Opinion
Capital Chatter: Why the fur trapping bill and other minor measures are going nowhere
The big issues in the 2017 Legislature remain the same: balancing the state budget and coming up with…
Opinion
Capital Chatter: The Legislature is working, but is anything getting done?
House Speaker Tina Kotek said things are starting to get interesting in the 2017 Oregon Legislature. The House…
Opinion
Capital Chatter: If you like your Medicaid, you can keep your Medicaid
Oregon’s sole Republican member of Congress, Greg Walden, chairs the U.S. House committee in charge of repealing and…
Opinion
Capital Chatter: You say ‘rent control,’ I say ‘rent stabilization’
The Oregon House began hearings Thursday on HB 2004, which would halt most “no-cause” evictions of renters and…
Opinion
Capital Chatter: The geometry of gerrymandering
Too many legislative and congressional districts follow bizarre boundaries that were drawn to ensure a political party’s dominance.…
Opinion
Capital Chatter: A funny thing happened on the way to the forest
Wednesday was the first meeting this year of the State Land Board, comprised of the state treasurer and…
Opinion
Capital Chatter: Budget work is a taxing proposition
• Moving — gradually — on tax “reform:” State revenue talks are progressing quietly and informally among business…
Opinion
Capital Chatter: No sales tax, at least not this year
• No sales tax … this year: The Oregon Legislature opened its 2017 session on Wednesday. Lawmakers’ search…
Opinion
Capital Chatter: Budget cuts doesn’t mean spending less
• Why Oregon has budget woes despite the good economy: “We are a state, not the federal government,…
Opinion
Capital Chatter: Act answers wrong health care issue
• Kitzhaber: Obamacare focuses on wrong issue: Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, who has re-emerged locally and nationally…