Sen. Boquist: 3 spotlight races, Oregon export bans, …

By Oregon State Senator Brian Boquist,
Highlights, excerpts from Sen. Boquist newsletter

— National Democratic group spotlights three Oregon legislative races.  A national group focused on helping Democrats win control of statehouses is targeting three Oregon legislative races as Democrats try to expand majority in Oregon.  Who is buying elections?  Russian Democrats in Washington DC?  Outside interference?  So where is the Democrat outrage?

— U.S. Bans Exports by Oregon Freight-Forwarder in Warning Shot to Industry.  An Oregon freight-forwarder was hit with an export ban in what officials said was a warning to companies to heed restrictions on the shipment of sensitive technologies to countries the U.S. considers threats to national security.  If carbon is to kill us all in ten years, then why did Biden and the Neocons tariff carbon reducing net zero elective vehicles with a 100% tax?  How do Oregonians buy EVs with a 100% government tax on their purchase?

— Capital Chatter: Cell phone in school — Oregon needs a policy.  Parents, if you want kids to be safe and successful in school, step away from your cell phone – yes, yours.  What do you think?  Students did not have cell phones for century so why are they needed in school today?

— Capital Chatter: Oregon’s haves and have-nots. The state transportation hearing Tuesday in Tillamook illustrated the difference between Oregon’s “have” and “have-not” communities.  Do you have 95 cents extra to pay per gallon in a new tax?  Should your local city and county get second 95 cents per gallon in their pocket from your pocket in a new tax?

— Willamette Week.  After Incomplete Investigation, Oregon Government Ethics Commission Dismisses Complaints Against Kotek.  The panel deadlocked after a preliminary review of concerns following high-level departures from Gov. Tina Kotek’s office. That review didn’t include interviewing staff who left.  Lawfair or double standard?

— Report:  Local governments and nonprofits in Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties spent $531 million on homelessness services in the last full fiscal year, a new report from ECO Northwest found.  Read More.

— Major pro-Israel group spent big to influence the race for Blumenauer’s congressional seat.  Filings show a political action committee tied to AIPAC spent $1.3 million on attacks against former Multnomah County Commissioner Susheela Jayapal in May while giving $1 million to a group supporting her opponent.  Read More.

— U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on Grants Pass homelessness plan.  At issue: Whether the Grants Pass rule violates the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Here’s what it means for your city.  Writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch said that the nation’s policy on homelessness shouldn’t be dictated by federal judges, rather such decisions should be left to state and local leaders. “Homelessness is complex,” Gorsuch wrote. “Its causes are many. So may be the public policy responses required to address it.”  The $531 million above might have been better spend by giving it directly to homeless people for rent as example?  Instead of bureaucrat salaries?

— Oregon Capitol Chronical.  Need for more beds to treat severe mental illness, addiction in Oregon greater than thought. A final report on the state’s residential facility capacity says the state needs to be able to treat 3,700 more people by the fall of 2025; a draft report cited less than 3,000.  Readers should all remember the Oregon Health Authority has been blocking the construction of a mental health hospital in Wilsonville for nearly a decade.  Why would state government block more beds while spending billions claiming it doing something?  Profits?  For whom?

— Ninth Circuit blocks logging in Oregon’s Elliott State Forest, protecting marbled murrelet habitat.  In a landmark decision, a Ninth Circuit panel upheld a lower court’s ruling that prevents clearcutting old growth trees within Oregon’s Elliott State Forest. The ruling protects the marbled murrelet, a seabird species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.  Recently, stakeholders worked to “decouple” the Elliott State Forest from the Common School Fund, transitioning it into the Elliott State Research Forest.  Very clear school funding not really a priority at all?  Wonder if the OEA agreed to teacher salary cuts to off-set common school fund losses?

— Shoes untied:  Nike shares fell 20% as a surprise drop in annual sales thanks to competition from newer competitors worried investors.  Nike stock worst day on record losing $28 billion.  With a 20% drop in Oregon exports, Nike losing $28 billion, just how is Oregon’s government revenue forecast interpretation by Democrat politicians and neocons mean Oregonians are doing better than ever?  Are you rolling in cash as the state claims?  Who is out of touch with reality?  You or them?

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