Vikki Breese-Iverson, R-Prineville, chair the Central Oregon Caucus, which was formed this year. Priority issues include economic development, housing and community services, wildfire and natural resources, and transportation. House members include Reps. Mark Owens, R-Crane; Jason Kropf, D-Bend; Emerson Levy, D-Bend; Greg Smith, R-Heppner; and E. Werner Reschke, R-Klamath Falls. Senate members include Diane Linthicum, R-Klamath Falls; Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte; and Todd Nash, R-Enterprise.

The Oregon House on Tuesday unanimously passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 10 honoring the late state representative and Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem. His widow, Margie Courtney, was in attendance. SCR 10 now returns to the Senate, which previously approved it unanimously, because the House added an amendment – the Capitol’s new bipartisan, bicameral lounge for lawmakers will be named the Peter Courtney Memorial Lounge.

Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, is called “Iron Man of the Oregon Capitol” in a new profile by former Sen. Rick Metsger, a vice president at PacWest Lobby Group.

Longtime Oregon journalist and political commentator Russell Sadler, 82, died April 20 at his home in Friday Harbor, Washington.

Craig Prins will retire July 1 as the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission’s executive director. The commission on Thursday promoted Deputy Director Tara Wasiak to succeed him. She joined OLCC in 2023 from the Portland Bureau of Transportation, where she was interim director. Prins initially was appointed as OLCC’s interim director in 2023 at the urging of Gov. Tina Kotek. He had been inspector general at the Oregon Department of Corrections, executive director of the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, deputy director of the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, and a Multnomah County deputy district attorney.

Amy Ramsdell resigned as director of the Delivery and Operations Division at the Oregon Department of Transportation, a position she held since August 2024. The resignation took effect immediately. Ramsdell worked for ODOT for more than 27 years.

Tiffani Penson is director of ODOT’s Urban Mobility Office after a lengthy tenure with the city of Portland.

Tyler Clark, who started in 2014 as a correctional officer at Powder River Correctional Facility in Baker City, is its new superintendent. As Clark advanced through the ranks, he was promoted to institution security manager in 2023 and for the past several months was acting superintendent. 

Jami Pang, who was government relations and public policy manager at the Oregon Youth Authority, is now deputy director of programs and policy for Oregon Just Transition Alliance.

The Oregon Government Ethics Commission on Friday imposed a $3,600 fine on former Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, who resigned in May 2023 amid an ethics controversy. She told the commission: “I know that my actions were indefensible, embarrassing mistakes, bad judgment, and I’m sorry. Whatever fine you decide to impose on me today, I will accept it.”

Arriving on July 7, Oregon State University’s new provost and executive vice president will be Dr. Roy Haggerty, who currently has those roles at Louisiana State University. An environmental geologist, he spent 26 years at OSU before heading to LSU in 2022. Besides being a professor, he served as dean of the OSU College of Science; interim dean of the College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences; and associate vice president of research.

If you have an update on who’s coming or going – or taking on a new assignment – in state government or organizations involved with it, email Dick Hughes at TheHughesisms@gmail.com.