July 8, 2011
•John Kitzhaber's promises: 'Kept,' 'In the Works' and 'Stalled'
•Using PERS reform as a bargaining chip
•Oregon Rep. Brad Witt joins what may be crowded congressional primary race against David Wu
•A House divided is a better House
•Portland City Council race pits Oregon Rep. Mary Nolan against Commissioner Amanda Fritz
•The deal on redistricting
•Dispute over unionizing health workers stopped PERS reform at Oregon Legislature
•In Salem, there's still more to be done
•How did the Oregon Legislature change your life?
•Oregon lawmakers close session, prepare for next year
John Kitzhaber's promises: 'Kept,' 'In the Works' and 'Stalled'
By Ryan Kost
The Oregonian
July 08, 2011
Six months into his third term as governor, John Kitzhaber is poised to make good on promises to reform education and health care while pledges to rework the state's finances and environmental policies appear stalled.
In the weeks following Kitzhaber's election last fall, The Oregonian's reporters for PolitiFact Oregon combed through his speeches, debates, position papers and other sources and pulled together a list of the promises he made. We collected a list of 34 on issues from health care to diversity to habitat restoration.
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Using PERS reform as a bargaining chip
By The Oregonian Editorial
July 07, 2011,
How eye-opening. How disheartening. Last week, Gov. John Kitzhaber disclosed the sticking point for the modest reform that the governor had sought in the Public Employees Retirement System.
What killed it? A horse trade that bit the dust. The reform was snagged in a tug-of-wills between Democrats and Republicans over unionization of home health care workers. And if that leaves you saying: "Huh?," we sympathize.
It doesn't track.
But, the governor said, "it's pretty straightforward. The Democrats essentially would not run out the PERS bill, which was a tough vote for a lot of them, unless the Republicans put collective bargaining in the (health care) transformation bill. That's where it got high-centered."
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Oregon Rep. Brad Witt joins what may be crowded congressional primary race against David Wu
By Jeff Mapes
The Oregonian
July 07, 2011
State Rep. Brad Witt on Thursday became the second candidate to jump into the Democratic primary race against Congressman David Wu.
Witt joins Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian in seeking to oust Wu after reports about the congressman's personal behavior left him politically weakened. State Sen. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Raleigh Hills, has also said that she may run.
Witt, a four-term legislator who calls himself a "pro-growth Democrat," said he would distinguish himself from his rivals by focusing on "business and economy and workforce development."
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A House divided is a better House
By The Oregonian Editorial Board
July 06, 2011
The 30-30 party split in the Oregon House shows that power sharing
is more efficient and productive than partisanship. What a surprise
It was an accident, a fluke of the last election, that sent an even number of Republicans and Democrats to the Oregon House of Representatives.
It was also the best thing that could have happened to Oregon's bitter and broken political culture.
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Portland City Council race pits Oregon Rep. Mary Nolan against Commissioner Amanda Fritz
By Beth Slovic
The Oregonian
July 05, 2011
State Rep. Mary Nolan, a Democrat from Southwest Portland who rose from freshman lawmaker in 2001 to House Majority Leader from 2008 to 2010, now has her eye on Portland City Hall.
Nolan announced Tuesday that she would challenge city Commissioner Amanda Fritz, a former neighborhood activist and psychiatric nurse in her first term on the Portland City Council. Fritz announced in April that she would seek re-election in 2012.
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The deal on redistricting
Oregon legislators did their reapportionment duty and likely headed off reform
By The Oregonian Editorial Board The Oregonian
July 04, 2011
Oregon lawmakers made history by reaching bipartisan agreements on new legislative and congressional maps to account for population changes. And that's, well, kind of disappointing.
Here's why: It had been decades since lawmakers had approved legally defensible redistricting maps to account for changes in the census. Yet another failure likely would have convinced Oregonians that there has to be a better way than allowing partisans and incumbents to draw lines around the voters they want to represent.
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Dispute over unionizing health workers stopped PERS reform at Oregon Legislature
By Harry Esteve
The Oregonian
July 01, 2011
A behind-the-scenes fight over Medicaid changes helped deep-six efforts by the Oregon Legislature to whittle down increasingly costly retirement benefits for public employees, Gov. John Kitzhaber said Friday.
It was the first time anyone offered a detailed explanation of why reform of the Public Employees Retirement System failed, even though it was supposed to be a top priority for lawmakers this session.
The gist, according to Kitzhaber, is that the state's biggest public employee union wanted a new class of home health care workers to be part of their collective bargaining unit. When that proposal withered under Republican opposition, Democrats locked down a bill that would have eased the state's requirement to pay 6 percent of state worker wages into their retirement accounts.
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In Salem, there's still more to be done
The Oregonian Editorial Board
July 01, 2011
We hoped for more from the Oregon Legislature. In January, on the eve of the 2011 session, The Oregonian published a list of economic, education and health policy goals.
With lawmakers concluding their session, it's time for a midyear update. Oregon leaders have achieved about one-third of our goals, made progress on another third and left undone the last third.
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How did the Oregon Legislature change your life?
By Michelle Cole
The Oregonian
July 01, 2011
The 2011 Oregon Legislature adjourned sine die Thursday afternoon. At 153 days, it was one of the shortest sessions since 1971. So what did they do?
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Oregon lawmakers close session, prepare for next year
By Harry Esteve
The Oregonian
June 30, 2011
SALEM -- The Oregon Legislature wrapped up business Thursday, putting final touches on a no-frills budget and heaping praise on each other for what they called the most congenial, businesslike session in many years.
It was a rare daylight adjournment on an uncharacteristically subdued day, accented by lawmakers who strolled the Capitol in jeans, sneakers and aloha shirts, offering hugs and verbal bouquets at every chance. The last day lacked the usual drama of frantic deal-cutting and voting in the wee hours.
"We have been blessedly boring all session," summed up Rep. Vicki Berger, R-Salem.
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