Lauren Dake
Oregon Public BroadcastingLauren Dake is a political reporter and producer for Oregon Public Broadcasting. Before OPB, Lauren spent nearly a decade working as a print reporter. She’s covered politics and rural issues in Oregon and Washington. She’s spent time in a maximum-security prison in Bogota, Colombia (for a story!) and sat in a sweat lodge on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation.
-
Oregon has spent more than $25 million housing 462 kids in foster care in hotels after the state promised to stop the practice as part of a legal settlement in 2018. -
Over the course of eight frantic days, the House and Senate rushed to pass hundreds of bills, most with little or no discussion. The tumult left some lawmakers with little positive to say when asked how they’d describe the session.
-
Oregon state lawmakers returned to Salem on Tuesday and worked at frenzied speed to make their way through a pile of policy and budget bills that had piled up during the six-week legislative walkout. One of the big-ticket items on the list: A $1 billion commitment to fund Oregon’s share of the mega-project to replace the Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River connecting Portland and Vancouver.
-
Hundreds of bills are set to perish if the impasse continues; measures to create more affordable housing, to help at-risk students, bills aimed at combating climate change and measures addressing the public-defender crisis.
-
On Thursday, Senate Democrats did not say how they plan to bill their colleagues, what would happen if Republicans don’t pay nor where the money would go.
-
With both parties unwilling to budge on a bill tackling abortion and transgender care, the 2023 session appears stuck.
-
Oregon Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp worked hard to get Republicans elected. Why is he leading them down a path that could end their careers?
-
State election officials are fining the Democratic Party of Oregon a late filing fee of $15,000 after the party changed the donor of a hefty campaign check. The fine concludes the investigation into the state Democratic party, but officials are still looking into other issues surrounding the large campaign check.
-
The leaders of both parties met for the first time behind closed doors early Wednesday morning. They managed to agree on one thing: releasing a bland statement with a promise to say nothing more.
-
GOP senators have been threatening in recent weeks to deny Democrats a quorum. Their effort could be tested by new voter-approved rules.
-
Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan will resign next week, she announced Tuesday, a stunning fall from grace for a top Democrat who once looked like a good bet to climb to higher office.
-
Oregon’s current law limits rent hikes to 7% plus inflation. In some recent cases, that’s resulted in 14% increases.
