legislature

The Oregon Health Authority asked Gov. Kate Brown to hike taxes on beer and wine but she balked, saying it would be too hard a lift. But the issue is likely to come up again in the legislative session next year.

In their recent budget pitch, experts at the Oregon Health Authority were clear in declaring “excessive alcohol use” a scourge that fuels domestic violence and leads to birth defects, car wrecks, liver disease and cancer, killing some 2,000 people a year in Oregon.  

This article is for premium subscribers!

To read further, please sign up for a premium subscription. You can also read more about standard and premium subscriptions here. Your subscription dollars are tax deductible and support the in-depth stories you appreciate from The Lund Report. If you believe you already are a premium subscriber, you are already logged in, and you are getting this message, please contact [email protected] Thanks!

If you are a premium subscriber that is not logged in, please login now.

Proposed Liquor Tax Tucked Away In Gov. Kate Brown's Budget

Brown did not ask for a tax on beer or wine in her budget but it does seek a 5 percent increase in the liquor markup -- now at 104 percent -- and a plan to double alcohol licensing fees.

As she finalized her budget proposal for the next two years, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown made no secret of the fact she’d push for higher tobacco taxes, which she believes should play a larger role in funding health care.

By: 
Dirk VanderHart 

Gov. Brown Budget Proposal Targets Health, Housing

The governor's budget includes $722 million in revenues -- including raising the tobacco tax and increasing taxes on hospitals and insurers -- to plug the $830 million funding gap in Medicaid and ensure health care has stable funding over the next six years.

Gov. Kate Brown unveiled a $23.6 billion budget proposal Wednesday that plugs holes in state health funding, seeks to gain ground in an ongoing housing crisis, expands access to voting and sets aside millions for challenging the policies of President Donald Trump.

By: 
Dirk VanderHart
The task is ambitious and a work is in progress, with a report due at the end of November.

The Oregon Legislature launched a panel 10 months ago to develop a roadmap for affordable statewide universal health care. The task was ambitious. Similar efforts in other states have gotten nowhere, and there is scant support at the federal level for expanding Medicaid.

This article is for premium subscribers!

To read further, please sign up for a premium subscription. You can also read more about standard and premium subscriptions here. Your subscription dollars are tax deductible and support the in-depth stories you appreciate from The Lund Report. If you believe you already are a premium subscriber, you are already logged in, and you are getting this message, please contact [email protected] Thanks!

If you are a premium subscriber that is not logged in, please login now.

Oregon has become the unlikely battleground in the abortion debate, with Ballot Measure 106 drawing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the state. 

This article is for premium subscribers!

To read further, please sign up for a premium subscription. You can also read more about standard and premium subscriptions here. Your subscription dollars are tax deductible and support the in-depth stories you appreciate from The Lund Report. If you believe you already are a premium subscriber, you are already logged in, and you are getting this message, please contact [email protected] Thanks!

If you are a premium subscriber that is not logged in, please login now.

Groups from around the country have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the fight against Ballot Measure 106 which would ban public funding of abortions.

Oregon has become a surprise battleground over abortion rights in next month’s election, as Planned Parenthood affiliates and other pro-choice groups from around the country pour hundreds of

This article is for premium subscribers!

To read further, please sign up for a premium subscription. You can also read more about standard and premium subscriptions here. Your subscription dollars are tax deductible and support the in-depth stories you appreciate from The Lund Report. If you believe you already are a premium subscriber, you are already logged in, and you are getting this message, please contact [email protected] Thanks!

If you are a premium subscriber that is not logged in, please login now.

The bipartisan group, which includes officials from the Oregon Health Authority, providers and insurers, have come with a proposal that could be a framework for a bill in 2019.

A legislative task force has taken a crack at attacking rising health care costs. 

This article is for premium subscribers!

To read further, please sign up for a premium subscription. You can also read more about standard and premium subscriptions here. Your subscription dollars are tax deductible and support the in-depth stories you appreciate from The Lund Report. If you believe you already are a premium subscriber, you are already logged in, and you are getting this message, please contact [email protected] Thanks!

If you are a premium subscriber that is not logged in, please login now.

DEQ Director Says Cleaner Air Oregon Will Continue Without Funding

Advocates say lobbyists from Associated Oregon Industries twisted enough arms in the Oregon Senate to kill an assessment bill, not because they’re afraid of paying, but because of what a proper analysis might direct the state to do to make them stop polluting.

The director of the Department of Environmental Quality told lawmakers on Friday that the Cleaner Air Oregon program will continue, despite the defeat of House Bill 2269, which would have levied a fee on polluters to help fund the analysis of their impact on public health.

By: 
Chris Gray

DEQ Director Says Cleaner Air Oregon Will Continue Without Funding

Advocates say lobbyists from Associated Oregon Industries twisted enough arms in the Oregon Senate to kill an assessment bill, not because they’re afraid of paying, but because of what a proper analysis might direct the state to do to make them stop polluting.

The director of the Department of Environmental Quality told lawmakers on Friday that the Cleaner Air Oregon program will continue, despite the defeat of House Bill 2269, which would have levied a fee on polluters to help fund the analysis of their impact on public health.

By: 
Chris Gray

Bates Gears Up for Southern Oregon Rematch Against Republican Dotterrer

The healthcare establishment has come out solidly behind the doctor and 14-year-veteran of politics from Ashland, but Republican business interests are backing Col. Dave Dotterrer in a rematch of the closest race from 2010, when Democratic Sen. Alan Bates held on by fewer than 300 votes.

One of Oregon’s healthcare leaders is in the political fight of his life this fall, with a rematch against a formidable Republican opponent who came within 300 votes of knocking off Bates in 2010.

By: 
Christopher David Gray

Pages

Subscribe to legislature