In The News

Bend awarded $5 million federal grant to fuel affordable housing production

Bend Bulletin The city of Bend has received a $5 million grant intended to kickstart affordable housing supply, the federal government announced Wednesday. Awarded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the grant set the course for the city to identify and address policies that slow affordable housing

Wyden, Merkley, colleagues call on Postal Service to prepare for November election

KTVZ WASHINGTON (KTVZ) — Senator Ron Wyden said Thursday he is leading Senate colleagues including fellow Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley in calling on Postmaster General DeJoy and the U.S. Postal Service to share their plans to accommodate high volumes of mail expected in the upcoming 2024 general election in Oregon and nationwide.

Sen. Merkley Co-Sponsors Bill to Close ‘Slavery Loophole’ in 13th Amendment

Oregon’s U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley and U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO) introduced the Abolition Amendment, which would strike the “punishment clause” of the 13th Amendment and abolish forced prison labor.  “That amendment is known, when we are in high school, as the amendment that ended slavery in America,” Merkley said

SENS. WYDEN, MERKLEY PUSH FOR WILDFIRE RELIEF FUNDS IN NEXT COVID-19 BILL

U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden of Oregon lead a group of lawmakers requesting wildfire relief funding in the next coronavirus package currently being debated in Congress. “Entire communities in Oregon and across the West were leveled to ash in the wake of this year’s wildfire season–lives lost and homes

Democratic senators push for $1,200 direct payments in new coronavirus relief package

A group of Democratic senators led by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are pressing colleagues to include $1,200 direct payments in a new COVID-19 relief package and say a $908 billion compromise proposal endorsed by moderates doesn’t go far enough.  “Please join us in demanding that any new COVID-relief proposal includes

Wyden, Merkley urge including county payments in year-end federal funding

Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said Monday that the COVID-19 pandemic is one more reason that payments to counties under the Secure Rural Schools and Payment in Lieu of Taxes programs should be prioritized in a year-ending appropriations bill.  “In order to assist these rural counties’ response to

How Lawmakers Want To End Forced Prison Labor & “Finally Abolish Slavery”

Congressional Democrats are aiming to end forced prison labor in the U.S. by modifying a section of the 13th Amendment — a move lawmakers say would “finally abolish slavery.”  Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and outgoing Rep. Lacy Clay (D-MO) introduced a joint resolution on Wednesday called the “Abolition Amendment,” which

Senators Wyden and Merkley: “America’s fishing industry needs help….and NOW!”

Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) today requested that the Government Accountability Office conduct a study to explore ways to ensure that American fisheries receive the expanded economic support they desperately need, by increasing the volume and variety of seafood products the federal government purchases

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