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News Karen Kirsch isn't the only Oregonian pissed off by the way the state Insurance Division approves rate increases for individual health-care policies. Turns out she has at least one sympathetic ear in the Legislature. As we reported this week, Kirsch is challenging the Insurance Division's decision last July to let BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon raise its annual rates on about 88,000 individual ...   More

News We've noted before the remarkable ambition of state Rep. Chip Shields (D-North/Northeast Portland). So it came as little surprise when Shields this morning rushed to claim the seat of departing state Sen. Margaret Carter (D-North/Northeast Portland) before her seat even got cold. Carter, the first African-American woman elected to the Oregon Legislature, announced over the weekend she's leaving ...   More

News The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners today chose Lew Frederick, a Democrat, to represent parts of North and Northeast Portland in the state House of Representatives. Frederick, a former TV reporter and current member of the state Board of Education, will fill the House District 43 seat vacated last month when the county board selected then-Rep. Chip Shields, also a Democrat, to fill a ...   More

News Oregon is one of only five states in which lawmakers don't meet for scheduled annual sessions. But moving to those annual sessions has been a particular interest among the longest-serving lawmakers such as Senate President Peter Courtney (photo above), who argue that biennial sessions are an archaic practice insufficient for the complexity of managing the state's general fund budget — ...   More

News Oregon legislative leaders gaveled February's special session to a close at 2 pm today. Exactly 22 minutes and 33 seconds later, they started asking lobbyists for money (which legislative rules prohibit them from doing while the Legislature is in session). - ---- Forwarded Message ---- From: Senate Democratic Leadership Fund To: Evyn Mitchell Sent: Thu, February 25, 2010 2:22:33 PM Subject: ...   More

News A look little more than a month ago at the four Oregon legislative caucuses painted a fairly bleak financial picture for Republicans, who are seeking to surf a national wave and slash the super-majorities Democrats hold in the state Senate and House. (Democrats control the Oregon Senate 18 to 12 and the House 36 to 24). Here's how the fund-raising numbers looked when we last checked on Sept. ...   More