News Prepaid mobile phones could threaten your safety. No, not because prepaid phones are often the communications tool   More

Rogue of the Week On his website, state Rep. Tim Freeman (R-Roseburg) says “reducing state spending and improving government efficiency and accountability” are top priorities. Noble goals as the 2011 Legislature h   More

News This Friday, March 11, a group trying to establish universal health care in Oregon is holding a legislative action day to spread the word about a bill that would do just that—the Affordable Health Care for All Act. Despite a tough legislative climate for the proposal, the Oregon Single Payer Coalition and other supporters of the idea are pitching the measure as like Medicare for everyone, providing ...   More

News CAUSA Oregon and the Oregon Commission on Hispanic Affairs are pressing the Legislature to take up a bill that would allow undocumented immigrants access to an Oregon driver's license. The measure, Senate Bill 845, would remove barriers created by the Legislature in 2008 and let undocumented immigrants legally drive and also buy insurance. However, the bill specifies that the licenses will not will ...   More

News A pair of bills that would decrease the penalty for teenagers who "sext" got their first joint public hearing today in the Legislature, where lawmakers appear poised to add Oregon to the growing list of states that have lessened the punishment for "sexting." Senate Bills 677 and 678 offer two alternatives for making "sexting" among teenagers a misdemeanor rather than a felony. Today in Oregon, taking ...   More

News Even as Gov. John Kitzhaber is slashing Oregon’s budget, he’s pushing for a big expansion to a tax credit for movie production in the state. On Feb. 7, Kitzhaber’s proposed cuts of nearly $3   More

News  Early in the legislative session many bills filed that may never get a hearing or may languish in committee. This year, as in sessions past, Oregon property rights advocates are taking aim at the process around land use decisions. With unemployment remaining stubbornly high and "economic development" the buzzwords of even the most left-leaning lawmaker, there may be more interest than in recent ...   More

News Thought warning labels were just for cigarettes? Think again. A bill introduced by state Sen. Chip Shields (D-Portland) would require warning labels for all new cell phones and cell phone packaging sold in Oregon. Shields filed the bill on behalf of a constituent, David Morrison, over concerns about possible links connecting mobile phone radiation to brain cancer and other health problems. Morrison, ...   More

Immigration Advocates for undocumented immigrants accuse U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) of trying to drive illegal workers further underground with a new bill that would require employers to check applicants   More

Politics  State Rep. Michael Dembrow wants to establish in Oregon what the White House and Congress couldn’t do in last year’s healthcare reform effort: single-payer health care.   More