Capitol Currents

The Oregon House voted Monday to remove a statue of pioneer missionary Jason Lee from a prominent place in the U.S. Capitol. In its place they propose to put a statue of former Oregon Republican governor and U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield.

Each state gets two spots in the the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall. Supporters of the change say it's time to honor a more modern and prominent figure in Oregon's history.

Better-than-expected tax collections could trigger Oregon's unique kicker law, at least for corporations. The rebate is issued if revenues exceed initial projections by more than two percent. A newly released revenue forecast noted Thursday that business taxes have been robust enough to cross that threshold.

But state economist Mark McMullen says a final tally won't be made until later this year. "We believe that a kicker is better than a 50-50 shot. But not a sure thing. That came with a big surge in corporate taxes at the beginning of the year."

Oregon's economic outlook is looking brighter. That's according to state economists, who issued their quarterly revenue forecast Thursday. The news comes as lawmakers get ready to put together the state's next two-year spending plan.

The slow and steady improvement is still steady, just not quite as slow. The overall growth rate is still a bit behind past expansions, but state economist Mark McMullen says some of the factors holding back Oregon's economy are looking better, such as jobs and the housing market.

On the eve of a new state revenue forecast, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber is putting pressure on state lawmakers to reach a deal over taxes and public pensions. The Democrat proposed a compromise Wednesday aimed at pleasing Republicans and Democrats in the legislature.

Majority Democrats have already approved cuts to public retiree pensions. But Republicans said the cuts weren't deep enough. GOP lawmakers say they won't go along with the tax hikes Democrats want without additional pension cuts. Democrats can't pass those tax hikes without at least two Republican votes.

The Oregon House Tuesday approved a measure to renew a tax paid by hospitals and long-term care facilities. The concept isn't controversial since the institutions that pay it are largely reimbursed by federal Medicaid dollars. But the vote became a skirmish in a larger political battle in Salem.

Oregon lawmakers are considering a measure that would make it easier for people who were adopted as children to access court records about their biological family. A House committee could vote to advance the measure Tuesday.

Oregon Senate Bill 623 is what is sometimes called a housekeeping bill. It's pretty boring, really. The measure clarifies who gets access to certain kinds of paperwork and how they go about getting it.

Dead people and lottery winners are receiving food stamps and other public assistance benefits in Oregon. That's according to a new audit released Wednesday by the Oregon Secretary of State's office.

Some of the examples are eye-popping: One person hit a $900,000 lottery jackpot but kept on getting food stamps. State benefits flowed to more than 1,000 people who were reported dead by the Social Security Administration.

The state of Oregon is shutting down two federal bailout programs this month meant to keep struggling homeowners from losing their house. The reason? Lack of interest.

One of the programs helps people who are now making payments but have racked up late fees and penalties from earlier in the loan. Turns out fewer than 200 people even qualified for it. The money is from a federal housing bailout called the Hardest Hit Fund.

The future of a set of bills to create stricter gun laws is in doubt in the Oregon legislature. The most controversial measure would require criminal background checks for all gun sales. Another would allow school districts to ban guns from school grounds.

But after some initial momentum, the bills are heading back to committee.

Some environmental groups say they're being unfairly targeted by legislation working its way through the Oregon capitol. A pair of measures take aim at protesters who get in the way of tree harvesting operations on state-owned forest land.

One bill would make it easier for timber companies to sue protesters. Another would increase criminal penalties for people who block logging operations.

Or, as Republican representative Wayne Krieger put it on the House floor, "The bill addresses environmental terrorism."