Murmurs Two prominent lawmakers are close to major career moves: Two-term state Rep. Jefferson Smith (D-East Portland) spent the weekend at the coast with his wife to arrive at a decision whether to enter t   More

News Former House Speaker Dave Hunt (D-Gladstone) has a big decision to make. Hunt's seat—which he has held since 2002—is safe if he wants to keep it next year. But the 2009 speaker of the Oregon House lost his gavel last year to Rep. Arnie Roblan (D-Coos Bay), and last month got pushed out of his Democratic majority leader's position by Rep. Tina Kotek (D-North Portland). So Hunt, 43, who works for ...   More

News Oregon lawmakers brought the 76th Legislative Assembly to a close today at 2:50 p.m., 153 days after starting work. Shortly afterward, House Democrats convened their caucus to select leadership for next February's session. The fallout for Rep. Dave Hunt (D-Gladstone), who served as House majority leader in 2007 and House speaker in 2009, continued. Last year, after contentious caucus elections, Dems ...   More

News  Last fall, Oregon voters approved Measure 76, which continued a requirement that 15 percent of state lottery proceeds be set aside for parks and wildlife (about $160 million per biennium). Before that statewide vote on continuing the 15-percent set-aside before its expiration, the measure's proponents agreed with legislative leaders that the ballot measure contained flaws. Among the environmental ...   More

News The Oregon House Democrats had their usual post-election meeting last night in Salem to vote for leadership positions. Speculation in the past week centered on whether House Speaker Dave Hunt (D-Gladstone) would retain his power after Democrats' 36 to 24 super-majority melted away into a 30-30 tie with Republicans. And Democrats took the unusual step of having an outside mediator come in to ...   More

News Oregon Republican Party chairman Bob Tiernan today filed ethics complaints against House Speaker Dave Hunt (D-Gladstone) and Ways and Means co-chairman Peter Buckley (D-Ashland), alleging that the two engaged in "vote buying" to ensure passage of a state income tax increase Tuesday for wealthier Oregonians. The Oregonian reported today that Democratic leaders offered Rep. Greg Smith (R-Heppner) ...   More

News State Ethics Commission director Ron Bersin quickly rejected complaints the Oregon Republican Party filed on Thursday against House Speaker Dave Hunt (PDF) (D-Gladstone) and Peter Buckley (PDF) (D-Ashland). In dismissing the complaints, Bersin wrote that neither complaint provided evidence that either Democrat had violated ORS. 244.010 — the law outlining the "public trust" that Oregon ...   More

News With an election battle likely over tax increases passed by the Oregon Legislature on corporations and the wealthiest state residents, four of the Legislature's most powerful lawmakers came to City Club of Portland today to discuss the session that wrapped up last month. Unsurprisingly, the Democrats defended the tax increases and Republicans attacked them in a precursor of the debate to come, ...   More

News Election night at the Wonder Ballroom on North Russell Street. At 8 p.m. when the polls close on Measures 66 and 67, the room is filling but by no means full. The normally ebullient Steve Novick, the public face of the Yes campaign, seems subdued. "For 78 years the people of this state have waited for progressive tax reform," Novick told the crowd from the stage. "And still we wait." But ...   More

News The Bend Bulletin has an intriguing account of score-settling, Oregon-style in today's paper. Bulletin reporter Nick Budnick (formerly of WW) details the efforts of House Speaker Dave Hunt (D-Gladstone) and House Majority Leader Mary Nolan (D-Portland) to turn the heat up on lobbyists who worked unsucessfully to defeat Measures 66 and 67. Among those lobbyists are "No" campaign manager Mark ...   More