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 announce $30.1 million in ‘Payments in Lieu of Taxes’ to Oregon counties; $6 million to C. Oregon
KTVZ WASHINGTON (KTVZ) — Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley announced Thursday that counties throughout Oregon will receive more than $30.1 million in Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funding for 2024, including over $6 million for Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties. Because local governments cannot tax federal lands, annual PILT
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.
Bowman Dam bill passage cheered
WASHINGTON — Local officials and stakeholders expressed gratitude and relief Friday after the bill codifying the water sharing plan for the Crooked River zipped through both chambers of Congress on Thursday on the last day the House was in session. After almost four years and two sessions of Congress, it
Newport Coast Guard helicopter station gets a reprieve, will remain open until January 2016
Members of Oregon’s and South Carolina’s congressional delegations found a way around the U.S. Coast Guard’s internal budgeting process Wednesday, passing a bill that blocks the agency from closing its helicopter air stations at Newport and Charleston, S.C. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., called the Coast Guard authorization bill “a literal
Sen. Merkley doubles down on LGBT nondiscrimination law
Rather than trying again to pass a law banning workplace discrimination, Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley plans to introduce a broader measure in 2015 to outlaw discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in employment, housing and public accommodations. “Oregon and the nation are on a trajectory towards equality, and
A Comprehensive LGBT Nondiscrimination Bill Is Coming
A bill that would make it illegal to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in hiring and firing has been introduced in some form — and then failed to become law — in nearly every Congress for the past two decades. On Wednesday, a champion of that bill,
Senate Dems to EPA: Make climate rule stronger
A group of Senate Democrats are pressuring the administration to make its controversial climate regulation on carbon pollution from existing power plants stronger. In a letter to Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy on Tuesday, the senators called on the administration to strengthen the requirements in its proposed rule and finalize a
U.S. Labor issues anti-discrimination rule
Washington • The Labor Department issued a rule Wednesday to protect employees of federal contractors from discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. The rule would carry out terms of a workplace anti-discrimination law signed by President Barack Obama on July 21. “Americans believe in fairness and opportunity.