DAILY CLIPS

 

HOUSE REPUBLICAN OFFICE

STATE GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

 

Q&A: How Oregon’s Cap And Trade System Would Work

Oregon Public Broadcasting

Over time, the cap on emissions will come down and there will be fewer pollution permits available. So companies will have to reduce their emissions, spend more on permits or buy credits to offset their emissions.

 

5 Things for Thursday, including Gov. Brown’s coastal outrage and reefer’s reckoning

Portland Business Journal

If you need a little jolt to get going on this dreary Thursday morning, today’s 5 Things should do the trick. Big real estate news? Check. Kate Brown taking on Trump? Check. A cloud over the Oregon cannabis industry? Check that, too.

 

Lawmakers, lobbyists get harassment training

The Associated Press

For the first time, the training was offered to executive branch employees, lobbyists and others who work in the Capitol, said Senate President Peter Courtney, a Democrat. Previously, it was required for legislators and legislative employees.

 

MEASURE 101

 

Oregon hospitals spend big on campaign to pass health care taxes

The Oregonian

Their war chest, bolstered by money from unions and the Providence medical network, has enabled the pro-tax side to reach voters with a slew of TV and Internet ads and colorful mailers.

The “no” side, by contrast, has spent its much tinier publicity budget mostly on yard signs.

 

Leading Candidates for Governor Disagree on Measure 101: Brown’s a “Yes,” Buehler a “No”

Willamette Week

The two leading candidates for governor face very different decisions on Measure 101, the partial repeal of a Medicaid funding measure on the Jan. 23 ballot. Neither incumbent Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, or her probable opponent, state Rep. Knute Buehler (R-Bend), has said a lot about the Measure 101 thus far.

 

Measure 101 Forum: Many ask about impact on school districts

Gazette-Times

Sen. Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis, who is in favor of 101, said the state of Oregon has accounted for the $25 million cost to school districts if the measure passes. Gelser said districts will not have to lay off teachers or cut programs if voters approves the taxes. She also said that school districts benefit when students and their families are healthy. Further, she said, many education associations, such as the Oregon School Boards Association and Oregon School Employees Association, support the measure.

 

If Measure 101 Fails, Cuts Could Range From Health Care To Schools

Oregon Public Broadcasting

If Oregon voters reject new health care taxes on Jan. 23, legislators will have to scramble.

The big issues: Will they figure out ways to get the needed money or do people on Medicaid face big cuts? And could the budget pain even extend to schools?

 

Debate on Measure 101 creates hardball on health care

Bend Bulletin

The hardball politics of the legislative fight and the steamroller of signatures by opponents seemed a preamble to a big-spending, high-volume, take-no-prisoners campaign — a somewhat smaller version of the Measure 97 campaign. That November 2016 campaign around a corporate tax brought out the wallets of major donors on both sides. In the end, the ballot measure lost.

 

VETERANS

 

Roseburg VA Has Highest Opioid Prescription Rates Nationwide

Oregon Public Broadcasting

The data shows opioid prescription rates range from 3 percent at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center in Ohio to 20 percent at Roseburg  — the highest among VA hospitals in the country. “At today’s meeting with VA officials to provide an update on their investigation, I heard that steps have been taken to improve care for veterans in VA’s Roseburg system,” Wyden said. “I have asked for follow-up on those steps and others that officials told us are forthcoming.”

 

Removal of some top managers and other changes may be in the works for Veterans Affairs health care system in Roseburg

Register-Guard

The Veterans Affairs health care system in Roseburg will remove some senior managers and make other changes, U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio said Thursday after meeting with high-ranking VA officials. Those changes will affect ­operations at the VA clinic in northeast Eugene, part of the VA Roseburg Healthcare System.

 

MARIJUANA

Deschutes County tackles water use for pot farms

Bend Bulletin

As part of a series of public meetings with various stakeholder groups, the commission met with representatives from Central Oregon Irrigation District, Tumalo Irrigation District and Oregon Water Resources Department on Wednesday afternoon, in order to get industry insight into how federal, state and local water laws impact marijuana cultivation.

 

OPINION

 

Guest: U.S. Attorney: A call for transparency and action on marijuana

Billy Williams, Oregon US Attorney

In the coming days, I will send invitations to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement, public health organizations, Oregon marijuana interests and concerned citizen groups to attend a summit to address and remedy these and other concerns. This summit and the state’s response will inform our federal enforcement strategy. How we move forward will depend in large measure on how the state responds to the gaps we have identified. Until then it would be an inappropriate abdication of my duties to issue any blanket proclamations on our marijuana enforcement strategy in light of federal law.

 

Editorial: A tax should be called a tax

Bend Bulletin

Oregonians are under no obligation to believe it when legislators try to argue this carbon-pricing bill is not a tax. It may not work like most taxes, but it sure works like a tax.

 

Editorial: Avoiding offshore drilling

Register-Guard

Governors of those states who do not want the ban on offshore drilling lifted — and so far that’s just about all of them — should treat Florida’s successful appeal as a template for their own appeals. Zinke has said he based his decision on that appeal. Refusing to keep protections in place for other states, who make exactly the same arguments as Scott, is going to be very difficult for Zinke.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.