Current News

The state representative may have run afoul of Oregon ethics laws by lobbying for a controversial coal export project with a state agency whose budget he votes on.

Former Oregon House Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson, a Portland Democrat, announced on Monday she would suspend her campaign for secretary of state in light of a forthcoming story about her use of campaign funds.

Jennifer Williamson was considered a top candidate to be Oregon's next secretary of state. She is dropping out because of a forthcoming news story on her campaign expenditures. 

Williamson served in the legislature from 2012 to 2019, when she resigned to run for secretary of state.

Internal emails show a tax-funded agency created to educate people about forestry has acted as a public-relations agency and lobbying arm for Oregon's timber industry, in some cases skirting legal constraints that forbid it from doing so.

Oregon law currently bars legislators and other public officials from accepting more than $50 per year from any entity that wants to influence a government decision. Lawmakers are considering eliminating that limit.

Oregon state auditors released a report Wednesday that recommended several opportunities for legislators and other officials to strengthen the state's ethics laws and increase the independence of the state's ethics commission.

A state commission on government ethics could be strengthened and more independent, state auditors said in a report Wednesday.

In February 2020, Gov. Kate Brown's staff asked state procurement officials to prepare a no-bid contract worth up to $150,000 for her former communications director so he could assist with Oregon’s share of work on the Western Governors’ Association electric vehicle recommendations.

Internal emails show a tax-funded agency created to educate people about forestry has acted as a public-relations agency and lobbying arm for Oregon's timber industry, in some cases skirting legal constraints that forbid it from doing so.

A draft proposal by the five-person salary commission proposes a pay hike for officials elected to Portland’s new form of government in 2025, which will expand the size of City Council from four to 12 members.

Portland leaders will consider updating the city’s publicly-funded campaign finance program Wednesday in preparation for an unprecedented 2024 election.

Democrats seek to make referring a new corporate tax measure to the ballot more difficult by changing the law on electronic signature gathering.

Senate Bill 761, which seeks to restrict a popular way by which Oregonians get initiatives on the ballot, would help legislators keep tight control over what becomes – and what stays law. Legislators should trust their voters and reject this bill.

Democratic lawmakers are moving to more tightly regulate electronic petitions, which are becoming more popular for initiative, recall and referendum campaigns in Oregon.

The ruling by a three-judge panel is the most authoritative opinion yet in a monthslong battle over how Secretary of State Bev Clarno handles ballot measures.

Attacks on state-level ballot initiatives are the latest step in a strategy to wrest political power from voters and place it squarely in the hands of increasingly unaccountable politicians and special interests.

Enough Republican senators returned to the state Capitol on Thursday for the Oregon Senate to resume work.

Independent spending is mutating faster than the city can keep pace, and it threatens to undermine the campaign finance reforms that were recently approved by Denver voters. More than $1.3 million …

Citizens United sparked a political revolution that would have left the Founders revolted