HOUSE REPUBLICAN OFFICE
AUGUST 1, 2017 DAILY CLIPS
ELECTIONS
Former lawmaker challenges Monroe for Senate seat
Portland Tribune
“The housing shortage has become a crisis that the Legislature needed to deal with this year, and I watched from the sidelines the Legislature and Sen. Monroe drop the ball,” Fagan said in a phone interview Monday. “If a legislator is unwilling to listen to people who have an absolutely basic need for housing, then it’s probably time to move on from being a legislator.” Housing advocates began trying to recruit Fagan to run against Monroe in June and asked her to be “a champion for housing protection,” Fagan said. “I spent a couple of months mulling it over and decided to do it.”
Former Rep. Shemia Fagan Will Challenge Oregon Sen. Rod Monroe
Willamette Week
Monroe’s opposition to tenant protections sparked a challenge from within his own party. Fagan already has significant endorsements.”When families are facing the worst housing crisis of our time, we need leaders like Shemia Fagan,” Kafoury said, in a statement for the official announcement. “Shemia has a proven record as a fighter for everyday working people and we clearly need a peoples’ champion in the legislature.”
Portland Sen. Rod Monroe faces primary challenge from former Rep. Shemia Fagan
The Oregonian
Former state representative Shemia Fagan announced Monday she will run against Sen. Rod Monroe, D-Portland, in the 2018 primary election. In response, Monroe vowed to mount a “well-run well-funded campaign” against Fagan.
Capitol roundup: 2018 vote edition
Bend Bulletin
It’s about eight months until the May 2018 primary election. For the third time in a little over four years, Oregon voters will be asked to pick candidates for governor. The names will be very familiar, particularly to those casting ballots in Central Oregon.
Longest-serving state Senate president considers retirement
The Associated Press
Whether he decides to retire or not, it’s clear Courtney has struggled for years with his eventual political exit. “The hardest thing for me to do is to leave politics because I am afraid of retirement,” he said in a 2015 commencement address to Western Oregon University graduates. “You know, there’s gotta be that time in life you say, ‘I’ve done all I can do, I can’t do anymore.’ I know they’ve got these cool phrases, ‘You’ve gotta move on, you’ve gotta let go.’
“I’m too old to know those words. So I’ll put it in my words. You gotta say, ‘I’ve done all I can do. Peter, you gotta go, you gotta mosey.’”
OREGON WILDFIRES
Crews prepare for record heat as wildfires burn
Mail Tribune
As the fire danger level clocks over to “extreme” for southwest Oregon, wildland firefighters are already working to snuff several blazes across the region. Triple-digit high temperatures won’t help. “That’s going to be the story for everyone: the heat,” said Melissa Cano, Oregon Department of Forestry public information officer.
OREGON TSUNAMI ZONES
Tsunami Zone Update Gets Pushback From Oregon Coast Legislators
Northwest News Network
Structural engineer Jeff Soulages joined Wilson at a meeting of Oregon earthquake safety advisors. They’re upset at the state Department of Geology and Mineral Industries for delaying the adoption into statute of the new, higher tsunami flood line to regulate vulnerable new construction. “I cannot understand for the life of me why you would wait when you already you have these maps,” Soulages said. “They’ve been in your hands for four years.” “There’s going to be a lot more heartburn if we have that tsunami and we’ve continued to move forward with the status quo,” Wilson added.
JOBS & THE ECONOMY
Bend’s Beer Boom Puts A Squeeze On Water Infrastructure
Oregon Public Broadcasting
An average brewery uses seven gallons of water for every one gallon of beer brewed. Most of that water goes down the drain, into the sewer system and on to the wastewater treatment plant. The waste makes up a significant part of Bend’s wastewater — 5 to 10 percent at the treatment plant. “[The breweries] do take up a lot of space,” said Kelly Graham, Bend’s industrial pre-treatment program manager. “But that’s also what Bend is about anymore, the breweries. That’s why people come here.”
HOUSING
Deadlines for affordable housing initiatives shift
Portland Tribune
As rents continue to rise in Portland, deadlines to finalize two initiatives to increase the supply of affordable housing have been pushed back with little public notice. The committee is charged with drafting a framework for spending the $258.4 million in bond funds approved by Portland voters at the November 2016 election. It currently is considering specific production, location and community goals for bond-funded projects. The council is expected to take up the proposed framework this fall.
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Department of Justice confirms open investigation into Portland Marathon
The Oregonian
The Oregon Department of Justice said Monday that they have an open investigation into conflicts of interest between the Portland Marathon and two for-profit companies, as well as the corporate structure of the marathon. The DOJ’s other concern is that the marathon’s 990 tax forms show the Portland Marathon has had two board members since 2011: Smith and Wheeler. Oregon law requires nonprofits to have at least three board members.
OTHER NEWS
Your Voice, Your Vote: Lawmakers offer fresh perspective on 2017 legislative session
KATU
In this weekend’s edition of “Your Voice, Your Vote,’ we talk with Rep. Janelle Bynum and Rep. Richard Vial to get a fresh perspective on the 2017 session.
Portland’s sanctuary policies to blame for horrific rapes, says GOP leader
Fox News
State GOP chairman Bill Currier told “Fox & Friends” that Sergio Martinez, who was last detained in December but promptly released, should not have been in the country a week ago when he allegedly attacked a pair of women. The horrific attacks shocked the city and stoked fresh criticism of the pro-illegal immigrant policies. “He was given preferential treatment,” said Currier. “Essentially in Oregon, our governor and the mayor of Portland, Ted Wheeler, have created a protected class for illegal aliens that commit serious crimes.”
OPINION
Editorial: Oregon continues to be unrealistic about PERS
Bend Bulletin
Gov. Kate Brown has been downright ostrich-like about the problem, and her refusal to consider pension reform as part of the solution has only encouraged the Legislature’s Democratic leadership to copy her approach. While the state Supreme Court has limited some approaches to structural reform, it has never said nothing can be done. Others, including Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend, believe they have ideas that will pass judicial muster, and they should be given a try.
We cannot keep being unrealistic about Oregon’s PERS problem.
Editorial: Oregon not careful enough with health care money
Bend Bulletin
Instead of grand plans, Oregon needs to get the basics right. State government has shown a frustrating pattern of not being able to use health care dollars well.
Editorial: Bill protects Section 8 fund
Register-Guard
To stop abuse, Kotek introduced House Bill 2944 this year. The bill, approved by both House and Senate nearly unanimously and signed by the governor, requires that landlords have to actually prove the damages in court before collecting money from the fund. While it’s unfortunate that the bill was needed, Kotek deserves the thanks of more than 30,000 Oregon households who rely on Section 8 vouchers as well as Oregon taxpayers.
NATIONAL NEWS
Anthony Scaramucci ousted from White House job, with President Donald Trump saying, ‘No WH chaos’
The Oregonian
“No WH chaos!” President Donald Trump tweeted Monday morning. That statement now can be interpreted as foreshadowing, for just hours later Anthony Scaramucci was suddenly ousted as White House communications director. Reported the New York Times: “Mr. Scaramucci’s abrupt removal came just 10 days after the wealthy New York financier was brought on to the West Wing staff, a move that convulsed an already chaotic White House and led to the departures of Sean Spicer, the former press secretary, and Reince Priebus, the president’s first chief of staff.”
Trump dictated son’s misleading statement on meeting with Russian lawyer
The Washington Post
Flying home from Germany on July 8 aboard Air Force One, Trump personally dictated a statement in which Trump Jr. said he and the Russian lawyer had “primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children” when they met in June 2016, according to multiple people with knowledge of the deliberations. The statement, issued to the New York Times as it prepared a story, emphasized that the subject of the meeting was “not a campaign issue at the time.” The claims were later shown to be misleading.