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.
Merkley’s Bid to Rein in Credit Card Practices
When Jeff Merkley went down to Salem, as a junior member of the Oregon House minority, he found there was one subject he couldn’t touch even if he someday happened to become House speaker. “I tried to write a bill in Oregon,” he remembers, “and was told that states could
Help for renters evicted by foreclosure
WASHINGTON — Renters living in foreclosed homes will get more time to find new places to live under a bill that passed the Senate on Wednesday. A provision that lets renters remain in a foreclosed property for the life of their leases, or 90 days for tenants on monthly leases,
Area drew many risky home loans
The Willamette Valley was a hot spot for subprime mortgages four years ago — much to the enduring misery of valley homeowners, according to an investigation published Wednesday. Many of the nation’s top 25 subprime lenders were highly active in Lane County until the market meltdown in late 2007. The
Credit-card legislation will help comsumers
If you’ve been reading the letters to the editor lately, you know that a good many Mid-Valley residents are irate about their credit cards. They’re angry about their interest rates skyrocketing and fees being opposed for seemingly flimsy reasons. The good news is that legislation moving through Congress would provide
Merkley calls for bill to create task force for timber revenue
For his first bill, Sen. Jeff Merkley called in reinforcements. Fulfilling a campaign promise to introduce legislation aimed at solving the perpetual revenue challenges of Oregon’s timber-dependent counties, Merkley proposed creating a task force of 15 members that would take nine months to develop two sustainable revenue proposals. Merkley introduced
Bill aims to fill county budget gaps
WASHINGTON — Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley introduced his first piece of legislation Monday — a measure to create a 15-member task force to study ways to help timber-dependent counties in Oregon. Merkley, who took office in January, had promised during last year’s campaign to address the timber issue in his