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As the Oregon Legislature hurtles toward a probable March 6 conclusion to this year's short session, minimum-wage and climate bills have generated most of the headlines. But each vote lawmakers take—or don't take—creates winners and losers.
Winners
Dead squirrels
Lawmakers are expected to pass a bill raising the penalty for poaching wildlife: moose, deer and even the silver gray squirrel. It would be the third time the Legislature has hiked such fines since 2004.
Pacific Seafood
Pork isn't the only other white meat. Lawmakers are setting aside $3 million to rebuild a Warrenton, Ore., fish-processing dock used by the privately owned company that dominates the coastal fish trade.
Oregon Ducks
Lawmakers are moving toward sweetening an already generous tax-credit program for Oregonians who donate to venture capital funds at the state's public universities.
Losers
Dead people
The families of Oregonians killed through negligence lose again. Lawmakers abandoned a bill that would have raised the cap on legal awards in wrongful-death cases from $500,000, where it has been since 1987. Many states have no caps on wrongful-death awards.
Kids living near pollution
Portlanders who live near the Bullseye and Uroboros glass factories in Portland are getting a token gesture—less money than the fishing dock. Lawmakers are allocating just $2.5 million to help the Department of Environmental Quality tackle air-quality dangers in Portland.
Oregon transparency
The Democratic majorities in Salem continue to under-deliver on promises to clean up state government post-Gov. John Kitzhaber. They ignored a proposal from Sen. Betsy Johnson (D-Scappoose) to form a nonpartisan oversight committee that could subpoena witnesses and compel testimony from state agencies.
Willamette Week